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A maverick photographer who travelled the world in search of otherness, over time Verger became a prominent ethnographer, botanist and historian. He devoted fifty years of research to the black cultures of Brazil and Africa and to the transatlantic world of the Orisha and Vodun deities. Living in the field, initiated into diverse religious societies, he was reborn under the name of Fatumbi. A go-between of the Yoruba diaspora, Verger practiced an anti-colonial ethnology avant la lettre. This book is an anthropological essay, but also a cross-cultural portrait and the story of an extraordinary life. It provides a detailed analysis of the artistic and scientific work of Pierre Fatumbi Verger (1902-1996).
“Souty’s work is striking in its thoroughness, as the author engages with a wide variety of sources, including books, interviews, newspaper articles, personal letters, and public statements, in a process that echoes Verger’s own approach to handling sources.” • Gabriel Bannagia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
[Reviews of the French edition]
“Souty’s intentions are clear. He did not intend for this publication to be either a strict biography or a hagiographical accounting of Verger’s life. Rather, the book constitutes a thorough and thoughtful accounting of Verger’s scholarly work and accomplishments … As such, it is an excellent consideration of Verger’s contributions to and engagement with discourses in anthropology, history, religious studies, photography, and botany, among other fields.” • African Studies Review
“[Souty's] book is exceptional in its scope, the quality of the illustrations presented and, above all, the intelligent way in which it combines scientific work, artistic work and biography.” • Gradhiva
“A work of exceptional informative and analytical richness” • Archives de sciences sociales des religions
“A fascinating ‘anthropological novel’ written in a compelling style with a thrilling narrative… Souty is undoubtedly the first researcher to have not only succeeded in completely renewing our approach to the lost anthropologist in a totally convincing manner, but also in introducing us to his multifaceted, fertile, complex and, frankly, unclassifiable personality.” • Journal des africanistes
Reviews for the Brazilian edition
“Souty's knowledge of African-based religions in Brazil, gained from research conducted in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, is particularly noteworthy… a new and thought-provoking perspective.” • Revista de Antropologia
Jérôme Souty is a French anthropologist and author based in Brazil. A specialist in the work of Pierre Verger, he has conducted research in urban anthropology and Afro-Brazilian religions, cultures and heritage at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). He is associated with two research laboratories (IMAF and CRBC) at EHESS Paris. He is also the author of Motel Brasil: Uma antropologia contemporânea (Telha, 2019).
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Text
Introduction
Chapter 1. A Method ‘by Default’?
Chapter 2. TheRelationship withtheOther
Chapter 3. The Place of the Image in Research
Chapter 4. The Relationship to Writing
Chapter 5. From AfricanFidelityto the‘InventionofTradition’
Chapter 6. A First Initiatory Journey (up to 1948)
Chapter 7. Initiations(from 1948)
Chapter 8. The ‘Lawof the Secret’
Chapter 9. Between Self and Other
Chapter 10. Initiatory Knowledge
Conclusion
Glossary
References
Index