Spirits, Slaves, and Memories in the African Diaspora.docx (original) (raw)
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Sacred Slaves: Tchamba Vodu in Southern Togo
This article ethnographically documents beliefs and practices sur- rounding Tchamba vodu among Anlo-Ewe vodu adepts in southern Togo. Mama Tchamba, or Grandmother Slave, is a religious order devoted to the veneration of the spirits of slaves purchased by the ancestors of Tchamba adepts and sold or kept in the community as wives and mothers. This article documents Tchamba vodu through the authors’ interviews and observations in the community and situ- ates these beliefs and practices in the larger cultural context of slavery and ritual among the Anlo Ewe. Drawing on mimetic theory, we argue that Tchamba ceremonial practices represent performed memorializa- tions of the cultural experiences of slavery along the coast of the Bight of Benin and open culturally productive spaces and identities through mimetic bodily performance.
2015
Based on a decade of fieldwork in southeastern Ghana and analysis of secondary sources, this book aims to reconstruct the religious history of the Anlo-Ewe peoples from the 1850s. In particular, it focuses on a corpus of rituals collectively known as ‘Fofie’, which derived their legitimacy from engaging with the memory of the slave-holding past. The Anlo developed a sense of discomfort about their agency in slavery in the early twentieth century, which they articulated through practices such as ancestor veneration and spirit possession, and by forging links with descendants of peoples they formerly enslaved. Conversion to Christianity, engagement with ‘modernity’, trans-Atlantic conversations with diasporan Africans, and citizenship of the post-colonial state coupled with structural changes within the religious system – which resulted in the decline in Fofie’s popularity – gradually altered the moral emphases on legacies of slavery in the Anlo historical imagination as the twentieth century progressed.
Slavery, Memory and Religion in Southeastern Ghana, c. 1850–Present
Slavery, Memory, and Religion in Southeastern Ghana,c. 1850–Present, 2015
Based on a decade of fieldwork in southeastern Ghana and analysis of secondary sources, this book aims to reconstruct the religious history of the Anlo-Ewe peoples from the 1850s. In particular, it focuses on a corpus of rituals collectively known as 'Fofie', which derived their legitimacy from engaging with the memory of the slave-holding past. The Anlo developed a sense of discomfort about their agency in slavery in the early twentieth century which they articulated through practices such as ancestor veneration, spirit possession, and by forging links with descendants of peoples they formerly enslaved. Conversion to Christianity, engagement with 'modernity', trans-Atlantic conversations with diasporan Africans, and citizenship of the postcolonial state coupled with structural changes within the religious system - which resulted in the decline in Fofie's popularity - gradually altered the moral emphases of legacies of slavery in the Anlo historical imagination a...
Chapter 1 of Slavery, Memory and Religion in southeastern Ghana, c.1850-present, 2015
Based on a decade of fieldwork in southeastern Ghana and analysis of secondary sources, this book aims to reconstruct the religious history of the Anlo-Ewe peoples from the 1850s. In particular, it focuses on a corpus of rituals collectively known as ‘Fofie’, which derived their legitimacy from engaging with the memory of the slave-holding past. The Anlo developed a sense of discomfort about their agency in slavery in the early twentieth century, which they articulated through practices such as ancestor veneration and spirit possession, and by forging links with descendants of peoples they formerly enslaved. Conversion to Christianity, engagement with ‘modernity’, trans-Atlantic conversations with diasporan Africans, and citizenship of the post-colonial state coupled with structural changes within the religious system – which resulted in the decline in Fofie’s popularity – gradually altered the moral emphases on legacies of slavery in the Anlo historical imagination as the twentieth century progressed.
Power, slavery, and spirit possession in East Africa: a few reflections *
2014
Spirit possession and its relationship with power aims to offer here a better understanding not only of East African societies, but, most of all, of their historical role in numerous political and military conflicts and also within peace-building processes that represent a continuation of a topic of longstanding concern in East African history. The relationships between religions, local cultures and institutional powers throughout contemporary East African history will be re-read through regional and transnational, as well as international dynamics. 1.1 Swahili Society The subject of spirit possession is vast and complex, and the focus here is essentially on a few aspects of the waganga's (witch doctors) role within the exercise of power locally and within the relationships with Islam during the colonial period in these two most important and influencing islands-Zanzibar and Pemba-in the history of the Indian Ocean in general, and within Swahili civilization. 1 Accordingly, we wish to stress that anthropological, psychological, and ethnographical sources are functional to a better understanding of the role of charismatic figures such as the waganga within the exercise of power, especially during Omani and European presence along the islands and the littorals of Sub-Saharan East Africa. During the 18 th and 19 th centuries, the Indian Ocean became the heart of new political and economic strategies, which attracted Europe with its new emerging National States. 2 Starting from the second half of the 19 th century-1873-1963-Imperialism contributed to numerous transformations of Swahili groups in East Thank you to Dr. Shihan De Silva, Senior Fellow at Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, UK for her editing; when in italics, terms are here reproduced as in consulted sources and texts.
Mark and spirit possession in an African context
2006
The Gospel of Mark is a moving story especially when one looks at the way Mark recounts Jesus' struggle with evil, the extent of the power and the fate of Satan and demons and the type of life the followers of Jesus are to lead: whether a demon-free life or a life of struggle with ...
HIST 261: African Religion and Ritual
This class offers an introduction to a broad range of African religious beliefs and ritual practices, as well as to a variety of theoretical approaches to their study. We will explore several "classic" topics in the field-spirit possession, divination, initiation, witchcraft, healing, sacrifice, etc.-together with the history of so-called "world religions" (like Christianity and Islam) in Africa. We will approach these through case studies drawn from across the continent from the precolonial period to the present, carefully situating each in their social and historical context. Along the way, we will query each of the three terms of the course title: What is "ritual," for example? How do we know it when we see it? What do we mean by "religion"? And in what sense are any of these "African"? GENERAL EDUCATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES This course meets the following General Education requirements for Humanities: Student Learning Outcome 1: Students analyze how ideas are represented, interpreted, or valued in various expressions of human culture. Student Learning Outcome 1: Students examine relevant primary source materials as understood by the discipline and interpret the material in writing assignments. These outcomes will be assessed through an analysis of a primary source in African religious and ritual history.
Embodiment and Relationality in Religions of Africa and Its Diasporas
Embodying Black Religions in Africa and Its Diasporas
Melodically rocking Sufi bodies remember God on a former plantation in South Carolina, reconnecting with ancestors and an imagined homeland. Dancers in Martinique use the sound of the bèlè drum to achieve emotional transcendence and resist alienation caused by centuries of French assimilation. Devotees of Mama Tchamba in Togo use shuffling steps, dress, and ritual to placate the spirits of formerly enslaved people from the North whom their own ancestors bought and sold. All of these examples foreground one thing: the role of the body specifically in the shaping, transmitting, and remaking of African and African diasporic religions and religious communities. Embodying Black Religions in Africa and Its Diasporas is an edited volume that critically examines the role of the body as a source of religiously motivated social action for people of African descent across the geographic regions of the African continent, the Ca rib bean and Latin Amer i ca, the American South, and Eu rope. From a variety of religious contexts-from Pentecostalism in Ghana and Brazil to Ifá divination in Trinidad to Islam in South Carolina, Nigeria, and London-the contributors investigate the complex intersections between the body, religious expression, and the construction and negotiation of par tic ular social relationships and collective identities. A series of case studies explore how embodied practices-such as possession and spirit-induced trembling, wrestling in pursuit of deliverance, ritual dance, and gestures and postures of piety-can inform notions of sexual citizenship, challenge secular definitions of the nation, or promote transatlantic connections as well as local and ethnic Introduction: Embodiment and Relationality in Religions of Africa and Its Diasporas yolanda covington-ward and jeanette s. jouili