Guest, Kenneth J. “Essentials of Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age”. W.W. Norton & Company Inc.:
Guest, Kenneth. 2020. “Religion” (CHAPTER 13, pp. 372-393, Start at “What is Religion?” and read until, including, “In What Ways is Religion Both a System of Meaning and a System of Power?”)
Ogunnaike, Ayodeji 2020. What’s Really Behind the Mask? A Reexamination of Syncretism in Brazilian Candomblé. Download What’s Really Behind the Mask? A Reexamination of Syncretism in Brazilian Candomblé.(please add the correct journal, volume, pages, etc. yourselves in your bibliographical entry. Consult module 00 if you are unsure, or ask me if you cannot find it.)
Prompt suggestion: As always, the literature review is an exercise in distinguishing important from not so important, and correctly citing your sources, supporting your summaries and/or own arguments based on the readings.
However, if it helps, here is a prompt suggestion:
“In class, we discussed how religion can be used as a mean of power by forced conversion. Typically forced conversion includes threats of violence and/or material disadvantages. However, there are more subtle ways to convert a group of people to a new religion. For example, we discussed how Ancient Rome employed Mithraic iconography in early Christianity in order to win over its growing Christian population.
Lastly, there is a third dimension of religion as power discussed in your additional reading: That of subjugated peoples reclaiming/retaining their own identity through something that is called “syncretism”.
1) Look up the meaning of “syncretism.”
2) Read the additional reading about Candomblé in Brazil Download additional reading about Candomblé in Brazil.
3) Answer the following questions: How can religious syncretism subvert religious oppression / forced conversion? In what ways have Afro-diasporic peoples historically used Catholicism in order to retain their indigenous cultures?
For the pros among you:
4) What aspects of Catholicism, present and past, perhaps make it particularly compatible with West African Yoruba religion as opposed to Protestantism?
