Kupilikula: Governance and the Invisible Realm in Mozambique

by Harry G. West

On the Mueda plateau in northern Mozambique, sorcerers are said to feed on their victims, sometimes "making" lions or transforming into lions to literally devour their flesh. When the ruling FRELIMO party subscribed to socialism, it condemned sorcery beliefs and counter-sorcery practices as false consciousness, but since undertaking neoliberal reform, the party—still in power after three electoral cycles—has "tolerated tradition," leaving villagers to interpret and engage with events in the idiom of sorcery. Now, when the lions prowl plateau villages ,suspected sorcerers are often lynched.

In this historical ethnography of sorcery, Harry G. West draws on a decade of fieldwork and combines the perspectives of anthropology and political science to reveal how Muedans expect responsible authorities to monitor the invisible realm of sorcery and to overturn or, as Muedans call it, "kupilikula" sorcerers' destructive attacks by practicing a constructive form of counter-sorcery themselves. Kupilikula argues that, where neoliberal policies have fostered social division rather than security and prosperity, Muedans have, in fact, used sorcery discourse to assess and sometimes overturn reforms, advancing alternative visions of a world transformed.

Genres: Mozambique, Africa

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2005

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book intending to read only the first few chapters, but I ended up finishing it and loving every word. Although some ethnographies can be dull, this book has a strange and very well-told story in it--West's own evolution of thought as he got deeper into the culture and history of the Makonde people of northern Mozambique. It is also one of the most detailed descriptions of the practice of African witchcraft that I've ever read. West goes far beyond the witchcraft itself, though, and explains how witchcraft fits into Makonde society, culture and governance, to open a new window on the role of healers, diviners and sorcerers in the community. A central theme is "kupilikula", the act of causing a magic spell to bounce back at the sorcerer who cast it. West finds many applicable metaphors for this in Makonde society. He introduces us to his Mozambican assistants and to many of his Makonde informants, who become living characters in his story. He also does a brilliant job of describing the complex history of Mozambique and of Cabo Delgado Province, which I visited in 1993, a few years before West began his fieldwork there. Altogether a fascinating and very enjoyable read, not soon forgotten.

[Tim Cowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by this book. It's not common to have an anthropologist's summary of his work and experience, this focused on the Mueda plateau in the far northeastern province of Cabo Delgado, to be so interesting to read. Truly a master of words and storytelling and especially for me a fascinating insight into the invisible realm, jealousy, witchcraft and the convergence of all of the above as it relates to the historical past in Mozambique (the independence movement to present-day Frelimo control and ideological evolutions).

While not a look at the Yawo culture in which I live, this proximate study is spot-on in my estimation of what the Yawo in the Niassa province of Mozambique also would believe and practice. I found dozens of questions and angles to use in my own research as I begin to look at the invisible realm as it relates to physical healing.

Highly recommended for those who have some experience already living in these contexts.