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‘Delivered from the powers of darkness’: confessions of satanic riches in Christian Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Birgit Meyer
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Extract

In Ghana, as well as in other parts of Africa, pentecostal Churches have recently become extremely popular. Within these Churches reference is made frequently to the devil, who is associated with the non-Christian gods and ghosts as well as Western luxury goods. Present Ghanaian popular culture reveals a striking obsession with images of the devil and of evil. By analysing stories told and published in Ghanaian ‘born again’ circles about money received through a contract with the devil or one of his agents, the author attempts to understand (1) what evil is denounced in these movements by means of the devil, and (2) how, with the help of the notion of the devil, ‘born again’ Christians think about poverty and wealth. It is argued that collective fantasies around the devil have to be understood against the background of difficult socio-economic conditions. These stories entail both a critique of the capitalist economy in the name of the pre-capitalist ideal of mutual family assistance (although a much more limited critique than Taussig suggested in his The Devil and Commodity Fetishism) and an opportunity to fantasise about things people cannot afford but nevertheless desire.

Résumé

Au Ghana aussi bien que dans d'autres parties d'Afrique, les églises de la Pentecôte sont récemment devenues extremement populaires. Dans ces églises on fait fréquemment allusion au diable, qui est associe avec les dieux non-chrétiens et les fantômes aussi bien que les marchandises de luxe occidentales. La culture populaire du Ghana à présent révèle une obsession frappante avec les images du diable et du mal. En analysant des histoires racontées et publiées dans les circles ghanéens de ceux qui ‘ont revécu’ concernant de l'argent reçu par le biais d'un contrat avec le diable ou l'un de ses agents, l'auteur s'efforce de comprendre: 1) quel est le mal qui est denonce dans ces mouvements en se servant du diable, et 2) comment, avec l'aide de la notion du diable, les Chrétiens revécus perçoivent la pauvreté et la richesse.

Cet article affirme que les fantaisies collectives autour du diable doivent être comprises dans un contexte où les conditions socio-économiques sont difficiles. Ces histoires entraînent à la fois une critique de l'économie capitaliste au nom d'un idéal pré-capitaliste d'assistance familiale mutuelle (bien que ce soit une critique beaucoup plus limitée que celle que Taussig suggérait dans The Devil and Commodity Fetichism), et l'occasion de fantasme sur des choses que les gens ne peuvent pas se permettre d'avoir mais désirent néanmoins.

Type
Confessions and cults in West Africa
Information
Africa , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , April 1995 , pp. 236 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1995

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