Manipulating the Sacred: Yorůbá Art, Ritual, and Resistance in Brazilian Candomblé Contributor(s): Omari-Tunkara, Mikelle S. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0814328520 ISBN-13: 9780814328521 Publisher: Wayne State University Press OUR PRICE: $30.64 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2005 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Art | African - Art | History - General - Art | Subjects & Themes - Religious |
Dewey: 299.673 |
LCCN: 2002012722 |
Series: African American Life (Paperback) |
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.9" W x 8.9" (0.80 lbs) 208 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - African - Ethnic Orientation - African American |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: At a time when the art of the African 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 Candombl? (miniature "African" environments or temples) of the Bahia region, which combine Yor?b?, 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 African heritage and a locus for resistance to the dominant Euro-Brazilian culture. |