Description
Book SynopsisThe impact of slavery and freedom on black identity and cultural formation
Trade ReviewWhat light is shed upon old topics when new sources are examined! In this major work on Afro-Mexican and, really, general Spanish American history, Bennett prowls through the neglected Mexican archival records [and] uncovers a vibrant black community developing its own customs and practices. . . . In place of a weak, shattered individualistic society . . . Bennett's Afro-Mexicans were a community that soon counted a majority of freedman living in an urban setting. What a contract with the Afro-Cuban slave society evolving to the east. . . . Highly recommended.
* Choice *
[T]his text, compelling and persuasive both in theoretical argumentation and use of primary sources, is a major achievement in understanding and reframing Afro-Mexican history. It is highly recommended for the sophisticated specialist already familiar with more conventional studies of Afro-Latin American history, and one who is also necessarily conversant with the terminology of postmodern and postcolonial studies. Vol. 17.1, Winter 2008
* Colonial Latin American Historical Review *
A fascinating study . . . Bennett . . . challenges mission historians to go beyond those generalizations that often marginalize people and to examine not only the written sources about such groups but also to examine their behavior, creatively using archival sources that are available.
-- Larry Nemer * Missiology *
Oct. 2013
* Bulletin of Latin American Research *
Table of ContentsList of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Writing Afro-Mexican History
1. Discipline and Culture
2. Genealogies to a Past
3. Creoles
4. Provincial Black Life
5. Local Blackness
6. Narrating Freedom
7. Sin
Epilogue: Colonial Blackness?
Bibliography
Index
