Spirit Children - Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana (Paperback)

Some babies and toddlers in parts of West Africa are considered spirit children-nonhumans sent from the forest to cause misfortune and destroy the family. These are usually deformed or ailing infants, or children whose births coincide with tragic events or who display unusual abilities. Aaron R. Denham offers a nuanced ethnographic study of this phenomenon in Northern Ghana that examines both the motivations of the families and the structural factors that lead to infanticide. He also turns the lens on the prevailing misunderstandings about this controversial practice. Denham offers vivid accounts of families' life-and-death decisions that engage the complexity of the context, local meanings, and moral worlds of those confronting a spirit child.

General

Imprint:	University of Wisconsin Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Africa and the Diaspora: History, Politics, Culture
Release date:	July 2019
Authors:	Aaron R. Denham
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 12mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	216
ISBN-13:	978-0-299-31124-7
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Ethnic studies > Black studies
LSN:	0-299-31124-4
Barcode:	9780299311247

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