The Yoruba Diaspora
- Who were (are!) the Yoruba? How and when did they end up featuring significantly in the Atlantic slave trade?
- Why did the Yoruba seem to become so culturally dominant in Cuba and Brazil in the nineteenth century?
- What institutions and networks supported this?
- What was the region with the highest Yoruba concentration in Brazil historically and why?
- what features of Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban religious and cultural practice have recognisably Yoruba features today?
- What were the implications for enslaved resistance?
Readings: choose at least 1:
Falola, Toyin, and Childs, Matt, eds. . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. Chapter 5: Jo茫o Jos茅 Reis and Beatriz Mamigonian, 鈥淣ag么 and Mina: the Yoruba Diaspora in Brazil,鈥� pp 77-110.
Graham, Sandra Lauderdale. 鈥�.鈥� Slavery & Abolition, 32:1 (March 2011): 1-26.
Joao Jose Reis, CUP 2015. Choose the chapter that most interests you!
Henry Lovejoy, , UNC PRess, 2019. Introduction (and/or choose a chapter that interests you)
Further reading
Eltis, David. 鈥淭he Diaspora of Yoruba Speakers, 1650 - 1865: Dimensions and Implications,鈥� in Toyin Falola and Matt Childs (eds), The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World (Bloomington, 2005), pp. 3-26.
George Brandon, Santeria from Africa to the New World: The Dead Sell Memories (1998) [paper copy @ library]
David H Brown, . Routledge, 2003
Stephan Palmie, . Duke 2002
fantastic resources on African kingdoms, including Oyo and Dahomey as well as Kongo (including a whole A-level syllabus!)
Toby Green, . Allen Lane, 2019