85 p., This thesis examines the practice of Obeah--an Afro-Caribbean system of healing, harming, and divination through the use of spiritual powers--within two slave communities in Berbice and Demerara (British Guiana). This study is based primarily on legal documents--including testimony from more than a dozen slaves--generated during the criminal trials of two men accused of practicing Obeah in 1819 and 1821-22. In contrast to most previous studies of Obeah, which have been based largely on descriptions provided by British observers, this project takes advantage of this complex, overlapping body of evidence to explore the social dynamics of Obeah as experienced by enslaved men and women themselves, including Obeah practitioners, their clients, and other witnesses. This study reveals that Obeah rituals could be extremely violent, that Obeah practitioners were feared as well as respected among their contemporaries, that the authority of Obeah practitioners was based on demonstrable success, and that slave communities in general were complex social worlds characterized by conflict and division as well as by support and unity--conclusions that combine to produce a fresh, humane vision of Afro-diasporan culture and community under slavery.
164 p., Traces the journey of blacks from the Middle Passage through urban migration northward in black fiction. Argues that the historical use of religious rhetoric is transcended in black writing of the 20th century in order to recast black victimization during slavery, counter the progress of turn-of-the-century white supremacy, and chronicle the rise of economic racism which created the 20th century black ghetto. The religious doctrines discussed in this study include Puritan missionizing and heretical purges in I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem , the social work of the Catholic church in Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South , and the cultural intensity of the Pentecostal/Apostolic church in Go Tell It on the Mountain.
This paper explores Africa's engagements with the Diaspora in South America. It argues that the linkages have far deeper roots than is generally recognized by focusing on nineteenth-century demographic and cultural flows. The paper begins by offering broad conceptual notes on the complex connections between homelands and host lands in the Diaspora experience. This is followed by a brief survey of physical movements between South America and Africa in the nineteenth century. Finally, it looks at the cultural dimensions of this relationship, specifically focusing on religious developments and exchanges.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
270 p., Contents: 1. El arribo -- 2. De oficios, ocupaciones y formas de subsistencia -- 3. Los afroporteños propietarios -- 4. El proceso abolicionista -- 5. Las manifestaciones religiosas -- 6. Las cofradías religiosas -- Conclusiones.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
191 p., Comparing Cuban American and African American religiosity, this book argues that Afro-Cuban religiosity and culture are central to understanding the Cuban and Cuban American condition. It interprets this saturation of the Afro-Cuban as transcending race and affecting Cubans and Cuban Americans in spite of their pigmentation or self-identification.
[Unedited] Considering a set of selected papers and texts from the 19th and 20th c., the ethnic discourses created around the Chilean genre (zama)cueca and its consequences are discussed. From a theoretical framework rooted in the idea of textual canon, the consolidation of the mestizo idea (or mixed race idea) over indigenous and black discourses describe, on the one hand, how these discourses connect concepts such authenticity and nationality, but on the other hand, how they exclude other narratives, promoting the imaginary of the Chilean culture through essentialist speculations., [unedited non–English abstract received by RILM] El presente ensayo ofrece una reflexión sobre los discursos creados en torno a la etnicidad del género (zama)cueca a través del análisis de una selección de textos escritos entre los siglos XIX y XX. A partir de un marco conceptual centrado en la idea de canon como texto con poder representativo, se analiza la consolidación de lo mestizo al interior de estos discursos y la forma en que éstos vincularon la danza con las ideas de autenticidad y nacionalidad, excluyendo otros relatos del canon y alimentando el imaginario cultural de lo chileno por medio de especulaciones de carácter esencialista.; [Unedited] The complexity of Cuba's history, politics, and cultural makeup is surpassed only by the religious intricacies that animate its contemporary landscape. Spanish Catholicism and West African Lucumi religions, as well as their syncretized offspring, have long dominated religious scholarship. However, there is an escalating force that has the possibility to change Cuba's spiritual scene in the coming decades. Protestantism, brought to the country by American missionaries after the Spanish-American war in 1898, has been increasing in popularity in recent years. Many contemporary Cuban Protestant denominations have embraced 21st-c. modernity by incorporating popular styles into church music, using technology to increase interaction during services, and allowing charismatic worship practices to enter the church. All of these changes have made Protestantism a magnet for new believers. This dissertation examines the culture of Cuban evangelical churches and takes specific notice of an emergent genre of music that is appearing in several denominations. Alabanza y adoración (praise and worship) music, though not novel to the United States, has taken on new meaning in the worship services of Havana's metropolitan congregations. This music is significant because it marks a shift from the traditionalism of hymnody to the progressivism multi-influenced praise and worship. Popular music styles of Cuba such as salsa and son along with the global sounds of praise and worship music from the United States and Latin America have been adopted to fit the needs of Cuban congregations. I explore the world of Havana's evangelical subculture through field data gathered from interviews and observation of church services. I consider what it means to be a 'Christian' in Cuba as well as what it means to be a member of an evangelical denomination, two sources of identity in tension with one another. The Iglesia Metodista Unida (United Methodist Church), Iglesia Evangélica Pentecostal Asambleas de Dios (Assemblies of God Pentecostal Evangelical Church), and the Fraternidad Bautista (Baptist Fraternity) are the main field sites that provide case studies for this dissertation. Additionally, I examine the layered experiences within the subculture, particularly those of youth and Afro-Cuban participants.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
267 p., Draws on in-depth interviews to reveal the personal experiences of those who adopted the religion in the 1950s to 1970s, one generation past the movement's emergence . By talking with these Rastafari elders, he seeks to understand why and how Jamaicans became Rastafari in spite of rampant discrimination, and what sustains them in their faith and identity.
Hefferan,Tara (Editor), Adkins,Julie (Editor), and Occhipinti,Laurie (Editor)
Format:
Book, Edited
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Journal Title Details:
p. 238 p.
Notes:
Includes /Bretton Alvaré's "Fighting for 'livity': Rastafari politics in a neoliberal state" and Tara L. Hefferan's "Encouraging development 'alternatives': grassroots church partnering in the U.S. and Haiti"
301 p., Throughout the 20th century, various Cuban regimes have tried to eliminate the practice of religions of African origin by combining repressive legislation and coercive social practices that stigmatized practitioners as culturally backward, socially deviant, and mentally deficient. Religious practitioners, however, used the state apparatus to continue worshipping their African deities, sometimes challenging government officials' excessive application of the law or devising ways to evade their scrutiny. Through an analysis of archival documents, newspapers, works produced by practitioners, oral history interviews and published ethnographies, this dissertation examines the strategies practitioners of Ocha-Ifá - also known as Santería - employed as they continued practicing the religion of their ancestors and participating in the national projects of the twentieth century. Focusing on the period after the 1959 revolution, this dissertation argues that revolutionary policies that were designed to discourage the practice of religions of African origin actually facilitated its continued practice and development in unintended ways.
