bitimkongwe
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 21, 2009
- 7,794
- 7,551
Hii hapa summary ya paper ya Martin Walsh kuhusu popobawa:
M. Walsh. Journal of Humanities (JH), Volume 1(1) 2009, 23-33
© JH, The University of Dodoma ISSN 1821-7079 23
The Politicisation of Popobawa: Changing Explanations of a Collective Panic in Zanzibar
Martin Walsh mtw30@cam.ac.uk University of Cambridge
Abstract
One of the most remarkable features of recent Zanzibar history has been the occurrence of periodic episodes of collective panic associated with fear of a spiritual entity called Popobawa. The first and most widespread of the modern panics took place in 1995, spreading from Pemba to Unguja and across to the mainland coast. This was in the months before Tanzania’s first multiparty elections, and many Zanzibaris, in particular opponents of the ruling party, settled on a political reading of Popobawa’s rude intrusion into their lives. Subsequent panics have been similarly interpreted, and external observers have also been influenced by these politicised understandings of Popobawa. This paper examines the development of the 1995 panic, and shows that different local explanations for the crisis were put forward before the political interpretation came to the fore. But there is also evidence to suggest that political history and collective memory have played an important part in shaping the content of Popobawa narratives, and the paper concludes by highlighting this
M. Walsh. Journal of Humanities (JH), Volume 1(1) 2009, 23-33
© JH, The University of Dodoma ISSN 1821-7079 23
The Politicisation of Popobawa: Changing Explanations of a Collective Panic in Zanzibar
Martin Walsh mtw30@cam.ac.uk University of Cambridge
Abstract
One of the most remarkable features of recent Zanzibar history has been the occurrence of periodic episodes of collective panic associated with fear of a spiritual entity called Popobawa. The first and most widespread of the modern panics took place in 1995, spreading from Pemba to Unguja and across to the mainland coast. This was in the months before Tanzania’s first multiparty elections, and many Zanzibaris, in particular opponents of the ruling party, settled on a political reading of Popobawa’s rude intrusion into their lives. Subsequent panics have been similarly interpreted, and external observers have also been influenced by these politicised understandings of Popobawa. This paper examines the development of the 1995 panic, and shows that different local explanations for the crisis were put forward before the political interpretation came to the fore. But there is also evidence to suggest that political history and collective memory have played an important part in shaping the content of Popobawa narratives, and the paper concludes by highlighting this