Book
Village of curers and assassins: on the production of Fala Kpelle cosmolotical categories
Mouton and Company • The Hague • Published In 1975 • Pages: 196
By: Bellman, Beryl Larry.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a methodological, theoretical investigation into what the author calls 'the production of cosmological categories' by the Fala Kpelle speakers of Sucromu, Liberia. What the author means by this is discussed in much detail in the two parts making up the bulk of this source. In the first part, Bellman delves into Kpellean philosophy and epistemology, deducing a number of formal properties inherent in various aspects of consociate or face-to-face interactions in the society. These special properties are then discussed from the standpoint of their importance in the practice of secrecy (ifa mo) in the society. The second part deals more with the objective meaning of the cosmological categories than does part 1. Here Kpellean medicine and the numerous spirits of the cosmological universe are described, and both concepts analyzed as these topics appear in normal conversation and whether or not members of the society refer to their personal experiences with them as being in the 'world of dreams' or the 'world of reality' (p. 7).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Shamans and psychotherapists
- Sorcery
- Revelation and divination
- Sodalities
- Cosmology
- Etiquette
- Social relationships and groups
- Magical and mental therapy
- General character of religion
- Spirits and gods
- Verbal arts
- Lineages
- Purification and atonement
- Sacred objects and places
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kpelle
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2009
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1984
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1967-1973
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1960-1975
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Liberia
- NotesAdditional notes
- By Beryl Larry Bellman
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [190]-192)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 75322980
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kpelle (African people)--Social life and customs/Kpelle (African people)--Religion/Folk classification--Liberia