ABSTRACT
Some divination systems are used to select sections of (typically arcane and erudite) text, which are held to contain the answer to the particular pressing problem of the client. Celebrated examples are the Chinese I Ching and the Yoruba Ifá. Werbner’s work on Kalanga and Tswapong divination provides a case-study of the detailed praxis in such systems. When a text is selected by divination diviners have a multiple role. At each consultation they must satisfy themselves, their client, and their audience that they have followed the correct procedures in selecting the text. A second stage follows. The client has a particular question, but the selected text was not written as an answer to it. Interpretation is required to satisfy the client that the question has been answered. The diviner thus also plays the role of indigenous critic, which is similar to but different from that of literary critics in the Western tradition. The concept of ‘dialogic’ used by Barber in her analysis of Yoruba praise poetry is applied to illustrate the similarities and differences between diviners and critics.
