Witchcraft and the Dangers of Intimacy: Africa and Europe

For anthropologists the topic of ‘witchcraft’ is saturated with emotions, at least for those who were confronted with it in the field. Is this different when one mainly works with written sources, like many historians? A good focus for understanding differences in approach and interpretation might be the link with intimacy—strongly emphasized in studies of Africa (‘witchcraft as the dark side of kinship’) but present in varying forms also in other parts of the world as well. ‘Witchcraft’ as the expression of people’s frightening realization that the intimate sphere is full of terrible dangers offers a good focus for a comparison with, for instance, historical studies of early modern Europe. Of particular interest might be that in the cases presented here there is a turning point—a particular moment when suspicions that always mark people’s intimacy seem to condense, and people start to refer to ‘witchcraft’, with dramatic consequences. The question is when this turning point is reached—under what circumstances and what pressures? Such a turning point might be an apt moment to grasp the emotions involved.