In this book, a range of distinguished scholars argue that the origin of the Americas is best seen in terms of a triad that adds African history to the record of contact between Europe and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Engaging theories of discourse and creolization, the contributors suggest that from this triad can emerge a new world view of global history as a syncretizing cultural matrix.

The essays approach new world culture from the vantages of history, literature, science, and religion. Several pieces track the emergence of European world view at the time of discovery. Others retrieve the non-European - African and Native Americanrecord of exploration, encounter, and civilization in the New World.

A final corps of essays, drawing the triad together, focuses on creolization and the social formation of the Americas, the "polyrhythmic paradigm" of the Caribbean, and the postcolonial meaning of religion.