El Monte Cabrera

El Monte

Notes on the Religions, Magic, and Folklore of the Black and Creole People of Cuba LYDIA CABRERA DAVID FONT-NAVARRETE, translator

“In her groundbreaking ethnography El Monte, Lydia Cabrera brings the reader seamlessly into Afro-Cuban cosmologies by virtue of her deep knowledge and virtuosic uses of ethnography, history, and traditional medicines. The greatest contribution of her career, El Monte remains the most trusted source for documentation and insight into the worldviews, practices, and languages of mid-twentieth century followers of Afro-Cuban traditions.”—DAVID F. GARCIA, author of Listening for Africa: Freedom, Modernity, and the Logic of Black Music’s African Origins

“David Font-Navarrete’s translation of Lydia Cabrera’s classic study, El Monte, fills a major gap in works about Afro-Cuban religions available in English. Readers will enjoy the erudite additions of John Szwed and Robert Farris Thompson’s foreword and Isabel Castellanos’s introduction to this long-awaited volume. Cabrera’s unique voice shines through, offering the knowledge and wit of Afro-Cuban religious practitioners to a new generation. The volume is a testament to the complexity and richness of Cuban folklore.”—SOLIMAR OTERO, author of Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures

“El Monte has become a holy book for . . . servitors of the Afro-American religions derived from the Yoruba, Kongo, Dahomean, and Ejagham cultures. . . . The range of these religions is enormous. This book helps us comprehend them.” —JOHN SZWED and ROBERT FARRIS THOMPSON, from the Foreword

First published in Cuba in 1954 and appearing here in English for the first time, Lydia Cabrera’s El Monte is a foundational and iconic study of AfroCuban religious and cultural traditions. Drawing on conversations with elderly Afro-Cuban priests who were one or two generations away from the transatlantic slave trade, Cabrera combines ethnography, history, folklore, literature, and botany to provide a panoramic account of the multifaceted influence of Afro-Atlantic cultures in Cuba. Cabrera details the natural and spiritual landscape of the Cuban monte (forest, wilderness) and discusses hundreds of herbs and the constellations of deities, sacred rights, and knowledge that envelop them. The result is a complex spiritual and medicinal architecture of Afro-Cuban cultures. This new edition of what is often referred to as “the Santería bible” includes a new foreword, introduction, and translator notes. As a seminal work in the study of the African diaspora that has profoundly impacted numerous fields, Cabrera’s magnum opus is essential for scholars, activists, and religious devotees of Afro-Cuban traditions alike.

LATIN AMERICA IN TRANSLATION/EN TRADUCCIÓN/EM TRADUÇÃO

Sacrifice of a rooster to Elegguá at a sacred Jagüey tree. Photo by J. Tarafa.

July 712 pages, 97 illustrations, 7”x10” paper, 978-1-4780-1873-5 $37.95/£34.00 cloth, 978-1-4780-1609-0 $139.95/£125.00

Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991) was a renowned Cuban writer, folklorist, and artist who wrote dozens of books documenting Afro-Cuban culture and religion. David Font-Navarrete is Assistant Professor in the Department of Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance at Lehman College, City University of New York.