Religion(s) in Africa(s): Concepts, Practices, Transformations

optional courses

Consisting in a critical deconstruction of the existing theoretical toolbox, coupled with a comparative analysis of the ethnographic materials, especially – but not explosively – those collected over last 20 years among the Mande and, more recently, among the Zulu and the Xhosa, the course presents the rich contemporary religious landscape of the African continent.

It offers a careful revision of certain categories – such as fetishism, animism, traditional religion – historically used to apprehend (indigenous) religion(s) in Africa(s). Through a focus on chosen key topics: divination, possession or sacrifice, for example, it examines selected yet representative classic and novel approaches (evolutionist perspective, symbolic anthropology, French Africanist school, material turn, pragmatic and existential anthropology, etc.) of African religious practices and representations. It is not designed to provide a systematic survey of such practices and representations, it does not aim to address them systematically in their infinite variety. Rather, it ambitions to contribute to a better understanding of their common points and their historical and current transformations.

The aim of the course is at once to familiarize students with a vast anthropological literature in English and French on the religion(s) in Africa and to invite them to critically apprehend concepts and categories used by authors. It will improve students’ analytical thinking and ability to perform the exegesis of complex and diverse written material.

Attendance and active participation in discussion, based on provided readings

Participation in the final roundtable: short presentation on critical reflection on the course