Book Event - Oshun, Lemonade & Intertextuality: Afro-Atlantic Religion in Black Cultural Production

Exploring how Afro-Atlantic religion has been used to portray Black womanhood by writers and artists from Beyoncé to Ntozake Shange

“The ability to map Oshun across the Afro-Atlantic world to tease out her vital iconic significance, in literary, cultural, religious, and political terrains, makes for a priceless book.”—Niyi Afolabi, author of Relocating the Sacred: African Divinities and Brazilian Cultural Hybridities  

In this book, Sheneese Thompson analyzes works of film and literature to explore how Afro-Atlantic religion intersects with themes of resilience in Black femininity and womanhood. Focusing on Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, Thompson examines iconography of the Yoruba goddess Oshun, represented by rivers, the color yellow, and other symbols. Thompson argues that Beyoncé’s tribute to Oshun creates a narrative of self-repossession amid external definitions, generational trauma, and emotional violence and draws connections to other works that feature similar religious references.

Oshun, “Lemonade,” and Intertextuality also explores Beyoncé’s album Black…