The paper deals with two different anthropological perspectives on Mami Wata’s imagery and cult. After a preliminary overview on Mami Wata’s history, cult and iconography and on the related rituals and performances, the A. examines the different approaches adopted by J.H. Drewal and by C. Gore and J. Nevadomsky. The latter argues that Mami Wata is not a pan-African deity imported from Europe as Drewal suggests and that, on the contrary, she describes independent traditions and diverse deities in different societies, insisting that Drewal’s perspective obscures their nuances and downplays the agency of the local ritual operators.
Analisi delle diverse manifestazioni devozionali e artistiche di Mami Wata, una divinità di grande diffusione in Africa occidentale sulla base di due opposte prospettive teoriche. Alla prospettiva di J.H. Drewal, nella quale Mami Wata sembra configurarsi come una divinità pan-africana, si contrappone infatti quella di C. Gore e J. Nevadomsky che ne privilegiano gli aspetti regionali, rivalutando la agency degli operatori locali del sacro.
"Mami Wata. Arte e agency" / Tiberini, Elvira. - STAMPA. - 1:(2012), pp. 401-418. (Intervento presentato al convegno Antropologia e Archeologia a confronto. Rappresentazioni e pratiche del Sacro. tenutosi a Roma, Museo L. Pigorini nel 20-21 maggio 2011).
"Mami Wata. Arte e agency"
TIBERINI, Elvira
2012
Abstract
The paper deals with two different anthropological perspectives on Mami Wata’s imagery and cult. After a preliminary overview on Mami Wata’s history, cult and iconography and on the related rituals and performances, the A. examines the different approaches adopted by J.H. Drewal and by C. Gore and J. Nevadomsky. The latter argues that Mami Wata is not a pan-African deity imported from Europe as Drewal suggests and that, on the contrary, she describes independent traditions and diverse deities in different societies, insisting that Drewal’s perspective obscures their nuances and downplays the agency of the local ritual operators.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.