An Intimate Rebuke: Female Genital Power in Ritual and Politics in West Africa

Throughout West African societies, at times of social crises, postmenopausal women--the Mothers--make a ritual appeal to their innate moral authority. The seat of this power is the female genitalia. Wielding branches or pestles, they strip naked and slap their genitals and bare breasts to curse and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Grillo, Laura S. 1956- (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
WorldCat: WorldCat
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Durham Duke University Press 2018
In:Year: 2018
Series/Journal:The religious cultures of African and African diaspora people
Further subjects:B Côte d'Ivoire Religion
B Generative organs, Female Religious aspects
B Generative organs, Female ; Symbolic aspects ; Côte d'Ivoire
B Older women Political activity (Côte d'Ivoire)
B Religion
B Femmes âgees ; Activite politique ; Côte-d'Ivoire
B Femmes âgees ; Côte-d'Ivoire ; Vie religieuse
B Côte d'Ivoire
B Older women Religious life (Côte d'Ivoire)
B Generative organs, Female Symbolic aspects (Côte d'Ivoire)
B Organes genitaux femelles ; Aspect symbolique ; Côte-d'Ivoire
B Generative organs, Female ; Political aspects ; Côte d'Ivoire
B Older women ; Political activity ; Côte d'Ivoire
B Older women ; Religious life ; Côte d'Ivoire
B Organes genitaux femelles ; Aspect religieux
B Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography
B Côte d'Ivoire ; Religion
B SOCIAL SCIENCE ; Discrimination & Race Relations
B Organes genitaux femelles ; Aspect politique ; Côte-d'Ivoire
B SOCIAL SCIENCE ; Minority Studies
B Generative organs, Female Political aspects (Côte d'Ivoire)
B Generative organs, Female ; Religious aspects
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Parallel Edition:Erscheint auch als: 9781478002635
Description
Summary:Throughout West African societies, at times of social crises, postmenopausal women--the Mothers--make a ritual appeal to their innate moral authority. The seat of this power is the female genitalia. Wielding branches or pestles, they strip naked and slap their genitals and bare breasts to curse and expel the forces of evil. In An Intimate Rebuke Laura S. Grillo draws on fieldwork in Côte d'Ivoire that spans three decades to illustrate how these rituals of Female Genital Power (FGP) constitute religious and political responses to abuses of power. When deployed in secret, FGP operates as spiritual warfare against witchcraft; in public, it serves as a political activism. During Côte d'Ivoire's civil wars FGP challenged the immoral forces of both rebels and the state. Grillo shows how the ritual potency of the Mothers' nudity and the conjuration of their sex embodies a moral power that has been foundational to West African civilization. Highlighting the remarkable continuity of the practice across centuries while foregrounding the timeliness of FGP in contemporary political resistance, Grillo shifts perspectives on West African history, ethnography, comparative religious studies, and postcolonial studies.
Item Description:Includes bibliographical references and index. - Description based on print version record
ISBN:1478002638
Access:Open Access