Le dessous des choses. Sorcellerie, violence et complicité ethnographique en Afrique de l'Ouest (Plateau Dogon)

- Violence in its ritual expressions (witchcraft accusa- tions, ritual murders, theft of bones in cemeteries, and so on) as well as ordinary violence have been scarcely investigated in the Dogon area. This is partially due to the nature itself of the witch- craft concept, a "slippery concept," according to Geschiere. But other reasons can explain this silence. Starting from some episodes which occurred in recent years in Mali, the role of witch- craft accusations in penal codes and the author's longtime field research on the Dogon plateau have raised the questions how the place of the ethnographer, his/her alliances as well as his/ her own research's interests can contribute to reveal or hide this kind of violence and the social uncertainty that feeds it. [West Africa, Mali, Dogon, ethnography of witchcraft, ritual violence, traditional healing