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The Politics of Divination: A Processual View of Reactions to Illness and Deviance Among the Suala of Northern Ghana - Tapa blanda

Mendonsa, Eugene

 
9780595128235: The Politics of Divination: A Processual View of Reactions to Illness and Deviance Among the Suala of Northern Ghana
Tapa blanda
ISBN 10: 0595128238 ISBN 13: 9780595128235
Editorial: iUniverse, 2000

Sinopsis

The Politics of Divination, first published in 1982, was a ground breaking work in the political economy of an African culture, the Sisala of Northern Ghana. The author shows how elders use divination as a political tool to control the behavior of women and young men. Gerontocratic control through ritual means is an attempt by elders to dominate the economic activities of youthful men, and the production and reproduction of women. Yet, the elders are not entirely successful in such attempts, and their efforts at social control sometimes have less than altruistic motives, as the many cases in the book show. The author presents divination and ancestral sacrifice in a processual view. Within the context of the divinatory process strategizing elders work and rework the rules of their society to deal with real life situations, illness, misfortune and death. Like many other Africans, the Sisala believe that such misfortunes are ultimatley caused by ancestral anger, which can be seen as a reflection of social tension and conflict among the living. Divination points out deviants in the family who are poised as the cause of such misfortunes, and this conflict is rectified through ancestral propitiation via blood sacrifice on family shrines.

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Reseña del editor

The Politics of Divination, first published in 1982, was a ground breaking work in the political economy of an African culture, the Sisala of Northern Ghana. The author shows how elders use divination as a political tool to control the behavior of women and young men. Gerontocratic control through ritual means is an attempt by elders to dominate the economic activities of youthful men, and the production and reproduction of women. Yet, the elders are not entirely successful in such attempts, and their efforts at social control sometimes have less than altruistic motives, as the many cases in the book show. The author presents divination and ancestral sacrifice in a processual view. Within the context of the divinatory process strategizing elders work and rework the rules of their society to deal with real life situations, illness, misfortune and death. Like many other Africans, the Sisala believe that such misfortunes are ultimatley caused by ancestral anger, which can be seen as a reflection of social tension and conflict among the living. Divination points out deviants in the family who are poised as the cause of such misfortunes, and this conflict is rectified through ancestral propitiation via blood sacrifice on family shrines.

Biografía del autor

Eugene L. Mendonsa recieved his Ph.D from Cambridge University, with field work in Ghana and Portugal. Teacher and consultant, he provides cross-cultural communications training for corporations. His forthcoming book is Conflict and Change in a West African society: Sisala elders, women & Youth. He teaches anthropology at the University of Colorado.

"Sobre este título" puede pertenecer a otra edición de este libro.

Editorial
iUniverse
Año de publicación
2000
Idioma
Inglés
ISBN 10 
0595128238
ISBN 13 
9780595128235
Encuadernación
Tapa blanda
Número de páginas
292
Contacto del fabricante
no disponible
Persona responsable
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

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