TDR/The Drama Review · 1988 · 79 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesCultural StudiesReligious StudiesAfrican StudiesCultural AnthropologyIndigenous StudiesAfrican ReligionsAfrican Traditional ReligionsIndigenous Performance TraditionsIndigenous ReligionsSpiritualityWorship PracticesAfrican Indigenous ReligionAfrican Spiritual TraditionsIndigenous InterpretationRitual MythologySpiritual ImageryTraditional African Religions
In their religious practices involving the water spirit Mami Wata, African peoples from Senegal to Tanzania take exotic images and ideas, interpret them according to indigenous precepts, invest them with new meanings, and then re-create and re-present them in new and dynamic ways to serve their own aesthetic, devotional, and social needs. In so doing, they evaluate and transform external forces, using them to shape their own lives.'