Paper short abstract:

The paper explores what happens when people in South Western Madagascar are possessed by Catholic spirits.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I will explore what happens when people in South Western Madagascar are possessed by Catholic spirits. I will follow the specific case of a young girl who, to be in contact with her (Catholic) spirit, closely follows Catholic liturgy and adopts Christian symbolisms. By drawing on this case, I will discuss the ontological grounding of spirit possession among the coastal populations of South Western Madagascar, its intersections with Catholic rites and metaphorisms, and also the (colonial) strategy by the Catholic Church to embrace and resemanticise in their terms various forms of indigenous cult to grow their "flock". The ethnographic exploration leads to a reflection on the conceptual framework of "syncretism", in particular the idea initially by Roger Bastide I believe, of resilient forms - deep structures, cultural frames, rhythms, even value systems - that are able to transform into new sign-worlds, ideologies and cultural practices that emerge in situations of social change.