The Sakalava Poiesis of History: Realizing the Past Through Spirit Possession in Madagascar
American Ethnologist May 1, 1998 DOI: 10.1525/ae.1998.25.2.106 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Sakalava spirit possession is a creative production of history with a strongly realist bent, distinct from a dominant Western model, and proposes poetic form as a framework for analyzing historicities. |
Abstract
Using a broadly Aristotelian framework I propose poetic form as a means for distinguishing historicities. I analyze Sakalava performances of possession by royal ancestors as the creative production of a kind of history, distinguish it from a dominant occidental model of history, and elaborate the chronotope on which it is based and the heteroglossia and historical consciousness it enables. I argue that Sakalava spirit possession has a strongly realist bent and suggest the interest of poiesis for anthropological analysis and comparison more generally, [historical production, historicity, spirit possession, mimesis, poiesis, Aristotle, Madagascar]