Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African Inspired Traditions in the Americas [Paperback]

Randy P Lundschien Conner (Author), David Sparks (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1560233516 | ISBN-13: 978-1560233510 | Publication Date: March 24, 2004 | Edition: 1

What roles do queer and transgender people play in the African diasporic religions? Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas is a groundbreaking scholarly exploration of this long-neglected subject. It offers clear insight into the complex dynamics of gender and sexual orientation, humans and deities, and race and ethnicity, within these richly nuanced spiritual practices.

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions explores the ways in which gender complexity and same-sex intimacy are integral to the primary beliefs and practices of these faiths. It begins with a comprehensive overview of Vodou, Santeria, and other African-based religions. The second section includes extensive, revealing interviews with practitioners who offer insight into the intersection of their beliefs, their sexual orientation, and their gender identity. Finally, it provides a powerful analysis of the ways these traditions have inspired artists, musicians, and writers such as Audre Lorde, as well as informative interviews with the artists themselves.

In Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions, you will discover:

• how the presence of androgynous divinities affects both faith and practice in Vodou, Candomble, Santeria, and other Creole religions
• how the phenomenon of possession or embodiment by a god or goddess may validate queer identity and nurture gender complexity
• who practices the African-derived spiritual traditions, what they believe, and who their deities are
• how these faiths have influenced the art and aesthetic traditions of the West

This landmark book opens a fascinating new world of thought and belief. The authors provide rigorous documentation and faultless scholarly method as well as personal experience and the testimony of believers. Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions sheds new light on two widely different fields: LGBT studies and the theology of the African diaspora. A thorough bibliography points the way to further study, and an extensive photograph gallery provides a unique look at the believers and their practices. Every library with holdings in queer theory, African mythology, or sociology of religion should have this landmark volume.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE. . . . RICHLY INFORMATIVE AND A GENUINE PLEASURE TO READ. . . . -- AnaLouise Keating, PhD, Associate Professor of Women's Studies, Texas Woman's University

"FASCINATING. . . . IMPORTANT AND INSIGHTFUL. . . . FRANK AND CLEAR. -- Lindsay Hale, PhD, Lecturer in Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (March 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560233516
• ISBN-13: 978-1560233510
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Randy P. Conner, PhD (Humanities: Philosophy & Religion), is a writer and educator. He has published three books: Blossom of Bone; the Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol, and Spirit; and Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions (the previous two co-written with David Hatfield Sparks); as well as numerous articles in Parabola and elsewhere. His work also appears in Gloria Anzaldua's and AnaLouise Keating's This Bridge We Call Home; Patrick Bellegarde-Smith's Fragments of Bone: Neo-African Religions in a New World; David M. Machacek and Melissa M. Wilcox's Sexuality and the World's Religions; and other works. He has taught at the University of Texas, Austin Community College, the University of California at Berkeley, and CIIS. He is presently completing The Pagan Heart of the West: Devastation, Persistence, and Innovation in the Face of Christianization. Among his chief interests is the intersection of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and the mythic or sacred.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ashe!, November 9, 2006

By 

RootedHand (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African Inspired Traditions in the Americas (Hardcover)

This is a well written and much needed book. I bought it without having seen it and am so very glad I did. This book is written for those of us who are gay and involved in traditional african religions. I highly reccomend this wonderful book to all.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book in GLBTQ studies and Afro-Caribbean spiritual studies, May 19, 2011

By 

Ana - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African Inspired Traditions in the Americas (Paperback)

I found this book most useful in understanding the GLBTQ people who are drawn to African inspired religious traditions in the Americas. I found these people to be courageous and strong, with much love for the traditions that they are a part of. Even through their struggles, their love for their faith shines through.