La santería cubaine, une religion sans frontières : évolution et institutionnalisation de la santería à Cuba

This article considers the recent evolution of cuban santería and the expansion of this religion across national and ethnic borders. The claim to a pure yoruba tradition in the context of contemporary santería is here considered ; such process of reafricanisation, generally caracterizing Afro-American religions, contributes to the definition of cubanity. The culture of santería attracts nowadays a large number of visitors coming both from Europe and United States. This study considers the role of institutions in the promotion of santería as a national patrimony. It considers as well the role of the ritual hierarchy in the orthodoxisation and ecclesification of this oral religion, traditionally changing and fluid and not fitted into a rigid theological system. Since the years ’90 santería spread both in Cuba and outside the country in a particular relation towards the inner and the outer frontiers. This so called religious syncretism comes out as a process which origin, diffusion and reinvention are deeply connected to the need to affirm new identitary boundaries.