Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of 13 comparative and interdisciplinary essays explores 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 a cultural matrix in the region.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Religious Syncretism and Caribbean Culture
Vodoun, or the Voice of the Gods
Women Possessed: Eroticism and Exoticism in the Representation of Woman as Zombie
"I Am Going to See Where My Oungan Is": The Artistry of a Haitian Vodou Flagmaker
La Regla de Ocha: The Religious System of Santeria
From The Sacred Wild to the City: Santeria in Cuba Today
From Monkey Tales to Cuban Songs: On Signification
Ifa and Interpretation: An Afro-Caribbean Literary Practice
Romantic Voodoo: Obeah and British Culture, 1797-1807
"An Article of Faith": Obeah and Hybrid Identities in Elizabeth Nunez-Harrell's When Rocks Dance
"Another Poor Devil of a Human Being...": Jean Rhys and the Novel as Obeah
The Shaman Woman, Resistance, and the Powers of Transformation: A Tribute to Ma Cia in Simone Schwarz-Bart's The Bridge of Beyond
Sorcerers, She-Devils, and Shipwrecked Women: Writing Religion in French-Caribbean Literature
Trans-Caribbean Identity and the Fictional World of Mayra Montero
Glossary
Works Cited
Notes on Contributors
Index
