On Sorcery

Abstract

The question of sorcery is less whether it is rational or “real” than how people live with the concept. The paper draws from the author’s mistakes in attempting to resolve a conflict over sorcery accusations among a group of siblings in Mayotte (Western Indian Ocean) in order to illuminate ethical dimensions of living with sorcery and also of studying it. The chapter presents a picture of some of the vulnerabilities and insights that life with sorcery can offer and distinguish the concept in the life of inhabitants of Mayotte from the concept in the life of anthropologists (the language game of anthropology). The distinction is not equivalent to emic and etic or token to type.