| ID | 161626 |
| Title Proper | Of Polluted Spirits and Compromised Identity |
| Other Title Information | Pentecostal Depictions of Causality and the Repositioning of Human Agency in Cameroon |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Tazanu, Primus M |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Thanks to the mass media, specifically television, Pentecostal discourses involving polluted human spirits and defective human agency are captured and disseminated in audio-visual form in Cameroon. These representations are about evil spirits residing in, as well as corrupting, the personality of innocent individuals. Victims of evil spirits are portrayed as colonized vessels incapable of exercising agency without the intervention of an all-powerful pastor. In this article, I expose the ways in which these representations of malevolent forces – that are strongly connected to aspects of African non-church religious beliefs – influence conversations between viewers, particularly to the extent that they express doubt about whether these forces really do affect people’s agency. The narratives doubting human agency as described in this article draw from Emmanuel TV representations of causality. This is further grounded in Cameroonians’ desire to align their spirits with benevolent forces through the intervention of pastor TB Joshua. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 53, No.6; Sep 2018: p.970-983 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Asian and African Studies 2018-10 53, 6 |
| Key Words | Cameroon ; Human Agency ; Pentecostal Representations ; Polluted Spirits ; Emmanuel TV ; TB Joshua |