Jamaica’s rich culture is known the world over; and every aspect of this culture has been influenced by Jamaica’s African heritage. From speech to dress, and spirituality to dance, from food to folklore and from music to art and religion, African retentions from the time of slavery have become more than preserved aspects of Jamaica’s past; African traditions have become part and parcel of Jamaican culture.

In this Reader, Coester and Bender have compiled some of the most important ethnographic work by noted researchers which, although previously published, have been exceptionally difficult to access by the growing community of scholars of African-Caribbean and Jamaican studies. Several seminal articles on aspects of African-Jamaican culture are included in this rich and valuable collection that describes and analyses the elements that make up a distinctive African-Jamaican ethos.