eBook - PDF

Ngoma

Name: Ngoma
ISBN: 9780520910850

Discourses of Healing in Central and Southern Africa

John M. Janzen,

276 pages
English
PDF
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - PDF

Ngoma

Discourses of Healing in Central and Southern Africa

John M. Janzen,

About this book

Ngoma, in Bantu, means drum, song, performance, and healing cult or association. A widespread form of ritual healing in Central and Southern Africa, ngoma is fully investigated here for the first time and interpreted in a contemporary context. John Janzen's daring study incorporates drumming and spirit possession into a broader, institutional profile that emphasizes the varieties of knowledge and social forms and also the common elements of "doing ngoma." Drawing on his recent field research in Kinshasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Mbabane, and Capetown, Janzen reveals how ngoma transcends national and social boundaries. Spoken and sung discourses about affliction, extended counseling, reorientation of the self or household, and the creation of networks that link the afflicted, their kin, and their healers are all central to ngoma —and familiar to Western self-help institutions as well. Students of African healing and also those interested in the comparative and historical study of medicine, religion, and music will find Ngoma a valuable and thought-provoking book.

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Yes, you can access Ngoma by John M. Janzen in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Anthropology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

University of California Press

Year

1992

Print ISBN

9780520072657

eBook ISBN

9780520910850

Edition

Topic

Social Sciences

Subtopic

Anthropology

Index

Social Sciences

Settings

and

Samples

39

Figure

4.

Body

and

neck

strings

as

used

in

ngoma

to

represent

categories

of

spirits.

This

example

is

from 

Swazi 

takoza

mediums:

(a)

amadloti

(lineal

ancestor

shades),

mud-colored

beads;

(b)

Amanzawe

(nature

spirits),

red

beads;

(c)

autochthonous

Benguni 

victims

of

Swazi

wars,

white

beads;

(d)

Tinzunzu

victims

of

drowning,

white

beads.

ancestor 

shades); 

another 

white 

string, 

Tinzunzu

(victims

of

drowning).

She

had

other

necklaces

and

beads

that

had

been

donned

at

points

in

her

training.

The

fuller

bead 

bracelets

and

anklets 

indicated

her

comple-

tion

of

training.

Teaching

and

practice

in

this 

tradition, 

which 

combined

the

sangoma

and

takoza, 

appeared

to

consist

of

the

two

standard 

components,

di-

vining

and

singing 

rituals.

The

former 

mainly 

consisted

of

"throwing

bones"

(

pengula),

the

latter

the

singing-pronouncing

of

the

affliction

or

announcement 

of

spirits 

(ukufemba) 

in

which 

drums 

were 

used. 

Ma

Mabuza 

had

twelve 

tigomene 

drums 

for

these 

ukufemba 

sessions 

(see

plate

6),

although

not

all

were 

used

at

any

one

time.

The

drums, 

made

of

cowhide 

membranes

on

oil

barrels, 

were 

huge

and

sonorous, 

recalling

the

sacred 

royal 

drums

of

the

north 

Sotho, 

Venda,

and

Luvedo,

or

the

Cover
Contents
Figures
Photographs
Preface
Introduction
1. Settings and Samples in African Cults of Affliction
2. Identifying Ngoma: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
3. Core Features in Ngoma Therapy
4. Doing Ngoma: The Texture of Personal Transformation
5. How Ngoma Works: Of Codes and Consciousness
6. Now Ngoma Works: The Social Reproduction of Health
Conclusion
Appendix A: Partial Listing of Guthrie's Inventory of Bantu Languages
Appendix B: Distributions of Terms in Bantu Languages Pertaining to Therapeutic Concepts and Actions
Appendix C: Instrumentation Accompanying Healing Rituals in Central and Southern Africa
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About this book

Frequently asked questions

Information

Table of contents