Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba (African Systems of Thought)

In this magisterial book, J. D. Y. Peel contends that it was through their encounter with Christian missions in the mid-19th century that the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria came to know themselves as a distinctive people. Peel's detailed study of the encounter is based on the rich archives of the Anglican Church Missionary Society, which contain the journals written by the African agents of the mission, who, as the first generation of literate Yoruba, played the key role in shaping modern Yoruba consciousness. First contact between the missionaries and Yoruba during the 19th century took place in a region of city-states locked into chronic internecine warfare. During that time, the Yoruba negotiated a complex of Christian, Islamic, and traditional religious practices and politics that defined what they called an "age of confusion." By paying special attention to the lived experience of ordinary Yoruba, Peel shows how the process of Christian conversion began to transform Christianity into something more deeply Yoruba.

About the Author:
J. D. Y. Peel is on the faculty of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He is author of Aladura and Ijeshas and Nigerians, for which he won the Herskovits award.