Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun: Pierre Fatumbi Verger and the Study of “African Traditional Religion”

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines Pierre Verger’sNotes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun à Bahia, la Baie de tous les Saints, au Brésil et à l’ancienne côte des esclaves en Afriqueand aims to investigate his position in relation to the study of religion, Vodun in particular, in the African context, and his contribution to the construction of an “African traditional religion” paradigm. InNotes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, Verger intended to make a comparative analysis of “African sources” and “Brazilian remnants” in order to ascertain what had survived the middle passage. This article seeks to highlight the innovative perspectives Verger introduced to the study of religions in Africa, perspectives that included a wide use of historical sources and a deep involvement in field research, and to point up his different methodological position on the two sides of the Atlantic. In Africa he sought pure tradition, while in Brazil he emphasized the modernity of the African religions that proved able to survive the Atlantic passage and resist the hegemonic powers of the New World.