Passages and Afterworlds

“Passages and Afterworlds is a timely and important contribution, written in accessible language and with vivid ethnographic detail. It juxtaposes case studies from around the region, allowing for an appreciation of both the variabilities and the commonalities of the relations between the living and the dead in local Caribbean social formations.” - Stephan Palmié, author of Wizards and Scientists: Explorations in Afro-Cuban Modernity and Tradition

“This remarkable collection of essays bridges worlds—those made by language, religion, race, and geography, to be sure, but also the domains made by humankind’s journey through time. The authors attend carefully to relations between the living and dead, noting the ruptures, continuities, losses, and regenerations that have animated a wide range of deathways around the Caribbean basin. Heard in chorus, the compendium intones a revelatory commemoration of our common voyage toward untold final destinations.” - Vincent Brown, author of The Reaper's Garden: Death and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery

"Passages and Afterworlds embraces a range of religious traditions that includes Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and a variety of Afro-Caribbean syncretic faiths. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." - R. Berleant-Schiller, Choice

"In Passages and Afterworlds, editors Yanique Hume and Maarit Forde have assembled a compelling set of essays on Caribbean deathways—mortuary ritual, memorialization, and the colonial and postcolonial management of beings alive and dead in the Greater Caribbean world. Across diverse contexts, the chapters do an excellent job of examining the ways in which communities use separations between those dead and alive to come closer together, making new life from death (including living well with the dead)." - Alexander Rocklin, Reading Religion

"Passages and Afterworlds deftly examines death, dying, and afterworlds in the Caribbean region. Chapters—written in accessible language and in vivid detail—evidence a deep appreciation of the region's history, a history characterized by violent encounters and exploitation. This is an extraordinary book." - Stephen D. Glazier, Religion

“Passages and Afterworlds is a hugely important volume to the study of life and death in the circum-Caribbean.... This volume brings together groups from the Caribbean that are rarely placed in the same collection, which provides an innovative approach to Caribbean studies....” - Alejandro Escalante, Anthropology Book Forum