The Sacred Void
The Sacred Void
In this innovative study, David Parkin shows how indigenous African rites and beliefs may be reworked to accommodate a variety of economic systems, new spatial and ecological relations among communities, and the locally variable influences of Islam and Christianity.
The Giriama people of Kenya include pastoralists living in the hinterland; farmers, who work land closer to the coast; and migrants, who earn money as laborers or fisherman on the coast itself. Wherever they live, they revere an ancient and formerly fortified capital, located in the pastoralist hinterland, which few of them ever see or visit. It is the site of occasional large-scale ceremonies and becomes especially important at times of national crisis. It then acts as a moral core of Giriama society, and a symbolic defense against total domination and assimilation.
- David Parkin is professor of African anthropology at SOAS and probably the leading African ethnographer in the UK. He is widely respected for his long record of East African ethnography
- Important, innovative study on the big theme of ritual
- Parkin moves away from the idea that ritual simply unites a society showing how it provides a geographical map of sacred places around which people organize their minds and give meaning to their daily lives
Reviews & endorsements
"On one level it is a significant contribution to anthropological theory....It is, at the same time, an historical case study of relationships between meanings of ethnic identity and territory amidst a sea of social change....Parkin's work here is representative of the best in current historically oriented ethnography." Ethnohistory
"David Parkin's book on the Giriama of Kenya combines conceptual finesse and stylistic elegance with a sensitivity for issues in religious studies rare among anthropologists...Parkin keeps the reader reeling between keen insights and a wealth of well-organized ethnographic data. The result is a rare and important work that offers common ground for scholars of religion(s) and anthropologists." The Journal of Religion
"Parkin's study is both ambitious and extremely informative." American Anthropologist
"Parkin portrays, with notable sensitivity, Giriama ambivalence with regard to the newer ideas and practices available on the coast, and, in particular, the combination of Islam, divination, and egalitarian authority." --Choice
"As one would expect of its author, the book is lucidly written, comprising a coherent essay from start to finish." The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology
"Parkin provides us with an insightful contribution to the anthropology of knowledge and one well-developed answer to the question, What is the nature of a specific culture?" Frederick C. Gamst, The International Journal of African Historical Studies
"This is a fine ethnographic account of an African people. Superb in its detail, and original and insightful in interpretation, it brings to life the thoughts, fears, and perceptions of the Giriama people and provides a sophisticated model of a complex society that has great value for comparative understanding of African and other societies...David Parkin offers a deep analytical understanding of what is actually happening in Giriama society, both in their eyes and in his own...This is an unusual, and indeed rare, book of sensitivity and ethnographic writing." John Middleton, Journal of Ritual Studies
Product details
March 2006Paperback
9780521024983
284 pages
228 × 150 × 20 mm
0.43kg
5 b/w illus. 2 maps
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. Fantasies of the West
- 2. Western Kaya, sacred centre
- 3. View from the west: cattle and co-operation
- 4. From west to east: the works of marriage
- 5. Spanning west and east: dances of death
- 6. Alternative authorities: incest and fertility
- 7. Alternative selves: invasions and cure
- 8. Coastal desires and the person as centre
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index.
