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Spirits and spouses: possession as a system of communication among the Malagasy speakers of Mayotte
Author(s) -
LAMBEK MICHAEL
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1980.7.2.02a00060
Subject(s) - possession (linguistics) , friendship , sociology , psychology , social psychology , gender studies , philosophy , linguistics
Spirit possession can be viewed as a system of communication based on a minimal triad of three “persons”—host, spirit, and intermediary. The model is illustrated with case material from Mayotte in which the possession of women by spirits produces ties of “friendship” between the spirits and the women's husbands, thus adding new dimensions to the conjugal relationships. [possession, social structure, symbolic, trance, women]