About the Book

Karen McCarthy Brown's classic book shatters stereotypes of Vodou by offering an intimate portrait of African-based religion in everyday life. She explores the importance of women's religious practices along with related themes of family and of social change. Weaving several of her own voices--analytic, descriptive, and personal--with the voices of her subjects in alternate chapters of traditional ethnography and ethnographic fiction, Brown presents herself as a character in Mama Lola's world and allows the reader to evaluate her interactions there. Startlingly original, Brown's work endures as an important experiment in ethnography as a social art form rooted in human relationships. A new preface, epilogue, bibliography, and a collection of family photographs tell the story of the effect of the book's publication on Mama Lola's life.

Product Details

Media: Paperback Book, 429 pages

Language: English

Publisher: University of California Press (Nov. 30th, 2001)

ISBN-10: 0520224752

ISBN-13: 9780520224759

Dimensions: 5.98 x 8.98 x 1.11 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.34 lbs

• Categories: General Biography & Autobiography Cultural Anthropology