Abstract

The present-day dossier of the blacksmith in black Africa and elsewhere is made up of a considerable bulk of literature. The various documents are not homogenous: some are confined to providing us with raw information—a sort of implicit phenomenology; others tend to be in support of, for the most part, particular theories, and, in fairly rare cases, general theories. Engendered by the ambiguous status of this artisan at once manipulator of fire and of chtonic powers, this literature attempts to put forward conclusive answers to situations which are, either in a real sense or in an apparent sense, contradictory. Thus it is that the blacksmith is at times the marginal citizen, something of an outcast who is despised above all else, and at others the equivalent of the figure holding the reins of power, if not this figure in person; in this way his image travels from one extreme of recognised social standing to the other. But in almost every instance he is recognised as possessing the technical knowledge which is the determining factor for the functioning of societies, whatever the category of social formation in which they may be included.