Soil, self, resistance: late-modernity and locative spirit possession in Kerala
La possession en Asie du Sud 1999 DOI: 10.4000/books.editionsehess.26337 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnographic case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Residents of late-modern Kerala, including Īḻava and Untouchable communities |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | Spirit possession in late-modern Kerala reflects the mixing of formerly separate social groups and the conflict between traditional person-kuṭumpam-soil consubstantiality and modern people-state-land relations. |
Abstract
I present a place-centred and low-caste view of spirit affliction/possession with reference to person-kuṭumpam (descent group)-soil continuity and interaction in late-modern Kerala, where previous boundary processes have been subjugated to a new set of boundary processes that mixed-up what was formerly unmixable. The person-kuṭumpam-soil consubstantiality, which is expressed in mortuary rituals, contradicts with the modern praxis of people-state-land relations. The new rich have been moving into the border areas of the village, which was formerly inhabited exclusively by Untouchables, and which was believed to be a dangerous place where ghosts and malevolent deities wandered. I present a case history of an Īḻava moneylender’s wife, whose body was possessed by Untouchable ancestors. I use thematically related case histories of spirit affliction and possession as a ‘window’ that provides a glimpse into the ways in which multiple boundary processes constitute person, self and territory in the late-modern context.