Gender and return in the Kimbanguist Church of Portugal

This article analyzes some events related to the Kimbanguist church that have taken place in Portugal and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It unearths a connection between an increasing feminization of practices and narratives within this church and the emergence of an ideology of return to Africa linked both to eschatological beliefs and to notions of ‘mission,’ ‘example,’ and ‘success.’ Th e article shows the advantage of a multi-sited fi eldwork in the study of transnational religion, as well as the changing nature of religious institutions in today’s world, in which socio-political dynamics in the migrants’ new settings both aff ect and are aff ected by what happens in the headquarters of their religious institution

Órganos vitales y metáforas mortales: un relato sobre hospitales portugueses y diáspora africana

This article, based on a case of medical neglect towards an African migrant, explores rumours about organ theft in Portuguese hospitals spread among African migrants. The author sees these rumours as an expression of rage against a society that marginalizes and excludes migrants. Contrariwise to authors who have studied organ theft rumours as an expression of “millennial capitalism”, he proposes to centre the attention in the continuities rather than in abrupt ruptures. The author takes some distance from scholars for whom the investigation on rumours would only make sense inasmuch as it could lead towards denouncing specific real cases. For the author, rumours themselves can lead us towards other injustices, much more embedded in our everyday life, that must also be denounced

The magic flute: how modern dances were introduced among Baga Sitem in Guinea in 1956

Em 1956 novas formas de música e de dança de inspiração francesa, designadas le bal, foram introduzidas entre os Baga Sitem da Guiné Francesa, numa época de tomada de consciência global da juventude. Nessa altura, enquanto os jovens ficaram fascinados pelos novos instrumentos e linguagens corporais de le bal, os mais velhos, ligados a formas locais de música e dança ritual, não quiseram aceitar a nova expressão musical da esfera pública. Baseado na história oral, este artigo aborda a tensão entre os jovens e anciãos, e propõe uma abordagem geracional e estrutural para o estudo da juventude e modernidade, sugerindo que as tensões entre jovens e idosos, e entre as novas e velhas formas de cultura popular, podem ser muito mais antigas do que normalmente se supõe.In 1956, le bal, i.e. new forms of French‑inspired music and dance were introduced among the Baga Sitem of French Guinea at a time of global youth consciousness. At the time, the youths fell fascinated by the new instruments and bodily languages of le bal, but their elders, much more aEached to local forms of music and ritual dance, did not want to accept the new one in the public sphere. Based on oral history, this article discusses the tension between youths and elders and proposes a generational and structural approach to the study of youth and modernity, suggesting that the tensions between youths and elders, and between new and old forms of popular culture may be much more ancient than normally assumed

Cómo los pueblos sin religión aprenden que ya tenían religión: notas desde la costa occidental africana

Basándose en el estudio de caso de los bagas de Guinea (África occidental) este artículo propone que la religión como institución social (un campo constituido por la "creencia", la "divinidad", el sacerdocio, el templo, la oración, etc.) no es sólo una estructura de acción y pensamiento, sino que funciona también como esquema con el que pensar la historia del pueblo. Así, mientras que en el pasado los musulmanes y los cristianos de Guinea acusaban a los bagas de "no tener religión" o de "no conocer a Dios", vemos que, ahora que la conversión a una de las dos religiones universales es completa en la etnia en cuestión, todos nuestros interlocutores bagas consideran que, de hecho, sus ancestros siempre fueron "religiosos" y presentan su ciclo iniciático (abandonado ahora) como si hubiera sido un acmpo coherente perfectamente "religioso", muy semejante la culto cristiano o musulmán que practica ahora. El artículo sugiere que hay distintos tipos de memoria en la creación de un campo religioso y de una historia religiosa, y por lo tanto espera contribuir al creciente estudio de la memoria, la historicidad y el funcionamiento de la "religión", considerando tanto las aportaciones cognitivas como el análisis hermenéutico-historicista

Deliri i creativitat

El procés delirant sovint converteix una persona senzilla i anodina en un ésser amb capacitats creatives insòlite