FUGITIVE MODERNITIES IN WEST CENTRAL AFRICA - Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom. By Jessica A. Krug. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018. Pp. xiii + 260. $99.95, cloth (ISBN: 978-1-4780-0119-5); $26.95, paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4780-0154-6)

In the early seventeenth century, Kisama emerged as a new identity and place for communities of fugitives fleeing the expansion of West Central African states and the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Krug's premise, which she calls ‘the Kisama meme’, reflects how these fugitives esta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of African History Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 137 - 138
Main Author LOVEJOY, HENRY B.
Format Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.03.2020
Subjects
17th century
Diaspora
Fugitives
Gender roles
Group identity
Identity formation
Ideology
Maroons (People)
Political ideologies
Politics
Refusal
Self concept
New Granada
Africa
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Summary:In the early seventeenth century, Kisama emerged as a new identity and place for communities of fugitives fleeing the expansion of West Central African states and the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Krug's premise, which she calls ‘the Kisama meme’, reflects how these fugitives established an identity based on a common language, warrior identities, the slave trade, and a refusal to organize their society around centralized authority. Chapter Three details martial practices, political ideologies, the environment, and individual experiences in geographical Kisama during a war between 1655 and 1658 in order to reveal how fugitives shaped the political fabric of Kisama, while rejecting warrior identities for more ‘distinct gender ideologies’ (26).
ISSN:0021-8537
1469-5138
DOI:10.1017/S0021853720000225