Serving the lwa in the city of São Paulo: the relationship between people, spirts and houses in the Haitian diaspora

• Grant number: 20/07584-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2020
• End date: November 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Urban Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Ana Claudia Duarte Rocha Marques
• Grantee: Gabriel Hardt Gomes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The research intend to explore the net of relations between Haitians living in the city of São Paulo, in Haiti and other countries of the diaspora from their relations with the lwa - vodu spirits capable of protecting and afflicting misfortunes and that are inherited with the land and blood - and the houses that are, because of the diaspora, built in Haiti (kay diaspora) and other countries of residence (kay nan diaspora). I will analyze the importance of serving the lwa and the ancestors to have a successful diaspora and the impacts of it in the belief and religious practices of those who are aletranje (abroad). I intend to contribute in the anthropological debate about kinship - especially in the analysis of "making kinship" and the approach from the house.