ABSTRACT

Syncretism - the synthesis of different religious - is a contentious word. Some regard it as a pejorative term, referring to local versions of notionally standard `world religions' which are deemed `inauthentic' because saturated with indigenous content. Syncretic versions of Christianity do not conform to `official' (read `European') models. In other contexts however, the syncretic amalgamation of religions may be validated as a mode of resistance to colonial hegemony, a sign of cultural survival, or as a means of authorising political dominance in a multicultural state.
In Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism the contributors explore the issues of agency and power which are integral to the very process of syncretism and to the competing discourses surrounding the term.

chapter |24 pages

Introduction: problematizing syncretism

chapter 2|22 pages

Beyond syncretism

chapter 3|14 pages

Variations on a Christian theme

chapter 4|22 pages

The politics of religious synthesis

chapter 5|18 pages

Ritual, power and colonial domination

chapter 7|16 pages

Syncretic inventions

chapter 8|16 pages

Manipulated identities

chapter 9|16 pages

Are fireworks Islamic?