The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture (review)

Patrick Manning has provided the academic community with another outstanding analysis of the impact of cultural change in world history. The study focuses on more than six centuries of African cultural influences set in a comparative framework. As Manning explains in Chapter 1, he has 'chosen to organize the geographical framework of this study into three great areas, which I label as the African homeland, the Old World diaspora, and the Atlantic diaspora' (pp. 3-4). Within this framework the book 'explores four overlapping types of connections in the history of black people'. The relationships he examines are those among black communities, those with 'hegemonic powers', those with non-African communities and, finally, the 'mixing - biological and cultural - of blacks with other populations in every region of Africa and the diaspora' (pp. 4-6). He presents the data and analysis chronologically, beginning in 1400 CE - although he refers to the importance of African cultures and diasporas in earlier centuries - through five historical periods, extending into the twenty-first century.

During each of these periods Manning examines the multiple interrelationships that reshaped cultural production and behavioural expressions through the influence of the African diaspora, which 'sustained itself and renewed itself as a broad community of shared identity through connections among individuals and local communities' (p. 9). He evaluates these connections and subsequent cultural reformation in four categories:

Expressive culture includes visual art, music, literature, and other interpretations of feelings - this is the category most easily understood as artistic. The material culture of the African diaspora consists of such physical manifestations of creative energy as dress, architecture, tools, and cuisine. Reflective culture encompasses philosophy, knowledge, and belief. Societal culture is the creation and modelling of family patterns, political culture, and rituals.

(p. 21)

In each of the historical phases Manning carefully illustrates the cultural insertions and relationships by describing interactions among the many participants in his global model. For example, he describes the creative exchanges in cuisine, in religion, in language, and in social norms, and he analyses the changing definitions of personal or community identity that developed in each of the three regions of diaspora. In addition to clearly written analyses of historical data the book is replete with instructive reproductions of prints and photographs and contains thirteen excellent maps that demonstrate the impact of the African diaspora in world history. Manning discusses the major topics that are currently being examined in diaspora studies, and he points out areas where fruitful research is still to be done, for example on modes of dress and on ancestry (see the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, Volume 1 of which was published by Oxford University Press and Berg Publishers in 2010).

Manning's discussions of the development of the concept of 'race', the variant uses of colour as identity, and the creation of new ethnicities are especially useful. His examination of the problems and transformations during the twentieth century is especially stimulating (Chapter 5: Citizenship, 1900-1960; Chapter 6: Equality, 1960-2000). He surveys the connections and changes in the three regions of diaspora and the impact they have had in both local and global affairs. In his Epilogue, 'The Future of the African Diaspora', he discusses a series of key questions for scholars of diaspora studies, reminding us that

the history of the African diaspora shows that interconnections and global patterns have been central to history for centuries, not just in the past decade. Even for those who were mostly subjects of empires rather than rulers, or subjects of nations rather than the chosen people, the connections of the African diaspora provide a deep heritage and a steady source of innovations. While every black community values its local traditions, it has the opportunity of drawing on shared experience over a wide area and a long time.

(p. 353)

The ambitious nature of this book and its rather limited length produced some minor flaws. There is a valuable survey of...