Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader - Softcover

Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1566395844 ISBN 13: 9781566395847

Publisher: Temple University Press, 1998

Synopsis

This anthology explores Rastafari religion, culture, and politics in Jamaica and other parts of the African diaspora. An Afro-Caribbean religious and cultural movement that sprang from the mean streets of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1930s, today Rastafari has close to one million adherents. The basic message of Rastafari--the dismantling of all oppressive institutions and the liberation of humankind--strongly appeals even to non-believers who are captivated by the reggae music, the lyrics, and the "immortal spirit" of its enormously popular practitioner, Bob Marley.

Probing into Rastafari's still-evolving belief system, political goals, and cultural expression, the contributors to this volume emphasize the importance of Africana history and the Caribbean context. "Long before the term 'Afrocentricity' came into popular use in the United States, Jamaican Rastafarians had embraced the concept as the most important recipe for naming their reality and reclaiming their black heritage in the African diaspora, " Nathaniel Samuel Murrell notes in the Introduction. "CHANTING DOWN BABYLON" brings together scholarly commentary, a long-hidden founding document of the movement, and the voices of leading Rastas who explain and critique the beliefs and practices associated with Rastafari. Also included are a glossary, an annotated bibliography, and an interview with the pioneering scholar of Rastafari, Leonard Barrett.

About this title

From the Publisher

A comprehensive and indispensable study of the Rastafarian Movement

About the Author

N. Samuel Murrell is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religions at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and Visiting Professor at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica. William D. Spencer serves as Pastor of Encouragement at Pilgrim Church in Beverly, MA, and was an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston. He has authored, co-authored, or edited The Prayer of Life of Jesus, Mysterium and Mystery: The Clerical Crime Novel, God through the Looking Glass, Joy through the Night, 2 Corinthians: Bible Study Commentary, and The Global God.Adrian Anthony McFarlene is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. He is author of A Grammar of Fear and Evil -- A Husserlian-Wittgensteinian Hermeneutic.

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1566395844
• ISBN 13: 9781566395847
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 467