The Rituals of Bambara’s Traditional Medicine and the Treatment of Jinèbana «Madness»
In Bamanan language, jinèbana means : the desease given by a jinè or a spirit. The Bambara’s traditionnal medicine identifies at least three other forms of « madness », but above all it is jinèbana that arouses more apprehension. Through the story of a nineteen years old patient, this article intend to describe the path followed by Bambara healers in their fight against evil spirits and to show how their practice is structured following a logic of continuity between signs, meanings and action.