Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion - Tapa blanda

"Santeria Enthroned presents an ambitious blend of archival research, visual analysis, oral-historical interviews, ethnography, ethnohistory, and the techniques of art history, applied to the problematic tension between continuity and innovation in Afro-Cuban religion. The book will stand as an essential reference for decades to vcome." -- Michael Stone "H-Net Review" "Santera Enthroned has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . Santera Enthroned gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years' labor, Brown's study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santera as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold." -- Elizabeth Prez "History of Religions" "A deep and rich ethnographic treatment of this distinct religious tradition."--Joseph M. Murphy "Theological Studies " ""Santeria Enthroned" presents an ambitious blend of archival research, visual analysis, oral-historical interviews, ethnography, ethnohistory, and the techniques of art history, applied to the problematic tension between continuity and innovation in Afro-Cuban religion. The book will stand as an essential reference for decades to vcome."--Michael Stone "H-Net Review " "In this masterful volume, Brown has skilfully shown how innovation and tradition are, in many ways, reversible terms."--Roger Sansi "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute " "Brown''s text is tremendously full, monumental in its scope, and seminal as a study of historical change over time . . . Essential reading for scholars of African-Caribbean art and religion. . . . It is also a key text for scholars of the African Diaspora."--Heather Shirey "African Arts " "Brown has written a definitive study of Afro-Cuban religion. . . . This book is essential reading for scholars of religion and theologians who explore religion in the Americas."--Michelle A./i>--Michelle A. Gonzalez "Journal of Religion " "Brilliantly constructed, theoretically sophisticated. . . . Brown's text exemplifies how we might use historical data for theoretical innovations that shed new light on the complexities of race, legitimacy, and people's struggles over the authenticity of social and cultural change."--Kamari Maxine Clarke "Transforming Anthropology " ""Santer""i""a Enthroned" has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . "Santer""i""a Enthroned" gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years' labor, Brown's study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santeria as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold."--Elizabeth P rez "History of Religions " "Brown's text is tremendously full, monumental in its scope, and seminal as a study of historical change over time . . . Essential reading for scholars of African-Caribbean art and religion. . . . It is also a key text for scholars of the African Diaspora."--Heather Shirey "African Arts " Brown has written a definitive study of Afro-Cuban religion. . . . This book is essential reading for scholars of religion and theologians who explore religion in the Americas. Michelle A./i>--Michelle A. Gonzalez "Journal of Religion "" "Santer""i""a Enthroned" has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . "Santer""i""a Enthroned" gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years labor, Brown s study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santeria as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold. --Elizabeth Perez "History of Religions "" "[Brown] combines the methods and materials of anthropology, art history, and social history among other disciplines, to consider what this case can contribute to the ongoing debate over the source of African diasporic cultural forms. . . . His analysis shatters any simplistic dichotomy of change versus continuity, and in doing so goes beyond any previous work on Santeria to provide the most careful and historically nuanced account of this religion's origins and contemporary practices yet written. . . . While it is essential reading for specialists in African diasporic and Caribbeanist history, comparative religion, visual anthropology, and ethnography, it would be most useful . . . for advanced undergraduate and graduate seminars. And yet I am tempted to press it upon anyone expressing any curiosity about Santeria, precisely because it so carefully dissects and questions the assumed wisdom."--Kristina Wirtz "Museum Anthropology Review " -Brown has written a definitive study of Afro-Cuban religion. . . . This book is essential reading for scholars of religion and theologians who explore religion in the Americas.---Michelle A./i>--Michelle A. Gonzalez -Journal of Religion - -Brilliantly constructed, theoretically sophisticated. . . . Brown's text exemplifies how we might use historical data for theoretical innovations that shed new light on the complexities of race, legitimacy, and people's struggles over the authenticity of social and cultural change.---Kamari Maxine Clarke -Transforming Anthropology - -A deep and rich ethnographic treatment of this distinct religious tradition.---Joseph M. Murphy -Theological Studies - -[Brown] combines the methods and materials of anthropology, art history, and social history among other disciplines, to consider what this case can contribute to the ongoing debate over the source of African diasporic cultural forms. . . . His analysis shatters any simplistic dichotomy of change versus continuity, and in doing so goes beyond any previous work on Santeria to provide the most careful and historically nuanced account of this religion's origins and contemporary practices yet written. . . . While it is essential reading for specialists in African diasporic and Caribbeanist history, comparative religion, visual anthropology, and ethnography, it would be most useful . . . for advanced undergraduate and graduate seminars. And yet I am tempted to press it upon anyone expressing any curiosity about Santeria, precisely because it so carefully dissects and questions the assumed wisdom.---Kristina Wirtz -Museum Anthropology Review - -Brown's text is tremendously full, monumental in its scope, and seminal as a study of historical change over time . . . Essential reading for scholars of African-Caribbean art and religion. . . . It is also a key text for scholars of the African Diaspora.---Heather Shirey -African Arts - -In this masterful volume, Brown has skilfully shown how innovation and tradition are, in many ways, reversible terms.---Roger Sansi -Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute - -Santeria Enthroned presents an ambitious blend of archival research, visual analysis, oral-historical interviews, ethnography, ethnohistory, and the techniques of art history, applied to the problematic tension between continuity and innovation in Afro-Cuban religion. The book will stand as an essential reference for decades to vcome.---Michael Stone -H-Net Review - -Santeria Enthroned has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . Santeria Enthroned gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years' labor, Brown's study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santeria as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold.---Elizabeth Perez -History of Religions - "Santeria Enthroned has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . Santeria Enthroned gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years' labor, Brown's study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santeria as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold."--Elizabeth Perez "History of Religions " "Santeria Enthroned presents an ambitious blend of archival research, visual analysis, oral-historical interviews, ethnography, ethnohistory, and the techniques of art history, applied to the problematic tension between continuity and innovation in Afro-Cuban religion. The book will stand as an essential reference for decades to vcome."--Michael Stone "H-Net Review " Santeria Enthroned has now set a new standard for scholarship on the aesthetic dimensions and historical development of this fascinating initiatory tradition. . . . Santeria Enthroned gives much food for thought; indeed, this generously illustrated and superbly designed volume is a banquet for the eye as well as the intellect. . . . The fruit of twenty years labor, Brown s study will stand the test of time and is easily the best account of Santeria as created, lived, and lovingly elaborated to date. Glancing at the honey-toned cover . . . one is reminded that sometimes what glitters does turn out to be a full twenty-four carats, or at least to be worth its weight in gold. --Elizabeth Perez "History of Religions ""

Focusiong on the royal throne as a potent metaphor in Santeria belief and practice, Brown shows how negotiation among ideologically competing interests have shaped the religion's symbols, rituals and institutions from the 19th century to the present. Case studies of change in Cuba and the United States, including a New Jersey temple and South Carolina's Oyotunji Village, reveal patterns of innovation similar to those found among rival Yoruba kingdoms in Nigeria. Throughout, Brown argues for a theoretical perspective on culture as a field of potential strategies and "usable pasts" that actors draw upon to craft new forms and identities - a perspective that should be valuable to all students of the African Diaspora.