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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Witchcraft, blood-sucking spirits, and the demonization of Islam in Dogondoutchi, Niger |
Author: | Masquelier, Adeline |
Year: | 2008 |
Periodical: | Cahiers d'études africaines |
Volume: | 48 |
Issue: | 189-190 |
Pages: | 131-160 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Niger |
Subjects: | witchcraft Islam spirits |
Abstract: | In this article, the author discusses how the spread of Islam in the town of Dogondoutchi, Niger, has profoundly transformed the local imaginary, helping fuel perceptions of witchcraft as a thoroughly Muslim practice. She suggests that it is because witchcraft is seen as a hallmark of tradition that Muslims, despite their claim to have embraced modernity, are accused of being witches. For a small minority unconvinced of the superiority of Islam over local religious traditions, witchcraft offers a convenient means of demonizing Muslims and a powerful commentary on the ways that the globalizing impact of Islam has supposedly transformed local modes of sociality and kinship as well as forms of wealth production and consumption. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] |