Candomblé and other Afro-Brazilian Religion
I want to examine Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion, based on gods and traditional religions that African slaves brought with them from Africa. I want to research this topic from various aspects to see how it has shaped the experience of being black in Brazil, how it has changed overtime and how it was received. Religion is a huge part of Brazilian culture and majority of its population is black or of color as such this topic is important in understanding Brazilian history.
I want to examine the actual belief system of Candomblé in terms of rituals, beliefs and practices as well as which traditional African religions and practices and possibly to pin-point which specific tribes they came from and what aspects are unique to Candomblé. I also want to see if the predominance of Catholicism in Brazil has influenced Candomblé in any way.
I also want to look at the chronological development of Candomblé; how it was practiced during slavery, after slavery and in modern times. Simultaneously, I will examine the use of Candomblé as a tool for coping with racism in Brazil and how this has evolved over time.
An important aspect of this topic is how non-Africans and non-people of color reacted to Candomblé over time. I want to examine how white/main-stream Brazilian culture reaction and treatment of Candomblé as well as the Catholic churches reaction.
Scholarly Sources:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20627028?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=african&searchText=religion&searchText=brazil&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dafrican%2Breligion%2Bbrazil&refreqid=search%3Aae5e59c1ab46eca2073e0405f811e8ea&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Primary Sources:
Yemanjá Documentary: https://www.yemanjathefilm.com/
City of Women Documentary