The Sorcerer's Burden
Subtitle: The Ethnographic Saga of a Global Family
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: Sep 26, 2016
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 209
ISBN-13: 9783319318042
Description: This book emerges from the author's 35 years of research and thought about the Songhay people of Niger. This ethnographic novel follows the life of Omar Dia, the oldest son of a West African sorcerer. When his father falls ill and dies, the great sorcerer vomits a small metal chain onto his chest. Following the path of his ancestors, Omar swallows the chain, becoming his father's successor, which means that he takes on the sorcerer's burden. The book also describes how custodians of traditional knowledge are creatively adapting to the forces of globalization, all in a highly accessible narrative text.
Notes: Source title: The Sorcerer's Burden: The Ethnographic Saga of a Global Family (Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology)