The Study of Afro-Cuban Religions

Authors

Ella Shipp, Western Kentucky UniversityFollow

Abstract

The scholarship of Afro-Cuban syncretic religions such as Santería/La Regla de Ocha and Palo Montewas powerfully affected by the disruption of the Cuban Revolution. Unlike other disciplines whose growth and maturation have progressed naturally since the development of modern scholarship in the 1900s, the study of Cuban orisha-based religion derived from the traditions of the Lucumí and Yoruba has only recently come into its own. During the 1800s and 1900s, there were some accounts of slave religion in novels, travel accounts, and some encyclopedic works by US and European authors. These accounts were mostly negative and strongly biased against slaves, ex-slaves, and their religion. However, Cuban scholars such as Fernando Ortiz Fernández also began to study Cuban culture and in particular Afro-Cuban contribution to culture and religion. (first paragraph)

Recommended Citation

Shipp, Ella (2017) "The Study of Afro-Cuban Religions," The Student Researcher: A Phi Alpha Theta Publication: Vol. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_researcher/vol2/iss1/5