Transformation and power in Moba (northern Togo) initiation rites
Among the Moba of northern Togo, initiation into the voluntary and secret association of Kondi offers men and women a way of achieving a measure of social and ritual power. For the Moba, accepted notions about ancestral authority, specialist knowledge, and the spatial realm of the wilderness inform...
| Published in: | Africa |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1995
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| In: |
Africa
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| Further subjects: | B
Togo
B Cultural anthropology B People B Religion B Cult B Tree trunk Ethnology B Traditional culture B Initiation |
| Summary: | Among the Moba of northern Togo, initiation into the voluntary and secret association of Kondi offers men and women a way of achieving a measure of social and ritual power. For the Moba, accepted notions about ancestral authority, specialist knowledge, and the spatial realm of the wilderness inform their concepts of power. One of the ways in which the achievement of power is conceptualised is through the transformation of the individual during the process of initiation into Kondi. Following the tripartite structure of separation, transition and reintegration, Kondi initiation directs the individual through the movement of social space as the initiate's status is transformed from that of a newborn to that of an adult in the community. This transformative process is reinforced in the spatial domains of bush and village in which initiation takes place and in the kinds of dress worn during the various phases of initiation which signal the initiate's dissociation and association with the community. Through the acquisition of esoteric knowledge available only to the initiated, and through the approval of the ancestors who sanction Kondi, members of the secret association are distinguished from the non-initiated and enjoy a measure of power and authority in Moba communities. (Africa/DÜI) |
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| ISSN: | 0001-9720 |
| Contains: | In: Africa
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