The Work of Nails: Religion, Mediterranean Antiquity, and Contemporary Black Art
This article contributes to the study of religion by investigating the ritual significance of the ancient nail, focusing on its material power in piercing curse tablets (defixiones, sing. defixio) in Mediterranean antiquity. It thus brings a humble object and the gestures and labor associated with i...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2022
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| In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 90, Issue: 2, Pages: 356-376 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Curse table
/ Nails and spikes (Technics)
/ Aesthetics
/ Materiality
/ Antiquity
/ History 500 BC-500
B Kaphar, Titus 1976- / Stout, Renée 1958- / Maynard, Valerie 1937-2022 / Nkisi / Nails and spikes (Technics) / The Modern / Art |
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion BE Greco-Roman religions BS Traditional African religions TB Antiquity TK Recent history |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article contributes to the study of religion by investigating the ritual significance of the ancient nail, focusing on its material power in piercing curse tablets (defixiones, sing. defixio) in Mediterranean antiquity. It thus brings a humble object and the gestures and labor associated with it more centrally into the study of religion in antiquity. The article also contributes to the study of religion more broadly by developing a theoretical framework derived from contemporary artistic, material practices. I interpret these ancient ritual objects—the materiality and aesthetics of defixiones and the function of the nail—by engaging contemporary artworks by Valerie Maynard, Renée Stout, and Titus Kaphar. In the racial condition of the United States, these artists materialize theory regarding aesthetics, history, and justice, drawing in part from Kongolese minkisi minkondi, which were nailed and pierced to mark rituals of justice. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfac046 |