This paper considers the themes of soul loss and spirit possession by comparing and contrasting two very different contexts drawing from my fieldwork research in Benin (2010) and in Ivory Coast (2006): the Gun (Aja-Kwa people, Benin) and the Kulango (Gur people, Ivory Coast). Aim of this paper is to focus on the fact that, despite different interpretations and considerations, soul loss and spirit possession must be seen as a means to give a name to a number of psychological-emotional events which find their place in a reading of the “world’s book” that goes beyond the purely material. From an anthropological linguistic perspective, I will analyze significative lexical items (words and expressions) in order to explain respectively the Gun and Kulango systems of belief. The basic idea is that possession by an external agent becomes possible only if an internal agent abandons the body, thus leaving a free space for other supernatural agents to come in. These supernatural beings can be good or evil, and can enter (or fall into) a person for good or bad purposes, being invited or presenting themselves without an explicit formal or ritual invitation. The fact of loosing one’s soul (and of being possessed by an external supernatural agent) can bring a person either to fall into mental illness, or to gain a positive contact with the Divine. In the first case the intervention of a healer in order to free the person and re-establish the equilibrium he or she had lost is necessary. In the second case the person can learn how to behave with the Divine and may start a process of apprenticeship ending in he or she becoming a priest of that deity with which he /she has come into contact. I will give special attention to the semantic description of the terms used in the native languages to indicate all elements constituting a person (mɛ, yɛ̀ and sɛ́ in Gun and tɔgɔ, mãyɔ, ũsɛ, dũũlio in Kulango). In the second part of the paper I will focus on the classifications of human specialists involved either in ritual processes of liberation or in practices of cooperation with a particular supernatural agent (for example the fákántɔ́, azètɔ́ and vodúnnɔ̀ in the Gun culture and the kpalısɛ and warısɛ in the Kulango tradition). Describing the Gun case I will analyze the strong connections between spirit possession and the pervasive Vodún components. Treating the Kulango case, I will instead focus on the experience of soul loss as a means for traditional healers to meet their supernatural partners.

Lélekveztés és megszállottság a benini gun és az elefántcsontparti kulango törzseknél (Soul Loss and Spirit Possession among the Gun of Benin and the Kulango of Ivory Coast)

MICHELI, ILARIA
2015-01-01

Abstract

This paper considers the themes of soul loss and spirit possession by comparing and contrasting two very different contexts drawing from my fieldwork research in Benin (2010) and in Ivory Coast (2006): the Gun (Aja-Kwa people, Benin) and the Kulango (Gur people, Ivory Coast). Aim of this paper is to focus on the fact that, despite different interpretations and considerations, soul loss and spirit possession must be seen as a means to give a name to a number of psychological-emotional events which find their place in a reading of the “world’s book” that goes beyond the purely material. From an anthropological linguistic perspective, I will analyze significative lexical items (words and expressions) in order to explain respectively the Gun and Kulango systems of belief. The basic idea is that possession by an external agent becomes possible only if an internal agent abandons the body, thus leaving a free space for other supernatural agents to come in. These supernatural beings can be good or evil, and can enter (or fall into) a person for good or bad purposes, being invited or presenting themselves without an explicit formal or ritual invitation. The fact of loosing one’s soul (and of being possessed by an external supernatural agent) can bring a person either to fall into mental illness, or to gain a positive contact with the Divine. In the first case the intervention of a healer in order to free the person and re-establish the equilibrium he or she had lost is necessary. In the second case the person can learn how to behave with the Divine and may start a process of apprenticeship ending in he or she becoming a priest of that deity with which he /she has come into contact. I will give special attention to the semantic description of the terms used in the native languages to indicate all elements constituting a person (mɛ, yɛ̀ and sɛ́ in Gun and tɔgɔ, mãyɔ, ũsɛ, dũũlio in Kulango). In the second part of the paper I will focus on the classifications of human specialists involved either in ritual processes of liberation or in practices of cooperation with a particular supernatural agent (for example the fákántɔ́, azètɔ́ and vodúnnɔ̀ in the Gun culture and the kpalısɛ and warısɛ in the Kulango tradition). Describing the Gun case I will analyze the strong connections between spirit possession and the pervasive Vodún components. Treating the Kulango case, I will instead focus on the experience of soul loss as a means for traditional healers to meet their supernatural partners.
2015
9789635069613
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11368/2857717
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