In Conjuring Culture, Theophus Smith provides an innovative, interdisciplinary interpretation of the formation of African-American religion and culture. Smith argues for the central role in black spirituality of "conjure" - a magical means of transforming reality. Smith shows that the Bible, the sacred text of Western civilization, has in fact functioned as a magical formulary or sourcebook for African-Americans. Beginning in slave religion, and continuing in folk practice and literary expression, the Bible provided African ...
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In Conjuring Culture, Theophus Smith provides an innovative, interdisciplinary interpretation of the formation of African-American religion and culture. Smith argues for the central role in black spirituality of "conjure" - a magical means of transforming reality. Smith shows that the Bible, the sacred text of Western civilization, has in fact functioned as a magical formulary or sourcebook for African-Americans. Beginning in slave religion, and continuing in folk practice and literary expression, the Bible provided African-Americans with ritual prescriptions for prophetically re-envisioning and, therein, transforming history and culture. In effect, it functioned as a "conjure book" for prescribing practices of healing and harming in response to the vicissitudes of black experience, and for invoking Divine and extraordinary powers in the conduct of social change and freedom movements. Typical prescriptions entail biblical symbols, themes, and figures like Moses, Exodus, Promised Land, and Suffering Servant - figures that have crucially formed and reformed American culture as a whole. In addition to religious and political phenomena. Smith explores black aesthetics as expressed in music, drama, folklore, and literature. The concept of conjure discloses an indigenous and still vital spirituality with implications for reformulating the next generation of black studies and black theology. Indeed, the book introduces "conjuring culture" as a new conceptual paradigm for understanding Western religious and cultural phenomena generally.
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Add this copy of Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America to cart. $34.00, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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Good. Shelf and handling wear to cover and binding, with general signs of previous use. Boards and dust jacket show signs of shelf wear. All pages are intact, binding is sound. Secure packaging for safe delivery.
Add this copy of Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America to cart. $49.17, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America to cart. $50.20, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
Add this copy of Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America to cart. $93.30, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Oxford University Press.