article
Divinations, confessions, testimonies: Zulu confrontations with the social superstructure
Institute for Social Research, University of Natal • (9) • Published In 1967 • Pages: ii, 33
By: Fernandez, James W..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this short monograph, Fernandez applies Erving Goffman's ideas about the 'backstage dimensions' of social interaction, how an understanding of the behind-the-scenes information is necessary to a study of religious cults in and around Durban. Fernandez looks at diviners and divination as traditional forms of religious behavior, and confessions and testimonies as both traditional and modern behaviors and shows how all of these forms of interaction bring the Zulu into contact with what he calls the social superstructure, the supernatural backstage on which definitions of any particular social interaction are based.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Vocabulary
- Magical and mental therapy
- Eschatology
- Purification and atonement
- Revelation and divination
- Magicians and diviners
- Congregations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Zulu
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2005
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- 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
- Martin Malone ; 1979
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1965
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1965
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Durban region, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- NotesAdditional notes
- [by] James W. Fernandez
- Address given at the Annual Meeting of the Institute for Social Research, University of Natal, October 1965
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 70376347
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Zulu (African people)