“Florida Water: Meaningful and Messy Hybridity in the Atlantic Modern”
Hector Varela
12:00 -1:20 pm
Swift Hall 208
Abstract: Florida Water, a perfume produced by a U.S. company for more than two centuries, has become a powerful signifier in Latin American communities. Agua Florida, as it is called in Spanish, is ubiquitous and polyvalent, used for cleaning the house, and, for some, for purifying the body and space in religious ritual. The paper explores Agua Florida’s cultural agency, inter-religious relevance, and quotidian liminality as an example of messy while meaningful hybridity. Hank Owings will offer a response.
Lunch will be provided.
Co-sponsored with Global Christianities Workshop.