Time, Space and the Unknown
Maasai Configurations of Power and Providence
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:17th May '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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- Hardback£135.00(9780415317245)
First Published in 2004. Uncertainty is an aspect of existence among the Maasai in East Africa. They take ritual precautions against mystical misfortune, especially at their ceremonial gatherings, which exude displays of confidence, and generate a sense of time, space, community, and being. Yet their performances are undermined by a concern for clandestine psychopaths who are thought to create havoc through sorcery. Normally elders seek moral explanations for erratic encounters with misfortune, viewing God as the Supreme and unknowable figure of Providence. However, sorcery lies beyond their collective wisdom, and they look for guidance from their Prophet, as a more powerful sorcerer to whom they are bound for protection. This work examines the variation of this pattern, associated with different profiles of social life and tension across the Maasai federation.
ISBN: 9780415555166
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 560g
304 pages