A santería és más afrikai eredetű vallások a karibi társadalmakban
Santería and Other Religions of African Origin in Caribbean Societies

Summary/Abstract: The descendants of the African slaves constitute a significant part of the ethnically diverse Cuban nation. Elements of African culture can be found primarily in the Afro-Cuban syncretic religious cults, which represent national identity in works of literature. In this paper, we review the relationship between Santería and other religions of African origin, their emergence, and the change in Caribbean society. Since the 1980s, Afro-Caribbean peoples have taken pride in their origins, celebrating their belonging publicly as a folk tradition in cultural festivals. Even today, however, many still keep their religious affiliation secret for political reasons. First, during colonial times, planters saw the religion of slaves as a means of resistance and sought to break up their groupings to prevent the transmission of messages encoded in ritual drums and dances. Then, in the 1950s, in a spirit of progress and development, the elite class shaped the public perception of Afro-Caribbean religions to a great extent. The practices were branded as ‘superstitious’ and ‘remnants of medieval beliefs’. They were disparaged, expressing that they were seen as a barrier to progress. However, following a shift in ethnic nationalist ideology in the 1980s, a new form of cultural nationalism emphasized the timeless or ‘folkloric’ aspects of an ancient culture, rehabilitating religions of African origin and incorporating them into their renewed nationalist agenda.

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