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/lp/duke-university-press/the-musicality-of-black-preaching-a-phenomenology-vj9TK8OWg1
- Copyright
- © Copyright 1988 JBSM/Jon Michael Spencer
- ISSN
- 1043-9455
- eISSN
- 2640-9879
- DOI
- 10.1215/10439455-2.1.21
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
The Musicality of Black Preaching: A Phenomenology William C. Turner, Jr. The Pervasiveness of the Idiom One who observes the Black Church from within the context of its life as a worshiping community is soon struck by the degree to which the preaching is musical. The spectrum of musical expression ranges from the sonorous delivery, which has a pleasant melodiousness, meter, and cadence, to the full blown chant or song. To those who are a part of the tradition in which musical delivery is normative, such a form often emerges as the criterion for preaching. This valuation categorizes other styles of delivery as mere speech, address, or lecture; but hardly as preaching. Consequently, the preacher uninitiated in the customs of this segment of the Black Church may be thanked for his or her "talk" as courteous intimation that .. preaching" per se had not occurred. Although few credible preachers and even fewer homileticians would make musical delivery a measure for preaching, it remains a highly treasured aspect of the culture. The manner in which black preaching speaks to the black experience in America with a divinely inspired word is doubtless its most distinctive feature. To a situation characterized by
Journal
Black Sacred Music – Duke University Press
Published: Mar 1, 1988