Earth Shakers of Madagascar - An Anthropological Study of Authority, Fertility and Creation

An analysis of how the complex rituals of Sahafatra culture are used to transform a once barren landscape into agricultural land.

List of contents

Introduction: the wasteland and its people and history; the bigger picture - background and theory; the authority system in the wasteland; competing idioms of power; testing - the process of becoming a senior panjaka; the potency of the panjaka; the 'raising up' of the panjaka as human alchemy; funerary and commemorative practices; conclusion: composite power and the cult of creation.

About the author

Oliver Woolley recently completed his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Product details

• Authors: Oliver Woolley
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2021
• EAN: 9780367716622
• ISBN: 978-0-367-71662-2
• No. of pages: 294
• Series: LSE Monographs on Social Anthropology
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Social sciences, law, business > Ethnology > Folklore