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Book chapter | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Man's shadow and man of shadow: Gamk experience of the self and the deed [i.e. dead] |
Author: | Okazaki, Akira |
Book title: | Sudan Sahel studies: vol. II |
Year: | 1986 |
Pages: | 139-206 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Sudan |
Subjects: | man ethnic groups |
Abstract: | The texts of rituals and narratives on Gamk notions of the self, the dead, dreams and illnesses recorded by the author at different times in the period 1981-1984, mainly in the southwest part of Gamkland in the Ingessana Hills area, Blue Nile province, Central Sudan, provide the major sources for an examination of the Gamk term 'kuuth', 'the human shadow'. After touching on problems of translation, the author describes at length the relationship between a living man and his 'kuuth', and the relation between the living and the 'kuuth' of the dead. The author argues that the Gamk 'kuuth' should be understood as a metaphorical rather than metonymic representation. In the figurative sense, 'kuuth' signifies something unnamed, something which is sometimes so potent and influential in people's lives that the Gamk hesitate to name it or to mention it directly. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |