Cities of the Dead: Circum-Atlantic Performance

by Joseph Roach

The colorful handmade costumes of beads and feathers swirl frenetically, as the Mardi Gras Indians dance through the streets of New Orleans in remembrance of a widely disputed cultural heritage. Iroquois Indians visit London in the early part of the eighteenth century and give birth to the "feathered people" in the British popular imagination.

What do these seemingly disparate strands of culture share over three hundred years and several thousand miles of ocean? Artfully interweaving theatrical, musical, and ritual performance from the eighteenth century to the present in London and New Orleans, Cities of the Dead takes a look at a rich continuum of intercultural exchange that reinvents, recreates, and restores history.

Complemented with fifty-five illustrations, including spectacular photos of the famed Mardi Gras Indians, this fascinating work employs an entirely unique approach to the study of culture. Rather than focusing on one region, Cities of the Dead explores broad cultural connections over place and time, showing through myriad examples how performance can revise the unwritten past.

Genres: History, Theory, Nonfiction, Academic, Race, Cultural Studies

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1996

Reviews

[Irma Mayorga · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read that is well worth the time. While the field has of course proliferated, Roach's elegantly written observations and formulations endure in their tremendous value and continue to inspire with their provocations of thought. Chapter 5: One Blood - magnificent.

[Dustin Hanvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the "ludic spaces" of late Renaissance English theater and New Orleans. Helped me to see the circum-Atlantic nature of much of the literature I studied in grad school.

[Chandler Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poop. Wear gloves when you pick it up, or bring a bag to scoop it into.

[John Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating meditation on cultural exchange in the circum-atlantic rim. A lot of exciting ideas about how theatre and other forms of performance work to enact culture. I'm not sure I am entirely convinced, and, as another reviewer noted, the author is never shy about using a ten-dollar word when a nickel one would do. Still, the book brings together a wide range of ideas and provides much food for thought.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and maybe it was pathbreaking in a way that I can’t appreciate now. The introduction is great, but I wasn’t interested in the sources.

[Ellen]

Intro, 2, 5, Concl. I love New Orleans.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing -- except possibly nuclear disarmament or healthcare reform -- should ever be this difficult to finish.

I have no objection to complex ideas or detailed analysis; what bothers me is when scholars write in a voice and style that is clearly meant to impress a small community of fellow scholars, and that comes at the expense of clarity. It is possible to be intelligent, rigorous, and also coherent.

[Kelly Caplan]

New Orleans and London; two cities, two worlds where the spirits of the dead inherently mingle with that of the living, both metaphorically and literally. This book is everything I've been looking for at once. CAN'T. EVEN. CONTAIN. MYSELF.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently re-reading as research for a documentary project. I scarfed it down soon after publication/when I was brand-new to New Orleans. I'm experiencing it on a visceral plane reading it again six years after the near-death of New Orleans by water.

[Patricia Coloma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read about performance, memory and Carnival. I focused in the chapters that deal with New Orleans´performance of circum-atlantic memory.

[Jess]

Read one chapter, think it's worth finishing, bought it.