Vodún, Spiritual Insecurity, and Religious Importation in Benin
The Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey) is known as the African source of New World Vodou and Voodoo, but the country’s religious landscape is best characterized by religious importation. Since precolonial times Beninois Vodún has exhibited ongoing amalgamation of deities introduced from neighborin...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of religion in Africa |
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| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Brill
2016
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| In: |
Journal of religion in Africa
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| normierte Schlagwort(-folgen): | B
Benin
/ Wodu
/ Hexenglaube
/ Synkretismus
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| IxTheo Notationen: | AD Religionssoziologie; Religionspolitik AX Interreligiöse Beziehungen BS Afrikanische Religionen KBN Subsahara-Afrika |
| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
Benin
religion
Voodoo
Vodún
witchcraft
globalization
syncretism
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| Online Zugang: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Zusammenfassung: | The Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey) is known as the African source of New World Vodou and Voodoo, but the country’s religious landscape is best characterized by religious importation. Since precolonial times Beninois Vodún has exhibited ongoing amalgamation of deities introduced from neighboring peoples. This essay outlines historical Vodún imports along with more-recent spiritual influences from abroad. I argue that while Beninois people have always been accepting of foreign religions, today this process is largely motivated by the dangers and promises of witchcraft. The current constellation of spiritual traditions embodies a dynamic moment of religious transformation that prompts people to collect even more distant spiritual remedies to seemingly old problems. In this analysis we see that what scholars call syncretism is not necessarily an ideological or hegemonic process, but a product of Beninois people’s pragmatic response to life’s troubles, inequalities, and opportunities. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0666 |
| Enthält: | In: Journal of religion in Africa
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700666-12341195 |