The Modernity of Witchcraft : Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa

Geschiere, Peter/ USA), Janet Roitman (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, (TRN)/ Geschiere, Peter (TRN)

University of Virginia Press（1997/04発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 368 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780813917030
• DDC分類 133.43096

基本説明

Transl. by Janet Roitman and Peter Geschiere.

Full Description

To many Westerners, the disappearance of African traditions of witchcraft might seem inevitable wuth continued modernization. In The Modernity of Witchcraft, Peter Geschieres uses his own experiences among the Maka and in other parts of eastern and southern Cameroon, as well as other anthropological research, to argue that contemporary ideas and practices of witchcraft are more a response to modern exigencies than a lingering cultural custom. The prevalence of witchcraft, especially in African politics and entrepreneurship, demonstrates the unlikely balance it has achieved with the forces of modernity. Geshiere explores why modern techniques and commodities, usually of Western Provenance, have become central in rumors of the occult.