- 216 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
About this book
In parts of West Africa, some babies and toddlers are considered spirit children—nonhumans sent from the forest to cause misfortune and destroy the family. These are usually deformed or ailing infants, the very young whose births coincide with tragic events, or children who display unusual abilities. In some of these cases, families seek a solution in infanticide. Many others do not.
Refusing to generalize or oversimplify, Aaron R. Denham offers an ethnographic study of the spirit child phenomenon in Northern Ghana that considers medical, economic, religious, and political realities. He examines both the motivations of the families and the structural factors that lead to infanticide, framing these within the context of global public health. At the same time, he turns the lens on Western societies and the misunderstandings that prevail in discourse about this controversial practice. Engaging the complexity of the context, local meanings, and moral worlds of those confronting a spirit child, Denham offers visceral accounts of families' life and death decisions.
Refusing to generalize or oversimplify, Aaron R. Denham offers an ethnographic study of the spirit child phenomenon in Northern Ghana that considers medical, economic, religious, and political realities. He examines both the motivations of the families and the structural factors that lead to infanticide, framing these within the context of global public health. At the same time, he turns the lens on Western societies and the misunderstandings that prevail in discourse about this controversial practice. Engaging the complexity of the context, local meanings, and moral worlds of those confronting a spirit child, Denham offers visceral accounts of families' life and death decisions.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Spirit Children by Aaron R. Denham in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Sozialwissenschaften & Afroamerikanische Studien. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. Contextualizing Infanticide and Northern Ghana
- 2. For the House
- 3. For the Bush
- 4. Spirit Child Behavior and Causation
- 5. Detection and Decision-Making
- 6. Concoctions and Concoction Men: Treating Spirit Children
- 7. Causing Death and Prolonging Lives
- 8. Why Infanticide? Sentiments and the Dynamics of Choice
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index