Abstract

DIAS, João Ferreira. From the “nàgó” of Bahia to the “pọ́rtúgérè” of Lisbon: A look at diaspora identity and religion. Cadernos de Estudos Africanos [online]. 2013, n.25, pp.183-205. ISSN 1645-3794.

The present paper aims to analyze the construction of the yorùbá religious identity in two of the diaspora’s historical moments. The first of these is the slave trade to Brazil, which gave rise to the “nàgó” identity in eighteenth-century Bahia de Todos os Santos. The second case-study refers to the contemporary yorùbá diaspora in Lisbon, which came about due to employment opportunities in the globalized labor market. The purpose of this article is to stress how an African culture has accommodated to new sociocultural contexts and entered into dialogue with exogenous elements. I conclude by examining the specific tools with which the yorùbá people operated an “invention of tradition”.

Keywords : invention; tradition; diaspora; identity; religion; yorùbá.

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