The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar

333 Pages·2002·3.32 MB·English

by  Michael Lambek (auth.)

The Weight of the Past
Contemporary Anthropology of Religion,
A series published with the Society for the Anthropology of Religion
Robert Hefner, Series Editor
Boston University
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
Body / Meaning / Healing
By Thomas J. Csordas
The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar
By Michael Lambek
The Weight of the Past
Living with History in
Mahajanga, Madagascar
Michael Lambek
Excerpt from Giorgio Agamben, translated by Georgia Albert,The Man Without
Content.This translation copyright © 1999 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland
Stanford Junior University.With the permission of Stanford University Press,
www.sup.org.
THE WEIGHT OF THE PAST
Copyright © Michael Lambek, 2002.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.
First published 2002 by
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ISBN 978-1-4039-6068-9 ISBN 978-1-137-11495-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-11495-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data can be found at the Library
of Congress.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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First edition: December 2002
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Contents
List of Figures and Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Stylistic Conventions xv
Exchange Rates xvii
Glossary of Frequently Cited Words xix
Key Personae xxi
PART I
A POIESIS OF HISTORY
Chapter 1 Bearing Sakalava History:A Glossary of Key Terms 3
Chapter 2 Into the Maze: Surface and Center, Place,
Person, and Potency 21
Chapter 3 The Sakalava Poiesis of History: Realizing the
Past through Spirit Possession 49
PART II
STRUCTURAL REMAINS:
CONTEMPORARY DIVISIONS OF HISTORICAL LABOR
Chapter 4 Mechanical Division: Structure and History in
the Northwest 73
Chapter 5 The Legacy of Lord Diviner, Ndramisara:
Organic Division,“Kindedness,” and Sakalava Subjects 97
Chapter 6 Personal Particularism, Mediumship, and
Distributive Memory 125
PART III
SERVING THE ANCESTORS
Chapter 7 Popular Performances: Paying Homage and Gaining Respect 143
Chapter 8 The Great Service (Fanompoa Be) 167
PART IV
PRACTICING HISTORY
Chapter 9 Kassim’s Burden:The Practice of an Exemplary Spirit Medium 191
Appendix:The Plan of Bezavo 214
Chapter 10 Answering to History: Conflict, Conscience, and Change 217
Chapter 11 The Play of the Past: Historicity in Daily Life 237
Chapter 12 Conclusion: Imagined Continuities 261
Notes 275
Bibliography 297
Index 313
List of Figures
and Illustrations
Figures
2.1. Map of Madagascar 24
2.2. Plan of the Doany Ndramisara (Doany Miarinarivo), Mahajanga 33
3.1. Simplified Royal Genealogy (Bemihisatra/Betsioko Branch) 52
4.1. Major Royal Capitals and Rulers in the Northwest 80
4.2. Major Royal Cemeteries and Capitals in Boina 83
4.3. Simplified Royal Genealogy Indicating Major Branches 85
4.4.Version of the Bemihisatra Branch at Betsioko 91
7.1. Letter from Ampanjaka Désy Requesting Contributions to
the Great Service 146
9.1. Letter from Ampanjaka Amina Requesting Contributions to Bezavo 209
9.2. Plan of Bezavodoany 215
Illustrations
On the edge of Tsaramandroso (Good Progress) market, Mahajanga 22
City hall, Mahajanga 22
Looking north toward the south face of the sacred enclosure,
Doany Ndramisara, Mahajanga 30
Somotro practicing divination in his house at the shrine 37
Raising Ndransinint’ to a standing position in order to fix the
clothing of the newly arrived spirit, at a tromba gathering in an
urban courtyard in Mahajanga 64
Assisting a Betsioko spirit to enter trance under a fluttering royal shroud 65
Servants entering through the main gate of the sacred enclosure,
Doany Ndramisara, Mahajanga 110