Peter Kneitz The Sakalava Pilgrimage as a Royal Service (Western Madagascar)
Summary
My contribution presents a case study of pilgrimage and procession connected to the main shrine of the Sakalava royalty in western Madagascar. Sakalava pilgrimage developed within a cultural logic decidedly outside the Western world and is perceived as one of many aspects of royal work (fanompoa), performed to confirm and to reassure the relationship with royal ancestors. The renewal of family relations, friendship and identity is a natural part of this event, in particular, for those coming from abroad. My contribution will focus on the mean- ing of what can be described as Sakalava pilgrimage, and its changes throughout time and space. The analysis of more than Ȍȉȉ years of historical changes reveals, among others, man- ifold impacts of global conditions on the more recent development of Sakalava pilgrimage.
Keywords: Transformation of a royal residence into a religious shrine; colonial policy; negotiation of meanings; Sakalava; Madagascar; Boeny kingdom
Das ethnographische Fallbeispiel untersucht die besonderen Formen von Pilgerschaft und Prozession im Kontext des zentralen Königsschreins der Sakalava im westlichen Madagas- kar. ‚Pilgern‘ entstand hier im Rahmen einer dezidiert nicht-westlichen Logik und wird von den Akteuren zunächst als eine von vielen Aspekten königlicher Arbeit (fanompoa) ver- standen, wodurch die Beziehung zu den königlichen Ahnen erhalten und gefestigt werden kann. Der vorgelegte Text erörtert die spezifische Vorstellungswelt der Sakalava-Pilgerschaft im Kontext einer mehr als Ȍȉȉ Jahre langen Entwicklung. Die ursprünglich dominieren- de Funktion einer Bekräftigung der königlichen Machtposition wurde in neuerer Zeitin Folge der Entmachtung der Könige durch vielfältige neue religiöse, soziale und identitäre Aspekte ergänzt.
Keywords: Transformation einer königlichen Residenz in einen religiösen Schrein; Kolo- nialpolitik; Bedeutungswandel; Sakalava; Madagaskar; Boeny-Königreich
The results presented here are based upon preliminary fieldwork dedicated to the Doany Miarinarivo (about ȊȎ months) between ȊȒȒȒ and ȋȉȉȉ and supported by the German
Ute Luig (ed.) | Approaching the Sacred. Pilgrimage in Historical and Intercultural Perspective | Berlin Studies of the Ancient World ȍȒ (ISBN ȒȐȑ-Ȍ-ȒȑȊȑȌȏȒ-Ȍ-ȏ; ISSN (Print) ȋȌȏȏ-ȏȏȍȊ; ISSN (Online) ȋȌȏȏ- ȏȏȎX; URN urn:nbn:de:kobv:Ȋȑȑ-fudocsdocumentȉȉȉȉȉȉȉȋȐȎȋȍ-ȍ) | www.edition-topoi.org
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Academic Exchange Service. A systematic exploration of the Sakalava doany all along the west coast (ȋȉȉȎ–ȋȉȉȑ) and a political anthropology of the mid-west district Besalampy and the local Sakalava kingdoms (ȋȉȊȉ–ȋȉȊȌ) were subsequently supported by the German Re- search Foundation. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the above-mentioned institutions.