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Film, Video Conversion in Context: Rethinking Religious Change in Colonial Western Kenya

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • Conversion in Context: Rethinking Religious Change in Colonial Western Kenya

Summary

  • On July 19 and 20, 2022, the African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) hosted a symposium, "Religious Practices, Transmission, and Literacies in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia." The symposium featured the presentations of seven scholars who conducted two-week research residencies in the AMED Reading Room between June 1 and July 15, 2022. The residencies and symposium are part of the Exploring Challenging Conversations project generously funded by a planning grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The purpose of the initiative was to enhance public awareness of cross-regional and intercultural religious understanding in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and their global diaspora.

    Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.

    Abstract: This presentation discusses the little-known "Mohamedan movement" that emerged near Mumias in Western Kenya in 1926. According to administrative records, leaders of this proselytizing effort proclaimed that the Last Days were at hand and that God's deliverer would soon appear to exterminate all non-Muslims, especially the Europeans. Challenging standard models of anti-colonial movements, the speaker argues that this movement should be seen as part of a diffuse, persistent undercurrent of indigenous discourse and practice that transcended ethnic and creedal boundaries. The speaker makes the case that there existed throughout parts of East Africa a longstanding religious "option" characterized by belief in mobile spiritual entities; the use of consecrated water for healing and protection; and the "preaching safari," whereby adepts traveled the countryside disseminating their particular dispensation and/or medicine. This flexible, multi-pronged indigenous option shaped the way missionary religions - Islam and Christianity alike - initially gained a foothold throughout the region.

Event Date

  • August 15, 2022

Running Time

  • 44 minutes 12 seconds

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

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Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Conversion in Context: Rethinking Religious Change in Colonial Western Kenya. 2022. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10460/.

APA citation style:

(2022) Conversion in Context: Rethinking Religious Change in Colonial Western Kenya. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10460/.

MLA citation style:

Conversion in Context: Rethinking Religious Change in Colonial Western Kenya. 2022. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10460/>.