Affiliation:
1. Department of Ethnography, Museum of Cultural History, University of OsloP.O. Box 6762 St. Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo
Abstract
AbstractThe paper explores the ways in which spirits calledmasheitaniormajinni(singl.sheitaniorjinni)engage in people’s daily lives in Zanzibar Town, Zanzibar. It is argued that the phenomenon of spirits and other forms of ‘spectral’ beings may offer clues to an improved understanding of society and a more precise perception of the various concerns and paradoxes people cope with in their everyday lives. Reflecting on matters of identity, the concept of the person, and the human condition, it is suggested that to most people the human world appears to be rather unpredictable and chaotic while the world of spirits, in contrast, is seen as stable and predictable. The spirits’ involvement in people’s everyday lives and, moreover, the extent to which peoples’ relationships with different kinds of spirits affect negotiations of identity and social positioning are discussed with reference to the ethnographic material.
Cited by
6 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献
1. Les signes de l’interaction esprit-humain;Ateliers d'anthropologie;2022-10-20
2. The Fragility of Voice;Current Anthropology;2022-06-01
3. L’écho de la voix;A contrario;2020-02-06
4. Jesus for Zanzibar: Narratives of Pentecostal (Non-)Belonging, Islam, and Nation;STUD RELIG AFR;2019-07-29
5. Introduction;Jesus for Zanzibar: Narratives of Pentecostal (Non-)Belonging, Islam, and Nation;2019-07-04