The Dictionary of Global Culture: What Every American Needs to Know as We Enter the Next Century--From Diderot to Bo Diddley

What is a griot? Who is Che Guevara? I didn't ask if you have heard of him--who hasn't--but can you describe his importance to cultural development? What are the Mari letters? Why are they important? Why is Ibn Rushd important? All these items and people belong to what is called global culture. With the internet and instant updating of information, we are now truly a global community. As a result, we must update our own mental files to include terminology and people of other places, times, people, cultural events. That's where "The Dictionary of Global Culture" comes in. Henry Gates, Jr, (one of my favorite intellectuals and a professor at Harvard) and Kwame Anthony Appiah (philosopher, writer, professor currently at Princeton) compiled and edited this major undertaking. They make clear in the introduction that ideas from a global perspective are not meant to displace Western ideas, but to enrich them. "Our idea in making this book was a simple one: to give ... a sampler of cultural contributions from around the globe" (xi). The project began when they asked a colleague, Jiaxing Wang, to provide a list of essential products of Chinese civilization that readers should know. The list surprised them by omissions of things sure to be on it--gunpowder, noodles, Mao Zedong-- and inclusion of surprising items like Spring Festival. This list of essential items became the basis for inclusion from experts in cultures all around the globe. An identical challenge was presented to each. A griot, then, is a "professional oral historian who carries on the ancient tradition of praise-singing, storytelling, and genealogy in contemporary African culture; they are often compared to bards in other traditions" (262). As Gates and Appiah explain in the introduction, a tradition from one culture is often carried to another country and syncretized into its tradition. The griot in Africa became Uncle Remus in the South telling the stories of Br'er Rabbit and morals deduced. Che Guevara was a "guerrilla leader in South America and prominent figure in the Cuban revolution" and originally the source of the idea that the only solution to massive poverty in Latin America was violent revolution. The Mari letters are ancient Canaanite cuneiform tablets that provided information about the reign of Hammurabi of Mesopotamia and its extensive influence on the region. Most importantly, this information shows that "the ancient Hebrew texts of the Old Testament were a complex mix of legend, myth, polemic, and social history" (439). Ibn Rushd (Averroes as he is known in the West) was an Islamic philosopher and scientist who was born in Spain in 1126. It was through his work and translations of Aristotle that Western scholars "re-discovered" Aristotle. I often conclude alphabetical books with the last entry, serendipitous to me, a Louisiana native, as the last term is "zydeco." It is a "style of Cajun, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-American traditions, played predominantly in southw

This book is a great reference book to get the basic idea of an important person, place, or philosophy. It really is a book of global culture. It has many important western references as well as non-western or non eurocentric references. I like to just open the book for a few minutes whenever I am sitting near the bookshelf and learn something new. Each entry is about a half a page on average. Some are less some are more. There is really so much to learn about the world that our western education dosn't teach us. For example you can get a consice description of the French Revolution, or learn about Kuukai (774-835), a Japanese religious leader, or read about Macumba, an Afro-Brazilian religion. It's all here.

This is my first time recommending a book and I couldn't have chose a better reference tool! As an American living in Europe, having never been intrigued by history, I often refer to this book during or after discussions as a fact checker. Highly recommended!

I read this book this summer and the insight I gained cannot be paralleled. This book gives detailed accounts of people, places, and events of major influence in our time and in history. No one should be allowed to call himself/herself "educated" until she/he has read this book. What a wonderful resource!