Structure and event. Witchcraft confession among the Kuranko

Among the Kuranko of north east Sierra Leone witchcraft accusation is very rare yet witchcraft confession is not uncommon. This article presents a structural analysis of witchcraft beliefs, based upon Kuranko exegesis, and examines the nature of the relationship between knowledge and event, i.e. between the socially constructed stereotypes of witchcraft and individual cases of confession. It is suggested that a structural analysis of a cognitive system must include praxeological considerations and that the idea of the witch is an arbitrary sign subject to individual manipulation rather than a definitive concept referring to a phenomenon sui generis.