Suggestions of Bureaucracy in Korekore Religion: Putting the Ethnography Straight

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Periodical article

Title:	Suggestions of Bureaucracy in Korekore Religion: Putting the Ethnography Straight
Author:	Bourdillon, M.F.C.
Year:	1981
Periodical:	Zambezia
Volume:	9
Issue:	2
Pages:	119-136
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zimbabwe
Subjects:	African religions spirit possession Shona Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
External link:	https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/AJA03790622_636
Abstract:	The purpose of this paper is to correct a widespread misconception in Shona ethnography. P. Fry ('Spirits of Protest: Spirit-Mediums and the Articulation of Consensus among the Zezuru of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)', Cambridge, 1976) typified Korekore (northern Shona) spirit mediums as 'bureaucratic' in contrast with the 'charismatic' Zezuru (central Shona) mediums. I.M. Lewis, G.K. Garbett, R.P. Werbner, M.W. Murphree have commented upon this typology, but a more detailed critique is needed. This essay presents a systematic critique of the various points of contrast suggested by Fry, focusing on Korekore mediums, and making appropriate comparisons with their Zezuru counterparts. It is argued that only very minor differences exist between the two systems, and that they need to be taken even more cautiously than Garbett and Werbner take them. - Fig., notes.