Nagô Grandma and White Papa: Candomblé and the Creation of Afro-Brazilian Identity

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Quote

nagô grandma and white papa A book in the series Latin America in Translation / en Traducción / em Tradução Sponsored by the Consortium in Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Candomblé and the Creation of Afro-Brazilian Identity Beatriz Góis Dantas translated by Stephen Berg the university of north carolina press Chapel Hill nagô grandma and white papa Translation of the books in the series Latin America in Translation / en Traducción / em Tradução, a collaboration between the Consortium in Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University and the university presses of the University of North Carolina and Duke, is supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.© 2009 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved • Manufactured in the United States of America Originally published in Portuguese with the title Vovó Nagô e Papai Branco: Usos e abusos da África no Brasil, © 1988 Beatriz Góis Dantas. Set in Scala and Othello The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dantas, Beatriz Góis. [Vovó Nagô e Papai Branco. English] Nagô Grandma and White Papa : Candomblé and the creation of AfroBrazilian identity / Beatriz Góis Dantas ; translated by Stephen Berg. p. cm.—(Translation of the books in the series Latin America in translation) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8078-3177-9 (cloth: alk. paper) isbn 978-0-8078-5975-9 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Afro-Brazilian cults. 2. Brazil—Religion. I. Title. bl2590.b7d3513 2009 299.6'73—dc22 2009009197 cloth 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1 paper 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1 To the memory of Josefina Leite Campos, teacher. With faith and competence she initiated me in the adventure of anthropology. . . . . . And to Bilina of Laranjeiras, from whom I learned that initiating filhos-de-santo is also an act of competence and faith. purity is the enemy of change, of ambiguity and compromise. most of us would feel safer if our experience could be hard-set and fixed in form. —mary douglas, Purity and Danger ...