Skip to main content

In Sorcery’s Shadow

A Memoir of Apprenticeship among the Songhay of Niger

The tale of Paul Stoller’s sojourn among sorcerors in the Republic of Niger is a story of growth and change, of mutual respect and understanding that will challenge all who read it to plunge deeply into an alien world.

252 pages | 13 halftones, 2 maps | 6 x 9 | © 1987

African Studies

Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology

Table of Contents

Prologue
Acknowledgments
Personae
I. 1976-77
1. Mehanna
2. A Lesson in Survey Research
3. Discussion Groups
4. Guided Interpretations
5. Two Birds in the Rafters Are Better Than One in the Bush
6. Sorko Djibo
7. An Apprentice’s First Mission
8. Immersed in Texts
9. Wanzerbe
10. Initiation
11. Witches
12. A Tonic for Work
13. Between Sound and the Shadow
14. Tillaberi
15. The Young Sohanci
16. Asking Questions
17. Prison Years
18. The Coming of Serci
19. Words of Protection
20. On the Road
21. Vengeance for the Powerful
II. 1979-80
22. Frightening Discoveries
23. Evidence of Power
24. Repelled by the Cold in Ayoru
25. An Interpretation
26. The Path to Wanzerbe
27. A Test of Hardness
III. 1981
28. Rites of Clairvoyance
29. Sohanci Business
30. Journey Under the River
31. Amadu Zima
32. An Invitation from Kassey
IV. 1982-83
33. A Father and His Son
34. Fatouma
35. Kassey
V. 1984
36. Power in the Compound
37. A Lecture on Medicine
38. Mehanna Revisited
39. The Way of the Cowry
40. Showdown with Djibo
41. Last Stand in Wanzerbe
Epilogue: In Sorcery’s Shadow
Glossary

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press