Resizing Congo: Iberian frontiers of devotion

Abstract

We present an ethnographic comparison of two rural communities that are devotees of Saint Anthony — one in Brazil and the other in Cuba — both referring to themselves as “congas.” Issues examined include the borders of the “Congo” as influenced by the Iberian Diaspora, and the extension of the “conga” identity to Latin America in its geographic, political, religious, and social dimensions. We focus especially on the evolution of tradition evidenced in the religious music employed in these communities.