The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion (Religion Culture Critique)

The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion engages a variety of conversations at the forefront of contemporary scholarship in the study of religion and in African diaspora studies. These conversations include: the construction of racial identity in diverse national settings (Brazil, Mexico, Britain, North America); new religious movements and nationalism; alternative religious narratives in the diaspora; literature read through the lens of diaspora; trans-Atlantic culture (the role of Denmark in Nella Larson's novel Quicksand , for example, or Ethiopia in Rastafarianism); and the role of the scholar and scholarship in the construction of religious and political meaning. Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Series Editor’s Preface 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 18 List of Abbreviations 20 Introduction: Alexander Crummell and the Destined Superiority of African People 22 Part 1 Africa in Diaspora 36 1 Raising Champions, Taking Territories: African Churches and the Mapping of New Religious Landscapes in Diaspora 38 2 Christianity on Trial: The Nation of Islam and the Rastafari, 1930–1950 56 3 Ahmadi, Beboppers, Veterans, and Migrants: African American Islam in Boston, 1948–1963 70 Part 2 Diaspora in Literature and Culture 92 4 Robert Nathaniel Dett and African America’s Christian Kingdom of Culture, 1926–1932 94 5 Slain in the Spirit: Sexuality and Afro-Caribbean Religious Expression in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand 114 6 Candomblé, Christianity, and Gnosticism in Toni Morrison’s Paradise 132 Part 3 Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean 150 7 The African Diaspora in Mexico: Santería, Tourism, and Representations of the State 152 8 Writing Out Africa? Racial Politics and the Cuban regla de ocha 172 9 Macumba Has Invaded All Spheres: Africanity, Black Magic, and the Study of Afro-Brazilian Religions 188 Part 4 Diaspora in Theory 212 10 Early American Pentecostalism: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Anticipation 214 11 Toward a Tradition of African American Pragmatic Religious Naturalism 234 12 Africa on Our Minds 250 Conclusion: “Africa” in the Study of African American Religion 260 Notes on the Contributors 272 Index 276 A 276 B 277 C 278 D 279 E 280 F 280 G 281 H 281 I 282 J 282 K 283 L 283 M 283 N 284 O 285 P 285 Q 286 R 286 S 287 T 288 U 288 V 288 W 288 Y 289 Z 289 This book focuses on the location of the religious heritage of Africa within the academic study of religion - including indigenous African religions, African Christianities, African/American forms of Islam, the religions of African Americans, Afro-Caribbean religions, and Afro-Brazilian religions.