Blessed Anastacia

by John Burdick

The weakness of Brazil's black consciousness movement is commonly attributed to the fragility of Afro-Brazilian ethnic identity. In a major account, John Burdick challenges this view by revealing the many-layered reality of popular black consciousness and identity in an arena that is usually overlooked: that of popular Christianity.Blessed Anastacia describes how popular Christianity confronts everyday racism and contributes to the formation of racial identity. The author concludes that if organizers of the black consciousness movement were to recognize the profound racial meaning inherent in this area of popular religiosity, they might be more successful in bridging the gap with its poor and working-class constituency.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 1998

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this really insightful. I always feel a bit uneasy, (irrationally so, I know) about a man writing about the depths of feminine experience and self-identification; but Burdick treats his informants with respect and writes about their stories with great nuance. Further, Blessed Anastacia is very readable, rarely devolving into the linguistic mire of anthropological “academese.”

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good anthropological study of race, sex, and religion. The 3/5 reflects more the fact that I found some of the content tedious or unhelpful for my own purposes, but it was well done as an analysis.

[Wi-moto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. It was one of the few non-fiction novels that isn't written like some dry boring collection of facts. It is coming from an anthropological opinion and they usually can be extremely condescending. Luckily, this particular anthropologist was not!! Check it out.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging analysis of Black Christian women's actual perspectives on a few issues based on a well-carried out set of interviews. Not surprising that Brazilians don't seem keen on publishing it. (Port 404-Univ Senior)

[Lisa]

Blessed Anast