Research Catalog

Title

The modern sovereign : the body of power in Central Africa (Congo and Gabon) / Joseph Tonda ; translated by Chris Turner.

Author

Tonda, Joseph

Publication

• London ; New York : Seagull Books, 2021.
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Turner, Chris, 1953-

Description

370 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

"The 'Modern Sovereign,' a notion indebted both to Hobbes's Leviathan and Marx's conception of capital, refers to the power that governed the African multitudes from the earliest colonial days to the post-colonial era. It is an internalized power, responsible for the multiform violence exerted on bodies and imaginations. Joseph Tonda contends that in Central Africa--and particularly in Gabon and the Congo--the body is at the heart of political, religious, sexual, economic, and ritual power. This, he argues, is confirmed by the strong link between corporeal and political matters, and by the ostentatious display of bodies in African life. The body of power asserts itself as both matter and spirit, and it incorporates the seductive force of money, commodities, sex, and knowledge. Tonda's incisive analysis reveals how this sovereign power is a social relation, historically constituted by the violence of the African cultural Imaginary and the realities of State, Market, and Church. It is to be understood, he asserts, through a generalized theory economic, political, and religious fetishism. By introducing this crucial critical voice from contemporary Africa into the English language, The Modern Sovereign makes a significant contribution to field of anthropology, political science, and African studies."--

Series Statement

The Africa list

Uniform Title

• Souverain moderne. English
• Africa list (Seagull Books)

Alternative Title

Souverain moderne.

Subject

• Religion > Social aspects > Africa, Central
• Religion > Social aspects > Congo (Brazzaville)
• Religion > Social aspects > Gabon
• Christianity > Africa, Central
• Superstition > Social aspects
• Spirit possession > Africa, Central
• Religion and social problems
• Magic
• Fetishism
• Spirit possession
• Christianity
• Religion > Social aspects
• Central Africa
• Congo (Brazzaville)
• Gabon

Note

• "Originally published as Joseph Tonda, Le Souverain moderne © Éditions Karthala, 2005"--Title page verso.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 346-370).

Language (note)

• Translated from the French.

Contents

Introduction: Violence of the imaginary, violence of fetishism: the principle of the modern sovereign -- Part one: Epistemologies of the body and things of the modern sovereign -- Torments, charms and troubles of the modern sovereign -- Kalaka, Otangani, Bula Matari: the scriptuary order, spaces and agents of the modern sovereign -- Misunderstanding over the value of the body of God -- Part two: consumption / Consumption: The political principle of the modern sovereign -- Ghosts and political machines -- consumption / Consumption of the sex-body and the hegemony of the modern sovereign -- Tormented ethnic bodies -- Conclusion.

Call Number

Sc E 22-114

ISBN

• 9780857426888
• 0857426885

OCLC

1144760014

Author

Tonda, Joseph, author.

Title

The modern sovereign : the body of power in Central Africa (Congo and Gabon) / Joseph Tonda ; translated by Chris Turner.

Publisher

London ; New York : Seagull Books, 2021.

Copyright Date

©2021

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

The Africa list

Africa list (Seagull Books)

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 346-370).

Language

Translated from the French.

Local Subject

Black author.

Added Author

Turner, Chris, 1953- translator.

Research Call Number

Sc E 22-114