Description
Book SynopsisAisha Khan examines two cultural phenomena of colonized laborers in the West Indies: the “African” supernatural practice of obeah and the “Indian” mourning festival of Hosay. The British criminalized both, establishing hierarchies through racial and religious identities still relevant to postcolonial power dynamics, as well as justice movements.
Trade ReviewKhan captures the dynamism of West Indian popular religion in this indispensable book. Examining the hard realities of colonization, exploitation, and racism,
The Deepest Dye offers an unparalleled insight into the intersection of religion and race. This is a brilliant history of how the religious imagination is colored in ways that come to seem natural and permanent, but are nevertheless subject to constant change. -- Vincent Brown, author of
Tacky’s RevoltIlluminating…Khan’s sophisticated and complex analysis will challenge readers to reconsider concepts like ‘race’ and ‘religion,’ inviting them to revisit how the terms came to exist in the first place. Anthropologists, theologians, and scholarly readers alike can glean much from Khan’s sweeping exploration. * Publishers Weekly *
The Deepest Dye offers a story of the making of the Anglophone Caribbean focused especially on the generative and paradoxical impact of slavery and indenture, and their enduring afterlives. In thinking through the mutually constitutive domains of racial and religious identity—obeah coded African and Hosay coded Indian—Aisha Khan provides a richly textured account of the historical and ideological powers that continue to structure the Caribbean region and its diasporas. -- David Scott, author of
Conscripts of ModernityThrough a rich examination of the entwined destinies of obeah and Hosay over the
longue dureé, Aisha Khan provides a compelling account of the staying power of racial and religious discourses.
The Deepest Dye makes an important contribution to understanding the intersections of race and religion. -- Robert A. Orsi, author of
History and Presence
