Spirit Service
Vodun and Vodou in the African Atlantic World
Published on 7. June 2022
Book
Hardback
346 pages
978-0-253-06190-4 (ISBN)
Description
Known in the Dominican Republic and Togo as Vodu, in Benin as Vodun, and in Haiti as Vodou, West African religion has, for hundreds of years, served as a repository of sacred knowledge while simultaneously evolving in response to human experience and globalization.
Spirit Service: Vodun and Vodou in the African Atlantic World explores this dynamic religion, its mobility, and its place in the modern world. By examining the systems-ritual practices, community-based spirit veneration, and spiritual means of securing opportunity and well-being-alongside the individuals who worship, this rich collection offers the first comprehensive ethnographic study of West African spirit service on a broad scale. Contributors consider social encounters between African/Haitian practitioners and European / North American spiritual seekers, economies and histories, funerary rites and spirit possessions, and examinations of gender and materiality.
Offering much-needed perspective on this historically disparaged religion, Spirit Service reminds us all that the gods are growing, assimilating, and demanding recognition and respect.
Spirit Service: Vodun and Vodou in the African Atlantic World explores this dynamic religion, its mobility, and its place in the modern world. By examining the systems-ritual practices, community-based spirit veneration, and spiritual means of securing opportunity and well-being-alongside the individuals who worship, this rich collection offers the first comprehensive ethnographic study of West African spirit service on a broad scale. Contributors consider social encounters between African/Haitian practitioners and European / North American spiritual seekers, economies and histories, funerary rites and spirit possessions, and examinations of gender and materiality.
Offering much-needed perspective on this historically disparaged religion, Spirit Service reminds us all that the gods are growing, assimilating, and demanding recognition and respect.
Reviews / Votes
In Spirit Service: Vodun and Vodou in the African Atlantic World, Mont- gomery, Landry, and Vannier and the volume's contributors have clearly shown the sustaining power of Vodun and Vodou. Their engage- ment and encounter with Vodun and Vodou provide a rich historical and modern context in which to fully appreciate these African Atlantic World religions. Students of religion, history, and anthropology as well as more general readers will find much to learn in this volume.- Patricia Barker Lerch - University of North Carolina Wilmington (NOVA Religio)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Bloomington, IN
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
28 b&w illus. - 28 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
713 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-253-06190-4 (9780253061904)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Eric James Montgomery | Timothy R. Landry | Christian N. Vannier
Spirit Service
Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World
E-Book
06/2022
Indiana University Press
€39.49
Available for download
Persons
Eric J. Montgomery is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Michigan State University and Saperstein Senior Fellow and Faculty in the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Wayne State University. He is coauthor of An Ethnography of a Vodu Shrine in Southern Togo and editor of Shackled Sentiments: Slaves, Spirits, and Memories in the African Diaspora.
Timothy R. Landry is Associate Professor in the departments of Anthropology and Religious Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the author of Vodun: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power.
Christian N. Vannier is Lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Michigan, Flint. He is the co-author of An Ethnography of a Vodu Shrine in Southern Togo and coeditor of Cultures of Doing Good: Anthropologists and NGOs.
Timothy R. Landry is Associate Professor in the departments of Anthropology and Religious Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the author of Vodun: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power.
Christian N. Vannier is Lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Michigan, Flint. He is the co-author of An Ethnography of a Vodu Shrine in Southern Togo and coeditor of Cultures of Doing Good: Anthropologists and NGOs.
Content
Introduction, by Christian Vannier and Timothy R. Landry
Part I: Encounter
1. Vodou Genesis: Africans and the Making of a National Religion in Saint-Domingue, by Terry Rey
2. Universalism and Syncretism in Beninese Vodun, by Douglas J. Falen
3. Crossing Currents: Gorovodu and Yewevodu in Contemporary Togo, by Eric James Montgomery
4. A Prayer for a Muslim Spirit: Islam in Gorovodu, by Christian Vannier
5. Where Have All the Ounsi Gone?, by Karen Richman
6. Sailing between Local and Global: Vodou in the Modern and Contemporary Arts of Haiti, by Natacha Giafferi-Dombre
Part II: Engagement
7. Taking Hold of a Faith, by Jeffrey E. Anderson
8. The Physic(s)ality of Vodun and the (Mis)behavior of Matter, by Venise N. Adjibodou
9. Vodou Skins: Making Bodily Surfaces Social in Haitian Vodou Infant-Care, by Alissa M. Jordan
10. Spirited Forests and the West African Forest Complex, by Timothy R. Landry
11. Vodou, an Inclusive Epistemology: Towards A Queer Eco-Theology of Liberation, by Nixon Cleophat
12. Necroscape and Diaspora: Making Ancestors in Haitian Vodou, by Elizabeth McAlister
13. Conclusion: Global Vodun and Vodou: Encounter and Engagement, by Eric James Montgomery and Timothy R. Landry
Index
Part I: Encounter
1. Vodou Genesis: Africans and the Making of a National Religion in Saint-Domingue, by Terry Rey
2. Universalism and Syncretism in Beninese Vodun, by Douglas J. Falen
3. Crossing Currents: Gorovodu and Yewevodu in Contemporary Togo, by Eric James Montgomery
4. A Prayer for a Muslim Spirit: Islam in Gorovodu, by Christian Vannier
5. Where Have All the Ounsi Gone?, by Karen Richman
6. Sailing between Local and Global: Vodou in the Modern and Contemporary Arts of Haiti, by Natacha Giafferi-Dombre
Part II: Engagement
7. Taking Hold of a Faith, by Jeffrey E. Anderson
8. The Physic(s)ality of Vodun and the (Mis)behavior of Matter, by Venise N. Adjibodou
9. Vodou Skins: Making Bodily Surfaces Social in Haitian Vodou Infant-Care, by Alissa M. Jordan
10. Spirited Forests and the West African Forest Complex, by Timothy R. Landry
11. Vodou, an Inclusive Epistemology: Towards A Queer Eco-Theology of Liberation, by Nixon Cleophat
12. Necroscape and Diaspora: Making Ancestors in Haitian Vodou, by Elizabeth McAlister
13. Conclusion: Global Vodun and Vodou: Encounter and Engagement, by Eric James Montgomery and Timothy R. Landry
Index