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Oshun, Lemonade and Other Yellow Things: Philosophical and Empirical Inquiry into Incorporation of Afro-Atlantic Religious Iconography

Thompson, Sheneese
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555573211820986

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, African-American and African Studies.
This dissertation is framed around the release of Beyonce's visual album, Lemonade, on April 23, 2016 and its heavy incorporation of imagery that can be read as representative of the iconography of Afro-Atlantic religious iconography, specifically the Yoruba religion of southwestern Nigeria that has since traveled across the Atlantic through migration both forced and voluntary to Brazil, Cuba, and the United States. Through the use of imagery broadly associated with the Yoruba goddess Oshun, a riverine goddess associated with sweet water, the color yellow, love, sensuality, sexuality, abundance, and beauty to name a few, I argue that Beyonce's visual album bridges an important gap between Black women authors like Ntozake Shange, Toni Morrison, Jamaica Kincaid, Audre Lorde and Erna Brodber who also use Afro-Atlantic religion in their texts to expand possibilities for thinking through what the trials of Black womanhood and exploration of self-defined sexuality can mean and do. For these reasons, Lemonade (2016), serves as both the point of departure and the central text of analysis regarding the reemergence of Oshun and other Afro-Atlantic religious and cultural features on television, film, social media, and other locations on the internet. While this project is in deep conversation with Moyo Okediji, Toyin Falola, Joseph M. Murphy, Mei Mei Sanford, and Vanessa Valdes among others who have explored the cultural implications of Afro-Atlantic religion, and is in many ways repetitive, this project's difference seeks to address the ways in which Afro-Atlantic religious iconography has entered popular culture through television and film, as well as apply Lucumi mythistories and ways of knowing as theoretical tools for analyzing this cultural phenomenon. More specifically, this dissertation analyzes the ways in which Afro-Atlantic religion is being repurposed to explore the resilience of femininity and womanhood through spiritual and conceptual understandings of the goddess energy of Oshun. Beyonce's visual album fits squarely into the cultural genealogy of both Black visual artists of the Black Arts Movement who incorporated the iconography of Yoruba Orishas in their work as a method to discuss linkages to the past, how they help make sense of the present, and serve as a guide for carving out better futures. It also draws on the work of Black women writers critically appropriating Afro-Atlantic religion within the context of their narratives in order differently craft narratives of Black womanhood that transgress archaic social orders and collapse boundaries of time, space and, place to do Black women justice. Further, I argue that Beyonce's, Lemonade (2016), does the work of effectively employing the iconography of Afro-Atlantic religion on the global stage (a rather uncommon occurrence to date) in generating a narrative about repossessing herself in the face of external definition, generational trauma, and emotional violence.
Adeleke Adeeko (Committee Chair)
Simone Drake (Committee Member)
Kwaku Korang (Committee Member)
Isis Barra Costa (Committee Member)
196 p.
Aesthetics; African American Studies; African Americans; African Literature; African Studies; Black History; Black Studies; Folklore; Spirituality
Oshun, Yoruba, Lemonade, Lucumi

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Thompson, S. (2019). Oshun, Lemonade and Other Yellow Things: Philosophical and Empirical Inquiry into Incorporation of Afro-Atlantic Religious Iconography [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555573211820986

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Thompson, Sheneese. Oshun, Lemonade and Other Yellow Things: Philosophical and Empirical Inquiry into Incorporation of Afro-Atlantic Religious Iconography. 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555573211820986.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Thompson, Sheneese. "Oshun, Lemonade and Other Yellow Things: Philosophical and Empirical Inquiry into Incorporation of Afro-Atlantic Religious Iconography." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555573211820986

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1555573211820986
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.