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Hollywood Be Thy Name

African American Religion in American Film, 1929–1949

Judith Weisenfeld author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of California Press

Published:15th Jun '07

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Hollywood Be Thy Name cover

From the earliest years of sound film in America, Hollywood studios and independent producers of "race films" for black audiences created stories featuring African American religious practices. In the first book to examine how the movies constructed images of African American religion, Judith Weisenfeld explores these cinematic representations and how they reflected and contributed to complicated discourses about race, the social and moral requirements of American citizenship, and the very nature of American identity. Drawing on such textual sources as studio production files, censorship records, and discussions and debates about religion and film in the black press, as well as providing close readings of films, this richly illustrated and meticulously researched book brings religious studies and film history together in innovative ways.

"An illuminating study of the history of race and film in America." -- Kathy L. Glass African American Review

ISBN: 9780520251007

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm

Weight: 499g

355 pages