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Chapter One. War Of Words: The Narrative Efficacy Of Medicine In The Maji Maji War
Abstract
In this chapter, the author takes the analysis of the role of maji during the war and its aftermath still further. His approach seeks to go beyond an evaluation of the instrumental and symbolic efficacy of the maji medicine, to understand its narrative efficacy in specific historical and geographical settings. The chapter considers the way stories of maji functioned as a set of ideas that came to be mobilized within and among societies in southern Tanzania. Narratives of maji medicine had transformative power for African communities experiencing danger and hardship. For Germans in Africa as well as in Europe stories of medicine influenced ideas and events. The agrarian function of medicine was embraced by those who believed that the war was based on peasant grievances and therefore rational; the stories about bullets turning into water were proof of a witchdoctor conspiracy and a refusal to adapt to the modern world.Keywords: African communities; Maji Maji war; maji medicine; modern world; southern Tanzania
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In the citing paper
“Although there was no discernible Muslim involvement in the Maji Maji insurgency, the quick spread of the ' Mecca letter ' and its accompanying rumours lent it to be read as another ' religious ' uprising attempt.”
From Religion, politics and an apocryphal admonition: the German East African “Mecca letter” of 1908 in historical-critical analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Monson 2010
In the citing paper
“First, the sudden appearance of the letter provoked comparisons with the Maji Maji war of 1905 -06, which had been driven, at least in the German interpretation, by chiefs mobilizing ' traditional religions ' and ' sorcery ' to incite a concerted rebellion (Monson 2010).”
From Religion, politics and an apocryphal admonition: the German East African “Mecca letter” of 1908 in historical-critical analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Monson 2010
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Cited by
Rushohora, N. A. (2015) · Archaeologies · doi:10.1007/s11759-015-9277-8 · Cited by 20
Rotter, A. (2023) · transcript Verlag eBooks · doi:10.14361/9783839466780 · Cited by 7
Theorising the Majimaji – Landscape, Memory and Agency
Rushohora, N. A. (2017) · Journal of African Cultural Heritage Studies · doi:10.22599/jachs.11 · Cited by 6
Haustein, J. (2020) · Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies · doi:10.1017/s0041977x20000026 · Cited by 2
Painting in Turbulent Times: House Wall Art, Culture, and Commentary in Colonial East Africa
Felber-Seligman, Y. (2020) · African Arts · doi:10.1162/afar_a_00528 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Monson, J.
- Affiliations
- Macalester College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Monson, Jamie
- ORCID
- Monson, Jamie
- Venue
- Maji Maji
- Publisher
- BRILL
- Published
- 2010-01-01
- Pages
- 31-69
- OpenAlex
- W898559957
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2023: 12 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- BRILL eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › African history and culture studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › German Colonialism and Identity Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › African Studies and Ethnography
- Keywords
- witchcraft, African traditional medicine, colonial medicine, German colonialism, southern Tanzania, peasant grievances, agrarianism, resistance to modernity
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Chapter One. War Of Words: The Narrative Efficacy Of Medicine In The Maji Maji War. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1163/ej.9789004183421.i-325.11
- The paper
- Monson, J. (2010). Chapter One. War Of Words: The Narrative Efficacy Of Medicine In The Maji Maji War. Maji Maji. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004183421.i-325.11
