Description
Book SynopsisThis book examines alleged superhuman powers predominantly associated with smith/artisans in five African societies. It discusses their ritual and social roles, mythico-histories, symbols surrounding their art, and changing relationships between these specialists and their patrons. Needed but also feared, these smith/artisans work in traditionally hereditary occupations and in stratified but negotiable relationships with their rural patron families. Many of them now also work for new customers in an expanding market economy, which is still characterized by personal, face-to-face interactions. Rasmussen maintains that a framework integrating anthropological theories of witchcraft, alterity, symbolism, and power is fundamental to understanding local accusations and tensions in these relationships. She also argues that it is critical to deconstruct and disentangle guilt, blame, and envyconcepts that are often conflated in anthropology at the expense of falsely accused witch figures. The f
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Tezma Power and Tuareg Inaden Smith/Artisans Chapter 2 Inaden Origins, Histories, and Professional Practices Chapter 3 Powers, Tensions, and Mediations Chapter 4 Q’alb Power and Amhara Buda/Tayb Smith/Artisans Chapter 5 Echar Power and Bidan M’Allemin Smith/Artisans Chapter 6 Beshengu Power and Kapsiki Rerhe Smith/Artisans Chapter 7 Nyama Power and Mande Nyamakala Smith/Artisans Conclusions Bibliography Index Author Biography
