The scars of enslavement and remembering as a journey towards healing: African-derived religions in America as sites of memory

Schmidt, Bettina (2025) The scars of enslavement and remembering as a journey towards healing: African-derived religions in America as sites of memory. In: Beyond Inhumanity. Walter De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston, pp. 155-172. ISBN 9783111651217

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Abstract

The ongoing impact of the dehumanising transatlantic slave trade, which took place from the 16th to the 19th century, can be still felt today. Karen McCarthy Brown reflected on the powerful experience of how the Vodou priestess Mama Lola began to sob when visiting the Door of No Return monument in Ouidah, Benin. Arriving at the beach memorial, she experienced flashback memories of an ancestor passing through the site on the way to the slave ship. By “heating up” the memories of her ancestors, the priestess pulled them from “their place beneath the waters of forgetting” and restored them. This moment illustrates the significance of Vodou and the other African-derived religions across the Americas as “sites of memory”, which have helped to challenge the dominating paradigm of “victimization”. But how can these memories be overcome? Is healing really possible? Focusing on African-derived religions such as Haitian Vodou and Brazilian Candomblé, this chapter discusses how religious sites of memory can provide a way of dealing with the dehumanization of enslavement in a post-colonial world. It follows Aleida Assmann’s argument that locations such as monuments and memorials are not sufficient if they are not supported by rituals, personal memories and narratives. Based on anthropological research conducted among Caribbean communities and in Brazil, the author argues that these religions with their ceremonies and oral traditions helped to maintain cultural memory.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	African-derived religions, sites of memory, collective memory, healing, remembering, Brazil.
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Divisions:	Institutes and Academies > Institute of Education and Humanities > Academic Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Bettina Schmidt
Date Deposited:	09 Apr 2025 14:45
Last Modified:	09 Apr 2025 14:45
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3359

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