Fetishes and Monuments

Roger Sansi is a Lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmith's College, London .He has conducted research on Afro-Brazilian art and culture in Brazil. Recently he has worked on the history of the term "fetish" in the Lusophone Black Atlantic.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Culture and Objectification in the Black Rome Chapter 1. 'Making the Saint': Spirits, Shrines and Syncretism in Candomble Chapter 2. From Sorcery to Civilisation: The Objectification of Afro-Brazilian Culture Chapter 3. From Informants to Scholars: Appropriating Afro-Brazilian Culture Chapter 4. From Weapons of Crime to Jewels of the Crown: Candomble in Museums Chapter 5. From the Shanties to the Mansions: Candomble as National Heritage Chapter 6. Modern Art and Afro-Brazilian Culture in Bahia Chapter 7. Authenticity and Commodification in Afro-Brazilian Art Chapter 8. Candomble as Public Art: The Orixas of Tororo Chapter 9. Re-appropriations of Afro-Brazilian Culture Bibliography Index

In all, this is an exciting study on a consolidated historiographic and anthropological theme such as Afro-Brazilian culture, since it does not take for granted the established truths, or the political practices and though, that both history and anthropology have set out to support in twentieth-century Brazil.A" * Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d'histoire - the impressive research and sensitive analyses - make this book an important and original contribution to the cultural history of the region. Anthropologists and historians interested in the development of Candomble - and in the processes of objectification and appropriation of everyday practices and things as symbols of collective identity, will certainly find much of interest in Sansi's work.A" * Journal of Latin American Studies This book - brings a new level of analytical rigor to the artistic study of African-American religious objects - Sansi's economical prose allows him to make complex theoretical, historical, ethnographic, and aesthetic arguments succinctly. Its clarity and brevity makes it attractive for course adoption especially in African-Diaspora studies, museum studies and 'non-western' art history courses.A" * The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology Sansi's book raises important questions about objectification, appropriation, syncretism, and cultural change in Brazil - the result is a lucid analysis of change over time in light of the political and social history of Brazil and the changes within Candomble values and beliefs.A" * JRAI "A sensitive, well-written, fine analysis of a cultyure undergoing multiple transitions, without a certain future. Highly recommended." * Choice