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Villagers maintain that
Popobawa becomes enraged if his existence is denied. Popobawa allegedly spoke to a group of villagers on Pemba in 1971 through a girl possessed by the monster. The girl, called Fatuma, spoke in a man's deep voice and then villagers say they heard the sound of a car revving and
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and described as taking different forms, not just that of a bat as its name implies. It can take either human or animal form, and metamorphose from one into the other. Popobawa typically visits homesteads at night, but can also be seen in the daytime. It is sometimes associated with the presence of a
206:
Victims are often urged to tell others that they have been assaulted, and are threatened with repeat visits by
Popobawa if they do not. During Popobawa panics many people try to guard against attack by spending the night awake outside of their houses, often huddled around an open fire with other
297:
cycle in
Zanzibar, although victims argue Popobawa is apolitical. Popobawa reports rose dramatically relatively recently, in 1995. A further spate of attacks was reported in Dar es Salaam in 2007. One explanation put forth for the election cycle connection is the claim that the Popobawa is the
353:
hallucination. Nickell went on to describe some of the symptoms of a waking dream as including "a feeling of being weighted down or even paralyzed. Alternately, one may "float" or have an out-of-body experience. Other characteristics include extreme vividness of the dream and bizarre and/or
173:"). This name is said to have originated as a description of the dark shadow cast by the spirit when it attacks at night: it does not refer to the actual form of the spirit, which is liable to change. Swahili speakers also use a plural form of the name –
194:
odor, but this is not always the case. Popobawa attacks men, women and children, and may attack all of the members of a household, before passing on to another house in the neighbourhood. Its nocturnal attacks can comprise simple physical assault and/or
234:. Better-known sightings followed in 1970, and the creature resurfaced periodically in the 1980s, reaching a peak in 1995. Five years passed without a sighting, but the popobawa appeared briefly in 2000 and again in 2007.
370:. A book released in 2017 entitled "Popobawa: Tanzanian Talk, Global Misreadings" by Katrina Daly Thompson was critical of Nickell, claiming that he was "associating Zanzibaris with fear and Westerners with
374:". Nickell responded that he agrees "Westerners should be wary of imposing simplistic patterns on another culture, but they also should not shy away from making scientific observations where appropriate".
230:
Sightings of the popobawa only go back about sixty years; Parkin states that the first reports date back to 1965 on the island of Pemba, appearing shortly after that island's political
699:
794:
Parkin, D. (2004). "In the Nature of the Human
Landscape: Provenances in the Making of Zanzibari Politics", in J. Clammer, S. Poirier & E. Schwimmer (eds.)
341:
regarding the phenomenon. In the article
Nickell compared the experiences described of a visit from Popobawa with the symptoms of a waking dream, also known as
534:
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family members and neighbours. Panics occur most often in
Zanzibar, throughout the island of Pemba and in the north and west of Unguja island, including
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Benjamin
Radford interviewed doctors at Zanzibar Medical Group (Zanzibar's main hospital) and none reported ever treating popobawa victims.
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terrifying content". Nickell also compared these symptoms with those experienced by people who claim to have been attacked by
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261:(Parkin 2004). Many of the legends on Zanzibar came from the colonizers and traders of the past, including Arabs,
949:
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Rethinking
Violence, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation 57th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association.
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Presentation to the Senior
Seminar, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 4 February 2005
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741:
989:
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Thompson, Katrina Daly. (2017). "Popobawa: Tanzanian Talk, Global
Misreadings", Indiana University Press,
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podcast, episode #4 - Ghosts, Popobawa is discussed as an example of supernatural folklore and legends.
930:
https://www.unilibro.it/libro/latessa-francesco-ulivieri-giovanni/attenti-al-nano-sodomizzatore/914872
177:– to refer to multiple manifestations of the feared spirit. This plural is anglicized as "Popobawas".
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926:. 57th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Indianapolis, IN, 20–23 November 2014.
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After the incidents involving Popobawa in 1995 were reported an article was published in the
211:. Episodes have also been reported in Dar es Salaam and other towns on the mainland coast of
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342:
535:"The Politicisation of Popobawa: Changing Explanations of a Collective Panic in Zanzibar"
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938:
825:
Walsh Martin (2014). "Killing Popobawa: collective panic and violence in Zanzibar".
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to take vengeance on his neighbors. The sheikh lost control of the jinn, who took to
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In 2022, the popobawa and his sexual proclivities are retold in great detail in the
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253:-run slave market, the story of Popobawa is an articulated social memory of the
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Thompson, Katrina Daly. (2014). "Swahili Talk About Supernatural Sodomy",
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912:, All Africa News, February 23, 2007. (Subscription required for access)
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A popular origin story of Popobawa proposes that in the 1970s an angry
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494:"Diabolical Delusions and Hysterical Narratives in a Postmodern State"
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rustling on a nearby roof. Many of those on the islands believe in
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Figured Worlds: Ontological Obstacles in Intercultural Relations
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ways. It has been argued that because of Zanzibar's past as an
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924:"Killing Popobawa: collective panic and violence in Zanzibar"
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name which translates literally as "bat-wing" (from Swahili
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from western folklore, and in more modern cases, with
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of the American paranormal reality television series
700:"Zanzibar's Popobawa Demon Still Attacking Skeptics"
293:Reports of Popobawa attacks rise and fall with the
121:. In 1995, it was the focus of a major outbreak of
78:
70:
57:
47:
34:
24:
766:Anon. (2003). "Terror, Tourism and Odd Beliefs",
798:. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 113–131.
773:Jansen, Henriette (1996). "Popobawa is Dead!",
858:, May 1996. (Subscription required for access)
615:. The Rough Guides Series. Rough Guides Ltd.
298:vengeful ghost of the assassinated President
8:
672:Popobawa: Tanzanian Talk, Global Misreadings
19:
910:"Tanzania: sex attacks blamed on bat demon"
389:in the episode "The King of Kumari Kandam".
674:. Indiana University Press. p. 174.
556:
554:
552:
227:go, Popobawa is of fairly recent origin.
509:
507:
801:Radford, Benjamin. (2008). "Popobawa".
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881:"The Skeptic-raping Demon of Zanzibar"
780:McGreal, C. (1995). "Zanzibar Diary",
641:"The Skeptic-raping Demon of Zanzibar"
18:
829:Indianapolis, IN, 20–23 November 2014
7:
892:"The Popobawa - A Zanzibari Incubus"
852:"Ouch Ouch Ouch! Buggered by Batman"
203:and the anal rape of men and women.
199:-like phenomena; but most feared is
109:, which is believed by residents of
903:"Sex-mad 'Ghost' Scares Zanzibaris"
314:, and place charms at the base of
14:
917:"Sex attacks blamed on bat demon"
791:. Zanzibar: Good Luck Publishers.
583:"Sex attacks blamed on bat demon"
960:East African legendary creatures
479:Zanzibar: The Bradt Travel Guide
670:Thompson, Katrina Daly (2017).
645:Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
392:In 2008, it was featured in an
141:and other urban centres on the
609:Finke, Jens (4 January 2010).
113:to have first appeared on the
1:
919:, BBC News, 21 February 2007.
896:X-Project Paranormal Magazine
734:"Popobawa Vs. The Skeptics"
612:The Rough Guide to Zanzibar
129:which spread from Pemba to
1011:
995:Supernatural urban legends
839:Jansen, Henriette (1996).
810:Critical Discourse Studies
514:Jansen, Henriette (1996).
905:, BBC News, 19 July 2001.
475:"The Shetani Of Zanzibar"
302:, or was summoned by the
181:Description and behaviour
133:, the main island of the
970:Mass psychogenic illness
863:"In Your Wildest Dreams"
383:It was also in the show
861:Carpenter, K.A. (2003).
890:Russell, Davy (2001).
789:Zanzibar Ghost Stories
787:Mohamed, A.A. (2000).
289:Modern Popobawa panics
975:Mythological monsters
922:Walsh Martin (2014).
740:. CFI. Archived from
539:Journal of Humanities
533:Walsh, M. T. (2009).
980:Mythological rapists
879:Nickell, J. (1995).
738:centerforinquiry.org
492:Walsh, M.T. (2005).
386:The Secret Saturdays
135:Zanzibar Archipelago
101:, is the name of an
841:"Popobawa is dead!"
516:"Popobawa is Dead!"
304:Chama Cha Mapinduzi
225:legendary creatures
149:Meaning of the name
21:
915:Saleh, A. (2007).
908:Jount, L. (2006).
901:Saleh, A. (2001).
868:2006-12-30 at the
770:, 13 December: 57.
744:on 16 October 2018
704:Center For Inquiry
411:Hammer of Zanzibar
378:In popular culture
334:Skeptical Inquirer
219:Origin and history
847:, 1 January 1996.
845:Tanzanian Affairs
775:Tanzanian Affairs
732:(25 April 2018).
730:Radford, Benjamin
698:(15 March 2018).
639:(December 1995).
622:978-1-84836-132-4
564:(November 2008),
520:Tanzanian Affairs
416:Satanic Hispanics
399:Destination Truth
306:political party.
92:
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950:Bats in religion
887:, December 1995.
885:Skeptical Briefs
874:Strange Horizons
784:, 2 October: 11.
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545:(1): 23–33.
413:segment of
347:hypnopompic
339:Joe Nickell
241:released a
197:poltergeist
103:evil spirit
939:Categories
748:16 October
595:2010-04-29
460:References
425:The Dollop
372:skepticism
351:hypnogogic
318:trees, or
263:Portuguese
232:revolution
175:mapopobawa
117:island of
74:Winged Bat
404:Bat Demon
320:sacrifice
312:exorcisms
192:sulfurous
115:Tanzanian
99:Popo Bawa
20:Popo Bawa
955:Cryptids
866:Archived
714:13 April
655:13 April
588:BBC News
566:Popobawa
433:See also
295:election
283:Africans
279:Persians
213:Tanzania
111:Zanzibar
95:Popobawa
87:Tanzania
83:Zanzibar
25:Grouping
439:Incubus
402:titled
394:episode
360:succubi
275:Britons
271:Chinese
267:Indians
259:slavery
255:horrors
247:demonic
165:", and
155:Swahili
145:coast.
107:shetani
97:, also
79:Country
52:Incubus
42:Shetani
819:
678:
619:
356:incubi
239:sheikh
131:Unguja
65:(1965)
522:(53).
345:or a
323:goats
127:panic
119:Pemba
965:Jinn
817:ISBN
750:2018
716:2018
676:ISBN
657:2018
617:ISBN
364:Hags
281:and
251:Arab
243:Jinn
171:wing
167:bawa
159:popo
422:In
362:or
349:or
337:by
316:fig
257:of
223:As
169:, "
163:bat
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