@article{meyer_les_2003, title = {Les églises pentecôtistes africaines, Satan et la dissociation de " la tradition "}, volume = {22}, issn = {1703-7921, 0702-8997}, url = {http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/015522ar}, doi = {10.7202/015522ar}, abstract = {{ABSTRACT} African Pentecostalist Churches, Satan and The Dissociation from " Tradition " Many studies of thé spread of Christianity in Africa focus on Independent African Churches which are considered to revitalize traditional world views and ethics by incorporating already existing contents into new forms. There are only comparatively few studies of African Pentecostalist Churches which have become popular ail over the continent since thé 1980s. Taking the case of the Ewe in Ghana, it is shown that these churches differ considerably from the Independent Churches which caught anthropologists' attention in the 1960s and 1970s. While the latter make use of traditional concepts and values in a positive, syncretizing way, the former adopt a harsh stance towards tradition and define themselves in strict opposition to it. In doing so, they recur to the image of the Devil who is regarded as the master of ail traditional deities. It is demonstrated that it is not intrinsic to African post-colonial Christian movements to offer a revitalization of concepts and values lost in the process of colonization. Pentecostalist Churches rather provide their members with rituals to symbolically dissociate themselves from traditional concerns and to become modem. Against the background of this case it is argued that there is need for new conceptualisations which locale these churches as active agents in processes of modernization and globalization.}, pages = {63--84}, number = {1}, journaltitle = {Anthropologie et Sociétés}, shortjournal = {{AS}}, author = {Meyer, Birgit}, urldate = {2020-05-17}, date = {2003-09-10}, note = {Free}, }