Discussion on Lecture on ‘Tallensi Divination’

Professor Fortes gave a lecture on the fieldwork he did in Ghana among the Tallensi, and in particular on the large role of divination in their culture. He speculated on divination, oracles and magic more generally and the role of the ancestors in Tallensi life. After the talk there was a question and answer session on the themes of his talk.

The lecture was given in March 1982 before an invited audience of students with Jack Goody in the chair. The discussion gives some flavour of the seminar culture of the Department of Social Anthropology in Cambridge at that time, although it takes place in a television studio. The film was produced by Steven Levinson, directed, filmed and edited by Martin Gienke and the staff of the Audio Visual Aids Unit in Cambridge. The discussion lasts for about forty minutes.