Masks and madness: ritual expression of the transition to adulthood among Miskitu adolescents

Jamieson, Mark

doi:10.1017/s0964028201000209

Masks and madness: ritual expression of the transition to adulthood among Miskitu adolescents

Jamieson, Mark

Authors

Mark Jamieson

Abstract

This article considers two forms of action among Miskitu adolescents, both of which encode in ritualised form anxieties and desires concerned with the imminent categorical transition from adolescence to adulthood. The first of these is a masked dance known as ‘mosko’ which is performed mainly by both young unmarried man and women in the village of Kakabila. The second is a supposedly culture-bound, and evidently contagious, condition known as ‘grisi siknis’ which afflicts mainly young unmarried women in Miskitu-speaking communities throughout eastern Nicaragua and Honduras. Analysis of this material suggests that where rituals directly enacting transformations to adulthood are absent, modes of action allowing individuals to express concerns surrounding this change of status are likely to be particularly dramatic.

Citation

Jamieson, M. (2001). Masks and madness: ritual expression of the transition to adulthood among Miskitu adolescents. Social Anthropology, 9(3), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0964028201000209

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Oct 1, 2001
Deposit Date	Jul 29, 2010
Publicly Available Date	Aug 11, 2010
Journal	Social Anthropology
Print ISSN	0964-0282
Electronic ISSN	1469-8676
Publisher	Berghahn Journals
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	9
Issue	3
Pages	257-272
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0964028201000209