Our Lady of the Exile

the long version

Our Lady of the Exile is a study of Cuban-American popular Catholicism, focusing on the shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami. Drawing on a wide range of sources and using both historical and ethnographic methods, the book examines the religious life of the Cuban exiles who visit the shrine. While the book focuses on Cuban exiles in Miami, it moves beyond case study as it explores larger issues concerning religion, identity, and place. How do migrants relate to their homeland? How do they understand themselves after they have been displaced? What role does religion play among these diasporic groups? Building on this study of one exiled group, Tweed proposes a theory of diasporic religion that promises to illuminate the experiences of other groups that have been displaced from their native land. As the first book-length analysis of Cuban-American Catholicism, Tweed's book will be an invaluable resource to not only scholars and students of Religious Studies, American Studies, and Ethnic Studies but also those who study cultural anthropology, human geography, and Latin American history.