Sacred slaves: Tchamba vodu in Southern Togo
This article ethnographically documents beliefs and practices surrounding Tchamba vodu among Anlo-Ewe vodu adepts in southern Togo. Mama Tchamba, or Grandmother Slave, is a religious order devoted to the veneration of the spirits of slaves purchased by the ancestors of Tchamba adepts and sold or kep...
| Published in: | Journal of Africana religions |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The Pennsylvania State University Press
[2016]
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| In: |
Journal of Africana religions
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Anlo (African people)
/ Tchamba
/ Cult
/ Mimesis
/ Slavery
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AF Geography of religion AG Religious life; material religion BB Indigenous religions KBN Sub-Saharan Africa NBC Doctrine of God RC Liturgy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article ethnographically documents beliefs and practices surrounding Tchamba vodu among Anlo-Ewe vodu adepts in southern Togo. Mama Tchamba, or Grandmother Slave, is a religious order devoted to the veneration of the spirits of slaves purchased by the ancestors of Tchamba adepts and sold or kept in the community as wives and mothers. This article documents Tchamba vodu through the authors' interviews and observations in the community and situates these beliefs and practices in the larger cultural context of slavery and ritual among the Anlo Ewe. Drawing on mimetic theory, we argue that Tchamba ceremonial practices represent performed memorializations of the cultural experiences of slavery along the coast of the Bight of Benin and open culturally productive spaces and identities through mimetic bodily performance. |
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| ISSN: | 2165-5413 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Africana religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5325/jafrireli.4.1.0104 |