Transatlantic Dialogue: Roger Bastide and the African American Religions

Abstract

This article considers the role played by Roger Bastide in the development of studies of religions and cultures of African origin in Brazil. Bastide's interpretation of syncretism in religious phenomena has left its imprint on Afro-Brazilian studies. I will analyze two paradigms used by this author in his treatment of the logic of syncretism: the 'principle of compartmentalization' and the opposition between material acculturation and formal acculturation. I will show how, within the Afro-American religious universe, one finds two types of differentially defined syncretism: an Afro-African syncretism, prior to slavery, that lays the foundation for the idea of a basic unity of African culture, and an Afro-western syncretism that one must fight today. The notion of 'ritual panafricanism', which accounts for this 'positive' syncretism between religions with a similar ancestry, revives the Afro-Brazilian vision of 'unity in diversity' that is largely inspired by Bastidian theories.

The Orisha religion in a transnational perspective

“…The multiple differences between the Orisha worship in Brazil, Cuba and Nigeria are always interpreted by the babalawo as being the consequence of a fundamental loss of religious knowledge, which would have produced this gap between matrices of meaning. For them, the differences between ritual practices in this transnational space do not call into question the strength of Yoruba culture, but are the product of ‘holes’ in the African collective memory (Bastide, 1970) that can be filled today by reinjecting cultural content and practices that had fallen into oblivion in Brazil or elsewhere (Capone, 2007). Exchanges between ‘sister religions’, such as Brazilian Candomblé and Cuban Santería, thus aim at re-establishing a common belief system, in which elements of different Afro-Atlantic religions, all claiming the same Yoruba origin, can be combined in different ways.…”

Octávio Eduardo, René Ribeiro e Melville Herskovits. Religiões afro-brasileiras, aculturação e sincretismo

“…O espaço ficava assim aberto para Bastide, que o preencherá nos anos 1960, com Les religions africaines au Brésil (Bastide, 1960) e Les Amériques noires (Bastide, 1967). Nessas suas contribuições -como também em muitos outros artigos e livro seus escritos entre 1945 e 1973 -o tema do sincretismo conhecerá novos desenvolvimentos (Capone, 2000(Capone, , 2007. De que forma é que as contribuições de Octávio Eduardo e René Ribeiro -que pouco se repercutiram na produção herskovitsiana -encontraram aí (ou não) "porto de abrigo" é o tema para um outro artigo.…”

“…O nome de Roger Bastide é usualmente retido a esse respeito e existe alguma bibliografia recente sobre esse seu continuado interesse pelo tema (e.g. Capone, 2000;2007). Este, tendo-se iniciado com o livro Imagens do Nordeste místico em branco e preto (Bastide, 1945), irá de facto acompanhar em plano de relevo toda a sua reflexão posterior sobre religiões afro-brasileiras com destaque, em 1960, para Les religions africaines au Brésil (Bastide, 1960).…”

Cultural Elements Impacting African Americans’ Access to Mental Health

“…The literature suggests that there are diverse types of historical contexts to be considered in supporting resilience. Firstly, Pan-Africanism and the origins of religions can help practitioners understand the importance of religion in the AA community (Capone 2007). Secondly, the historical mistreatment of the Black community by providers is documented in the literature and serves as the foundation of medical practice and discovery (Washington 2006;Baptiste et al 2020a, b).…”