Recreating Africa
Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441-1770
James H. Sweet
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 07/2004
Pages: 320
Subject: History, Religion
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807862346
DESCRIPTION
Slaves transferred many cultural practices from their homelands to Brazil, including kinship structures, divination rituals, judicial ordeals, ritual burials, dietary restrictions, and secret societies. Sweet demonstrates that the structures of many of these practices remained constant during this early period, although the meanings of the rituals were often transformed as slaves coped with their new environment and status. Religious rituals in particular became potent forms of protest against the institution of slavery and its hardships. In addition, Sweet examines how certain African beliefs and customs challenged and ultimately influenced Brazilian Catholicism.
Sweet's analysis sheds new light on African culture in Brazil's slave society while also enriching our understanding of the complex process of creolization and cultural survival.