?St. Jean movingly, richly, and convincingly describes how the Béninois Catholic imagination transcends cultural and racial/ethnic boundaries?A captivating and fascinating account?A brilliant, intellectually sophisticated, and compelling portrayal of theuneasy complexity of Béninois culture and the Catholic imagination, and how they interface and emerge in the everyday lives of Béninois people. ?An excellent book filled with appropriately subdued theoretical ... Read morereflections that both create an interpretiveframework and allow the readers direct access to the grace and faith of the Béninois people whose voices speak throughout this wonderfully crafted narrative of what a more inclusive future may hold...
Anna Zajicek Ph.D., professor and graduate program director, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas …A significant contribution to the sociology of religion. With her Haitian-American voice, Dr. St. Jean enables us to see the richness and the depth of the African sacramental imagination…Drawing upon her fieldwork in Bénin and her background in Haiti, Dr. St. Jean carefully depicts the process in which Catholicism and Vodun have mutually informed and accommodated each other in a nuanced and supple dance of enculturation and adaptation.
Steven Worden, associate professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville …Dr. St. Jean's research material is clear and extensive; her observations reflect how people alter and at the same time hang onto their religion, what they are taught, and what they believe.
Gordon D. Morgan, professor, University of Arkansas …St. Jean movingly, richly, and convincingly describes how the Béninois Catholic imagination transcends cultural and racial/ethnic boundaries…A captivating and fascinating account…A brilliant, intellectually sophisticated, and compelling portrayal of the uneasy complexity of Béninois culture and the Catholic imagination, and how they interface and emerge in the everyday lives of Béninois people. …An excellent book filled with appropriately subdued theoretical reflections that both create an interpretive framework and allow the readers direct access to the grace and faith of the Béninois people whose voices speak throughout this wonderfully crafted narrative of what a more inclusive future may hold.
Anna Zajicek Ph.D., professor and graduate program director, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas Show Less