Sirenas: Mermaids in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Mermaid Podcast

10-12-2019 • 1 hr 9 mins

What do mermaids have to do with zombies, monsters and saints? Laura von Holt interviews Persephone Braham about the mermaid mythology of Latin America and the Caribbean. From the evolution of the word sirenas, to mermaid iconography in religious works and art, to the mermaid’s role in colonialism, this in-depth interview covers the vast and multi-faceted role of mermaids in history, religion, literature and art. Learn about the sirenas relationship to Spanish sirens, mistaken manatees, mother-figures, the Virgin Regla, and Afro-Latin water deities, particularly Yemaya and Mami Wata.

Persephone Braham a professor of Latin American literature and culture at the University of Delaware. the author of the book From Amazons to Zombies. Monsters in Latin America and Song of the Sirenas: Mermaids in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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