Manipulating the Sacred by Mikelle S Omari-Tukara

Manipulating the Sacred by Mikelle S Omari-Tukara

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 candomble (miniature ""African"" environments or temples) of the Bahia region, which combine Yoruba, 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. Manipulating the Sacred will be of value to students of art history, religion, anthropology, African American studies, and Latin American studies, and to the growing English-speaking community of initiates of African-based religions.

Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara is an associate professor in the department of art at the University of Arizona.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780814328521
ISBN 10	0814328520
Title	Manipulating the Sacred
Author	Mikelle S Omari-Tukara
Series	African American Life Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Wayne State University Press
Year published	2005-10-31
Number of pages	212
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable