Madumo

by Ashforth, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780226029719
• ISBN10: 0226029719
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

No one answered when I tapped at the back door of Madumo's home on Mphahlele Street a few days after my return to Soweto, so I pushed the buckling red door in a screeching grind of metal over concrete and entered calling, "Hallo?" So begins this true story of witchcraft and friendship set against the turbulent backdrop of contemporary Soweto. Adam Ashforth, an Australian who has spent many years in the black township, finds his longtime friend Madumo in dire circumstances: his family has accused him of using witchcraft to kill his mother and has thrown him out on the street. Convinced that his life is cursed, Madumo seeks help among Soweto's bewildering array of healers and prophets. Aninyanga,or traditional healer, confirms that he has indeed been bewitched. With Ashforth by his side, skeptical yet supportive, Madumo embarks upon a physically grueling treatment regimen that he follows religiously-almost to the point of death-despite his suspicion that it may be better to "Westernize my mind and not think about witchcraft." Ashforth's beautifully written, at times poignant account of Madumo's struggle shows that the problem of witchcraft is not simply superstition, but a complex response to spiritual insecurity in a troubling time of political and economic upheaval. Post-apartheid Soweto, he discovers, is suffering from a deluge of witchcraft. Through Madumo's story, Ashforth opens up a world that few have seen, a deeply unsettling place where the question "Do you believe in witchcraft?" is not a simple one at all. The insights that emerge as Ashforth accompanies his friend on an odyssey through Soweto's supernatural perils have profound implications even for those of us who live in worlds without witches.

Author Biography

Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader	vii
Where's Madumo?	1	(11)
Madumo's Curse	12	(16)
In the City	28	(12)
Breakfast Stories	40	(15)
Diagnosis	55	(15)
Talking of Witches	70	(15)
The Healer and His Craft	85	(12)
A Deluge of Witchcraft	97	(11)
The Healing Begins	108	(13)
Of Witches and Their Craft	121	(13)
A Witch's Brew?	134	(10)
Church	144	(13)
Madumo's Advice to the Lovelorn	157	(9)
Isidliso Nights	166	(17)
Diagnoses, Doubts, and Despair	183	(12)
Back to Square One	195	(9)
Interview with the Ancestors	204	(7)
The Homecoming	211	(14)
A Feast for the Ancestors?	225	(16)
Departures and Beginnings	241