Madumo, A Man Bewitched
Madumo, A Man Bewitched
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马杜莫，一个被施了魔法的男人
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发表时间：
2000
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Adam Ashforth
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作者：
Adam Ashforth
在索韦托生活多年的澳大利亚人亚当·阿什福斯（Adam Ashforth）发现他的老朋友马杜莫（Madumo）处境悲惨：他的家人指责他使用巫术杀死了他的母亲，并把他扔到了街上。Madumo确信他的生命被诅咒了，他向索韦托令人困惑的治疗师和先知们寻求帮助。一位巫医证实他确实被施了魔法。阿什福斯虽然持怀疑态度，但仍然支持真茂，他一直陪伴在真茂身边，因为他开始了一种身体上非常折磨人的治疗方案，他虔诚地遵循这种治疗方案——几乎到了死亡的地步。阿斯福斯对玛德莫挣扎的精彩描述表明，巫术的问题不仅仅是迷信，而是在政治和经济动荡不安的时期对精神不安全感的复杂反应。通过真茂的故事，阿什福斯打开了一个很少有人见过的世界，一个令人深感不安的地方，在那里，“你相信巫术吗？”这个问题一点也不简单。阿什福斯陪伴他的朋友在索韦托超自然危险的奥德赛中出现的见解，即使对我们这些生活在没有女巫的世界里的人来说，也具有深远的意义。
Adam Ashforth, an Australian who has spent many years in Soweto, finds his longtime friend Madumo in dire circumstances: his family has accused him of using witchcraft to kill his mother and has thrown him out on the street. Convinced that his life is cursed, Madumo seeks help among Soweto's bewildering array of healers and prophets. An inyanga, or traditional healer, confirms that he has indeed been bewitched. Ashforth, skeptical yet supportive, remains by Madumo's side as he embarks upon a physically grueling treatment regimen that he follows religiously - almost to the point of death. Asforth's beautifully written account of Madumo's struggle shows that the problem of witchcraft is not simply superstition but a complex response to spiritual insecurity in a troubling time of political and economic upheaval. Through Madumo's story, Ashforth opens up a world that few have seen, a deeply unsettling place where the question, "Do you believe in witchcraft?" is not a simple one at all. The insights that emerge as Ashforth accompanies his friend on an odyssey through Soweto's supernatural perils have profound implications even for those of us who live in worlds without witches.