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[Klikk Her Og Skriv Tittel] TRANSFORMATIVE SUBSTANCES, KNOWLEDGE AND POWER Affecting the Course of Events in a Gambian Mandinka Village Katri E. Matikainen Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Cand. Polit. Degree at The Department of Social Anthropology UNIVERSITY OF OSLO March 2007 2 3 Abstract The present thesis is based on a fieldwork that was conducted in a small Mandinka village in the West African republic of The Gambia. This thesis revolves around the Mandinka concept of booroo. Booroo is commonly translated as “medicine”, but the application of booroo is not confined to prevention and treatment of sickness. Booroo refers to diverse substances, objects and, on occasion to certain utterances: such as biomedicines, amulets and prayers which can be used in order to attain changes, for instance to cure sickness, find a spouse or achieve success. Even if the main focus of the thesis is on booroo, which does embrace notions of medicine, the focus is not exclusively on themes prevalent within medical anthropology. This study seeks an understanding of a local concept of power (semboo) through exploring practices related to the use of booroo. The thesis explores how people’s conceptions of power influence their use of booroo. It further investigates what renders booroo and practitioners of booroo powerful. The main part of the thesis discusses power as a transformative force inherent in the world and beings within it, and it also considers how power is perceived as working in social relations. This power may cause wanted and unwanted changes. People can gain knowledge (londoo) of how to manipulate this power, for instance by using booroo. Such knowledge makes people capable of affecting the course of events and renders them powerful in relation to others. This study illustrates how vernacular concepts of power do not simply, or necessarily, give power to those who control power, but also how these understandings shape people’s ways of acting in the world. In this respect, it contributes to the ethnography of medical systems, and additionally, of power, social organisation and religion. 4 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE................................................................................................................................12 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................12 Perspectives and Arguments............................................................................................................13 The Village and its Surroundings ...................................................................................................17 Population and Subsistence..............................................................................................................20 Social Organisation of the Village...................................................................................................22 Fieldwork and Method ....................................................................................................................28 The Chapters ....................................................................................................................................31 CHAPTER TWO ..............................................................................................................................33 INTRODUCING BOOROO.....................................................................................................33 Contexts and Purposes of Use..........................................................................................................35 Concepts of Booroo .........................................................................................................................38 Other Components in the Realm of Booroo ...................................................................................40 Indigenous Categories of Booroo....................................................................................................42 Booroo as a Realm of Power and Morality ....................................................................................46 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................48 CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................................49 EXPLORING SOURCES OF POWER.....................................................................................49 Ideas of Causality ............................................................................................................................49 Immediate Sources of Power ..........................................................................................................53 Personalistic Sources of Power .......................................................................................................54 Allah – the Final Source of Power...................................................................................................68 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................71 5 CHAPTER FOUR .............................................................................................................................73 USERS’ SEARCH FOR BOOROO...........................................................................................73 Fanding’s Case ................................................................................................................................74 Questioning the Course of Events ..................................................................................................78 Trial and Error .................................................................................................................................80 Exploring Personalistic Sources of Power .....................................................................................83 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................86 CHAPTER FIVE................................................................................................................................88 POWERS OF SUBSTANCES AND WORDS...........................................................................88 Material Substances ........................................................................................................................91 Utterances.........................................................................................................................................96 Applying and Consuming Booroo.................................................................................................100 Power of Water ..............................................................................................................................104 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................107 CHAPTER SIX.................................................................................................................................109 SOURCES OF PRACTITIONERS’ POWER..........................................................................109 Gaining Transformative Knowledge and Power ..........................................................................111 Distribution of Knowledge ............................................................................................................119 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................128 CHAPTER SEVEN..........................................................................................................................130 POWER OF KNOWLEDGE IN SOCIAL RELATIONS.........................................................130 Economic Power of Marabouts ....................................................................................................133 Power of Marabouts over Others’ Actions....................................................................................138 Access to Power Through Marabouts............................................................................................142 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................144 6 CHAPTER EIGHT..........................................................................................................................146 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................146 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................148 7 8 Acknowledgements There are several people who have helped me during this project and whom I want to thank sincerely. Prof. Arve Sørum (University of Oslo) was my supervisor during the planning of the fieldwork and helped me to get started with the writing process after I returned from the field. During the major part of the writing process my supervisor was Tone Sommerfelt (University of Oslo). Her guidance in West African ethnography, invaluable comments to my texts and continuous encouragement have made the last phase of this project a great
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