Shrines of the Slave Trade
Diola Religion and Society in Precolonial Senegambia
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:17th Jun '99
Currently unavailable, currently targeted to be due back around 12th August 2026, but could change
In this groundbreaking work, Robert Baum seeks to reconstruct the religious and social history of the Diola communities in southern Senegal during the precolonial era, when the Atlantic slave trade was at its height. Baum shows that Diola community leaders used a complex of religious shrines and priesthoods to regulate and contain the influence of the slave trade. He demonstrates how this close involvement with the traders significantly changed Diola religious life.
This book is an innovative study of Diola religion. ... The book makes short shrift of the so far uncontested assumption that the Diola are not interested in their history, and do not know much about it. ... The first chapters offer a solid introduction into the problems of the historical study of African traditional religions. * Ferdinand de Jong, University of Amsterdam, African History, Vol 41 - 2000 *
Baum has done a tremendous job in collecting so much material. The result is an interesting history of an African religion. Shrines of the Slave Trade also provides a good discussion on the usefulness of oral traditions for the production of academic history. * Ferdinand de Jong, University of Amsterdam, African History, Vol 41 - 2000 *
ISBN: 9780195123920
Dimensions: 250mm x 149mm x 26mm
Weight: 676g
304 pages