Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santerķa, Obeah, and the Caribbean (Studies of Great Texts in Science) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813523613 ISBN 13: 9780813523613

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Sacred Possessions is an unprecedented collection of thirteen comparative and interdisciplinary essays exploring the cross-cultural dynamics of African-based religious systems in the Caribbean. The contributors analyze the nature and liturgies of Vodou, Santeria, Obeah, Quimbois, and Gaga as they form one central cultural matrix in the region. They ask how these belief systems were affected by differing colonial histories and landscapes, and how they affected other cultural expressions (from the oral tradition to popular art and literature), and how they have been perceived and (mis)represented by the West.

The book is a unique contribution to the study of the Caribbean as a site of multiculturalism, demonstrating the linkages between anthropology, religion, literature, and popular culture. Also included are a stunning photoessay on Cuban Santeria, a glossary of terms, and an insightful introduction by the editors.

About this title

Review:

A marvelous example of African Diaspora Studies... challenges our usual scholarly and everyday articulations of religion, even as it clearly articulates the possibilities and limits of Caribbean African retentions in Vodou, Santeria, and Obeah. -- Barbara Christian, University of California at Berkeley

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0813523613
• ISBN 13: 9780813523613
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 325
• Editor: Olmos Margarite Fernāndez, Paravisini-Gebert Lizabeth