Kings of Disaster
Dualism, Centralism and the Scapegoat King in Southeastern Sudan
Published on 1. March 1992
Book
Paperback/Softback
478 pages
978-90-04-09560-1 (ISBN)
Description
This study of the rainmakers of the Nilotic Sudan means a breakthrough in anthropological thinking on African political systems. Taking his inspiration from Rene Girard's theory of consensual scapegoating the author shows that the long standing distinction of states and stateless societies as two fundamentally different political types does not hold. Centralized and segmentary systems only differ in the relative emphasis put on the victimary role of the king as compared with that of enemy victims. Kings of Disaster so proposes an uninvolved solution to the vexed problem of regicide. Recent cases occurring during the great drought of the mid-1980's are discribed and analyzed.
Making simultaneous use of first-hand field data and archival sources, the book offers the first presentation of five Nilotic communities on the East Bank of the Nile. This study offers a new perspective on the role of violence in the structuring of society.
Making simultaneous use of first-hand field data and archival sources, the book offers the first presentation of five Nilotic communities on the East Bank of the Nile. This study offers a new perspective on the role of violence in the structuring of society.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
Fig., Frontispiz, Ktn
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
769 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-09560-1 (9789004095601)
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Simon Simonse studied in Leiden and Paris, and worked as a lecturer of Anthropology in Zaire, Uganda, the Southern Sudan (where the material for this book was collected), and in Holland. He is presently working as an advisor for social research in the Sriwijaya University, Palembang, Indonesia.
Content
Introduction
PART ONE: THE PROBLEM AND THE SETTING
1. The sacred, consensus and power
2. Ethnological connections between the Nile and the Kidepo
3. Modes of subsistence and social organizations
4. The passing of the glamour: the Bari
5. The twin kingdoms: the Lotuho
6. The bugbear of the administration: the Pari, lokoya and Lulubo
PART TWO: DUALISM
7. Territorial dualism
8. The dualist structure of the age-class organization
PART THREE: CENTRALISM, OR THE KING AS AGGRESSOR AGAINST THE PEOPLE
9. The king as enemy of his people
10. The king as unifier of the people
11. 11 Tipping the balance of power to the king
12. Boundaries in the sky: the territorial dimension of kingship
13. The fingers of god: the cosmological dimension of kingship
14. Rain queens and rainstones as symbols of the Centre
15. The spear and the bead: the divisiveness of kingship
PART FOUR: THE SCAPEGOAT KING, OR THE PEOPLE AS AGGRESSOR AGAINST THE KING
16. The king as victim in suspense
17. The king as victim
18. Catching life in the spell of death
19. The metabolism of violence and order
Conclusion
Bibliography
Linguistic Chart
Index
Maps
PART ONE: THE PROBLEM AND THE SETTING
1. The sacred, consensus and power
2. Ethnological connections between the Nile and the Kidepo
3. Modes of subsistence and social organizations
4. The passing of the glamour: the Bari
5. The twin kingdoms: the Lotuho
6. The bugbear of the administration: the Pari, lokoya and Lulubo
PART TWO: DUALISM
7. Territorial dualism
8. The dualist structure of the age-class organization
PART THREE: CENTRALISM, OR THE KING AS AGGRESSOR AGAINST THE PEOPLE
9. The king as enemy of his people
10. The king as unifier of the people
11. 11 Tipping the balance of power to the king
12. Boundaries in the sky: the territorial dimension of kingship
13. The fingers of god: the cosmological dimension of kingship
14. Rain queens and rainstones as symbols of the Centre
15. The spear and the bead: the divisiveness of kingship
PART FOUR: THE SCAPEGOAT KING, OR THE PEOPLE AS AGGRESSOR AGAINST THE KING
16. The king as victim in suspense
17. The king as victim
18. Catching life in the spell of death
19. The metabolism of violence and order
Conclusion
Bibliography
Linguistic Chart
Index
Maps