Project

Probing the Religio-Cultural Roots of Witchcraft: A Journey into the Mystical World of the Nankani

Program

African Humanities Program Postdoctoral Fellowships

Department

Study of Religions

Abstract

The phenomenon of witchcraft in Africa has been widely documented by social scientists and scholars of religion across the continent. Notable among these scholars are E. E. Evans-Pritchard, S. F. Nadel, R. S. Rattray, Meyer Fortes, Margaret Field, and Hans Debrunner. Nonetheless, the persistence of the phenomenon in the face of social change continues to present new and exciting dimensions, thus, regenerating newer interests and wider attention. Probing the religio-cultural roots of witchcraft is yet another attempt at understanding one of the enduring puzzles in life and community within a specific African context. Unlike earlier studies, this study examines the phenomenon from an African epistemological point of view, taking into consideration both theoretical and methodological dimensions on the study of the phenomenon from an African feminist perspective.