Spirit Possession and the Symbolic Construction of Swahili Society

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Book chapter

Title:	Spirit Possession and the Symbolic Construction of Swahili Society
Author:	Giles, L.L.
Book title:	Spirit possession: modernity & power in Africa
Year:	1999
Pages:	142-164
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Discipline:	Anthropology, Ethnology
Subjects:	spirit possession Swahili - society
Abstract:	The spirit world, in accord with the historical world view of Swahili coastal society, is divided along two key dimensions. The first of these contrasts Muslim spirits with pagan spirits. The second dimension contrasts the spirits of the East African interior with those of the coast. Within these broad oppositions, spirits are further differentiated into more specific categories that are the focus of particular cults. The author believes that these categories can be understood as ethnic groups within the spirit world. She examines the symbolic realm represented by some of the key spirit types. Spirit possession provides an ideal medium for the creation of cultural texts. The author's 1982-1984 study of spirit possession in the Swahili coastal area of East Africa suggests that Swahili possession texts do not merely express a limited number of basic cultural themes and contradictions but a whole range of diverse and often contradictory elements which have entered into the cultural and historical construction of Swahili coastal society. (Source: ASC Documentation).