Black Religion and Aesthetics Religious Thought and Life in Africa and the African Diaspora

by Pinn, Anthony B.

• ISBN13: 9780230605503
• ISBN10: 0230605508
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

A great deal of attention has been given to the sociopolitical and theological importance of Black Religion. However, of less academic concern up to this point is the aesthetic qualities that define much of what is said and done within the context of Black Religion. Recognizing the centrality of the black body for black religious thought and life, this book proposes a conversation concerning various dimensions of the aesthetic considerations and qualities of Black Religion as found in various parts of the world, including the the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. In this respect, Black Religion is simply meant to connote the religious orientations and arrangements of people of African descent across the globe.

Author Biography

Anthony Pinn is Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities at Rice University, Texas.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: The Black Labyrinth, Aesthetics, and Black Religion	p. 1
North and South America
A Beautiful Be-ing: Religious Humanism and the Aesthetics of a New Salvation	p. 19
The Foolish Woman Grows Angry Because They Teach Her: Influences of Sexism in Black Church Worship	p. 37
Spiritual Matters: The Aesthetics of Ritual Substances in Umbanda	p. 53
From Hattie to Halle: Black Female Bodies and Spectatorship as Ritual in Hollywood Cinema	p. 71
The Caribbean
Sacred Forms: Ritual, Representation, and the Body in Haitian Painting	p. 91
Dancing with Ochún: Imagining How a Black Goddess Became White	p. 113
Europe
Black Suit Matters: Faith, Politics, and Representation in the Religious Documentary	p. 135
A Dialectical Spirituality of Improvisation: The Ambiguity of Black Engagements with Sacred Texts	p. 153
Africa
The Aesthetic Dimensions of Religion in South Africa: Africa Initiated Churches Considered	p. 175
Aesthetics in African Art: Implications for African Theology	p. 187
Selected Bibliography	p. 205
Index	p. 213
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