The African Religions of Brazil

Written by one of France''s most brilliant and creative anthropologists The African Religions of Brazil is regarded as a classic in Afro-American studies. First published in France in 1960 the book represents a singular effort to develop a theory of the interpenetrations of African European Christian and non-Christian cultures in Brazil from colonial times to the present. Addressing a remarkable range of topics-from mysticism and syncretism to the problems of collective memory from the history of slavery in Brazil to world-wide race relations-the work is shaped by the author''s rich and original conceptual framework. The result is a compelling study of the origins and growth of a native religious environment. The English translation is supplemented with a biographical foreword by Richard Price and a thematic introduction by Brazilian sociologist Duglas T. Monteiro.