O que é o Candomblé? (Text)

This text accompanies the podcast 'O que é o Candomblé? and wascreated by Emilia Kroprowska, a student of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, as a part of a research project entitled ‘The Role of Student Audio Casting and Production in the Language Learning Curriculum’. The text is a description of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé by a filha-do-santo, or initiate, Mônica Baptista Costa. She speaks about the origin of the religion, in Africa approximately 5,000 years ago. She also explains why Candomblé is fundamentally a syncretic religion, and the difference between Candomblé, Umbanda and other religions in Brazil. The text and podcast can be used as a learning resource in several different ways: as a focus for discussion, aural and written comprehension or as a base for further research by students in the field of Lusophone, Brazilian and Latin American Studies