Our Lady of the Exile is a study of Cuban-American popular Catholicism, focusing on the shrine of Our Lady Charity in Miami. Drawing on a wide range of sources and using both historical and ethnographic methods, the book examines the religious life of the Cuban exiles who visit the shrine. Those pilgrims are diverse, and so are the motives that bring them. At the same time, author Thomas A. Tweed argues, Cuban devotees of the national patroness share a great deal. Most come to pray for their homeland and to recreate bonds with other Cubans, on the island and in the diaspora. The shrine is a place where they come to make sense of themselves as an exiled people. The religious symbols there link the past and present and bridge the homeland and the new land. Through rituals and artifacts at the shrine, Tweed suggests, the Cuban diaspora "imaginatively constructs its collective identity and transports itself to the Cuba of memory and desire." While the book focuses on Cuban exiles in Miami, it moves beyond case study as it explores larger issues concerning religion, identity, and place. How do migrants relate to heir homeland? How do they understand themselves after they have been displaced? What role does religion play among these diasporic groups? Building on this study of one exiled group, Tweed proposes a theory of diasporic religion that promises to illuminate the experiences of other groups that have been displaced from their native land. As the first book-length analysis of Cuban-American Catholicism, Tweed's book will be an invaluable resource to scholars and students of not only Religious Studies, American Studies, and Ethnic Studies, but also those who study cultural anthropology, human geography, and Latin American history.

Winner of an AAR Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion
Reviews
"Tweed's sophisticated book explores the ways in which Cuban-Americans construct memory, identity, and notions of utopia through symbolic and religious resources provided by the devotion to Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, the patroness of Cuba, and more specifically, by the shrine built in her honor in Miami....Tweed's approach and theoretical apparatus are truly innovative. In addition to his ethnohistorical approach, he reintroduces space and material culture to the study of religion in the Americas."--Religious Studies Review
"His interest in the subject and his commitment to authenticity and honesty in his analysis prove beyond any doubt that Tweed wanted to provide a thoroughly researched work in the field of religious studies....In essence, Tweed has been able to synthesize in 142 pages a scholarly work of a sensitive nature with accuracy and gentleness."--Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology
"Our Lady of the Exile is a valuable contribution to the growing literature on Catholic and folk devotional religion. It will spark fruitful discussion in courses on popular religion and/or Latino history and religiosity."--Church History
"...the careful research and analysis presented in this volume make it a valuable source for scholars and students of Latino religion and religious studies generally, as well as American and ethnic studies, anthropology, and American Catholicism."--Catholic Historical Review
"...the careful research and analysis presented in this volume make it a valuable source for scholars and students of Latino religion and religious studies generally, as well as American and ethnic studies, anthropology, and American Catholicism."--The Catholic Historical Review
"The book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on popular religion in the United States....This book will be appealing to students of the Cuban experience in the United States and to professors seeking a text that provides ethnographic details on a contemporary religious experience of one of the larger Latino groups in the United States."--Sociology of Religion


Awards
Winner of Winner of an AAR Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion.



Book Information
ISBN 9780195155938
Author Thomas A. Tweed
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 386g
Dimensions(mm) 162mm * 234mm * 18mm