From Wisdon to Witchcraft: Ambivalence towards Old Age in Rural Ghana
Journal article by Sjaak Van Der Geest; Africa, Vol. 72, 2002
Journal Article Excerpt
From wisdon to witchcraft: ambivalence towards old age in rural Ghana. by Sjaak van der Geest ABSTRACT This article presents fragments of conversation with elderly and younger people in the rural town of Kwahu Taro. The statements of the various speakers are often contradictory. The borders between respect and hatred, admiration and envy, affection and fear prove porous. The article is an attempt to understand the changing sentiments of the young towards the old, and vice versa. Elders pronounce both blessings and curses. Their spiritual power is sometimes appreciated as wisdom, the fruit of lifelong experience. At other times that spiritual power is denounced as witchcraft. Theologically these statements sound confusing and contradictory. From a sociological point of view, however, they make sense. They express the basic ambivalence of young people towards the old. On one hand there is respect, a cultural code which is almost `natural': one regards with awe and admiration what came before. On the other, old people engender resentment because of their overbearing attitude and their refusal to `go'. The fact that young people die while old people remain alive is a reversal of the natural order and reeks of witchcraft. To Okyeame Kwame Opoku who explained the difference between wisdom and witchcraft (1) When I met Opanyin (2) Kwaku Agyei in 1994 he was old and poor, living rent-free in someone else's house. During his active life he had been a farmer, a hunter and a palm wine tapper. In addition, he had practised herbalism and had been an attendant at the chief's court. He used to beat the `gong gong' in town to announce the chief's messages. Kwaku Agyei was an eloquent and entertaining informant on traditional wisdom and had an enormous knowledge of proverbs. He died in January 1995, less than a year after our meeting. I had more than ten long conversations with him, mostly together with my co-researcher Kwame Fosu. In addition, I paid him a short visit almost daily, as he was staying just opposite `my house'. (3) At our third meeting we asked him to explain what people mean by bayie (witchcraft). His answer was long and confusing. First he said that bayie does not exist, then he went on to explain what it is. First he stated that bayie spoils things and then he used the term to praise people for their intelligence. At the start he pointed out that old people are respected and loved, then he suggested that people dislike them and resent their age. The conversation contained many of the ambiguities we met in people's perception and appreciation of old age. This article is an attempt to bring these contradictions to the fore and make them intelligible by analysing the basic ambivalence in Akan culture with regard to growing old. THE RESEARCH In 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000 I carried out seven months of anthropological fieldwork among elderly people in Kwahu Taro, a rural town in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The general aim of the research was to acquire an understanding of the meaning of old age in this community. The research was partly sparked by reflections on the perception and assessment of old age in my own society in the Netherlands. `Ageism', a culture-embedded way of looking disparagingly at old age, is increasingly being criticised in the Netherlands and other `Western' countries. In popular discourse and academic discussion alike it is sometimes suggested that old age in various African and other `non-Western' societies does not carry the negative connotations of `decrepit', `decaying', `worn out' and `senile'. The term `old', it is claimed, engenders positive feelings. Old age is regarded as a stage of life in which people reach their full potential, since they have acquired wisdom and experience and are able to guide the young to success in life. The old are therefore respected and honoured, and enjoy considerable social and political power. The research was set up to examine these somewhat stereotypical and romantic assertions.Earlier research and my acquaintance with the Akan culture and language motivated the choice of Ghana. More than twenty years ago I had spent three periods of six months in the same town, once to study the local language, Twi, another time to carry out research into the dynamics of family life in one abusua (matrilineage), (4) and finally to study sexual relations and birth control. My return visit to the town after so many years implied a reunion with my own past. I was welcomed back ... |
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