Possessed by a slave, not slavery

This paper examines spirit possession in Cuba as a way of imagining the history of slavery. It proposes three conceptual steps. The first, 'formulaic' historical imagination, treats possession as a direct expression of slavery as historical trauma. The second, 'mimesis', adds the possibility of reversal and empowerment, where the slave becomes an anti-slave. The third step, 'apomimesis', introduced by the author, displaces the previous two by creating a condition where the non-slave emerges through negative dialectics. The argument draws on ethnographic material and broader theoretical approaches, aiming not to replace but to displace existing frameworks.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The present paper is divided into three large steps around the themes of spirit possession and the historical imagination of slavery in Cuba. These three steps reflect both ethnographic dimensions of these themes and broader theoretical approaches towards them. The last step, ‘apomimesis’, is the one proposed by the author, not by way of replacement but displace­ment. The first step, ‘formulaic’ historical imagination, covers the ground of a direct expression of slavery as historical trauma through spirit possession. The second step, ‘mimesis’, displaces the first by adding into it the possibility of reversal, of empowerment, the slave becoming an anti-slave. The third creates another simultaneous condition. Through the negative dialectics of apomimesis the non-slave emerges.