Society of the dead : Quita Manaquita and Palo praise in Cuba / Todd Ramón Ochoa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ochoa, Todd Ramón, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Palo.

Afro-Caribbean religions--Cuba.

Afro-Caribbean religions.

Death--Religious aspects.

Death.

Cuba--Religious life and customs.

Cuba.

Cuba--Religion--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (327 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

In a riveting first-person account, Todd Ramón Ochoa explores Palo, a Kongo-inspired "society of affliction" that is poorly understood at the margins of Cuban popular religion. Narrated as an encounter with two teachers of Palo, the book unfolds on the outskirts of Havana as it recounts Ochoa's attempts to assimilate Palo praise of the dead. As he comes to terms with a world in which everyday events and materials are composed of the dead, Ochoa discovers in Palo unexpected resources for understanding the relationship between matter and spirit, for rethinking anthropology's rendering of sorcery, and for representing the play of power in Cuban society. The first fully detailed treatment of the world of Palo, Society of the Dead draws upon recent critiques of Western metaphysics as it reveals what this little known practice can tell us about sensation, transformation, and redemption in the Black Atlantic.

Contents:

pt. 1. The dead

pt. 2. Palo society

pt. 3. Prendas-Ngangas-Enquisos

pt. 4. Palo craft.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612771798

9781282771796

1282771795

9780520947924

0520947924

OCLC:

673471789