Being and Blackness in Latin America: Uprootedness and Improvisation

219 Pages·2006·0.91 MB·English

by  Patricia D. Fox

Being and Blackness
in Latin America
Uprootedness and Improvisation
Patricia D. Fox
university press of florida
Being and Blackness in Latin America
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

Being and Blackness in Latin America
Uprootedness and Improvisation
Patricia D. Fox
University Press of Florida
Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton
Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers/Sarasota
Copyright 2006 by Patricia D. Fox
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved
A record of cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
isbn 978-0-8130-2931-3 (cloth)
isbn 978-0-8130-3627-4 (ebook)
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic
University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida
State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University
of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University
of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
For Mom, Dad, Mama, Papa

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Opening Salvo 1
I. Coming to Terms
1. Coming to Terms: Uprootedness 9
2. Territoriality: Becoming Places 25
3. Coming to Terms: Improvisation 50
4. Temporality: Telling Times 66
II. Coming to (Cultural) Consciousness
5. Talking Drums or Trying Times: The Off-Timed Tale 79
6. Orality: A Word-Worldview 99
7. Refashioning Spoken Souls 111
8. Blackness Unbound: A Tale of One’s Own 136
Afterword: Parting Salvo 169
Notes 173
Bibliography 185
Index 197

Acknowledgments
I am happy to have the opportunity to thank many who have helped me along
the road, in ways great and small. First to my family, for love and support and
understanding beyond measure. Thanks to my teachers Hans Ulrich Gum-
brecht, Mary Louise Pratt, Francisco Lopes Caetano, Cynthia Steele, and
especially Sylvia Wynter who stayed the course with comments, questions,
and good stories; my colleagues Mary Jo Muratore, Marvin Lewis, Gordon
Brotherston, Francis Wyers, Eileen Julien; my collaborators and friends, es-
pecially Donna Gates and Angel Acosta Martínez, who provided materials, a
table at which to work, idle and fruitful conversation, and the occasional out-
ing; Annette and her staff at Columbia Books; Martin Northway and Martha
Ruíz García for editing, coffee, and encouragement; Gordo Neto for help
with printing a crucial (but now distant) version of the manuscript and Amy
Gorelick for first taking an interest in the project and her help and dedication
throughout the process. The Center for Cultural Studies at the University
of California at Santa Cruz deserves special mention for a residency during
fall 2000 which provided an office, a view of the ocean, and the intellectual
climate that aided in the birth of this project.