Holy harlots : femininity, sexuality, and black magic in Brazil / Kelly E. Hayes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hayes, Kelly E., 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pomba Gira (Spirit).

Pomba Gira.

Afro-Brazilian religions--Brazil.

Afro-Brazilian religions.

Brazil--Religious life and customs.

Brazil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley [Calif.] : University of California Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Holy Harlots examines the intersections of social marginality, morality, and magic in contemporary Brazil by analyzing the beliefs and religious practices related to the Afro-Brazilian spirit entity Pomba Gira. Said to be the disembodied spirit of an unruly harlot, Pomba Gira is a controversial figure in Brazil. Devotees maintain that Pomba Gira possesses an intimate knowledge of human affairs and the mystical power to intervene in the human world. Others view this entity more ambivalently. Kelly E. Hayes provides an intimate and engaging account of the intricate relationship between Pomba Gira and one of her devotees, Nazaré da Silva. Combining Nazaré's spiritual biography with analysis of the gender politics and violence that shapes life on the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Hayes highlights Pomba Gira's role in the rivalries, relationships, and struggles of everyday life in urban Brazil.A DVD of the film Slaves of the Saints is included.

Contents:

Wicked women and femmes fatales

Pomba Gira and the religious imagination

Life on the margins

Sexuality, morality, and the logic of gender

Becoming a zelador

Spiritual defenders and protectors

Maria Molambo's revenge

If God is all good, then only the devil can combat evil

Balancing human and spirit worlds.

Notes:

Publication and copyright date on DVD, 2010.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613278098

9780520949430

0520949439

9781283278096

128327809X

OCLC:

709551297