Relationships in motion

Relationships in motion

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Havana among initiates of the male diviner-cult of Ifá, this paper addresses the classical anthropological conundrum of how to make sense of practitioners’ contention that initiation transforms them into «new people». Taking into account the role of divination in «...

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Pubblicato in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/span,
Autore principale: Holbraad, Martin
Natura: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lingua:Anglais
Pubblicazione: Systèmes de pensée en Afrique noire 2013
Soggetti:
initiation
notion de personne
divination
culte d’Ifá
notion of person
Ifá cult
Cuba
Accesso online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:span_817
record_format openedition
spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:span_817 https://doi.org/10.4000/span.817 urn:doi:10.4000/span.817 en https://journals.openedition.org/span/817 2013-06-05T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/kvu1 All rights reserved Relationships in motion Systèmes de pensée en Afrique noire École pratique des hautes études. Sciences humaines info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2268-1558 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0294-7080 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/span Holbraad, Martin initiation notion de personne divination culte d’Ifá initiation divination notion of person Ifá cult Cuba Cuba Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Havana among initiates of the male diviner-cult of Ifá, this paper addresses the classical anthropological conundrum of how to make sense of practitioners’ contention that initiation transforms them into «new people». Taking into account the role of divination in «calling» neophytes, it is shown that Ifá initiation involves an accumulation of relationships with deities and fellow initiates that are «internal» in the sense that they pertain to the very definition of the neophyte as a person. It is argued that for such a notion not to appear logically absurd («apparently irrational») it is necessary to revise radically a series of analytical assumptions regarding the nature of change, obligation and personhood. À partir d’une ethnographie de terrain parmi les initiés au culte de divination masculine d’Ifá à La Havane, un problème classique en anthropologie est abordé : que veulent dire les praticiens quand ils affirment que l’initiation les transforme? En se penchant sur la façon dont la divination fait sentir aux néophytes qu’ils sont « appelés », on constate que cette initiation permet une accumulation de rapports avec des déités et avec d’autres initiés. Ces rapports sont internes au sens où ils concernent la définition du néophyte en tant que personne. Pour que cette idée ne paraisse pas comme une absurdité du point de vue logique, il faut reconsidérer en profondeur une série de présupposés concernant la nature de cette transformation et les notions d’obligation et de personne.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic initiation
notion de personne
divination
culte d’Ifá
initiation
divination
notion of person
Ifá cult
Cuba
spellingShingle initiation
notion de personne
divination
culte d’Ifá
initiation
divination
notion of person
Ifá cult
Cuba
Holbraad, Martin
Relationships in motion
description Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Havana among initiates of the male diviner-cult of Ifá, this paper addresses the classical anthropological conundrum of how to make sense of practitioners’ contention that initiation transforms them into «new people». Taking into account the role of divination in «calling» neophytes, it is shown that Ifá initiation involves an accumulation of relationships with deities and fellow initiates that are «internal» in the sense that they pertain to the very definition of the neophyte as a person. It is argued that for such a notion not to appear logically absurd («apparently irrational») it is necessary to revise radically a series of analytical assumptions regarding the nature of change, obligation and personhood.
author Holbraad, Martin
author_facet Holbraad, Martin
author_sort Holbraad, Martin
title Relationships in motion
title_short Relationships in motion
title_full Relationships in motion
title_fullStr Relationships in motion
title_full_unstemmed Relationships in motion
title_sort relationships in motion
publisher Systèmes de pensée en Afrique noire
publishDate 2013
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/span
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/span.817
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/span/817
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