Yemoja: Gender, Sexuality, and Creativity in the Latina/o and Afro-Atlantic Diasporas

by Solimar Otero (Editor)

Finalist for the 2014 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana Religions

This is the first collection of essays to analyze intersectional religious and cultural practices surrounding the deity Yemoja. In Afro-Atlantic traditions, Yemoja is associated with motherhood, women, the arts, and the family. This book reveals how Yemoja traditions are negotiating gender, sexuality, and cultural identities in bold ways that emphasize the shifting beliefs and cultural practices of contemporary times. Contributors come from a wide range of fields—religious studies, art history, literature, and anthropology—and focus on the central concern of how different religious communities explore issues of race, gender, and sexuality through religious practice and discourse. The volume adds the voices of religious practitioners and artists to those of scholars to engage in conversations about how Latino/a and African diaspora religions respond creatively to a history of colonization.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2013

Reviews

[Morgan M. Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection. Of particular note are the essays by Martin Tsang and Elizabeth Pérez, which provide critical insights into Afro-Cuban understandings of Yemayá. As an Olorisha, I loved it!