Wealth-Giving Mermaid Women in Africa Today: A Comparative Study of the South African Mamlambo and the West African Mami Wata

By:

This is a comparative study of two alluring, hazardous African mermaid women, the West African Mami Wata and the South African mamlambo, prominent presences in the belief systems of certain contemporary African peoples. Both beings are shape-changers, often evisaged as mermaids. Moreover, they manifest themselves as beautiful women, among much else. This study compares and contrasts the specific characteristics attributed to the mamlambo and Mami Wata, discussing their nature and function in their respective contemporary South African and West African contexts. Particular attention is paid to their role as wealth-giving beings, and to their sensual qualities. Both these beings are said to be sexually enticing, embarking on sexual relationships with specific human individuals. Consequently, the relationship between sexual power and forms of occult potency is examined. Moreover, this study investigates why it is that the mamlambo and Mami Wata often take the form of mermaids, and why they are frequently associated with snakes. In conclusion, the reasons why these mermaid women have become such potent presences in specific twenty-first century African belief systems are discussed.

Stream: First Nations and Indigenous Peoples

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Dr Felicity Wood is a Senior Lecturer in the English Department of the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. Her primary research interests are indigenous knowledge systems and southern African oral narratives that engage with aspects of the indigenous southern African supernatural. She has published a book concerning this, The Extraordinary Khotso: millionaire medicine man of Lusikisiki, in collaboration with a co-investigator, Michael Lewis. The subject of this book is a near-legendary South African inyanga (medicine man) who was believed to control various powerful and dangerous supernatural forces. Moreover, he possessed an extensive knowledge of the uses of herbs for healing and magic. Felicity Wood has also published articles relating to southern African oral narratives and indigenous knowledge systems in local and international journals. In her research she has focused, especially, on oral narratives dealing with mystical and magical snakes, and African mermaids. Her other research interests include literary explorations of the socio-political, which is connected, in part, to her interest in aspects of South African oral narrative. She has published articles dealing with this issue and her PhD was also on this subject. Felicity Wood has had her own short stories published and she co-ordinates and facilitates the Fort Hare English Department's Creative Writing course. She is interested in poetry teaching at first year level. (This often involves teaching poetry to students who have never studied a poem before.) She has co-published a book on this subject with Dr Brian Walter, formerly of Fort Hare.