African Studies of Witchcraft

Scholars are now more interested in exploring the moral and ethical questions that witchcraft presents. Elias Bongmba is also attentive to the ways that witchcraft discourse contributes to problems within African societies. Bongmba, himself from Wimbum society, uses his experience as well as fieldwork. Drawing on notions of intersubjectivity from philosophy, he examines notions of tfu, used by Wimbum in Cameroon. He shows that it is part of a discourse of power that includes both helpful and harmful aspects, and concludes that it gives people an opportunity to engage in face-to-face encounters. In a similar way, Ciekawy examines Mijikenda interpretations of the magical practice of utsai. She argues that it is a way for people to conceptualize inequality and the exploitation of one human being by another, which makes it particularly useful for comprehending the world and considering the ethical choices available to human beings.