Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad, Volume I, Obeah: Africans in the White Colonial Imagination

Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad explores the entangled histories and systems of devotion of these religions, which were criminalized during slavery and colonialism but demonstrated autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart document the persecution and violent penalization of African religious practices encoded under the legal classification of "obeah" and the cultural heritages, religious identities, and life systems of African-diasporic communities in Trinidad.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 27 September 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad is a comprehensive two-volume study that explores the social imaginaries surrounding Obeah and Yoruba-Orisa from colonialism to the present. Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart delve into the intertwined histories and belief systems of these religions, highlighting their criminalization during slavery and colonialism while also showcasing their autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. In Volume I, Obeah, Hucks traces the history of African religious repression in colonial Trinidad, spanning the late nineteenth century. She draws on a wide range of sources, including colonial records, laws, legal transcripts, travel diaries, literary fiction, and written correspondence, to document the persecution and violent penalization of African religious practices under the legal classification of "obeah." A cult of antiblack fixation emerged among white settlers, who defined themselves in opposition to Obeah, which they perceived as terrifying African witchcraft. These preoccupations revealed the fears that bound whites together. At the same time, individuals accused of obeah sought legal vindication and employed their own spiritual and medicinal technologies to strengthen the cultural heritages, religious identities, and life systems of African-diasporic communities in Trinidad.

Weight: 445g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478014850