Focusing on the period between 1920 and 1946, the book delves into the clash of cultures between British colonial officers and Sudanese Muslims, particularly regarding the contentious issue of female circumcision. Janice Boddy utilizes colonial documents and popular culture to provide ethnographic insights, while also highlighting women's roles in zâr spirit possession rituals as a form of resistance and cultural expression. This exploration reveals the complexities of colonialism and the nuanced experiences of women in Sudan.
Janice Boddy Book order
This author's story was originally compiled by an anthropologist. Upon her death, the manuscript was completed and supplemented with an introduction placing the story within its proper historical and social context.



- 2007
- 1989
Wombs and Alien Spirits
- 399 pages
- 14 hours of reading
Adherents to the zar cult in northern Sudan encounter spirits that are parallels of historically relevant figures in the known human world. Based on nearly two years of ethnographic fieldwork in a Muslim village this study offers a multidimensional interpretation of the zar.