Uprooted Africans brought as slaves to Brazil carried with them a collective memory, including elements of their religion and medicine. The Yoruba orisha and the Christian saints have been thoroughly assimilated; sculptures made in Brazil in the first half of the twentieth century still show clearly the survival of the Yoruba influence combined with Christian iconography. Examples of Shango wands, twin figures (ibeji) and representations of Eshu confirm this conclusion.
2 vols, 602 p., Draws from a variety of fields and methodologies to study the art and ritual of Afro-Cuban religion in New Jersey and New York, as practiced by white and black Cubans from four periods of immigration/exile. It begins, however, by tracing the history of defining Lucumi (Cuban Yoruba) images, symbols, and institutions from the colonial period (ends 1898) through the first half of the 20th century. The balance of the dissertation focuses on the New York Metropolitan Area of the 1980s. The work explores how Afro-Cuban religion has evolved and flourished in relation to particular U.S. urban settings: how it has shaped and has been shaped by those settings, e.g., Union City, New Jersey and Manhattan.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Journal Title Details:
15.0 Boxes
Notes:
"The collection is rich with documentation on languages, folklore, and music from the Caribbean and West Africa. Research materials regarding African American dialects and language are also extensively covered in the collection. Slides from her trips to Ghana and the Caribbean (West Indies) can be found in box 6. Course materials and research notes are found throughout the collection. Audiocassettes and reels containing over 92 hours of dialect, folklore and folk song recordings from Africa and the Caribbean are located in box 2 and 7. Lastly, an extensive book collection is included in the donation." (Amistad Research Center)
Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
443 p, An anthology of 16 essays by scholars, artists, and ritual experts who examine the sacred arts of Haitian Vodou from multiple perspectives. Among the many topics covered are the 10 major Vodou divinities, the paintings of Hector Hyppolite, the multimedia pieces of Pierrot Barra, sequined bottles and sequined flags, and the work of the Brooklyn Priestess Mama Lola.
