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From Wisdom to Witchcraft: Ambivalence Towards Old Age in Rural Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Sjaak van der Geest
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Abstract

This article presents fragments of conversation with elderly and younger people in the rural town of Kwahu Tafo. The statements of the various speakers are often contradictory. The borders between respect and hatred, admiration and envy, affection and fear prove porous. The article is an attempt to understand the changing sentiments of the young towards the old, and vice versa. Elders pronounce both blessings and curses. Their spiritual power is sometimes appreciated as wisdom, the fruit of lifelong experience. At other times that spiritual power is denounced as witchcraft. Theologically these statements sound confusing and contradictory. From a sociological point of view, however, they make sense. They express the basic ambivalence of young people towards the old. On one hand there is respect, a cultural code which is almost ‘natural’: one regards with awe and admiration what came before. On the other, old people engender resentment because of their overbearing attitude and their refusal to ‘go’. The fact that young people die while old people remain alive is a reversal of the natural order and reeks of witchcraft.

Résumé

Cet article présente des bribes de conversation avec des personnes âgées et des jeunes dans la ville rurale de Kwahu Tafo. Les propos des divers intervenants sont souvent contradictoires. La limite entre respect et haine, admiration et envie, affection et peur s'avère perméable. L'article tente de comprendre 1'évolution des sentiments des jeunes à l'égard des vieux, et vice versa. Les anciens prononcent à la fois des bénédictions et des malédictions. Leur force spirituelle est parfois reconnue comme de la sagesse, le fruit de l'expérience de toute une vie. A d'autres moments, cette force spirituelle est dénoncée comme de la sorcellerie. Sur un plan théologique, ces propos semblent déroutants et contradictoires. D'un point de vue sociologique, cependant, ils ont un sens. Ils expriment l'ambivalence fondamentale des jeunes vis-à-vis des vieux. D'un côté, il y a du respect, un code culturel presque “naturel”: on considère avec respect et admiration ce qui nous a précédé. De l'autre côté, les personnes âgées engendrent du ressentiment en raison de leur attitude dominatrice et leur refus de “partir”. Le fait que des jeunes meurent alors que des personnes âgées restent en vie est un renversement de l'ordre naturel qui exhale la sorcellerie.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , August 2002 , pp. 437 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2002

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