Ritual, History, and Hierarchy in Madagascar
By Maurizio Esposito la Rossa
Foreword by Michael Lambek
In a postcolonial republic marked by recurrent crises, royal hierarchy continues to frame social inequalities. Within this context, both the descendants of slaves and the newly rich seek to claim or legitimize new hierarchical positions by reformulating historical narratives and establishing them through royal rituals. Focusing on a cult dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors of the Silver Dynasty, Maurizio Esposito La Rossa investigates the categories of “silver” and “gold” that structure the hierarchy of the Sakalava monarchy and are also mobilized by politicians to legitimize their power.
Through multi-sited ethnography, the book offers a broader reflection on the link between narratives and places and on contrasting ways of conceiving history. Whereas Western historiography—and the rise of the nation-state—tends to produce unified historical narratives, the Sakalava monarchies conceive of history as rooted in specific places and social groups, where multiple versions coexist and contend. Combining the divergent demands of a historical anthropology and an anthropology of history, this book endeavors to recount another history of the Sakalava monarchy, without neglecting the polyphony that characterizes it. By tracing how the past is mobilized, transformed, and contested in the present, the book speaks to anthropologists, historians, and readers interested in the intricate entanglements of history, ritual, and political power in postcolonial settings.
Madagascar takes up an eminent place in the history of ethnography. Sovereigns of Gold, Spirits of Silver brings the island’s enduring fame and authority in this sphere to a new level of brilliance.”
– Heonik Kwon, author of Ghosts of War in Vietnam, and Spirit Power: Politics and Religion in Korea’s American Century
“By taking readers on a fascinating journey in search of the historical knowledge associated with the “spirits of silver,” the drowned ancestors of a dynasty long supposed to exist in northwest Madagascar, Esposito La Rossa not only illuminates the social and historical forces that gave rise to this legend in the nineteenth century, but also provides new ways of understanding power and hierarchical forms of political organization in Madagascar. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the interplay between history, ritual, and politics.
– Jennifer Cole, author of Forget Colonialism? Sacrifice and the Art of Memory in Madagascar
“Maurizio Esposito La Rossa has carried out exciting and innovative research. His work stands out not only for the ethnographic tour de force he has achieved in Madagascar, but also for the new perspectives it opens for the study of ritual action and the new dialogue it makes possible between historians and anthropologists.
– Carlo Severi, author of The Chimera Principle
“Sovereigns of Gold, Spirits of Silver is an instance of ethnographic theory in the classic sense, a book in which grounded investigation of particulars leads to insights of ever-expanding scope and relevance. It is an exhilarating journey.
– Michael Lambek, author of The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar
Maurizio Esposito La Rossa is an anthropologist, an associate professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and a member of the Centre Alexandre Koyré in Paris.
Michael Lambek is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and a Canada Research Chair Emeritus at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He is the author of numerous books, including The Ethical Condition (2015), Concepts and Persons (2021), Behind the Glass: The Villa Tugendhat and Its Family (2022) and most recently, Cohabiting with Spirits: The Biography of a Marriage in Mayotte. He is also a co-author of Four Lectures on Ethics: Anthropological Perspectives (2015) published by HAU Books.