West African Poetics in the Black Preaching Style
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8727151 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter Pitts (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1989 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 137-137 |
| Publication date | 1989-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1283 • E-ISSN: 1527-2133 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/455040 |
| OpenAlex | W2315924530 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 3 |
IN SPITE OF THE INTEREST THAT THE BLACK fundamentalist preaching style has raised in scholarly research, very little is known about the actual mechanics used by black preachers to effect their sermons. Since Rosenberg's seminal study (1970), scholars of the black preaching style have consistently reported three stages in the organization of the black folk sermon: a conversational introduction lasting only a few minutes, an emotional buildup, and finally a climax (Gumperz 1982, 189; Raboteau 1981; Roberts 1974, 176; Rosenberg 1970, 36; Wright 1976). Although observers of the folk style have made serious insights into its delivery, the impression still remains that the black folk sermon's content is built upon a string of incoherencies founded on illogic and emotional extremes (Pipes 1951). The purpose of this paper is to offer an exploratory illustration of the black sermon's organization around not only prosodic variation but also a shift of language functions between semantic reference and verbal aesthetics found in the pre-climactic and climactic stages, respectively, of the sermon. Investigation suggests that the sheer nonsense of black folk preaching that humored earlier white observers or embarrasses contemporary black ones has an underlying function that is not just referential but, more importantly, aesthetic-whose artistry stretches back to West Africa
Art · Literature · Poetics · Poetry · Style (visual arts · Media, Communication, and Education · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies · South African History and Culture · History
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,22 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2022 (20) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |