Hosay Trinidad: a 35-Year Retrospective

Frank J. Korom, speaker
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Religion, Boston University

In his presentation Frank Korom will revisit a collaborative effort carried out in the 1990s to visually and analytically document Hosay in Trinidad, a rite that originated in the Middle East, then passed to South Asia, and finally to the Caribbean during British colonial rule in the 19th century. Although Islamic in origin, the rituals associated with the event have been refashioned over the years to suit the needs of a variety of ethnoreligious groups. It has been practiced by South Asians in a variety of locations around the world but has become a focal point in Trinidad for a variety of complex reasons to be explored in the talk. In recent years, it has once again gone through a series of transformations that suggest the vitality and adaptive capability of this religious and performative tradition.

Frank J. Korom is professor emeritus of anthropology and religion at Boston University and an associate of Harvard University’s Committee on Folklore and Mythology. He specializes in the cultures of South Asia and has also conducted extensive research on the Tibetan diaspora and the anglophonic Caribbean. He is the author/editor of ten books and the co-editor of Asian Ethnology, an academic journal based at Nanzan University in Japan. His current research focuses on transnational Sufism originating in Sri Lanka.

Host or Publisher School for Advanced Research