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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Possession Cults on the Swahili Coast: A Re-Examination of Theories of Marginality
Author:Giles, Linda L.ISNI
Year:1987
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:57
Issue:2
Pages:234-258
Language:English
Geographic terms:East Africa
Kenya
Tanzania
Subjects:spirit possession
Swahili
Religion and Witchcraft
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1159823
Abstract:This article examines the role of spirit possession cults in the Swahili coastal area of Kenya and Tanzania, based on three years (1982-1985) research in seven field sites, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. It provides a reassessment of the conventional theoretical viewpoint that such cults are peripheral to the wider society's value and socio-cultural structure, asserting that in this case they are, in fact, not only central to it but actually one of its most illuminating expressions. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French.
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