Kyrah Malika Daniels
Biographic Data
| ID | 1436596 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kyrah Malika Daniels |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kyrah Malika |
| FAMILY NAME | Daniels |
| SIGNATURE | DANIELS K M |
| AFFILIATIONS | EMORY UNIVERSITY, US |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1895-1966 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 7 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Vladimir Cybil Charlier’s Timeless Vodou Vessels: Haitian Sacred Arts & Indigenous Hermeneutics in the African Diaspora
Haitian American artist Vladimir Cybil Charlier’s artwork emerges as a language of sacred arts, facilitating communion between mortal and celestial worlds. In this essay, I examine Charlier’s stunning new series, boutèy or ritual bottles as a case study of Indigenous hermeneutics in the African Diaspora. Charlier’s boutèy offer artistic reinterpretations of traditional Black Atlantic ritual implements—Kongo/African American bottle trees, and Hait…
The Color of Devotion
This study of race and religion examines the largest population converting to Haitian Vodou in the United States today: blan—foreigners. This article investigates the experiences of white western foreigners, who remain vastly understudied as devotees of “immigrant religions.” As with many conversion narratives, white Americans report becoming initiates into Vodou to deepen divine connections, restore health, develop spiritual sensibility, and est…
Vodou harmonizes the head-pot, or, Haiti's multi-soul complex
Haiti’s multi-soul complex proves a deeply enigmatic aspect of Vodou cosmology. This essay examines Haitian concepts of personhood and ‘plural soul’ philosophy in relationship to Vodou’s figurative mystic vessels, specifically the body-pot and head-pot. I introduce several African philosophies of multiple souls to contextualize Haiti’s multi-soul complex as a legacy of African indigenous thought regarding plural personhood. I argue that the physi…
Vodou, the Arts, and (Re)Presenting the Divine
Few conversations with the renowned Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat have delved into the subject of religion in Haiti and the representations of Vodou in her fiction and nonfiction writing. This interview with Danticat explores her religious upbringing, Vodou and interfaith dialogue, and representations of Haitian religion in the media and in the world. Other topics discussed include Haitian sacred space and the environment, Vodou as a matriarc…
Vodún: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power. By Timothy R. Landry
A compelling ethnographic exposé, Timothy R. Landry’s Vodún: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power examines how the deeply localized Vodún tradition of Benin has become a global urban religion in the twenty-first century. Today, Vodún appeals not simply to Beninese devotees of multiple ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Fon, Yorùbá [Nàgó], Ajă, and Gùn nations) but also to Western religious “pilgrims” and foreign spiritual tourists who seek spiritual po…
Mirror Mausoleums, Mortuary Arts, and Haitian Religious Unexceptionalism
the dead will dwell in separate houses suitable to their status.— Joseph Roach (1996, 53) In mystical experience, the mirror is the juncture point where the visible face sees its invisible face.— Sabine Melchior-Bonnet (2005, 6063) IN HAITIAN VODOU and other African-derived traditions, sacred art objects are often used to honor the dead, connecting the living with the spirit world. This study investigates the religious importance of Black Atlanti…
Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History by Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken
Reviewed by: Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History by Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken Kyrah Malika Daniels Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History. By Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken. Lanham, Boulder, New York City, London: Lexington Books, 2015. 419 pp. $110 hardcover. Rooted in the field of literary studies and comparative literature, Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken’s Spiri…
Mirror Mausoleums, Mortuary Arts, and Haitian Religious Unexceptionalism
the dead will dwell in separate houses suitable to their status.— Joseph Roach (1996, 53) In mystical experience, the mirror is the juncture point where the visible face sees its invisible face.— Sabine Melchior-Bonnet (2005, 6063) IN HAITIAN VODOU and other African-derived traditions, sacred art objects are often used to honor the dead, connecting the living with the spirit world. This study investigates the religious importance of Black Atlanti…
Vodou, the Arts, and (Re)Presenting the Divine
Few conversations with the renowned Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat have delved into the subject of religion in Haiti and the representations of Vodou in her fiction and nonfiction writing. This interview with Danticat explores her religious upbringing, Vodou and interfaith dialogue, and representations of Haitian religion in the media and in the world. Other topics discussed include Haitian sacred space and the environment, Vodou as a matriarc…
Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History by Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken
Reviewed by: Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History by Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken Kyrah Malika Daniels Spirit Possession in French, Haitian, and Vodou Thought: An Intellectual History. By Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken. Lanham, Boulder, New York City, London: Lexington Books, 2015. 419 pp. $110 hardcover. Rooted in the field of literary studies and comparative literature, Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken’s Spiri…
Mirror Mausoleums, Mortuary Arts, and Haitian Religious Unexceptionalism
the dead will dwell in separate houses suitable to their status.— Joseph Roach (1996, 53) In mystical experience, the mirror is the juncture point where the visible face sees its invisible face.— Sabine Melchior-Bonnet (2005, 6063) IN HAITIAN VODOU and other African-derived traditions, sacred art objects are often used to honor the dead, connecting the living with the spirit world. This study investigates the religious importance of Black Atlanti…
Vodún: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power. By Timothy R. Landry
A compelling ethnographic exposé, Timothy R. Landry’s Vodún: Secrecy and the Search for Divine Power examines how the deeply localized Vodún tradition of Benin has become a global urban religion in the twenty-first century. Today, Vodún appeals not simply to Beninese devotees of multiple ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Fon, Yorùbá [Nàgó], Ajă, and Gùn nations) but also to Western religious “pilgrims” and foreign spiritual tourists who seek spiritual po…
Vodou harmonizes the head-pot, or, Haiti's multi-soul complex
Haiti’s multi-soul complex proves a deeply enigmatic aspect of Vodou cosmology. This essay examines Haitian concepts of personhood and ‘plural soul’ philosophy in relationship to Vodou’s figurative mystic vessels, specifically the body-pot and head-pot. I introduce several African philosophies of multiple souls to contextualize Haiti’s multi-soul complex as a legacy of African indigenous thought regarding plural personhood. I argue that the physi…
Vodou, the Arts, and (Re)Presenting the Divine
Few conversations with the renowned Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat have delved into the subject of religion in Haiti and the representations of Vodou in her fiction and nonfiction writing. This interview with Danticat explores her religious upbringing, Vodou and interfaith dialogue, and representations of Haitian religion in the media and in the world. Other topics discussed include Haitian sacred space and the environment, Vodou as a matriarc…
The Color of Devotion
This study of race and religion examines the largest population converting to Haitian Vodou in the United States today: blan—foreigners. This article investigates the experiences of white western foreigners, who remain vastly understudied as devotees of “immigrant religions.” As with many conversion narratives, white Americans report becoming initiates into Vodou to deepen divine connections, restore health, develop spiritual sensibility, and est…
Vladimir Cybil Charlier’s Timeless Vodou Vessels: Haitian Sacred Arts & Indigenous Hermeneutics in the African Diaspora
Haitian American artist Vladimir Cybil Charlier’s artwork emerges as a language of sacred arts, facilitating communion between mortal and celestial worlds. In this essay, I examine Charlier’s stunning new series, boutèy or ritual bottles as a case study of Indigenous hermeneutics in the African Diaspora. Charlier’s boutèy offer artistic reinterpretations of traditional Black Atlantic ritual implements—Kongo/African American bottle trees, and Hait…
Caribbean and African Literature and Culture (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Colonialism, slavery, and trade (5 works) · Art (4 works) · Caribbean history, culture, and politics (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Aesthetics (3 works) · Anthropology (3 works) · History (3 works)