Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice
Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice
by Catherine A. John
Duke University Press, 2026
ISBNs
Cloth: 978-1-4780-3343-1
Paper: 978-1-4780-3898-6
eISBN: 978-1-4780-9482-1 (OA)
eISBN: 978-1-4780-6259-2 (standard)
About the Book
In Afroindigenization, Catherine A. John addresses the underbelly of spiritual resilience shaping a range of African diasporic institutions, traditions, and practices. John argues that repressed forms of indigenous African knowledge systems manifest in a myriad of culturally embodied ways in African diaspora spaces and places. From mermaid lore in rural Jamaica to hip-hop trance-induced dance in Los Angeles to the stories of two debaters-turned-social-media-influencers, John shows how the descendants of enslaved Africans express the signs and substance of their afroindigenous power through collective creativity. Drawing from scholars such as Vèvè Clark, Hortense Spillers, Dianne M. Stewart, and Sylvia Wynter, Afroindigenization exposes the cultural and spiritual ancestries that lie at the heart of modern Black identities and practices.
About the Author
Catherine A. John is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Rhode Island and author of Clear Word and Third Sight: Folk Groundings and Diasporic Consciousness in African Caribbean Writing, published by Duke University Press.
Reviews
“A welcome expansion of the terrain. Catherine John has offered an original, rich, and nuanced interpretation of Afroindigeneity in our time. In the words of John’s mother, quoted in the book: ‘the world needs this one.’”
-- LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant, Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center and Professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, UNC Chapel Hill
-- LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant, Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center and Professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, UNC Chapel Hill
“Afroindigenzation is a transdisciplinary study by a senior scholar that demonstrates with originality, finesse, and power African spiritual modes of habitation, survival, and thriving among African descendants past and present across the Americas and the Caribbean. Catherine John’s skill at elaborating a new theory of African diaspora religiosity, spirituality, and cultural production/performance is truly exceptional.”
-- Dianne M. Stewart, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Religion and African American Studies, Emory University
-- Dianne M. Stewart, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Religion and African American Studies, Emory University
Tags
Religious Cultures of African and African Diaspora People, Black people, Race identity, Theory, Religious aspects, African Americans, African American & Black Studies, Cultural & Ethnic Studies, Religion, Literary Criticism, Social Science
Open Access Information
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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