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Wayward Pastoral Ghosts and Regional Xenophobia in a Northern Madagascar Town

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Lesley A. Sharp
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Abstract

In the plantation region of the Sambirano Valley in north-west Madagascar the spirits of wandering foreign dead haunt the region's forests. They are the displaced ghosts of migratory Antandroy, drawn here in search of employment. As pastoralists from the island's distant, arid south, Antandroy as an ethnic category are juxtaposed to self-perceptions voiced by indigenous Sakalava, whose kingdom coincides with this Valley. Tandroy difference is defined in reference to local constructions of savageness and strangeness: as pastoralists they are obsessed with herds; they migrate; they willingly participate in wage labour. In life, they are tolerated ‘guests’ of the region but in death they frustrate Sakalava with their persistent presence. Unlike any other migrant group, deceased Antandroy may continue to haunt the region, begging and stealing what is not rightfully theirs: food, wives, work, and fortune. Close analysis of these perplexing spirits reveals a localised ambivalence that characterises migrant identity and the meaning of work in an urban community shaped by the forces of multiculturalism and capitalism. By virtue of their persistent presence within the social and sacred geography of the Valley, the Tandroy dead threaten the integrity of Sakalava identity in a community (and nation) where indigenousness is defined by rootedness to the land. Central to the arguments presented here is the potency of the spiritual stranger, a social category that extends the anthropological analysis of religious appropriation beyond the boundaries of possession and embodiment. Further, the decipherment of complex meanings associated with alien spirits emerges ultimately as key to more general understandings of the symbolics of difference.

Résumé

Dans la vallée de Sambirano, région de plantations située au nord-ouest de Madagascar, des esprits de morts errants étrangers hantent les forêts. Ce sont les fantômes déplacés d'Antandroy migrants, venus en ces lieux à la recherche d'un emploi. Comme pasteurs de l'extrême sud aride de l'île, les Antandroy sont juxtaposés, en tant que catégorie ethnique, à la perception qu'ont d'eux-mêmes les Sakalava autochtones dont le royaume coïncide avec la vallée. La spécificité des Tandroy se définit par rapport aux interprétations locales du sauvage et de l'étranger: en tant que pasteurs, ils sont obsédés par le troupeaux; ils migrent; ils participent de plein gré au travail salarié. Dans la vie ce sont des «hôtes» tolérés de la région, mais dans la mort ils frustrent les Sakalava par leur présence persistante. Contrairement aux autres groupes de migrants, il arrive que les Antandroy décédés continuent de hanter la région, mendiant et volant ce qui ne leur appartient pas : nourriture, femmes, travail et fortune. Une analyse approfondie de ces esprits curieux révèle une ambivalence localisée qui caractérise l'identité du migrant et la signification du travail dans une communauté urbaine influencée par les forces du multiculturalisme et du capitalisme. Par leur présence persistante dans le paysage social et sacré de la vallée, les Tandroy morts menacent l'intégrité de l'identité des Sakalava dans une communauté de la vallée, les Tandroy morts menacent l'intégrité de l'identité des Sakalava dans une communauté (et nation) où l'autochtonité est définie par l'attachement à la terre. Au cœur des propos se trouve la puissance de l'étranger spirituel, catégorie sociale qui étend l'analyse anthropologique de l'appropriation religieuse au-delà des limites de la possession et de l'incarnation. De plus, le déchiffrement des significations complexes associées aux esprits étrangers finit par apparaître comme la clé permettant de mieux comprendre de manière générale la symbolique de la différence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 38 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2001

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