Culture Summary
essay 2016 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
This is a culture summary of the Songhai. Information is presented on major aspects of the Songhai culture....

Social interaction and the management of Songhay socio-political change
article 1981 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
This book examines the transformation of Songhai social structure during the colonial period. With the end of slavery, the establishment of a colonial government, and the introduction of universal education, alternative paths to prestige and power fo...

Fusion of the worlds
Book 1989 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
For this ethnography, the author became a novitiate in a cult in order to provide an insider view of Songhai religion and magic. It is an intimate and evocative portrayal of a Songhai possession troupe and the spiritual world it both embodies and inv...

The negotiation of Songhay space
article 1980 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
This article is a study of the political use of space in Songhai society. It is also a commentary on how settlement patterns can be misinterpreted by Western scholars who see them as static reifications of existing social and political order. The aut...

The epistemology of sorkotarey
article 1980 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
This article attributes the efficacy of Songhai magic to the magicians' understanding of the metaphorical meaning of the words in ritual texts. Such words act as doors to Songhai cosmological and spiritual realms, the true source of magical power. Ma...

Embodying colonial memories
article 1994 Stoller, Paul

SonghaiAfrica > Western Africa
This article interprets Songhai possession ceremonies as forms of corporeal knowing and embodied historical memory. Many gods in the Songhai pantheon represent foreigners and former colonial masters, whom spirit mediums mimic and parody in their tran...