Madumo, A Man Bewitched
Ashforth, Adam
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BOOK SUMMARY
No one answered when I tapped at the back door of Madumo's home on Mphahlele Street a few days after my return to Soweto, so I pushed the buckling red door in a screeching grind of metal over concrete and entered calling, "Hallo?"So begins this true story
Submit a book reviewBOOK SYNOPSIS
No one answered when I tapped at the back door of Madumo's home on Mphahlele Street a few days after my return to Soweto, so I pushed the buckling red door in a screeching grind of metal over concrete and entered calling, "Hallo?"
So begins this true story of witchcraft and friendship set against the turbulent backdrop of contemporary Soweto. Adam Ashforth, an Australian who has spent many years in the black township, finds his longtime friend Madumo in dire circumstances: his family has accused him of using witchcraft to kill his mother and has thrown him out on the street. Convinced that his life is cursed, Madumo seeks help among Soweto's bewildering array of healers and prophets. An inyanga, or traditional healer, confirms that he has indeed been bewitched. With Ashforth by his side, skeptical yet supportive, Madumo embarks upon a physically grueling treatment regimen that he follows religiously-almost to the point of death-despite his suspicion that it may be better to "Westernize my mind and not think about witchcraft."
Ashforth's beautifully written, at times poignant account of Madumo's struggle shows that the problem of witchcraft is not simply superstition, but a complex response to spiritual insecurity in a troubling time of political and economic upheaval. Post-apartheid Soweto, he discovers, is suffering from a deluge of witchcraft. Through Madumo's story, Ashforth opens up a world that few have seen, a deeply unsettling place where the question "Do you believe in witchcraft?" is not a simple one at all. The insights that emerge as Ashforth accompanies his friend on an odyssey through Soweto's supernatural perils have profound implications even for those of us who live in worlds without witches.
BOOK EXCERPTS
06
AUTHOR BIO
Adam Ashforth is visiting associate professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Note to the Reader1. Where's Madumo?2. Madumo's Curse3. In the City4. Breakfast Stories5. Diagnosis6. Talking of Witches7. The Healer and His Craft8. A Deluge of Witchcraft9. The Healing Begins10. Of Witches and Their Craft11. A Witch's Brew?12. Church13. Madumo's Advice to the Lovelorn14. Isidliso Nights15. Diagnoses, Doubts, and Despair16. Back to Square One17. Interview with the Ancestors18. The Homecoming19. A Feast for the Ancestors?20. Departures and Beginnings
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0226029727
ISBN(13-digit): 9780226029726
Dewey Decimal: 299.613
Library of Congress: oc2007118531
Book Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 255
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