1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910495866703321

Autore

Janzen John M.

Titolo

Ngoma : discourses of healing in Central and Southern Africa / / John M. Janzen

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [1992]

©1992

ISBN

1-282-35640-2

0-520-91085-0

9786612356407

0-585-12932-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (274 p.)

Collana

Comparative Studies of Health Systems and Medical Care ; ; 34

Disciplina

398/.353

Soggetti

Rites and ceremonies - Africa, Central

Rites and ceremonies - Africa, Southern

Healing - Africa, Central

Healing - Africa, Southern

Traditional medicine - Africa, Central

Traditional medicine - Africa, Southern

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-234) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Figures -- Photographs -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. Settings and Samples in African Cults of Affliction -- 2. Identifying Ngoma -- 3. Core Features in Ngoma Therapy -- 4. Doing Ngoma -- 5. How Ngoma Works -- 6. How Ngoma Works -- Conclusion -- Appendix A -- Appendix B -- Appendix C -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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.