Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
African Diaspora and Atlantic Traditions
African diaspora and Atlantic traditions, including Jamaican Anansi stories, Obeah, Louisiana Voodoo, New Orleans folklore, and African American coastal oral history.
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Texts
A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw — James Albert Ukawsaw GronniosawThe Bath narrative of 1772 in which James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw tells of his boyhood at Bournou, his sale into slavery and conversion to Christianity in the Americas, and his later life in England and Holland, with a dedication to the Countess of Huntingdon and a preface by W. Shirley.Drums and ShadowsOral folklore from coastal Georgia collected during the 1930s WPA writers' programJamaica Anansi StoriesClassic collection of Jamaican Anansi folklore, folk music, and riddlesJamaican Song and Story — Walter JekyllWalter Jekyll’s collection of Jamaican Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes and dancing tunes, taken down from the dictation of men and boys in the Port Royal Mountains and published by the Folk-Lore Society in 1907, with Alice Werner’s introduction, his notes on each piece, and appendices by C. S. Myers and Lucy E. Broadwood.New Orleans SuperstitionsEssay on Voodoo beliefs and practices in 1880s New OrleansPsychic Phenomena of JamaicaEthnographic study of Jamaican folk beliefs, obeah, and psychic phenomenaThe Last of the VoudoosAccount of the last great Voodoo doctor of New Orleans by Lafcadio Hearn — a portrait of Jean Montanet, born in Senegal, who rose to become the most celebrated occultist of nineteenth-century New Orleans.Voodoos and ObeahsStudy of West Indian witchcraft, Vodun history, and Afro-Caribbean religion