On Being Present to History: Historicity and Brigand Spirits in Madagascar

Abstract This article explores the unexpected arrival of new spirits in possession of young spirit mediums at an annual ceremony in Majunga, Madagascar. In it, the author explores the significance of the event for local politics, but also uses it to exemplify a form of historicity distinct from that of Euro-American historicism, with respect to both the structure of historical temporality and the nature of historical truth/knowledge, experience, responsiveness, and action. The article further argues that the action of the spirits or mediums is simultaneously an interpretation of circumstances and that one might think more broadly of historical action as interpretive.