DOMESTICATING PERSONAL VIOLENCE - WITCHCRAFT, COURTS AND CONFESSIONS IN CAMEROON

In many parts of Africa, discourses on witchcraft and sorcery seem to follow a modernisation process of their own. There are striking region al variations in the ways in which these discourses are articulad with State formation and the emergence of new modes of accumulation. A com mon denominator remains, however, the close connection between witchcr aft and aggression from within the 'house'. In many respects, witchcra ft is still the dark side of kinship, even in modern settings. It is a gainst this background that this article explores the implications of a new type of witchcraft trial in the Eastern Province of Cameroon. Si nce 1980 State courts have started to convict 'witches' mainly on the basis of the expertise of the witch-doctor. This seems to be accompani ed by the emergence of a 'modern' type of witch-doctor, more intent on punishing than on healing, who try to recruit their clients in very a ggressive ways. In other parts of Cameroon the articulation of local w itchcraft beliefs and State authority seems to follow different trajec tories.