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Book reviews

Book reviews Book reviews Karen McCarthy Brown. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berke- ley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. ix + 405 pp. ISBN 0-520-07073-9. $13.00. This biographical work presents the reader with an intimate view into the life of a Brooklyn-based Vodou priestess, Alourdes (called "Mama Lola"), and her family. Karen McCarthy Brown's understanding of Vodou is based upon her research in urban Haiti and from her relationship with Alourdes where Brown found insight into both rural Haitian ritual beliefs and current practice in New York. A Professor of the Sociology and Anthropology of Religion at Drew University, Brown has published articles using Alourdes as a case study example since 1987. Brown provides not only a steady stream of data and insights based upon her anthropological training in fieldwork and research, but also contributes fictionalized stories in the style of Haitian oral tradition to expand our understanding of characters, the historical context and the practice of Vodou in both Haiti and New York. What Brown offers is a multi-dimensional view. Brown argues for a feminist style of interpretive anthropology where rela- tionship, and here even close friendship, between researcher and subject has its place http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Method & Theory in the Study of Religion Brill

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1995 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0943-3058
eISSN
1570-0682
DOI
10.1163/157006895X00333
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book reviews Karen McCarthy Brown. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berke- ley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. ix + 405 pp. ISBN 0-520-07073-9. $13.00. This biographical work presents the reader with an intimate view into the life of a Brooklyn-based Vodou priestess, Alourdes (called "Mama Lola"), and her family. Karen McCarthy Brown's understanding of Vodou is based upon her research in urban Haiti and from her relationship with Alourdes where Brown found insight into both rural Haitian ritual beliefs and current practice in New York. A Professor of the Sociology and Anthropology of Religion at Drew University, Brown has published articles using Alourdes as a case study example since 1987. Brown provides not only a steady stream of data and insights based upon her anthropological training in fieldwork and research, but also contributes fictionalized stories in the style of Haitian oral tradition to expand our understanding of characters, the historical context and the practice of Vodou in both Haiti and New York. What Brown offers is a multi-dimensional view. Brown argues for a feminist style of interpretive anthropology where rela- tionship, and here even close friendship, between researcher and subject has its place

Journal

Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1995

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