Possession
The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Religions March 21, 2024 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190916961.013.26 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that spirit possession in Caribbean religions unsettles the idea of the autonomous, rational, free agent, and that possession served as a category marking the divide between those who could own and those who could be owned under slavery. Contends that the history of slavery continues to shape the linked tropes of spirit possession, material possessions, and possessable persons. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter explores the issues surrounding spirit possession within Caribbean religions. It cites how the notion of possession questioned the idea of the autonomous, rational, free agent. While slavery was the Caribbean’s foundational institution and system of exchange, spirit possession provided a key category that helped affix the great ontological and social divide that separated those capable of ownership from those who could by right be owned. The question of the colonial occupation of territory or enslaved persons raised the issues of the economic value of land and spirits’ presence in the bodies of the enslaved. The chapter explains how the history of slavery hovers and chains the tropes of spirit possession, material possessions, and possessable persons.