Social Impacts of Religious Movements
No Roof Has Weighed Me Down, But Chains Threaten My Fingers : The Quest of Jewish Poetry after a New Religion
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carina P. Alexandroff
The Jewish Haskala movement in the 18th century introduced to the world a new elite which strived to embrace Western culture, its liberty of mind and creativity. This eager quest after change was also accompanied by an identity crisis and a loss of a sense of belonging. Jewish scholars of the Haskala viewed their families as "a folk of wild grass grown on foreign earth/Dust-bearded nomads/grandfathers of dearth…" (Mani Leyb) . Feeling spiritually uprooted, they failed to adopt a new kinship. For some, the idea of Zionism and the revival of the holy land, Eretz Israel, became a new secular religion. Nevertheless, those who chose to immigrate to America found no such spiritual replacement. These displaced Jews were still struggling to fashion their identity in the context of religion and its ideology. My paper will examine the way this conflict is reflected in a selection of poems composed by Yiddish American poets in the turn of the 20th century. It will demonstrate the creative ways poetry dealt with this fascinating contradictory desire - to let go of religion, while at the same time to go on being artistically nurtured by it, form the center of this paper.
The Amazons of Matinino: Women in Taino Society
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rosalina Diaz
In 2005, a group of “Taino” reclaimed the Caguana Ceremonial Center, in Utuado Puerto Rico, in the name of their ancestors demanding, “End the destruction & desecration of our sanctuaries, sacred places, archeological sites, coaibays (cemeteries) & ceremonial centers now!” The Taino had used the site for years to celebrate traditional rituals, but due to changes in the Center’s policies, were now restricted to certain hours. For the Taino, this was the final straw in an ongoing and escalating patrimony conflict with the site managers, The Institute for Puerto Rican Culture, charged by the Puerto Rican Legislature in 1955 with the task of “conserving, promoting, enriching & disseminating the cultural values of Puerto Rico.” The result was a 17-day occupation and hunger strike that brought to the fore issues regarding Puerto Rican identity that had long lay dormant. The period of European colonization in the Americas was one of cultural disruption/loss. As a result of Spain’s assimilationist policy, concubinage with native women was widespread. As a result, indigenous culture/spirituality survived. Taino society was based on a matrilineal system. Women were artisans, warriors, healers & chieftains. The primary deity of the Taino cosmology is Attabeira, the Great Mother. Many years of colonialism served to relegate the female descendents of the Taino to a subservient status. But recently there has emerged a Taino movement that seeks to restore the feminine aspect to it’s once revered and respected status. My research explores how these groups are rewriting the story of the Taino Woman.
