The Sacred Void: Spatial Images of Work and Ritual among the Giriama of Kenya: 80 (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 80)
Cambridge University Press, 7/26/1991
EAN 9780521404662, ISBN10: 0521404665
Hardcover, 284 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
In this innovative study, David Parkin shows how indigenous African rites and beliefs may be reworked to accommodate a variety of economic systems, new spatial and ecological relations between communities, and the locally variable influences of Islam and Christianity. The Giriama people of Kenya include pastoralists living in the hinterland; farmers, who work land closer to the coast; and migrants, who earn money as labourers or fishermen on the coast itself. Wherever they live, they revere an ancient and formerly fortified capital, located in the pastoralist hinterland, which few of them ever see or visit. Their different perspectives sometimes conflict, but together provide a shifting idea of the sacred place. As the site of occasional large-scale ceremonies, moreover, the settlement becomes especially important at times of national crisis. It then acts as a moral core of Giriama society, and a symbolic defence against total domination and assimilation.
Preface
Introduction
1. Fantasies of the West
2. Western Kaya, sacred centre
3. View from the west
cattle and co-operation
4. From west to east
the works of marriage
5. Spanning west and east
dances of death
6. Alternative authorities
incest and fertility
7. Alternative selves
invasions and cure
8. Coastal desires and the person as centre
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.