Ngoma

Discourses of Healing in Central and Southern Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID19945606
AuthorsJohn M Janzen (corresponding author)
Year2019
Pages276
Publication date2019-12-31
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueNgoma (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/9780520910850
OpenAlexW4242789555
Open LibraryOL29696011M
ISBN9780520910850
LanguageEN
Citations received8

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

Computer Science · Migration, Identity, and Health · Africa · Central Africa · Ceremonial Behavior · Healing · Medicine · Mental Healing · rites and ceremonies · Southern Africa · Traditional medicine

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