- Paperback: 276 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; Reprint edition (11 Aug 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0520089367
- ISBN-13: 978-0520089365
- Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 15 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,277,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
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Product Description
Review
"A feast for those interested in historical and modern black folklore. . . . Engaging."--"Chicago Tribune
Product Description
Ku Klux Klan-owned companies. Sodas that cause sterility. A military conspiracy to infect Africans with AIDS. These rumors reverberate through Black America. Now, Patricia Turner presents a groundbreaking, comprehensive look at how rumors translate white oppression into folk warnings throughout the African-American community.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Many modern American rumors, legends, and folk ideas about the origins and meaning of racial difference can be traced to the days of first contact between white English explorers and black sub-Saharan Africans. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Many modern American rumors, legends, and folk ideas about the origins and meaning of racial difference can be traced to the days of first contact between white English explorers and black sub-Saharan Africans. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Dr. Patricia Turner's overview of rumor in the white communities and black communities of the past is excellent. She traces themes down through time, showing us how we all are grabbed and held prisoner by what we want to believe. Her delineation of what divides "them" from "us" is thought-provoking--and we all should be greatly intrigued by the people in her book who believe what they believe, in spite of logic and factual material available to them. We need more books like this and more authors like her. This should be required reading in a wide range of courses everywhere, because rumor is alive and well.
Format:Hardcover
I read this book a few years ago as part of research I was doing on urban legends. While Jan Brunvand's books are the most cited references for urban legends, he focuses mostly on ULs vectored by white, usually middle class, people. Turner, on the other hand, focuses specifically on ULs vectored in the black community. I thought this book was quite well written, and the commentary and analysis of the ULs were spot on. I highly reccomend this book
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Wonderful even-handed review of myopia in all races!
22 Feb 1999
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dr. Patricia Turner's overview of rumor in the white communities and black communities of the past is excellent. She traces themes down through time, showing us how we all are grabbed and held prisoner by what we want to believe. Her delineation of what divides "them" from "us" is thought-provoking--and we all should be greatly intrigued by the people in her book who believe what they believe, in spite of logic and factual material available to them. We need more books like this and more authors like her. This should be required reading in a wide range of courses everywhere, because rumor is alive and well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Discussion of African American Urban Legends
27 Aug 1998
Format:Hardcover
I read this book a few years ago as part of research I was doing on urban legends. While Jan Brunvand's books are the most cited references for urban legends, he focuses mostly on ULs vectored by white, usually middle class, people. Turner, on the other hand, focuses specifically on ULs vectored in the black community. I thought this book was quite well written, and the commentary and analysis of the ULs were spot on. I highly reccomend this book
Interpreting Rumors and Legends
9 Jun 2004
Format:Paperback
Many of the books on urban legends and rumors avoid discussion of stories told specifically within African-American communities. This book compensates for this lack of attention, and it provides interesting insights into the legends, rumors, and beliefs that Turner documents. She has arranged this book as a social history that stretches back to slavery times and extends into contemporary history. There are continuities and variations in the stories, but the overall themes remain the same. Mainly, the stories provide ways to understand how the history of racial tension in America is expressed through folklore and fantasy. In this respect, the book provides interesting ways to read the legends for psychological insight as Turner provides an interesting discussion of ways in which ideological constructs become expressed in fantasy.
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