"Come Let Me Show You Man": Tjenbwa and Masculinity in St. Lucia
Based on ethnographic research in St. Lucia in 2011-2016, this article investigates masculinity and power in a marginalised spiritual tradition called Tjenbwa. The ethnography foregrounds contemporary Tjenbwa specialists’ own voices and assessments of spiritual authority. Drawing on their ideas and...
| Subtitles: | Religion and Gender in the Caribbean |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2026
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| In: |
Religion & gender
Year: 2026, Volume: 16, Issue: 1, Pages: 59-79 |
| Further subjects: | B
Masculinity
B Tjenbwa B St. Lucia B Gender B Caribbean B Obeah |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Based on ethnographic research in St. Lucia in 2011-2016, this article investigates masculinity and power in a marginalised spiritual tradition called Tjenbwa. The ethnography foregrounds contemporary Tjenbwa specialists’ own voices and assessments of spiritual authority. Drawing on their ideas and experiences of spiritual power and its origins, I examine two strains of Tjenbwa with particular attention to what I call the Learned strain as the domain of marginalised, Black working-class men. I show how a particular version of masculinity with deep historical roots in the Caribbean manifests in the way Learned specialists represent their practice and how their strategies transcend their marginalised position in the wider St. Lucian society. |
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| ISSN: | 1878-5417 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & gender
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18785417-01601004 |
