A religion in progress: How the Africans and their descendants managed to protect Afro-Brazilian Candomblé in 19th century Brazil

In Brazil, Afro-Brazilian Candomblé is one of the historically marginalized religions that recently became to attract many new devotees and took up a status as a national religion. The survival of Candomblé is fascinating because, for much of its history, the white authorities in Brazil had done all they could in order to crush every aspect that kept the black people in Brazil connected to their African roots. The notion that Candomblé is nowadays a thriving religion in spite of its historical repression has motivated the main question of this thesis. This question asks how the Africans and their descendants managed to protect the Candomblé religion in a 19th century Brazil that was, on behalf of the authorities, marked by significant efforts to annihilate any other religion different from Catholicism. Based on a theory about social interaction, this thesis will argue that the African slaves were able to protect their Candomblé practices and rituals because they began to stage a...Show moreIn Brazil, Afro-Brazilian Candomblé is one of the historically marginalized religions that recently became to attract many new devotees and took up a status as a national religion. The survival of Candomblé is fascinating because, for much of its history, the white authorities in Brazil had done all they could in order to crush every aspect that kept the black people in Brazil connected to their African roots. The notion that Candomblé is nowadays a thriving religion in spite of its historical repression has motivated the main question of this thesis. This question asks how the Africans and their descendants managed to protect the Candomblé religion in a 19th century Brazil that was, on behalf of the authorities, marked by significant efforts to annihilate any other religion different from Catholicism. Based on a theory about social interaction, this thesis will argue that the African slaves were able to protect their Candomblé practices and rituals because they began to stage a single performance as a team, with the purpose of deceiving the white authorities. In addition, while the Africans and their descendants would collectively uphold a facade of conformity as soon as they interacted with their authorities, there was a continuation of Candomblé beliefs, practices, and rituals behind the scenes. This combination of a convincing façade of conformity on the one hand, and a secret continuation of Candomblé beliefs and practices on the other hand is what most clearly led to the protection of the religion in the 19th century.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

A religion in progress: How the Africans and their descendants managed to protect Afro-Brazilian Candomblé in 19th century Brazil