Rituals of Restorative Resistance: Healing Cultural Trauma and Cultural Amnesia through Cultural Anamnesis and Collective Memory

Using a womanist auto-ethnographic approach, this essay presents an anamnestic remedy for healing cultural trauma and cultural amnesia within the African American community. The essay narrates the creation then infusion of rituals of restorative resistance into the liturgy of a traditional, urban black Baptist Church as a means of resistance, resilience, and restoration. By commemorating the sacrifices of Jesus and enslaved African ancestors in eucharist rituals that are enhanced with sacred songs, readings, and symbols, the liturgy expands the meaning of “Do This in Remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24) to “Re-Member Me.” Drawing especially on work of Engelbert Mveng, Delores S. Williams, Barbara A. Holmes, Linda E. Thomas, and JoAnne Marie Terrell, and combining theology and anthropology, the essay describes a hermeneutic of healing within the community. It argues (1) that participation in enactment of rituals of restorative resistance decolonizes minds and deconstructs negative Western characterizations of black and brown bodies and (2) that ritualistic inversion and transformation of painful histories and traumatic stories into narratives and symbols of endurance and faith can re-invent, re-construct, and re-member individuals and communities into whole and healed entities.

“Just Over the River”/“Beautiful”

This chapter discusses Garland Brothers & Grinstead, “Just over the River”, “Beautiful”, sacred songs, and quartet singing

1871‒1877

By now widely recognized as England’s leading composer, Arthur Sullivan devoted the first half of the 1870s to sacred works, including a massive Te Deum to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from typhoid fever (1872), his most significant oratorio, The Light of the World (1873), forty-two original hymn tunes and seventy-five hymn tune arrangements and numerous sacred songs and ballads. The Light of the World broke significant new ground by dispensing with a narrator and for the first time in English oratorio making Jesus a real character who appeared and sang and interacted with other characters. As well as acting as editor for a major Anglican hymnal, Church Hymns and Tunes (1874), Sullivan wrote numerous hymn tunes, including the ever-popular ST GERTRUDE for ‘Onward, Christian soldiers’ and NOEL for ‘It came upon the midnight clear’. He may also have had a hand in ST CLEMENT for ‘The day, Thou gavest, Lord, is ended’. In 1877, sitting at the bedside of his dying brother, he wrote the tune for his sacred ballad, ‘The Lost Chord’ which became the best-selling song of the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

“Where We’ll Never Grow Old”/“Pictures from Life’s Other Side”

This chapter discusses Smith’s Sacred Singers, “Where We’ll Never Grow Old,” “Pictures from Life’s Other Side,”sacred songs, and quartet singing

“Salvation Is for All”

This chapter discusses Rev. Edward Boone, “Salvation Is for All”, sacred songs, Nazarene Church, family bands, and Gennett Records

JAMES PRIMOSCH (b. 1956)Three Sacred Songs (1989)

This chapter takes a look at some examples of James Primosch’s sacred music. It shows how the solo song cycle Three Sacred Songs exemplifies his consistency, integrity, and technical skill. Here, assured craftsmanship is welded to sincere spiritual conviction—a winning combination, which communicates strongly and directly. Three widely contrasting movements form a satisfyingly balanced whole. The vocal writing is modal and mellifluous, and eminently practical, avoiding extreme demands of range or technical virtuosity. Sopranos, tenors, light mezzos, and even high baritones can take it on board. The piano parts supply a wealth of translucent, well-balanced textures, which are entirely idiomatic and lie comfortably under the hands. The general tone is radiant and joyful—a welcome antidote to the more melancholy aspects of religious music. The piece is ideal for a church recital, and a resonant acoustic will add bloom to its sonic beauty.

Performing the sacred – Aspects of singing and contextualisation in South Africa

After an introduction and views on inculturation (i.e. adapting the liturgy to the context within which it is ‘performed’ or the context influencing the liturgy), the focus shifts to ‘incarnation’ and ‘contextualisation’ in a broader sense, to also include the transformation and adaptation of the ‘sacred’ for the secular or political sphere. Practices of performing faith through texts and music within diverse liturgical, spiritual, cultural and political contexts in South Africa are discussed. Aspects taken into account are the possible influence of landscape or seasons on the expression of faith and the possible sacro-soundscapes that could come from different contexts, such as the impact of the Karoo landscape on Khoisan descendants singing the sacred; performances in a contextualised music idiom, such as the Genevan Psalms in a Khoi music idiom; and celebrating the Church Year in different hemispheres. The discussion focuses also on contextualising within political contexts – that is, where political space is ‘sacralised’ through sacred songs and where sacred songs are given political meaning or changed for the political sphere. The article closes with the possibility of songs from Africa being sung in other countries and the meaning it could have, or could be given. It is argued that contextualisation from one context to another context of the sacred, or from a ‘secular’ to a sacred context, as well contextualising the sacred into the public (‘secular’) or political sphere, could lead to contexts and spaces being changed, enrich the performance of the sacred, stimulate creativity, allow for new processes of attributing meaning, change values and motivate people, form new identities and thus also could lead to changed communities.