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Abstract Header

“Shabach Hallelujah!”:The Continuity of the Ring Shout Tradition as a Site of Music and Dance in Black American Worship

Washington, Erica Lanice
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1131054976

Abstract Details

2005, Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, Music History.
The expressive forms that were possessed by Africans enslaved in the U.S. – such as music, dance, religion, and language – continue to be developed by many African Americans in secular and sacred contexts. This thesis will explore the ways in which dance and music are still central and are utilized particularly in Christian worship practices in black communities of faith today. The Ring Shout tradition on Southern slave plantations will be investigated for its role from the past to the present to show the continual development of its common practices throughout West Africa and the United States. Using data obtained through a field study in Toledo, Ohio, my research will test what previous scholars have concluded about the syncretism of African traditions in African American culture as it relates to music and dance within religious contexts. My field study in Toledo, Ohio, will be enhanced with observations and interviews in another field study that took place in Benin, West Africa. The juxtaposition of these two field studies demonstrates a strong connection between African American Christian worship and African religious practices that persists even today. I conclude that some practitioners of black Christianity are not cognizant that the mode of their worship is African in origin. For this reason, my research will examine why and how patterns of African American Christian liturgy have West African origins.
Mary Natvig (Advisor)
104 p.
Music
Ring Shout; African American Worship

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Washington, E. L. (2005). “Shabach Hallelujah!”:The Continuity of the Ring Shout Tradition as a Site of Music and Dance in Black American Worship [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1131054976

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Washington, Erica. “Shabach Hallelujah!”:The Continuity of the Ring Shout Tradition as a Site of Music and Dance in Black American Worship. 2005. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1131054976.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Washington, Erica. "“Shabach Hallelujah!”:The Continuity of the Ring Shout Tradition as a Site of Music and Dance in Black American Worship." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1131054976

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1131054976
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© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.