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

"In The Weight of the Past, Michael Lambek explores the complex ways that history shapes, constrains, and enables daily life. Focusing on ritual performances of spirit mediumship in a multifaceted religious landscape, Lambek's analysis reveals the multiple ways that Sakalava 'bear' history. In Mahajanga, Madagascar, to bear history is at once a weighty obligation, a creative re-birthing, a scrupulous cultivation, and an exuberant performance of the past. To bear history is to serve and to suffer it, but also to be informed, enlightened, and sanctified. Royal ancestors emerge in spirit mediums to comment on the present from multiple voices and generate a refracted, ironic historical consciousness. This book describes the division of labour, creative production (poiesis), and ethical practice (phronesis) entailed in imagining, embodying, and serving the past. It is at once a vivid ethnography of Sakalava life and a significant intervention in anthropological debates on culture and history, structure and practice, advocating a theoretical approach informed by Aristotelian categories of understanding. Ethnographically rich and engagingly written, this book will be essential reading for courses in the anthropology of religion, ritual, or historical consciousness."-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 List of Figures and Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 12 Stylistic Conventions 16 Exchange Rates 18 Glossary of Frequently Cited Words 20 Key Personae 22 PART 1 A POIESIS OF HISTORY 24 Chapter 1 Bearing Sakalava History: A Glossary of Key Terms 25 Chapter 2 Into the Maze: Surface and Center, Place, Person, and Potency 42 Chapter 3 The Sakalava Poiesis of History: Realizing the Past through Spirit Possession 69 PART II STRUCTURAL REMAINS: CONTEMPORARY DIVISIONS OF HISTORICAL LABOR 91 Chapter 4 Mechanical Division: Structure and History in the Northwest 92 Chapter 5 The Legacy of Lord Diviner, Ndramisara: Organic Division,“Kindedness,” and Sakalava Subjects 115 Chapter 6 Personal Particularism, Mediumship, and Distributive Memory 142 PART III SERVING THE ANCESTORS 158 Chapter 7 Popular Performances: Paying Homage and Gaining Respect 159 Chapter 8 The Great Service (Fanompoa Be) 183 PART IV PRACTICING HISTORY 205 Chapter 9 Kassim’s Burden:The Practice of an Exemplary Spirit Medium Appendix:The Plan of Bezavo 206 Chapter 10 Answering to History: Conflict, Conscience, and Change 232 Chapter 11 The Play of the Past: Historicity in Daily Life 252 Chapter 12 Conclusion: Imagined Continuities 276 Notes 290 Bibliography 312 Index 327 Pt. I. A Poiesis Of History. Ch. 1. Bearing Sakalava History: A Glossary Of Key Terms. Ch. 2. Into The Maze: Surface And Center, Place, Person, And Potency. Ch. 3. The Sakalava Poiesis Of History: Realizing The Past Through Spirit Possession -- Pt. Ii. Structural Remains: Contemporary Divisions Of Historical Labor. Ch. 4. Mechanical Division: Structure And History In The Northwest. Ch. 5. The Legacy Of Lord Diviner, Ndramisara: Organic Division, Kindedness, And Sakalava Subjects. Ch. 6. Personal Particularism, Mediumship, And Distributive Memory -- Pt. Iii. Serving The Ancestors. Ch. 7. Popular Performances: Paying Homage And Gaining Respect. Ch. 8. The Great Service (fanompoa Be) -- Pt. Iv. Practicing History. Ch. 9. Kassim's Burden: The Practice Of An Exemplary Spirit Medium. Appendix: The Plan Of Bezavo. Ch. 10. Answering To History: Conflict, Conscience, And Change. Ch. 11. The Play Of The Past: Historicity In Daily Life. Ch. 12. Conclusion: Imagined Continuities. Michael Lambek. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [297]-311) And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Bearing Sakalava History: A Glossary of Key Terms....Pages 3-19 Into the Maze: Surface and Center, Place, Person, and Potency....Pages 21-47 The Sakalava Poiesis of History: Realizing the Past through Spirit Possession....Pages 49-70 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 Mechanical Division: Structure and History in the Northwest....Pages 73-95 The Legacy of Lord Diviner, Ndramisara: Organic Division, “Kindedness,” and Sakalava Subjects....Pages 97-123 Personal Particularism, Mediumship, and Distributive Memory....Pages 125-140 Front Matter....Pages 141-141 Popular Performances: Paying Homage and Gaining Respect....Pages 143-166 The Great Service (Fanompoa Be)....Pages 167-188 Front Matter....Pages 189-189 Kassim’s Burden: The Practice of an Exemplary Spirit Medium....Pages 191-216 Answering to History: Conflict, Conscience, and Change....Pages 217-236 The Play of the Past: Historicity in Daily life....Pages 237-260 Conclusion: Imagined Continuities....Pages 261-274 Back Matter....Pages 275-319 The Sakalava are one of the Malagasy ethnic groups of Madagascar. Michael Lambek starts from the basis of the mediumship and ritual which is the basis of an ancestral religious cult in Sakalava - a cult that survives alongside Christianity and Islam. At the climax of the "Great Service," the annual ritual of political and cosmic renewal in Mahajanga, a procession emerges from the inner sanctum and circumambulates the temple.