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Series:   Elements in Magic

The Gut

A Black Atlantic Alimentary Tract

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2022

Elizabeth Pérez
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara

Summary

If the head is religion, the gut is magic. Taking up this provocation, this Element delves into the digestive system within transnational Afro-Diasporic religions such as Haitian Vodou, Brazilian Candomblé, and Cuban Lucumí (also called Santería). It draws from the ethnographic and archival record to probe the abdomen as a vital zone of sensory perception, amplified in countless divination verses, myths, rituals, and recipes for ethnomedical remedies. Provincializing the brain as only one locus of reason, it seeks to expand the notion of 'mind' and expose the anti-Blackness that still prevents Black Atlantic knowledges from being accepted as such. The Element examines gut feelings, knowledge, and beings in the belly; African precedents for the Afro-Diasporic gut-brain axis; post-sacrificial offerings in racist fantasy and everyday reality; and the strong stomachs and intestinal fortitude of religious ancestors. It concludes with a reflection on kinship and the spilling of guts in kitchenspaces.
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The Gut
  • Elizabeth Pérez, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Online ISBN: 9781009031530
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The Gut
  • Elizabeth Pérez, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Online ISBN: 9781009031530
Available formats
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Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

The Gut
  • Elizabeth Pérez, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Online ISBN: 9781009031530
Available formats
×