rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square
    sub title: Kongo dances and the origins of the Mardi Gras Indians
  name:
    name part: Dewulf, Jeroen
    name part: 1972-
    role:
      role term: creator
    role:
      role term: author.
  type of resource: text
  genre: bibliography
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: lau
    date issued: 2017
    copyright date: 2017
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: print
    extent: xx, 242 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
  abstract: This book presents a provocatively new interpretation of one of New Orleans's most enigmatic traditions, the Mardi Gras Indians. By interpreting the tradition in an Atlantic context, Dewulf traces the 'black Indians' back to the ancient Kingdom of Kongo and its war dance known as sangamento. He shows that good warriors in the Kongo kingdom were per definition also good dancers, masters of a technique of dodging, spinning and leaping that was crucial in local warfare. Enslaved Kongolese brought the rhythm, dancing moves and feathered headwear of sangamentos to the Americas in performances that came to be known as 'Kongo dances.' By comparing Kongo dances on the African island of São Tomé with those in Latin America, the Caribbean and Louisiana, Dewulf demonstrates that the dances in New Orleans's Congo Square were part of a much broader Kongolese performance tradition. He links that to Afro-Catholic mutual-aid societies that honored their elected community leaders or 'kings' with Kongo dances. While the public rituals of these brotherhoods originally thrived in the context of Catholic procession culture around Epiphany and Corpus Christi, they transitioned to carnival as a result of growing orthodoxy within the Church. Dewulf's groundbreaking research suggests a much greater impact of Kongolese traditions and of popular Catholicism on the development of African American cultural heritage and identity. His conclusions force us to radically rethink the traditional narrative on the Mardi Gras Indians, the kings of Zulu and the origins of black participation in Mardi Gras celebrations.
  table of contents: Louisiana -- The Kingdom of Kongo -- São Tomé & Príncipe -- Latin America -- Haiti and the Caribbean -- From Congo Square to Mardi Gras -- Tangos in New Orleans -- Black Indians in New Orleans.
  note: Jeroen Dewulf.
  note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
  subject:
    geographic code: n-us-la
    geographic code: f-ao---
    geographic code: f-cf---
    geographic code: f-cg---
  subject:
    name:
      name part: Catholic Church
    geographic: Louisiana
    geographic: New Orleans
    topic: History
  subject:
    topic: Mardi Gras Indians
    topic: History
  subject:
    topic: African Americans
    geographic: Louisiana
    geographic: New Orleans
    topic: History
  subject:
    geographic: Congo Square (New Orleans, La.)
    topic: History
  subject:
    topic: Dance
    geographic: Louisiana
    geographic: New Orleans
    topic: History
  subject:
    topic: Dance
    geographic: Louisiana
    geographic: New Orleans
    topic: Religious aspects
    topic: History
  subject:
    topic: Dance
    geographic: Kongo Kingdom
    topic: History
  subject:
    geographic: New Orleans (La.)
    topic: Social life and customs
  subject:
    geographic: Kongo Kingdom
    topic: Social life and customs
  classification: F380.N4 D49 2017
  classification: 976.3/35
  identifier: 9781935754961
  identifier: 1935754963
  identifier: 2016049901
  record info:
    record content source: DLC
    record creation date: 161110
    record change date: 20180214140325.0
    record identifier: in00003984072