Purity, soul food, and sunni islam: Explorations at the intersection of consumption and resistance

Carolyn Rouse, Janet Hoskins

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    68 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Contemporary African American followers of Sunni Islam are self-consciously articulating a form of eating that they see as liberating them from the heritage of slavery, while also bringing them into conformity with Islamic notions of purity. In so doing, they participate in arguments about the meaning of "soul food," the relation between "Western" materialism and "Eastern" spirituality, and bodily health and its relation to mental liberation. Debates within the African American Muslim community show us how an older anthropological concern with food taboos can be opened up to history and to the experience of the past reinterpreted in terms of the struggles of the present.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)226-249
    Number of pages24
    JournalCultural Anthropology
    Volume19
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 2004

    All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

    • Anthropology
    • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

    Keywords

    • African American history
    • Food
    • Islam
    • Resistance
    • Taboos

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