Legacies of Syncretism and Cognition: African and European Religious and Aesthetic Expressions in the Caribbean

Summary

Incipient aspects of syncretic processes among Africans and Europeans had begun on the African continent from the fifteenth century, with a particular reference noted for religious practices. Considering the relatively isolated participation of the two groups within the early interactive sphere of West Africa, as well as the in-situ contexts of the African cultures, some syncretical expressions were evident, yet due to the disproportional ratio of populations, were more subtle on the continent. However, once the various African populations were forcibly transported to the Caribbean, eliminating a strong homogeneity of cultural traditions, the degree of interactive exchange between Africans and Europeans increased dramatically, resulting in more complex and open forms of syncretism. This presentation seeks to provide a discussion of how African-European syncretic processes manifested themselves in successful forms, such as with benign cognitive compromises relating to religious practices, as well as how these syncretic processes were also rejected, such as with conflictive cognitive aspects in forms of aesthetic expression. It is proposed here that variable degrees of syncretical effectiveness were based on the fundamental variation of African and European cognitive approaches, with two archaeological case studies presented, one of successful syncretism and another rejected syncretism on St. Maarten.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22102