Book
The African witch: with particular reference to witchcraft beliefs and practices among the Shona of Rhodesia
E. & S. Livingstone • Edinburgh • Published In 1967 • Pages:
By: Gelfand, Michael, Hannan, M..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is the definitive work on Shona witchcraft. After a brief introductory sketch of some of the salient features of Shona ethnography (especially the spirit world), the author turns to the main theme of his work–witchcraft, not only as perceived by the Shona but also from the standpoint of the effects of this belief on the society. Detailed discussions are presented in the text on types of witches, witchcraft as a functional part of everyday living, factors influencing witchcraft accusations, prevalence of witchcraft accusations, procedures, witchcraft as a cause of illness, and the rationale of treatment of cases of witchcraft. There is a chapter on the witch doctor and his place in the spirit world. The source concludes with two appendices containing brief summaries of judicial case histories involving accusations of witchcraft and subsequent court decisions.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sorcery
- Magical and mental therapy
- Shamans and psychotherapists
- Magic
- Initiation of judicial proceedings
- Trial procedure
- Theory of disease
- Medical care
- Hospitals and clinics
- Extramarital sex relations
- Animism
- Eschatology
- Revelation and divination
- Burial practices and funerals
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Shona
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2014
- 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
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Physician
- 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; 1991
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1960-1964
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1899-1966
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- eastern Zimbabwe
- NotesAdditional notes
- [by] Michael Gelfand ; with a foreword by the Rev. Father M. Hannan, S.J.
- Includes index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 67113298
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Witchcraft--Zimbabwe
- Shona (African people)