Minds Overwrought by "Religious Orgies": Narratives of African-Jamaican Folk Religion and Mental Illness in Late Nineteenth-Century and Early Twentieth-Century Ethnographies

Language referencing illness and instability in regard to African-Jamaican religions was often used by anthropologists and ethnographers writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It formed part of a wider discourse prevalent at the time that linked folk religions to hysteria and...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Sparkes, Hilary (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: The Pennsylvania State University Press 2021
Dans: Journal of Africana religions
Année: 2021, Volume: 9, Numéro: 2, Pages: 227-249
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Jamaika / Sincretismo afro-americano / Representação / Loucura / Etnologia / História 1850-1930
RelBib Classification:AD Sociologie des religions
AE Psychologie de la religion
AX Dialogue interreligieux
BS Religions traditionnelles africaines
KBR Amérique Latine
NCC Éthique sociale
TJ Époque moderne
TK Époque contemporaine
Sujets non-standardisés:B Reavivamento
B Religião
B Anthropology
B Alexander Bedward
B Jamaica
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:Language referencing illness and instability in regard to African-Jamaican religions was often used by anthropologists and ethnographers writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It formed part of a wider discourse prevalent at the time that linked folk religions to hysteria and insanity. In Jamaica, this association contributed to social control as religious leaders, such as the prominent Revivalist Alexander Bedward, who were outspoken in challenging the socio-racial status quo, could be incarcerated in an asylum. Furthermore, it enabled the state to turn the populace away from African-derived religions and spiritual practices in order to impose cultural hegemony based on British bourgeois values. This article examines how the writings of ethnographers in the late postemancipation era reflected, reinforced, and occasionally challenged a correlation between mental illness and African-Jamaican folk religions.
ISSN:2165-5413
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of Africana religions