Language of Dress

African enslaved and freed women used their fashion and style of dress as a symbol of resistance to slavery and accommodation to white culture in pre- and post-emancipation society. African cultural features - folklore, music, language, religion and dress - were retained and nurtured in Jamaica because they guaranteed the survival of Africans and their descendants against European attempts at cultural annihilation. Steeve Buckridge illuminates the complexities of accommodation and resistance, showing that these complex responses are not opposites but are in fact melded into each other, as he reveals the dynamics of race, class and gender in Jamaican society and the role of women in British West Indian history. His work contributes to the ongoing interest in the history of women and in the history of resistance.

Steeve O. Buckridge is Assistant Professor of History, Department of History, Grand Valley State University.