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Book Cover
Book
Author Rasmussen, Susan J., 1949- author

Title Spirit possession and personhood among the Kel Ewey Tuareg / Susan J. Rasmussen
Published Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1995
Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, ©1995

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  299.33 Ras/Spa  AVAILABLE
Description xi, 178 pages ; 24 cm
Series Cambridge studies in social and cultural anthropology ; 94
Cambridge studies in social and cultural anthropology ; 94
Contents 1. Illnesses of the heart and soul: the case of Asalama ---- Part I. Images of possession. 2. Inversion and other tropes in spirit possession rituals --- 3. 'Like a tree branch swaying in the wind': the head dance --- 4. Illnesses of God: personhood, knowledge and healing ---- Part II. Art, agency, and power in the ritual sessions. 5. Sound, solitude, and music --- 6. The tande n goumaten songs
Summary Among the Tuareg people in the Air Mountain region of Niger, women are sometimes possessed by spirits called "the people of solitude." The evening curing rituals of the possessed, featuring drumming and song, take place before an audience of young men and women, who joke and flirt as the ritual unfolds. In her analysis of this tolerated but unofficial cult, Susan Rasmussen analyses symbolism and aesthetic values, provides case studies of possessed women, and reviews what local people think about the meaning of possession
Analysis Niger
Religion
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-170) and index
Notes Cambridge studies in social and cultural anthropology no:94
Subject Spirit possession -- Niger.
Tuaregs -- Religion.
Women, Tuareg -- Religious life.
LC no. 94011233
ISBN 0521470072
9780521470070