Just Anger: Scenarios of Indignation in Botswana and Madagascar

Abstract

Particular scenarios of anger in two African societies are compared in order to discern some of the complex ways in which emotion is related to cultural context and social practice. The disappointment of Kgalagadi elders (dikgaba) in Botswana and the irascibility and violence of royal Sakalava spirits in Madagascar entail moral inspection with respect to the justifiability of anger and the locus of fault. Through case studies we emphasize the interpersonal and hierarchical dimensions of justifiable anger and suggest a comparison with Western 'guilt.' The circulation of anger between the generations is contrasted to a situation in which the capacity for imagining the indignation of others collapses into indignity.