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Rethinking Ancestors and Colonial Power in Madagascar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Jennifer Cole  and
Karen Middleton
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Abstract

This article reconsiders the relationship between ancestors and colonial power through a comparative analysis of the mortuary rituals of two Malagasy peoples, the Betsimisaraka of the east coast and the Karembola of the deep south. In contrast to analyses which emphasise an opposition between ancestors and colonial power, it argues that mortuary rituals construct striking analogies between the two. These analogies rest on similar conceptualisations of power as both enabling and enslaving, and are enacted in contemporary mortuary ritual through the incorporation of colonial goods and labour practices. By playing on similarities and differences between ancestral and colonial power, Betsimisaraka and Karembola mortuary rituals parody and critique mimetically appropriate colonial power, even as their appropriation of colonial symbols endows ritual practices around ancestors with the power to pull against the centralising power of the national sphere. Bakhtin's conception of heteroglossic language provides a useful way of conceptualising the multiple dimensions of ritual practices around ancestors.

Résumé

Cet article réexamine le rapport entre ancêtres et pouvoir colonial à travers une analyse comparative des rites mortuaires de deux peuples malgaches, les Betsimisaraka de la côte est et les Karembola de l'extrême sud. Par contraste avec les analyses qui soulignent une opposition entre les ancêtres et le pouvoir colonial, cette analyse suggère que les rites mortuaires révèlent des analogies frappantes entre les deux. Ces analogies reposent sur des conceptualisations similaires du pouvoir, à la fois libérateur et asservissant, et se traduisent dans le rituel mortuaire contemporain par l'incorporation de biens coloniaux et de pratiques du travail. En jouant sur les similarités et les différences entre pouvoir ancestral et colonial, les rites mortuaires betsimisaraka et karembola s'approprient le pouvoir colonial, alors même que leur appropriation de symboles coloniaux procure aux pratiques rituelles autour des ancêtres le pouvoir de résister à la force centralisatrice du milieu national. La conception de Bakhtin de la langue hétéroglossique offre une manière utile de conceptualiser les dimensions multiples des pratiques rituelles autour des ancêtres.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 1 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2001

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