African Identity in Asia: Cultural Effects of Forced Migration

by Shihan De Silva Jayasuriya

In contrast to the dispersion of slaves across the Atlantic, African movement to Asia has received scant attention because forced migrations across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, which endured for centuries, were not part of a significant economic network. However, Britain’s 2007 commemoration of the bicentennial of its abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade has now stimulated interest in other African migrations. In a book that encompasses the strong military impact made by even first-generation African migrants in Asia, as well as by the descendants of the royal Africans who governed Sachin and Janjira (India), Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya further demonstrates that African music and dance have not only survived the brutalities of forced migration but have also contributed to the local Middle Eastern and South Asian arts scenes. Even though spirit possession ceremonies have been preserved as a form of cultural identity, new, blended forms of music that evolved in Asia have now become indigenized in the host countries. Forced African migrants have become inadvertent cultural brokers between two continents. Combining historical accounts, both documented and oral, this groundbreaking work explores ― through case studies, and through the processes of assimilation, social mobility, and marginalization ― the silent history and conflicting identity of Asia’s Africans.

180 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Monica Bond-Lamberty · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this is the only book on the subject (Africans in Asia) that I have read, and therefore the information was interesting and unfamiliar to me, I found the style clunky. Getting through the text was a chore and I slogged through just to get to the information. I suspect if they author had used footnotes for their numerous citations that might have helped. As it was much of the chapters included the listing of examples from a variety of societies that at some point made one's eyes glaze over. However if the final chapter had started the book, and mind you the book was worth it for the chapter alone, that would have allowed those interested in the subject to delve deeper into the subject of choice. Also, some statements, like the inherent physical prowess of those of African descent or their natural musical abilities made me feel a little uncomfortable when reading.