The Militarization of the Persecution of African Religions and the Demonization of Vodun Cults in Eighteenth-Century Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the persecution of African religions in eighteenth-century Brazil focusing on two important yet largely unstudied dimensions. First, it explores the militarization of policing Vodun practicioners by capitães do mato (“bush captains”), whose main function was capturing runaway slaves, after the destruction of the great maroon state of Palmares. Second, it examines the demonization by colonial society of African and diasporic religions, focusing on the process of knowledge production about the liturgical languages used by West African priests and the visual culture of the cults dedicated to the ophidian Voduns (Dan).