Overview
Embodying Colonial Memories is a study of the West African Hauka - spirits that grotesquely mimic and mock ""Europeans"" of the colonial epoch. Combining narrative description, historical analysis, and reflections on the importance of mimetic body in social theory, Paul Stoller uses the example of the Hauka to think creatively about spirit possession as a set of embodied practices with serious social, cultural and political consequences. In this book, Stoller argues that mimicry is about power in the world. To copy something is to master it, to tap its power. Through the Hauka, the Songhay have attempted to divert the power of the Europeans to oppose French colonial administration. The second President of Niger was himself a Hauka spirit medium who used elements of Hauka discourse to govern the Republic of Niger from 1974 to 1987.
Full Product Details
Author: Paul Stoller
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.40cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.440kg
ISBN: 9780415908771
ISBN 10: 0415908779
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 27 September 1995
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
... the book should be read for what the Haukas's fascinating history teaches us about the politics of possession and the aesthetics of power. - Religious Studies Review This is learning in it's most fundamental form and it would be useful for us to consider the lessons that books such as Embodying Colonial Memories have for the creation of a more encompassing anthropology of education. - Anthopology & Education Quarterly
... the book should be read for what the Haukas's fascinating history teaches us about the politics of possession and the aesthetics of power. - Religious Studies Review This is learning in it's most fundamental form and it would be useful for us to consider the lessons that books such as Embodying Colonial Memories have for the creation of a more encompassing anthropology of education. - Anthopology & Education Quarterly
...the book should be read for what the Haukas's fascinating history teaches us about the politics of possession and the aesthetics of power. -- Religious Studies Review This is learning in it's most fundamental form and it would be useful for us to consider the lessons that books such as Embodying Colonial Memories have for the creation of a more encompassing anthropology of education. -- Anthopology & Education Quarterly
""...the book should be read for what the Haukas's fascinating history teaches us about the politics of possession and the aesthetics of power."" -- ReligiousStudies Review ""This is learning in it's most fundamental form and it would be useful for us to consider the lessons that books such as Embodying Colonial Memories have for the creation of a more encompassing anthropology of education."" -- Anthopology & Education Quarterly
... the book should be read for what the Haukas's fascinating history teaches us about the politics of possession and the aesthetics of power. <br>- Religious Studies Review <br> This is learning in it's most fundamental form and it would be useful for us to consider the lessons that books such as Embodying Colonial Memories have for the creation of a more encompassing anthropology of education. <br>- Anthopology & Education Quarterly <br>
Author Information
Paul Stoller is Professor of Anthropology at West Chester University. He is the author of In Sorcery's Shadow (1987), Fusion of the Worlds (1989), The Taste ofEthnographic Things (1989) and The Cinematic Griot. He is currently conducting research among West African street vendors in New York City.
