LYCANTHROPY AND ECCLESIASTICAL INFLUENCE IN DEMONIC POSSESSION AND MEDIEVAL THEOLOGY OF THE ANGAMI WORLD THROUGH THE SELECT WORKS OF EASTERINE KIRE

Abstract

In Angami Culture, lycanthropy takes on a unique form, deeply embedded in local myths, tradition and beliefs. The Angami people who are an ethnic group from Nagaland in Northeastern India have their own folklores and narratives that touch on the ideas of transformation though not always in the Western werewolf sense. The concept of lycanthropy in Angami culture is often intertwined with the spiritual and supernatural realms. It’s not necessarily about a person physically changing into a wolf but might include transformations into other animals like tigers or bears, which are significant in their culture. The objective of the research is to analyse how lycanthropy is portrayed in Esterine Kires novel and how it relates to the culture transformation in the context of ecclesiastical way of life. The methodology employed in the research is qualitative research, which focuses on the literary analysis and the contextualization based on the primary and secondary sources. Thus the paper mainly deals with the transitional dynamics of Angami culture in the context of lycanthropy as portrayed in Easterine kire’s When The River Sleeps and The Son of the Thundercloud, Don’t Run My Love.