Comfa Religion and Creole Language in a Caribbean Community

Through a distinctive blend of description and analysis Kean Gibson examines the Guyanese religion known as “Comfa.” Reflecting the socio-cultural history of Guyana, Comfa shows influences of European and Asian cultures and religions in an essentially African framework. Gibson compares the variation exemplified in Comfa with the Guyanese Creole language and challenges the continuum theory of Creole linguistics, which predicts that the Creole language will evolve to become English. Gibson also explores the implications of both forms of social behavior for the notion of identity in a multicultural community.