Knowledge and practice in Mayotte : local discourses of Islam, sorcery and spirit possession / Michael Lambek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lambek, Michael, author.

Series:

Anthropological horizons.

Anthropological Horizons

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islam--Mayotte.

Islam.

Spirit possession--Mayotte.

Spirit possession.

Knowledge, Theory of (Islam).

Mayotte--Social life and customs.

Mayotte.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (499 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] ; Buffalo, [New York] ; London, [England] : University of Toronto Press, 1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In a witty, evocative style accessible to both the specialist and non-specialist reader, Michael Lambek provides a significant contribution to writing on African systems of thought, local forms of religious and therapeutic practice, social accountability, and the place of explicit forms of knowledge in the analysis of non-western societies.

Contents:

Contents

Tables and Figures

Preface

Stylistic Conventions and Conundrums

Dramatis Personae

PART I: INTRODUCTIONS

1 Knowledge and Hubris

Knowledge, Power, and Morality

Towards an Anthropology of Knowledge

Transcending Subdisciplinary Boundaries

Ethnography as Hermeneutic Practice

2 Locating Knowledge in Mayotte: Structure, History, and Practice

Cultural Diversity in Mayotte

Historical Overview

The Three Traditions

Historical Practice

Islam 'Versus' Possession?

From the Sweep of Traditions to Local Views

3 Village Organization and the Distribution of KnowledgeThe Social Distribution of Knowledge

Portrait of the Villages

The Social Organization of the Village from the Perspective of Knowledge

The Village Fundis

The Economic Basis of the Experts

PART II: THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF TEXTUAL KNOWLEDGE

4 Islam: The Perspective from the Path

Prayer and the Projection of Moral Imperatives

The Social Production of Prayer

Prayer and Reciprocity

The Politics of Prayer

The Economy of Justice

5 Educating Citizens: The Reproduction of Textual KnowledgeThe Three 'R's': Reading, Writing, and Recitation

The Transmission of Knowledge and Authority

Learning as the Embodiment of Knowledge

Individuation through Learning: An Example of an Educated Citizen

The Value of Learning

6 Islamic Experts: Practice and Power

The Vulnerability of Authority

Islam and Politics: Two Public Figures

Styles of Practice: Two Village Fundis

Moral Intervention and Understanding

Friday Prostrations: A Conflict of Interpretations and Modes of Legitimation

The Articulation of Heterogenous Knowledge in PracticeCertain Knowledge, Contestable Authority

PART III: COUNTERPRACTICES: COSMOLOGY AND THE INS AND OUTS OF SORCERY

7 Knowledge with Power: The Discipline of Cosmology

Relations of (Re)production

Divination as Calculation

World and Body

Indispensable Knowledge, Amoral Authority

Interdisciplinary Challenges

A Cut in Time

8 Knowledge and Antipractice: Committing Sorcery

The Dark Side of Knowledge

The Imagination of Evil

A Dead End

Sorcery in Practice

Postscript: Unleashed Accusations9 Removing Sorcery: Committing (to) the Cure

Extractor and Client

Extraction in Theory

Tumbu in Practice

Scepticism and the Conversation between the Disciplines

The Extraction Itself: Experience and Sincerity

Extraction as Performance

Conviction and Good Faith

PART IV: EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE AND THE PRACTICE OF SPIRIT MEDIUMS

10 The Reproduction of Possession: Gaining a Voice

Spirit Possession as Embodied Knowledge

Gaining a Spirit as Moral Agency

Public and Personal Aspects of Succession

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4426-3861-3

1-281-99727-7

9786611997274

1-4426-7653-1

OCLC:

944178026