Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Governing Spirits: Religion, Miracles, and Spectacles in Cuba and Puerto Rico, 1898-1956

Governing Spirits: Religion, Miracles, and Spectacles in Cuba and Puerto Rico, 1898-1956

Román, Reinaldo L.

Paperback

Caribbean HistoryReligion General

ISBN10: 0807858366
ISBN13: 9780807858363
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: Dec 17 2007
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.93
Height: 0.73 Width: 6.77 Depth: 9.18
Language: English

Freedom of religion did not come easily to Cuba or Puerto Rico. Only after the arrival of American troops during the Spanish-American War were non-Catholics permitted to practice their religions openly and to proselytize. When government efforts to ensure freedom of worship began, reformers on both islands rejoiced, believing that an era of regeneration and modernization was upon them. But as new laws went into effect, critics voiced their dismay at the rise of popular religions. Reinaldo L. Román explores the changing relationship between regulators and practitioners in neocolonial Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Spiritism, Santería, and other African-derived traditions were typically characterized in sensational fashion by the popular press as a plague of superstition. Examining seven episodes between 1898 and the Cuban Revolution when the public demanded official actions against misbelief, Román finds that when outbreaks of superstition were debated, matters of citizenship were usually at stake. He links the circulation of spectacular charges of witchcraft and miracle-making to anxieties surrounding newly expanded citizenries that included people of color. Governing Spirits also contributes to the understanding of vernacular religions by moving beyond questions of national or traditional origins to illuminate how boundaries among hybrid practices evolved in a process of historical contingencies.

Also in

Caribbean History

View All