Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies: Africana Heritage Religion Beyond Obeah

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Gregory Carter (Illinois State University)

Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies

Name: Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies
Price: 180 AUD
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ISBN: 9781666963229

Africana Heritage Religion Beyond Obeah

Gregory Carter (Illinois State University)

$180

Hardback

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English

Rowman & Littlefield
08 January 2026

African history; Religion: general; Cultural studies

Series: The Black Atlantic Cultural Series: Revisioning Artistic, Historical, Literary, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives

During the era of slavery in the Danish West Indies, a distinct Africana heritage religion was developed by the enslaved population that relied on performative expression, and Gregory Carter traces this heritage.

This spiritualty shared many attributes with other African heritage religions throughout the African Atlantic, including belief in spirit powers, the veneration of ancestors, polyrhythmic music, dance, costumed masquerade performance, reliance on herbalism and spirit mediumship. Simultaneously, they also incorporated Evangelical Lutheran/Moravian Christianity and the practice of altaration. Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies: Africana Heritage Religion Beyond Obeah contends that the altaration of the human body is key to conceptualizing how enslaved Africans and their descendants contended with the terrible conditions inherent to slavery, the dislocation of spiritual connections from Africa, and built a renewed and living spiritual understanding on the Danish islands. To prevent loss of cultural knowledge and spirituality, the Danish West Indian enslaved community adapted to life on the islands with immediate pragmatism and took in every available means to regain connection to spiritual power available, containing and hiding this spirituality within living human bodies. Through in-depth research, Carter provides insight into how this religious practice, African heritage, and culture continue to impact the present-day Virgin Islands.

By: Gregory Carter (Illinois State University)
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9781666963229
ISBN 10: 1666963224
Series: The Black Atlantic Cultural Series: Revisioning Artistic, Historical, Literary, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives
Pages: 258
Publication Date: 08 January 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Gregory Carter is Instructional Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University, USA.

Reviews for Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies: Africana Heritage Religion Beyond Obeah

This well-research book investigates the comprehensive awareness of the survivability and thriving in contemporary arts and sciences of West Afrakan cultural heritage. Backtime Religion in the Danish West Indies is an exceptional analytical contribution to the body of Caribbean Studies literature on the perseverance of ancestral sacred life practices of West Afrakan spirituality, culture, and heritage that still remain, and are to be included, within the annals of historical cultural legacy research. * Chenzira Davis-Kahina, Associate Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Director of the Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Center at the University of the Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands (U.S.) *