Title: Manipulating the sacred : Yoruba art, ritual, and resistance in Brazilian Candomble
Abstract: At a time when the art of the diaspora has aroused much general interest for its multicultural dimensions, Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara contributes strikingly rich insights as a participant/observer in the African-based religions of Brazil. She focuses on the symbolism and function of ritual objects and costumes used in the Brazilian candomble (miniature African environments or temples) of the Bahia region, which combine Yoruba, Bantu/Angola, Caboclo, Roman Catholic, and/or Kardecist/Spiritist elements. An initiate herself with more than twenty years of study, the author is considered an insider, and has witnessed how practitioners manipulate the sacred to encode, in art and ritual, vital knowledge about meaning, values, epistemologies, and history. She demonstrates how this manipulation provides Brazilian descendents of slaves with a sense of agency - with a link to their heritage and a locus for resistance to the dominant Euro-Brazilian culture. Manipulating the Sacred will be of value to students of art history, religion, anthropology, American studies, and Latin American studies, and to the growing English-speaking community of initiates of African-based religions.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 14
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