Joseph M. Murphy - Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora
Here you can read online Joseph M. Murphy - Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 1995, publisher: Beacon Press, genre: Religion. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
Book:
Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora
Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
A brilliant comparative study of the workings of the Spirit among practitioners of African-derived religions. . . . A must read for students of African, Caribbean, Brazilian, and African American religions. Choice
Joseph M. Murphy: author's other books
Who wrote Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Beacon Press 25 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 021082892
Beacon Press books are published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
1994 by Joseph M. Murphy All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America
The author would like to thank Judith Gleason for permission to use material from her film The King Does Not Lie; song from Life in a Haitian Valley by Melville J. Herskovits, copyright 1937 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., renewed 1965 by Frances S. Herskovits, reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., songs from Voodoo Heritage by Michel Laguerre, copyright 1980 by SAGE Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Murphy, Joseph M., 1951 Working the spirit : ceremonies of the African diaspora / Joseph M. Murphy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8070-1220-3 (cloth) ISBN 0-8070-1221-1 (paper) 1. Afro-AmericansReligion. 2. BlacksLatin AmericaReligion. 3. Voodooism. 4. African diaspora. I. Title. BL2490.M87 1994 200'.89'96dc20 93-3929 99 8 7 6 5 4
Text design by David Bullen
Page v
to our African ancestors
Page vii
Contents
Preface
ix
Note on Orthographies
xiii
1. Introduction
1
2. Haitian Vodou
10
3. Candombl in Brazil
44
4. Cuban and Cuban American Santera
81
5. Revival Zion in Jamaica
114
6. The Black Church in the United States
145
7. Working the Spirit
176
Acknowledgments
201
Notes
203
Glossary
239
Selected Bibliography
247
Index
257
Page ix
Preface
When I began planning this book in the winter of 1989 I had in mind a kind of handbook of religions of the African diaspora. The book would organize basic information about the traditions and show something of their spirit. As the research and writing continued I began to realize that it was this spirit that interested me, especially the special ways that the spirit was "worked" in the communal ceremonies of each tradition. After years of attending santera drum and dance ceremonies, I started to see, hear, and feel many of the same "workings" during visits to African American churches. The book began to focus on what an outsider might experience at services of the spirit in five diasporan communities, and how these experiences might relate to the communities' own interpretation of their actions.
I've discovered that while it is difficult enough to relate basic information about the traditions, it is quite something more to presume to understand their spirit. As a white, North American, middle-class male, I've continually discovered new limitations in my understanding of religions of the African diaspora as I have projected my own interests and issues on people with very different ones. As I have grown in my understanding of their traditions, I have experienced a continual correction of these projections, a challenge to my prejudices by diasporan realities. Yet
Page x
further on the road of understanding, I have found new commonalities of material and spiritual values. At each level of understanding I've learned that I am more like and more different from the people whom I have been getting to know. I hope that I have been able to give an account that is acceptable to them and intelligible to outsiders.
One of the highest hurdles to overcome in interpreting diasporan traditions to outsiders is the deep-seated popular image of them as "voodoo," malign "black magic." Hundreds of books and scores of films have portrayed the spirituality of millions of people of African descent as crazed, depraved, or demonic manipulations of gullible and irrational people. These images have their origin in the French colonial reaction to the revolt of Haitian slaves whose motive in liberating themselves from grinding and brutal enslavement was thought to rest in
Similar books «Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora»
Look at similar books to Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Reviews about «Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora»
Discussion, reviews of the book Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.
