Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess

Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess is a literary and cultural history of the Gullah Geechee Coast, a four-state area that is one of the "cradles of Black culture" in the United States. It seeks to fill a gap and correct the maps, providing a comprehensive study of the regions literary influence during the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance. By giving voice to artists and culture makers on both sides of the color line, uncovering buried histories, and revealing secret connections between races, the book sheds new light on an only partially told tale.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2024
Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess is a literary and cultural history of a place: the Gullah Geechee Coast, a four-state area that is one of only a handful of places that can truly be said to be the "cradle of Black culture" in the United States. The book seeks to fill a gap and correct the maps, as there is a veritable industry of books on literary Charleston and on "the lowcountry," along with a plenitude of Gullah-inspired studies in history, anthropology, linguistics, folklore, and religion. However, there has never been a comprehensive study of the regions literary influence, particularly in the years of the Great Migration and the Harlem (and Charleston) Renaissance. By giving voice to artists and culture makers on both sides of the color line, uncovering buried histories, and revealing secret connections between races amid official practices of Jim Crow, Romancing the Gullah sheds new light on an only partially told tale. A labor of love by a Charleston insider, the book imparts a lively and accessible overview of its subject in a manner that will satisfy the book lover and the scholar.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780820362885