'Addressing the Spirit of Discernment: Pentecostal transformation of demonic objects into modern heritage in Sierra Leone

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• Dr Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp, MAA, Cambridge
• Monday 14 November 2016, 17:00-18:00
• Seminar Room S1 Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DT.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Victoria Jones.

This talk will explore the risky terrain of heritage management in Sierra Leone and its navigation by devout Born Again Pentecostal Christians. I will engage with the ever expanding Born Again movement and its narrative of rupture on the one hand, and the increasingly visible heritage sector and its focus on cultural continuity on the other. These positions appear irreconcilable: one experiences the past as a dangerous satanic realm, the other as a valuable resource. However, as I will explore, they frequently meet in the work place as many heritage professionals are also Born Again believers. I am interested in this meeting point as demonic channels and godly practices converge. I argue that Freetown’s Born Again heritage professionals do not succeed in their roles despite their religion, but because of it.

This talk is part of the Centre of African Studies Michaelmas Seminars series.

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• Centre of African Studies Michaelmas Seminars
• Seminar Room S1 Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DT

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