Marseille 2007
| Abstract #502 - Witchcraft in the era of AIDS: an ethnographic study in the South African lowveld | ||||
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Session: 28.5: Religion and traditional practices (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 11.00-12.30 in 5 Chaired by Veronica Noseda, Herve Richaud Authors: Presenting Author: Mr Jonathan Stadler - Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit, South Africa |
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| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: Faced with rising morbidity and mortality due to AIDS, South Africans experience high levels of emotional and spiritual insecurity that in some contexts surface as suspicions of witchcraft. Although witches are believed to be incapable of sending AIDS, witchcraft is frequently invoked in narratives of AIDS illness and death. An exploration into the relationship between beliefs in witchcraft and AIDS is critical in order to understand its influence on prevention and treatment. The central aim of the paper is to explore how and why the witchcraft idiom features so strongly in narratives of AIDS and how beliefs in witchcraft have responded to the AIDS epidemic. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted between 2002 and 2005 in a rural settlement in the South African lowveld. Interviews and participant observation were used to collect cases of community-identified AIDS deaths and accounts of witchcraft accusations and beliefs. These cases were discussed with key informants. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Sixty five cases of suspected AIDS death were recorded of which witchcraft was mentioned in almost one third. These cases shared certain similarities: (1) The victim was in most cases relatively affluent or successful; (2) the suspicion of witchcraft was voiced by close kin but not supported publicly; (3) afflictions were defined as pseudo AIDS that mimicked real AIDS. The emergent discourses of AIDS and witchcraft shared common concerns with excessive secrecy and illicit desire. | ||||
| Discussion: The evocation of witchcraft in cases of AIDS death is sometimes rationalized as AIDS denial, or regarded as a traditional belief, incompatible with public health interventions. This paper argues that witchcraft and AIDS are discrete but metaphorically analogous afflictions. The discussion highlights the importance of seeing witchcraft beliefs as dynamic and responsive to new social crises, and cautions against attempt to re-educate against the witchcraft beliefs. | ||||
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