African Witchcraft and Otherness

A Philosophical and Theological Critique of Intersubjective Relations

Elias Kifon Bongmba

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780791490501
• Topic: Sozialwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Kultur- & Sozialanthropologie

This work of African philosophy and theology uses the thought of Emmanuel Levinas to provide an analysis of tfu (witchcraft) among the Wimbum people of Cameroon along with a critique of intersubjective relations. Taking an approach he calls "critical contextualism, " author Elias Bongmba employs Levinas's philosophy, particularly the concept of the Other, to engage in cross-cultural philosophy that does not destroy the perspective of the culture under study. Insights from anthropology, African studies, and the author's own experiences are also important throughout the book. Bongmba discusses the cultural background of the Wimbum people and explores the concepts and terms used to discuss the acquisition of several categories of power generally described as tfu. Bongmba argues that when properly explored and understood, these terms refer to complex practices that involve power that can be used for good and power that can be abused. Drawing from Levinas, the author demonstrates that negative use of tfu constitutes a totalizing praxis. He goes on to endorse Levinas's call for a phenomenology of eros as a way of reconfiguring interpersonal relationships.

Table of contents

• African Witchcraft and Otherness
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Maps
• Preface
• 1. The Wimbum People
• 2. Toward a Hermeneutics of Wimbum Tfu
• 3. Beyond the Rationality Debate to Contextual Ethics
• 4. Levinas on the Ethics of the Other
• 5. Toward a Philosophical and Theological Critique of Tfu
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Appendix: Different Levels of Tfu Knowledge
• Glossary
• Selected Bibliography
• Name Index
• Subject Index