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Black Religion and Aesthetics Contributors Black Religion and Aesthetics Contributors ROBERT BECKFORD is Reader in Black Theology and Culture at Oxford Brookes University (UK) and a Documentary Presenter for BBC and Channel 4 (United Kingdom). ELIAS K. BONGMBA is Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, Houston, Texas. MIGUEL A. DE LA TORRE is Associate Professor of Social Ethics and Director of the Justice and Peace Institute at Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado. CAROL B. DUNCAN is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. LINDSAY L. HALE is a Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. LIZABETH PARAVISINI-GEBERT is Professor of Hispanic Studies on the Randolph Distinguished Professor Chair and Director of Africana Studies at Vassar College. ANTHONY B. PINN is Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, Houston, Texas. ANTHONY G. REDDIE is Research Fellow and Consultant in Black Theological Studies for the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham (United Kingdom). LINDA E. THOMAS is Professor of Theology and Anthropology at Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, Illinois. NANCY LYNNE WESTFIELD is Associate Professor of Religious Education with a joint appointment at the Theological Seminary and Graduate School of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. Black Religion and Aesthetics Religious Thought and Life in Africa and the African Diaspora Edited by Anthony B. Pinn BLACK RELIGION AND AESTHETICS Copyright © Anthony B. Pinn, 2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-60550-3 All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-37304-8 ISBN 978-0-230-62294-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230622944 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Black religion and aesthetics : religious thought and life in Africa and the African diaspora / edited by Anthony B. Pinn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-37304-8 1. Africa—Religion. 2. African diaspora. 3. Aesthetics, African. I. Pinn, Anthony B. BL2400.B53 2009 200.89Ј96—dc22 2008054677 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: August 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dedicated to The Ancestors This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Black Labyrinth, Aesthetics, and Black Religion 1 Anthony B. Pinn Part 1 North and South America 1. A Beautiful Be-ing: Religious Humanism and the Aesthetics of a New Salvation 19 Anthony B. Pinn 2. The Foolish Woman Grows Angry Because They Teach Her: Influences of Sexism in Black Church Worship 37 Nancy Lynne Westfield 3. Spiritual Matters: The Aesthetics of Ritual Substances in Umbanda 53 Lindsay L. Hale 4. From Hattie to Halle: Black Female Bodies and Spectatorship as Ritual in Hollywood Cinema 71 Carol B. Duncan Part 2 The Caribbean 5. Sacred Forms: Ritual, Representation, and the Body in Haitian Painting 91 Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert 6. Dancing with Ochún: Imagining How a Black Goddess Became White 113 Miguel A. De La Torre viii Contents Part 3 Europe 7. Black Suit Matters: Faith, Politics, and Representation in the Religious Documentary 135 Robert Beckford 8. A Dialectical Spirituality of Improvisation: The Ambiguity of Black Engagements with Sacred Texts 153 Anthony G. Reddie Part 4 Africa 9. The Aesthetic Dimensions of Religion in South Africa: Africa Initiated Churches Considered 175 Linda E. Thomas 10. Aesthetics in African Art: Implications for African Theology 187 Elias K. Bongmba Selected Bibliography 205 Index 213 Figures 3.1 Photo of Salvador, Bahia. Photograph taken by Anthony Pinn. 56 5.1 Auguste, Toussaint. Papa Zaca en Possession (1953). Oil on masonite. 11¾ × 14¾ inches. 94 5.2 Domond, Wilmino. Dance Scene (c.1949). Oil on cardboard. 24¼ × 24¾ inches. 98 5.3 Nehemy, Jean. Mangé Loa (1949). Oil on cardboard. 20 × 16 inches. 102 5.4 Léandre, Jean. Healing Ceremony with Music (c.1975). Oil on masonite. 14¼ × 237/8 inches. 105 6.1 Presentation of Ochun in Cuba. Photograph taken by Anthony Pinn. 115 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This project developed over the course of many years, and I am thankful to a host of individuals who played a role in it taking book form. In addition to family and friends (including Caroline Levander, Juan and Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Katie Cannon, Peter Paris, James Cone, Ramon Rentas, Eli and Benjamin Valentin) I would like to thank the editors at Palgrave Macmillan for patience and good humor. In addition, several of my students helped with the formatting of var- ious essays in this volume: Thank you to Torin Alexander and Terri Laws. A special thank you to all those who helped in a variety of ways, but are not named here. Finally, permission to reprint images in the volume is gratefully acknowledged from: Pebo Voss, Jonathan Demme, and Edwidge Danticat for permission to reprint the following: Auguste, Toussaint. Papa Zaca en Possession (1953). Oil on masonite. 11¾ × 14¾ inches. Domond, Wilmino. Dance Scene (c.1949). Oil on cardboard. 24¼ × 24¾ inches. Léandre, Jean. Healing Ceremony with Music (c.1975). Oil on masonite. 14¼ × 237/8 inches. Nehemy, Jean. Mangé Loa (1949). Oil on cardboard. 20 × 16 inches..
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