The Law of the Lifegivers: The Domestication of Desire

291 Pages·2016·37.824 MB·English

by  Rene Devisch and Claude Brodeur

The Law of
the Lifegivers

The Law of
the Lifegivers
THE D O M E S T I C A T I O N OF DESI RE
Rene Devisch and Claude Brodeur
First published 1999 by
Harwood academic publishers
This edition published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 1999 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association) N.V. Published by
license under the Harwood Academic Publishers imprint, part of The Gordon
and Breach Publishing Group.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 13: 978-9-057-02422-1 (hbk)
Cover plate:
Mbwoolu cult statuary, of Chief N-tulumba (photograph by R. Devisch,
N-tulumba village, July 1974)
FOR CLEMENCE AND MARIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Photographs by Rene Devisch ix
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Maps xxi
Part One ITINERARY AND METHODS
Chapter 1 From anthropology to psychoanalysis 3
R. Devisch
Chapter 2 From psychoanalysis to anthropology 21
C. Brodeur
Exchange and confrontation 44
Letter 1 from C. Brodeur
Part Two THE YAKA: PRINCIPAL FIGURES
Introduction The Yaka 49
R. Devisch
Chapter 1 Sorcery and fetish 57
R. Devisch
The sorcerer 89
Letter 2 from C. Brodeur
Chapter 2 Divination: The birth of uterine discourse 93
R. Devisch
The diviner 117
Letters 3 and 4 from C. Brodeur
THE LAW OF THE LIFEGIVERS VII
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 3 The therapist: Healing the affects by remodeling
the body 125
R. Devisch
The therapist 154
Letter 5 from C. Brodeur
Chapter 4 The paramount chief: The introduction of the
order of ethical law 167
ft Devisch
The chief 195
Letter 6 from C. Brodeur
Chapter 5 Death and the dialectic of limits 203
ft Devisch
Life and death 222
Letter 7 from C. Brodeur
Chapter 6 Four figures of the Yaka unconscious 229
ft Devisch
A brief synthesis 229
Letter 8 from C. Brodeur
Body and discourse 231
Letter 1 from ft Devisch
Part Three INTERSECTIONS 245
C. Brodeur and ft Devisch
References 257
Index 263
viii THE LAW OF THE LIFEGIVERS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RENE DEVISCH
Plate 1 Khosi cult figurine
Owner: Mr Ibaanda, Malaatu village (March 1974) 55
Plate 2 Binwaanunu, ritual weapons for defence and attack
Owner: Kha Ntiki, Yibeengala village (September 1974) 72
Plate 3-4 Mediumnic diviner Lusuungu
Yibeengala village (July 1974) 95
Plate 5 Mediumnic diviner Tseembu, and consultant
Yiheeti village (May 1991) 96
Plate 6 Mediumnic diviner N-luma
Kinshasa-Masina (May 1990) 96
Plate 7 Ndzaamba ngoombu bag of the diviner, containing the
pieces of cloth (yiteendi) which have been in contact
with the client’s body
Owner: Maa Kyuulu, Luka Suburb of Kinshasa
(September 1990) 106
Plate 8 Enthronement of diviner Kyuulu
Yikwaati village, N-saka chiefdom (September 1991) 106
Plate 9 Mbwoolu cult statuary
Owner: Chief Phaani, N-tulumba village (July 1974) 143
Plate 10 Khita healer Kha N-noongu
Kinshasa-Masina (September 1990) 146
Plate 11 Chief Bundzidi, in his sacred enclosure of paramountcy
(ndzo malala), sitting on a leopard skin in Yibwaati
village (September 1974) 186
Plate 12 Subregional chief, Taanda N-noongu, during investiture,
Yitaanda village (November 1973) 194
THE LAW OF THE LIFECIVERS ix