Occupying New Spaces: the “Digital Turn” of Afro-Brazilian Religions During the Covid-19 Outbreak

This paper intends to analyze how Afro-Brazilian religious minorities (like Candomblé and Umbanda) are responding to the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil both at a religious and political level. Drawing a comparison between the reactions of Neo-Pentecostal churches and Afro-Brazilian religions, we will des...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Capponi, Giovanna (Author) ; Araújo, Patrício Carneiro (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer International Publishing [2020]
In: International journal of Latin American religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 250-258
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Brazil / COVID-19 (Disease) / Pandemic / Afro-Brazilian cult / Digitalization
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
AZ New religious movements
KBR Latin America
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B religion and media
B Covid-19
B Neo-pentecostalism
B body and religion
B Afro-Brazilian religions
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Summary:This paper intends to analyze how Afro-Brazilian religious minorities (like Candomblé and Umbanda) are responding to the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil both at a religious and political level. Drawing a comparison between the reactions of Neo-Pentecostal churches and Afro-Brazilian religions, we will describe how the pandemic outbreak and the social distancing measures allowed Afro-religious practitioners to occupy new online spaces. In doing so, these religions found new modalities of practising rituals and transmitting sacred knowledge in the digital world. Despite the fundamental importance of bodily engagement in these religious expressions, Candomblé and Umbanda practitioners are increasing their presence online through producing different types of pedagogical, educational and ritual contents. While on the one hand, this new content aims at promoting social distancing and sanitary precautionary measures, on the other hand, it involves a restructuring of the dynamics of legitimation and power that are present in Afro-religious social structures. We will analyze these changing dynamics as consequences of the “crisis of the body” that resulted from the lockdown measures.
ISSN:2509-9965
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of Latin American religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s41603-020-00121-3