“The influence of Melody upon man in the wild state of nature”
Enslaved Parishioners, Anglican Violence, and Racialized Listening in a Jamaica Parish
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21789005 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maria Ryan (0000-0002-0776-4295, Florida State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 268-286 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the Society for American Music (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-1963 • E-ISSN: 1752-1971 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1752196321000171 |
| OpenAlex | W3197336400 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
In 1827, George Wilson Bridges, the outspoken proslavery rector of the parish of St. Ann, Jamaica, published a pamphlet of music that he had written to be used as the choral service at his church. The Bishop of Jamaica condemned Bridges's musical innovations on the grounds that they were not suitable to be heard by “a congregation chiefly composed by people of colour & negroes.” On the Bishop's orders, Bridges's music stopped, and by 1828 he reported that his pews were once more empty. The congregation of St. Ann parish church was almost entirely enslaved Africans and Afro-descendants who could choose their place of worship. However, in Bridges's own household, the people he claimed as property had little opportunity to escape his ministering. In 1829 Bridges came to the attention of British abolitionists for his brutal flogging of Kitty Hylton, a woman he claimed to own. This article uses Black feminist approaches to archival materials to explore the relationship between the music promoted by Bridges, conflicting views held by white religious leaders about what music was appropriate for African and African-descended people to listen to, and Bridges's violence towards enslaved people; in so doing exploring the inescapable entanglement of religious music, race, and violence in colonial Jamaica
Active listening · Art · Art history · Choir · Literature · Musical · Sacred music · Singing · Sociology · Theology · Visual arts · Worship · Australian History and Society · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Communication · Gender Studies · History · Philosophy · Religious studies
Mastering ChristianityMissionary Anglicanism and Slavery in the Atlantic World
Psalmody (ii)
A Fistful of Shells
Silencing the Past
Dispossessed lives
Slaves and Missionaries
Wicked Flesh
Afro-Catholic Festivals in the Americas
The Language of Dress
Christian Slavery
Dispossessed Lives
To Soften the Extreme Rigor of Their Bondage”
The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper
Joseph Johnson's Lost Gamuts
Decency, dependence and the lash
The Question of Recovery
Mastering Christianity
Venus in Two Acts
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |