Àwọn Ìyà Awo, as senhoras do segredo na big apple: mulheres nas práticas de Candomblé na cidade de Nova Iorque (EUA)

• Main Author: Pedro Paulo Gomes Pereira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal Fluminense, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia 2020-04-01
• Series: Antropolítica : Revista Contemporânea de Antropologia
• Subjects: candomblé; new york; women
• Online Access: https://periodicos.uff.br/antropolitica/article/view/42095

During the development of our ethnographic research about Candomblé practices in New York City, the presence of three Brazilian mães de santo(“mothers of saint”) stood out. They have been led to rethink their practices in the context of life in the USA and to reshape standard religious configurations—in short, they have created new traditions, as per Roy Wagner’s academic work. By telling the stories of these women, it was possible to reveal the mechanisms through which they have reinvented their religion: articulating secrets, permissions and transpositions related to their practices while also (and rather paradoxically) contributing to preserve the original essence of Candomblé. And by doing that, they have also helped spread and establish their religion in a foreign country. One of the most important aspects of the reinvention process concerns the so-called hierarchical changes; in New York, the relationship between the mães de santo and the practitioners is more horizontal than then one observed on the terreiros located in Brazil.