Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men, and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan (New Directions in Anthro Writing) PDF
Preview Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men, and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan (New Directions in Anthro Writing)
Wombs and Alien Spirits New Directions in Anthropological Writing History, Poetics, Cultural Criticism George E. Marcus, Rice University James Clifford, University of California, Santa Cruz General Editors Wombsand Alien Spirits Women) Men) and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan Janice Boddy The University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street, 3rd floor Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059 3 Henrietta Street london WC2E 8lU, England www.wisc.edu\wisconsinpress Copyright © 1989 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a Web site without written permission of the University of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Boddy, Janice Patricia. Wombs and alien spirits: women, men, and the Zar cult in northern SudanlJanice Boddy. 422 pp. cm.-(New directions in· anthropological writing) Bibliography: pp. 363-383 Includes index. 1. Women, Muslim-Sudan. 2. Zar-Sudan. 3. Marriage customs and rites, Islamic-Sudan. 4. Spirit possession-Sudan. 5. Sex customs-Sudan. 1. Title. II. Series. HQ1793.5.B64 1989 305.3'09625-dc20 89-40250 ISBN 0-299-12310-3 eIP ISBN 0-299-12314-6 (pbk.) ISBN-13: 978-0-299-12314-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) for the women of "Hofriyat" from a kindred spirit Contents Tables and Figures ix Acknowledgments XI Note on Transliteration xiii Glossary xv Prologue 3 1 Part The Human World Chapter 1 Departures 13 Chapter 2 Enclosures 47 Chapter 3 Boundaries and Indeterminacies 89 2 Part Women, Men, and Spirits Chapter 4 Ziir 125 ChapterS Possession, Marriage, and Fertility 166 Chapter 6 Zaineb and Umselima: Possession as a Family Idiom 194 Chapter 7 Hosts and Spirits 238 3 Part Allegories of the Spirit World Chapter 8 The Parallel Universe 269 vm Contents Chapter 9 Two Ceremonies 310 Chapter 10 Arrivals: Allegory and Otherness 337 References 363 Index 385 Tables and Figures Tables 5.1 Populations of Ever-Married Women in Hofriyat, 1977 and 1984 169 5.2 Marital Histories of Possessed and Nonpossessed Women 170 5.3 First Marriages of Possessed and Nonpossessed Women 171 5.4 Reproductive Histories of Possessed and Nonpossessed Women 173 5.5 Gendered Reproductive Success Rates for Possessed and Nonpossessed Women 173 5.6 Fertility Problems in Possessed and Nonpossessed Populations 175 Figures Map of Sudan 2 2.1 Example of a Lineage Exogamous Marriage between Classificatory Awliid ~mm 80 3.1 Milk Children 99 5.1 Percentages of Women Possessed in 1977 and 1984, by age cohort 176 6.1 Mohammed's Second and Fifth Marriages 205 6.2 Zaineb's Extended Family 213 6.3 Urnselima's and Zaineb's Immediate Families 216 ix
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