Marching for God in the global city: Public space, religion and diasporic identities in a transnational African church

Abstract

Taking the London-based brass band of a transnational Congolese church (the Kimbanguist church) as a case study, this article explores how the sonic, visible and embodied experience of religion in the public space is linked to the politics and poetics of diasporic belongings. These public performances enable Kimbanguists to claim a place and a space in the city while ‘emploting’ a particular vision of self and others in the pluralised environment of the diaspora. After discussing the literature on urban religious parades and processions, the article addresses the wider implications of the sacralisation of space and public performance of faith in terms of urban but also post-colonial centre/periphery dialectics. Finally, it reflects on the construction of diasporic and ethnic identities as well as the reinterpretation of Kimbanguist religiosity among second-generation Congolese youth in the British context.

Keywords:

• Congolese diaspora
• religion
• urban parades
• performance
• Kimbanguism
• London

Notes

1. http://www.londonparade.co.uk/theparade

2. http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2011/06/olympic-marathon-to-pass-through-tower-hamlets/

3. See Etambala (2005) for a description of the early links between the Salvation Army and prophetic movements in the former Belgian Congo.

4. It should be noted that brass band rehearsals tend to last most of Saturdays.

5. It has to be noted that the spiritual leader of the church in the Congo explicitly gave his support to the Kabila government before the 2011 elections.

6. Taken from the sacred pond where the pilgrims bathe and which was used by Kimbangu to heal. The pond evokes, for Kimbanguists, a Biblical reference, the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (John 5:1–15).

7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/normko/6615636127/.

8. For instance, the title of a documentary shown on the BBC in 2010, the ‘World's Most Dangerous Place for Women’ about the consequences on women civilians of armed conflicts in eastern Congo was mentioned by several youth as an example of negative stereotyping. For them it reflected the general attitude of British media, which adopted a sensationalist ‘angle’ in their coverage of the situation of the Congo, without explaining what many youth see as the ‘root causes’ of the conflict (exploitation of minerals by multinationals, the corruption of the Congolese government, the involvement of Rwandese militias, etc.).