Approaching the Debtera in Context

Socially Reprehensible Emotions and Talismanic Treatment in Contemporary Northern Ethiopia

Bibliographic Data

ID3610244
AuthorsSiena De Ménonville (Université Paris Cité, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume231-232
Issue231-232
Pages1001-1028
Publication date2018-12-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCahiers d études africaines (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-0055 • E-ISSN: 1777-5353
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/etudesafricaines.22890
OpenAlexW2905417900
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

This article presents an ethnographic study of the use of talismanic practices in the management of emotions in contemporary Northern Ethiopia. Here, the socially reprehensible emotions of jealousy and lust are contextualized within the Christian Orthodox system. I argue that such a study must lead to an exploration of how the materialization of the immaterial through the talisman is fundamentally problematic within the Orthodox context. Emotions are deemed reprehensible because of their close relationship to the body and the material. They signal an excess, an inability to contain, a loss of control over the schism that must divide mind and body. I ask the question: to what extent does the talisman function as a “sub-system,” managing emotions through witchcraft in parallel to the more normative systems within the Orthodox context

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Ethnography · Function (biology) · Jealousy · Lust · Normative · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Schism · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access