Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture and Narrative : Tings in De House

This book is a ground-breaking exploration of everyday life as experienced through the lens of Black British cultural history and creative practice, through a multiplicity of voices and writing styles. The structure of Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture and Narrative examines life through a personal study of the family home – room by room, object by object – as a portal through which to examine the intricacies and nuances of daily considerations of African heritage people living in Britain in the modern era (post-1950). Using Small Anthropology methodology, this book foregrounds the experiences of Black British lives by bringing the threads of history and culture into the relevancy of the present day and demonstrates how the personal sphere directly links to wider public and political concerns. This book will be of interest to a wide range of disciplines, including Black studies, anthropology, cultural studies, history, visual culture, photography, media communication, sociology, community development, art and design, and by any course that studies ethnographic methodologies, material culture, migration, everyday life, and British society. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Figures Acknowledgments Introduction Why Study Material Culture Through a Black-Heritage Lens? Small Anthropology Methodology Challenging Knowledge Hierarchies Knowledge Values Creative Inquiry Showing Behind the Scenes Output Values What Is Meant By Black Everyday Lives? 1 (Front Door/Hallway) – Signs Those Everyday Signs Entertaining Strangers 2 (Living Room) – Photo Wall Personal Archaeology Complex Emotional Attachment After a Slight Awkward Pause ... After a Short Pause Than Before. 3 (Living Room) – Television Stories to Tell Being Programmed Covid Television and the Black Atlantic Black Gaze On the Life, Death, and Legacy of an Electric Media Princess Postscript 4 (Living Room) – Sewing Machine Mrs Enid Swaby Pauline Sandra Mrs Enid Swaby Mr Joseph Sewing Machine, a Girl’s Best Friend? Up Ye Mighty Race! 5 (Living Room) – The Armchair (Fiction) “Listen.” 6 (Front Room) – Radiogram Why Jim Reeves? Music as a Meaningful Material Culture The Emperor’s Radiogram End Note – A Man in His Music 7 (Front Room) – The Last Supper Just Jesus Jesus to Just Be 8 (Front Room) – Souvenirs and Ornaments 9 (Kitchen) – Dutch Pot Dutchie History Casual Hero 10 (Kitchen) – Rice Singing for Supper 11 (Bathroom) – Afro Comb Design Narratives Colour Codes 12 (Bathroom) – Sickle Cell Anaemia Medication Kate’s Story Sickle Cell On Screen 13 (Parent’s Bedroom) – Suitcase/Grip (Part 1) Suitcases and the Recovery of Apartheid Memory Returning to the Moment of Leaving 14 (Teenage Bedroom) – Stuff (Photo Essay) 15 (‘SENT For Child’s’ Bedroom) – Suitcase/Grip (Part 2) Veronica’s Story Postscript 16 (Garden) – Soil Nature and the Grieving Process Standing On Africa (Fiction) Soil – Postscript 17 Conclusion Bibliography Index