The fragility of voice: Hosting spirits in urban Zanzibar
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Motta, Marco [1]
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[1] University of Neuchâtel
University of Neuchâtel
Neuchâtel, Suiza
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- Localización: Current anthropology: A world journal of the sciences of man, ISSN 0011-3204, Nº. 3, 2022, págs. 270-288
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
In this paper, I am concerned with the concept of voice and human expressivity, in particular in the case of someone living a life as a host for spirits. Drawing on fieldwork in Zanzibar’s disadvantaged neighborhoods, I describe a case of spirit possession in the domestic sphere in which one’s body becomes the “seat” from where other voices can be heard. My interest lies in the expressive texture of the voice as that which is part of an aesthetic and the ethics of everyday life. In other words, in what way would it make sense to say that “having a spirit” amounts to “having a voice”? Spirits give human voice a physiognomy and give form to relationships. Hence, by paying closer attention to what the spirits do and the way in which they act, we may learn something about what humans do.
