Reinventing religions : syncretism and transformation in Africa and the Americas

Once a central concept in anthropology, syncretism has recently re-emerged as a valuable tool for understanding the complex dynamics of ethnicity, postcolonialism, and transnationalism. Building on a century-long tradition of scholarship, this important book formulates a broader view of the mixing and interpenetration of religious beliefs and practices, primarily from Africa and Europe, highlighting the ways in which religions and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic have been assimilated and innovatively changed. Divided into four sections, the book focuses on religious syncretism in Brazil, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean and West Africa. Greenfield and Droogers have brought together an array of outstanding international scholars whose rich and varied essays on specific geographical locales and customs comprise an innovative and comprehensive view of the transference of religious traditions and their continuity and reformulation on two continents. Recovering And Reconstructing Syncretism / André Droogers And Sidney M. Greenfield -- A Yoruba Healer As Syncretic Specialist / Frank A. Salamone -- Population Growth, Industrialization And The Proliferation Of Syncretized Religions In Brazil / Sidney M. Greenfield -- Ethnicity, Purity, The Market And Syncretism In Afro-brazilian Cults / Roberto Motta -- Religious Syncretism In An Afro-brazilian Cult House / Sergio F. Ferretti -- The Presence Of Non-african Spirits In An Afro-brazilian Religion / Mundicarmo M.r. Ferretti -- The Reinterpretation Of Africa / Sidney M. Greenfield -- Possession And Syncretism / Inger Sjørslev -- Joana's Story / André Droogers -- Ragga Cowboys / Werner Zips -- Polyvocality And Constructions Of Syncretism In Winti / Ineke Van Wetering -- Seeking Syncretism / Morton Klass. Edited By Sidney M. Greenfield And André Droogers. Papers Originally Presented At A Session Of The 1995 Meeting Of The American Anthropological Association. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Once a central concept in anthropology, syncretism has re-emerged as a tool for understanding the dynamics of ethnicity, postcolonialism and transnationalism. This text formulates a view of the mixing and interpenetration of religious beliefs and practices, primarily from Africa and Europe.