| From black sorcerers' client-based practices in the antebellum
South to the postmodern revival of hoodoo and its tandem spiritual
supply stores, the supernatural has long been a key component
of the African American experience. What began as a mixture
of African, European, and Native American influences within
slave communities finds expression today in a multimillion dollar
business. In Conjure in African American Society, Jeffrey
E. Anderson unfolds a fascinating story as he traces the origins
and evolution of conjuring practices across the centuries.
Though some may see the study of conjure as a perpetuation
of old stereotypes that depict blacks as bound to superstition,
the truth, Anderson reveals, is far more complex. Drawing
on folklore, fiction and nonfiction, music, art, and interviews,
he explores various portrayals of the conjurer—backward buffoon,
rebel against authority, and symbol of racial pride. He also
examines the actual work performed by conjurers, including
the use of pharmacologically active herbs to treat illness,
psychology to ease mental ailments, fear to bring about the
death of enemies and acquittals at trials, and advice to encourage
clients to succeed on their own. By critically examining the
many influences that have shaped conjure over time, Anderson
effectively redefines magic as a cultural power, one that
has profoundly touched the arts, black Christianity, and American
society overall.
Jeffrey E. Anderson is an assistant professor of
history at the University of Louisiana in Monroe. |
