Tools for relatedness: “Fetishes” in Burkina Faso and the work of enacted metaphors
American Anthropologist February 24, 2025 Lorenzo Ferrarini 1 citation
In West Africa, certain objects known as fetishes act as subjects in the world, interacting with people. Based on participant fieldwork with initiated donso hunters in Burkina Faso, the author argues that fetish agency arises not from materiality or human ascription but through mediating a three-way identification between the user and a spirit. Enacted metaphors, often alongside metonymies, are central to this process, operating in sacrifice, embodiment, and substance sharing, where the fetish acts as the body of an intangible spirit. The article rejects symbolic readings and proposes reevaluating metaphors as tools for practicing relatedness and expanding one's life-world.