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The making of men:1 the relevance of vernacular psychology to the interpretation of a Gisu ritual

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Suzette Heald
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Extract

In 1909 the Rev. J. B. Purvis wrote of the Gisu people of Eastern Uganda that they ‘distinguish themselves as a race apart from others by the name Basani, i.e., men, whilst all men of uncircumcised nations are called Basinde, i.e., boys’ (Purvis, 1909: 271). In modern Uganda the idea of the Gisu as a nation of circumcised men remains as strong as ever. The biennial circumcision ceremonies act both as a focus for such sentiment and as a dramatic display of its power. From the blowing of horns which ushers in the circumcision year to the final aggregation ceremonies during the following December the entire ritual cycle takes about a year. The actual operations are performed in August, in strict order of clan precedence, with the clan where the practice is believed to have originated cutting their boys first. The day after, the circumcisors move to the next clan territory and so on throughout Bugisu. At their height it would be no exaggeration to claim that the festivities involve the entire population of the District– some 500,000 people– from the young children carried along with the circumcision dancing parties to the elderly who are visited as relatives of the novices, approached for guidance on ritual matters or who act as spectators. At the centre are the novices, with the ordeal of circumcision acting not only to validate their own claim to status as adult men but also to demonstrate the values of the entire community.

Résumé

L'arrivee a l'age d'homme: le rapport de la psychologie vernaculaire avec rinterpretation d'un rite gisu

Dans cet article on affirme qu'il n'est pas possible d'expliquer la nature de la circoncision gisu en tant que symbole culturel focal simplement en considérant sa signification politico-juridique ou en no tant comment des rôles et des relations sont transfigurés dans les rites. Au lieu de cela on soutient qu'il faut aborder la question d'une autre façon prenant davantage au sérieux raffirmation que les rites de passage transforment activement l'individu. Cela nécessite qu'on concentre l'observation sur ce qu'on pourrait appeler la psychologie ‘vernaculaire’ des rites, remarquant que c'est celle-ci qui dicte l'ordre naturel des opérations rituelles et qui se trouve exprimee en termes positifs dans le symbolisme.

Le caractère distinctif des rites de circoncision gisu peut être attribué au fait qu'on y appuie sur deux aspects, sur la volition et sur le lirima (émotion violente). Tout le temps on voit le garçon se soumettre volontairement à l'épreuve et cette résolution est liee a la croissance de lirima dans son coeur. Ce qui est d'un point de vue une prèparation du gaçon a l'épreuve est d'un autre point de vue le point culminant de celle-ci. L'engendrement de lirima semble done être non seulement une technique des opérations rituelles qui aide le garcon à supporter courageusement l'épreuve mais aussi le but des rites de le changer en homme qui aura par la suite la capacité d'éprouver le lirima. Par conséquent l'âge adulte est vraiment forge et créé dans les rites qui changent l'individu d'un gargon sans la capacite d'éprouver le lirima en homme qui a cette capacité et tout ce qu'elle comporte.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , January 1982 , pp. 15 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1982

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