Vectors of Witchcraft

Object Transactions and the Materialization of Memory in Niger

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2582014
AutoresAdeline Masquelier (autor correspondente)
Ano1997
Volume70
Fascículo4
Páginas187
Data de publicação1997-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAnthropological Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-5491 • E-ISSN: 1534-1518
EditoraJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3317225
OpenAlexW1984281912
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas12
Referências citadas4

Among Mawri communities of southern Niger, deaths are occasionally blamed on bloodsucking spirits whose deadly appetite is unleashed by human greed Identifying the agency behind the crime involves focusing on certain objects the circulation of which once wove link between victims and culprits. This article examines how gift-giving figures in local experiences of time and remembrance and discusses the mnemonic functions some objects come to have in the course of social practices involving witchcraft and its inscription as memory. [Niger, witchcraft, memory, gift-giving, object transactions] Intrduction: Objects, Tune and Memory Although the capacity of objects to bind people together has long been noted (Mauss 1954), more recent studies have built on Mauss' insight to focus on the various ways in which objects serve to create or emphasize continuities and discontinuities (Battaglia 1992; Munn 1986). Much attention has thus been paid to cloth, the very structure of which already evokes notions of connectedness and tying (Schneider and Weiner 1989). Describing how, in sixteenth century India, robes worn by the king could transmit his authority, Cohn notes that clothes are a medium through which substances can be transferred (1989: 312). Focusing on the relation between objects and memory, some studies (Feeley-Harnik 1989; Darish 1989) have highlighted the capacity of things to mediate between the dead and the living, and the past and the present, while others (Weiss 1996) have drawn attention to the ways in which remembering and forgetting are dynamically interrelated in the uses clothing are sometimes put to. If cloth can be said to absorb time, as Weiner (1989: 62) puts it, we must nevertheless not lose sight of the fact that even if absorbency is in itself an intrinsic quality of textiles, the capacity of clothing-and other objects-to transcend-or to stresstime, death, and the succession of generations only derives from how these things are used, manipulated, and circulated (Appadurai 1986). The ability of objects to serve as mnemonic forms is not inherently vested in these objects but rather emerges in the context of their engagement in human transactions and relations. Among Mawri communities of southern Niger, where people continuously and repeatedly engage in gift exchange of all kinds to create and secure social ties, the act of giving often serves to inscribe continuities, establish social connections, reciprocate prior contribution, or simply make concrete friendship or good-will. The incessant exchange of kola nuts in greeting procedures, the sprinkling of coins onto the sweaty foreheads of dancers during public celebrations, the food contributions brought to spirit possession rituals, the gifts of soap and perfume received by new mothers at their infants' naming ceremonies all exemplify the deeply rooted transactionalism of Mawri society. While cloth once figured prominently in marriage ceremonies-to reassert symbolically the creation of marital ties between the newlyweds-and other transactions, cash has now become the preferred means of strengthening bonds and generating social capital. Whether one is attending the installment of village chief or simply visiting sick friend, these occasions inevitably call for gifts of money. Currency may be progressively displacing goods in kind as the standard gift, but some objects nonetheless remain an important medium for weaving the intricate fabric of social relations. For instance, no wedding transactions are complete without the complex exchange and distribution of ka,van daki (things for the room; wedding gifts) that celebrate bride's worthiness, her social ties to women's networks, and her productive ability to generate dowry-since the bride has usually worked throughout her childhood to help generate the income that would purchase some of the furniture, pots, and hand-woven blankets that will fill her new home

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