Research Articles (History)

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Of borders and crossings: The lives of a healer in northern Mozambique
(Journal of Southern African Studies, 2022) Israel, Paolo
Background: Daria Trentini�s book is a narrative exploration of the life and practice of a healer in the northern Mozambican city of Nampula. Ansha, the titular protagonist, was a Makonde migrant from the province of Cabo Delgado who moved to Nampula, converted to Islam and set up a �spirit mosque� in which the Koran and herbal knowledge were used to cure afflictions. Spirit possession (majini) was central both to illness and healing. A being of many worlds, Ansha crossed, navigated and negotiated a number of borders: between ethnicities, regions and religions; between sickness and health, the city and the countryside, the spirit and the human domain. Indeed, the figure of the border � especially the notions of �border crossing� and �border events� � provide the book with its central conceptual anchoring