Cultural Crossover

As I was preparing for the humanities test a few days ago, I realized there was a permeating cultural cross over between the characters in "Beloved" and Igbo tradition. The Igbo believed that there was no barrier between the past life and the current life as the soul never died and continued to live. This was evident with the obanje in "Things Fall Apart" that continued to haunt Ekwefi through seven children. This same continuation of life was seen with Beloved who killed, however continued to haunt 124 until she was finally reincarnated. I find this cultural cross over quite interesting considering the gap between African culture and African American slave culture. Thoughts?