"Les charmes du roi sont les esprits des morts": Les fondements religieux de la royaute sacree chez les Luba du Zaire
Drawing on observations among the Luba of Shaba (Zaire) and their neighbours, this article analyses the relationship between the sacred king and the spirits. The strong connection which unites them appears to be an important source of the symbolic efficacy of royalty, too often reduced to the single...
| 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
1996
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| In: |
Africa
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| Further subjects: | B
Cultural anthropology
B People B Religion B Monarchy B Cult B Tree trunk Ethnology B Traditional culture B Luba B Ancestor cult |
| Summary: | Drawing on observations among the Luba of Shaba (Zaire) and their neighbours, this article analyses the relationship between the sacred king and the spirits. The strong connection which unites them appears to be an important source of the symbolic efficacy of royalty, too often reduced to the single theme of the king's monstrosity or ambivalence. The epic of the kingdom is used as a main theme, as it subtly evokes three institutions at the heart of this problem, the royal ancestors' cult, the enthronement process which stresses the agreement of the spirits as to a candidate, and the use of relics in order to pass on a spiritual principle. These royal rites appear to be an elaboration of commoner rites, of which they constitute a complex form. The specificity of the king appears more clearly in the use of relics which makes him the living continuation of his predecessors. (Africa/DÜI) |
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| ISSN: | 0001-9720 |
| Contains: | In: Africa
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