Vincent L. Wimbush is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures at Claremont Graduate University.

• Contents ; Prologue ; Chapter One: "unbounded influence over the credulity and superstition of the people": ; Magic as Slavery, Slavery as Magic ; Chapter Two: "the white men had some spell or magic": ; A Black Stranger's First Contact with White Men's Magic ; Chapter Three: "every person there read the Bible": ; Scripturalization as Matrix of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Four: "to the Britons first the Gospel is preached": ; Scripturalization in the Nationalization of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Five: "in the Bible, I saw things new": ; Scripturalization and the Mimetics of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Six: "take the book and tell God to make them dead": ; Scripturalization as White Men's Hegemony ; Chapter Seven: "I could read it for myself": ; Scripturalization, Slavery, and Agency ; Epilogue ; Bibliography ; Index

White Men's Magic profoundly transforms studies of the encounters between the North Atlantic and Black African worlds. In challenging the canonical reading of scriptures, Wimbush invents a new word. 'Scripturalization' is his inspired term to explicate the normalization of constructed meanings, veiling the social and political forces that control their interpretation. Wimbush's innovative method ties the life of the Bible irrevocably to the wider history of slavery and transatlantic movements. The black slave Equiano's autobiography will never be read in the same way again.

Vincent L. Wimbush is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures at Claremont Graduate University.

• Contents ; Prologue ; Chapter One: "unbounded influence over the credulity and superstition of the people": ; Magic as Slavery, Slavery as Magic ; Chapter Two: "the white men had some spell or magic": ; A Black Stranger's First Contact with White Men's Magic ; Chapter Three: "every person there read the Bible": ; Scripturalization as Matrix of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Four: "to the Britons first the Gospel is preached": ; Scripturalization in the Nationalization of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Five: "in the Bible, I saw things new": ; Scripturalization and the Mimetics of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Six: "take the book and tell God to make them dead": ; Scripturalization as White Men's Hegemony ; Chapter Seven: "I could read it for myself": ; Scripturalization, Slavery, and Agency ; Epilogue ; Bibliography ; Index

White Men's Magic profoundly transforms studies of the encounters between the North Atlantic and Black African worlds. In challenging the canonical reading of scriptures, Wimbush invents a new word. 'Scripturalization' is his inspired term to explicate the normalization of constructed meanings, veiling the social and political forces that control their interpretation. Wimbush's innovative method ties the life of the Bible irrevocably to the wider history of slavery and transatlantic movements. The black slave Equiano's autobiography will never be read in the same way again.

Vincent L. Wimbush is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures at Claremont Graduate University.

• Contents ; Prologue ; Chapter One: "unbounded influence over the credulity and superstition of the people": ; Magic as Slavery, Slavery as Magic ; Chapter Two: "the white men had some spell or magic": ; A Black Stranger's First Contact with White Men's Magic ; Chapter Three: "every person there read the Bible": ; Scripturalization as Matrix of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Four: "to the Britons first the Gospel is preached": ; Scripturalization in the Nationalization of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Five: "in the Bible, I saw things new": ; Scripturalization and the Mimetics of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Six: "take the book and tell God to make them dead": ; Scripturalization as White Men's Hegemony ; Chapter Seven: "I could read it for myself": ; Scripturalization, Slavery, and Agency ; Epilogue ; Bibliography ; Index

White Men's Magic profoundly transforms studies of the encounters between the North Atlantic and Black African worlds. In challenging the canonical reading of scriptures, Wimbush invents a new word. 'Scripturalization' is his inspired term to explicate the normalization of constructed meanings, veiling the social and political forces that control their interpretation. Wimbush's innovative method ties the life of the Bible irrevocably to the wider history of slavery and transatlantic movements. The black slave Equiano's autobiography will never be read in the same way again.