The article reviews the book "Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé," by J. Lorand Matory. "My extensive use of superlatives throughout this review should make it clear that I find the book to be invaluable and extraordinarily well researched. With that said, Black Atlantic Religion is not for the reader interested in the spiritual and/or practical side of Candomblé (e.g., practices/rituals, theology, internal hierarchy, etc.). In fact, I would argue that by focusing on the humanity of the practitioners (their interests, desires, strategies, and ideologies), Matory depicts Candomblé more as a political organization than a religious one." --Michael Iyanaga
Reviews Sybille Fischer's Modernity Disavowed; Haiti and the Cultures of Slavery in the Age of Revolution (2004); Patricia D. Fox's Being and Blackness in Latin America; Uprootedness and Improvisation (2006); Eleuterio Santiago-Dîaz's Escritura of ropuertorriqueòa y modernidad (2007); and Lucîa M. Suârez's The Tears of Hispaniola; Haitian and Dominican Diaspora Memory (2006).
Reviews a novel about the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States. In its depiction of African Americans, White Americans, Britons, and Caribbean immigrants, the book demonstrates Americans' obsession with race. In addition to the contrast between desires for racial authenticity and class mobility, Smith’s novel exposes the variability of Black America, and especially the intersection between class and race.
