African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
302 p, Outlines the key research in Caribbean studies from history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and folklore, examining classic ethnographies as well as new scholarship. Highlights the major concepts and debates in the anthropology and history of the Caribbean, including its unique Anglo, French, and Hispanic communities. Offers an overview of the strong traditions of art, literature, music, dance, and architecture in the Caribbean.
295 p., Focuses on the function of black vernacular myths and rituals in three primary women's texts of the Americas: Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (1977), Simone Schwartz-Bart's Pluie et Vent sur Telumee Miracle (1972) and Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow (1983). My project codifies how the black vernacular expressions of mythology and ritual are used to negotiate power between the individual and their community. The author traces how the women in these texts used resources of the black vernacular tradition as social and cultural collateral to empower themselves within an alternative system of values that simultaneously validates self and communal worth.
