Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire : Nazarite Women's Performance in South Africa

The University of Chicago Press

Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of DesireNazarite Women's Performance in South Africa\nAuthor(s): Carol Ann Muller\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: The University of Chicago Press, United States\nImprint: University of Chicago Press\nISBN-13: 9780226548197, 978-0226548197\nSynopsis\nWith close to one million members, the Church of the Nazarites (\""ibandla lamaNazaretha\"") is one of the most popular indigenous religious communities in South Africa. Founded in 1910 by Isaiah Shembe, it offers South Africans - particularly disadvantaged black women and girls - a way to remake and reconnect to ancient sacred traditions disrupted by colonialism and apartheid. Ethnomusicologist Carol Muller explores the everyday lives of Nazarite women through their religious songs and dances, dream narratives and fertility rituals, which come to life both musically and visually on CD-ROM. Against the backdrop of South Africa's turbulent history, Muller shows how Shembe's ideas of female ritual purity .