‘THE MISINTERPRETATION OF CHIEFLY POWER IN USANGU, SOUTH-WEST TANZANIA by Martin Timothy Walsh Wolfson College Cambridge A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Cambridge August 1984CONTENTS PREFACE... 1, INTRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE AND POWER. 2. POLITICAL HISTORY FROM WRITTEN SOURCES. 3. THE MODERN CHIEF: BETWEEN VILLAGERS AND THE STATE.......0000++67 44, RELATIONS AND CORRELATIONS OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE “97 5. THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MISREADING GREETINGS, 126 6. CONCLUSIONS: MERERE IN WRITING...... estat +2158 APPENDIX: SANGU KINSHIP... BIBLIOGRAPHY....... +2188 iLPREFACE The argument of this thesis (that power is reproduced through its misinterpretation) is straightforward. Its presentation is rather more involved and in this and other respects it reflects current trends in ethnographic writing (as reviewed by Marcus and Cushman 1982), The thesis opens with an account of my first impressions in the field and the received image of chiefly power which they appeared to support. The central chapters show this to have been a misinterpretation, while the last two argue that misinterpretation of this kind can itself result in a (very different) form of power. Recent developments in post-structuralist theory are drawn upon to suggest one possible account of this process, and a final section reflects critically upon the historical outline which forms the subject of chapter two. Argument aside, I hope at least to have highlighted an important interpretative problem and to have made a significant contribution to the ethnography of south-west Tanzania. Acknowledgments My first thanks must go to the people, the party (CCM) and the government of Tanzania; most of all to the villagers of Utengule and Luhanga, especially Eliuter Shinangonele, Betitha Mwakalinga, Ngwila Simuhongole, Gaspar Makela, mtwa Alfeo Mgandilwa Merere, their families and ‘the many others who helped me during my stay. My supervisor, Ray Abrahams, has been a constant source of encouragement and advice, Alison Redmayne introduced me to the ethnography of Usangu and visited me in the field. Thanks also to the following for help of different kind Jacques Bilodeau, William Garland, Beverley ua