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The Resilience of Juok: Confronting Suffering in Eastern Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Hanne O. Mogensen
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Abstract

‘It all comes down to juok’ is the recurrent answer to enquiries about suffering and misfortune among the Nilotic Jop'Adhola of eastern Uganda. Understanding what it means to ‘believe’ in juok requires a theoretical approach that recognises culture as a battleground between conflicting voices. This article explores the multiple and often contradictory ways to talk about, practise and believe in juok and how the notion of juok intersects with Christianity and biomedicine in ever changing constellations. Juok, it is suggested, can be seen as an image of intersubjective experience that allows the anthropologist insight into ways in which people in Eastern Uganda engage with each other and with the ‘other world’. Juok is one of the things people use when trying to activate events and overcome obstacles in life. As such it reflects the resilience of people confronted with suffering.

Résumé

“C'est le juok” est la réponse récurrente aux questions concernant les souffrances et la malchance chez les Jop'Adholas, peuple nilotique de la région orientale de l'Ouganda. Comprendre ce que signifie “croire” au juok nécessite une approche théorique qui reconnaît la culture comme un terrain de conflit entre des voix contradictoires. Cet article explore les manières multiples et souvent contradictoires de parler du juok, de le pratiquer et d'y croire, et la façon dont la notion de juok, la chrétienté et la biomédecine se croisent dans des constellations en constante évolution. L'article suggère que le juok peut être considéré comme une image d'expérience intersubjective qui permet à l'anthropologue de se faire une idée du mode de comportement des habitants de la région orientale de l'Ouganda vis-à-vis de leurs semblables et vis-à-vis de l'“autre monde”. Le juok est quelque chose que les gens utilisent lorsqu'ils essayent de provoquer des événements et de surmonter des obstacles au cours de leur existence. En tant que tel, il reflète la détermination des personnes confrontées à des souffrances.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , August 2002 , pp. 420 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2002

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