In Motion

出版者:Random House Inc

作者:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/ Dodson, Howard/ Diouf, Sylviane A.

页数:224

出版时间:2005-1

价格:253.00元

装帧:HRD

isbn号码:9780792273851

具体描述

African Americans, more than any other populations in the Americas, have been shaped by migrations. Their culture and history are the products of black peoples' various movements, coerced and voluntary, that started, in the Western Hemisphere, five hundred years ago. Theirs is the story of men and women forced out of Africa; of enslaved people moved from the coastal southeast to the Deep South; of fugitives walking to freedom across the country and beyond; of colonists leaving their land to settle on foreign shores; of southerners migrating west and north; and of immigrants arriving from the Caribbean, South America, and Africa.

Although the Atlantic slave trade has created an enduring image of black people as transported commodities, and is usually considered the single element in the construction of the African Diaspora, it is centuries of additional migrations that have given shape to the nation we know today, a nation different from that forged solely by the dreadful transportation of the Africans against their will. And it is this vast array of migrations that truly defines the African American experience. Always on the move, resourceful, and creative, men and women of African origin have been risk-takers in an exploitative and hostile environment. Their survival skills, efficient networks, and dynamic culture have enabled them to thrive and spread, and to be at the very core of the settling and development of the Americas. Their migrations have changed not only their world, and the fabric of the African Diaspora but also their nation and the Western Hemisphere.

Between 1492 and 1776, an estimated 6.5 million people migrated to the Americas. More than 5 out of 6 were Africans. The major colonial labor force, they laid the economic and cultural foundations of the continents. Their migrations continued during and after slavery. In the United States alone, 6.5 million African Americans left the South for northern and western cities between 1916 and 1970. With this internal Great Migration, the most massive in the history of the country, African Americans stopped being a southern, rural community to become a national, urban population.

The men and women of the Great Migration not only transformed the cities they settled in, but their neighborhoods became primary destinations for black people arriving from the Caribbean, Africa, and South America. These immigrants often retained their national and ethnic identities, and brought new resources into the African American community. With each wave of migration, changes in the demographic, cultural, religious, economic, and political life of the recipient communities occurred; and the nation's development has been inextricably linked with these movements.

At the same time, from the earliest days, thousands of African Americans have left their country when it became apparent that they would not find at home the freedom and equality they aspired to. Their quest for liberty and better opportunities took them to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Africa. African American out-migration has now become insignificant, but black popular culture, created out of the diverse influences brought about by centuries of movement, resonates throughout the world in an unprecedented cultural migration.

Today's 35 million African Americans are heirs to all the migrations that have formed, modeled, and transformed their community, the country, and the African Diaspora. They are the offspring of diverse African ethnicities who also include, in their genetic makeup, Europeans, Native Americans, and Asians. They represent the most diverse population in the nation. A population that has embraced its varied heritage built by millions of men and women constantly on the move, looking for better opportunities, starting over, paving the way, and making sacrifices for future generations.

用户评价

这本书，暂且称之为《镜中幻影》，展现了一种极其罕见的、对古典神话进行当代解构的勇气。我通常对这种“重述”的故事不太感冒，觉得容易落入俗套，但作者在这本书中，成功地将古老的原型人物投射到了一个高度现代化的、充满赛博朋克元素的都市背景中。故事的叙事视角变幻莫测，一会儿是冷漠的旁观者，一会儿是深陷泥潭的主角，这种跳跃感，初看有些混乱，但细品之下，却完美地呼应了书中关于身份认同危机的主题。那些关于技术对灵魂侵蚀的描写，显得尤为尖锐和令人不安。作者的文笔华丽而充满张力，尤其是在描绘虚拟与现实边界模糊时的场景，那种文字的质感几乎可以触摸到——光怪陆离，却又带着一种末日将至的颓废美感。读完后，我感觉自己需要花几天时间来“排毒”，从那种信息过载的迷宫中走出来。

我必须承认，《群星的低语》是我近年来读过的，在想象力维度上最肆无忌惮的一部作品。它完全抛弃了传统科幻小说中对于逻辑严谨性的刻意维护，转而追求一种纯粹的、近乎迷幻的体验。整个故事背景设定在一个基于情感共振运行的星际文明中，那里的“物理定律”似乎完全由集体的潜意识所驱动。这种设定带来了极大的阅读挑战，因为你必须接受作者设定的前提，放弃对“为什么”的追问，转而享受“是什么”的壮阔。书中对色彩、声音和非欧几里得几何的描述达到了登峰造极的地步，很多段落我不得不停下来，反复阅读，试图在脑海中构建出那种超越人类已知感官范围的景象。对于那些追求传统叙事结构的读者来说，这本书可能会令人沮丧，但对于渴望被带到认知边界之外的探险者而言，它无异于一份来自宇宙深处的邀请函。

坦白讲，我拿起这本《破碎的罗盘》完全是冲着它那引人入胜的悬疑设定去的，没想到却收获了一次远超预期的哲学思辨之旅。作者似乎对人性的灰色地带有着近乎偏执的探索欲，他没有提供任何简单的答案，而是将谜团层层剥开，揭示出隐藏在完美表象之下的腐朽与谎言。故事的主线围绕着一次陈年旧案展开，但很快就演变成了一场对道德相对论的深度探讨。最让我震撼的是，他对手稿中那些晦涩难懂的符号学解释的融入，虽然起初有些吃力，但一旦理解了，你会惊叹于作者构建这个复杂世界观的精妙布局。这本书的结构极其紧凑，每一个章节的结尾都像是一记重拳，迫使你立刻翻到下一页，去寻找那个似乎永远不会到来的真相。它不是那种让你哈哈大笑的书，而是会让你在深夜里关掉灯，盯着天花板，反思自己过去所做选择的书。

就这本书的社会批判力度而言，我只能用“毫不留情”来形容。它聚焦于一个我们习以为常却又刻意忽略的微小社会单元——一个精英主义社区中的权力结构更迭。作者的笔触极其犀利，没有使用任何宏大的词汇，而是通过聚焦于日常琐事、邻里间的微妙互动以及精心维护的礼仪之下隐藏的残酷竞争，将中产阶级焦虑和阶级固化的本质剖析得淋漓尽致。那种从内部开始瓦解的无声冲突，比任何正面冲突都更具杀伤力。我特别欣赏作者对白的处理，那些看似客套、实则暗藏刀锋的对话，完全模拟了真实社交场合中那种充满张力的“潜台词”。这本书的成功之处在于，它让你在读完一个看似普通的故事后，猛然惊醒，意识到自己周遭的环境中，可能也潜藏着同样的精致的恶意。这是一次令人不安却又极其必要的社会观察。

这本《潮汐之歌》简直是一场视觉与心灵的双重盛宴，我得说，作者的叙事功力着实令人叹为观止。它以一种近乎诗意的笔触，描绘了主人公在那个被遗忘的沿海小镇上的挣扎与蜕变。故事的节奏如同真正的潮汐，时而汹涌澎湃，将你卷入复杂的人物关系和历史迷雾之中；时而又退却宁静，留下大片留白的意境，让你有足够的时间去咀嚼那些关于时间、记忆与自我救赎的深刻主题。我特别喜欢他对环境氛围的刻画，那咸湿的海风、吱嘎作响的木质码头，甚至是远处灯塔微弱的光芒，都像是活生生地存在于我的眼前。更难能可贵的是，书中几位配角的塑造也极其立体，他们的命运与主角紧密交织，共同构成了一幅关于人性的复杂画卷，让人读完后，久久不能平复。这本书读起来需要耐心，因为它不是那种快餐式的消遣读物，而是需要你沉浸其中，去体会那种缓慢渗透的、关于生命本质的诘问。