Demonization is a widespread aspect of political discourse. We are familiar with the demonization of Brussels bureaucrats as a tool for pursuing the British exit from the European Union, and we take stories about the compulsory straightening of bananas with a pinch of salt, however frustrating it might be that some disaffected voters choose to accept these canards as true. But somehow, stories about the demonic in Africa have been accorded much greater ontological respect, not only by colonial powers keen to boost their own legitimacy through claims to a civilizing mission, but also by anthropologists anxious to understand their informants’ imaginative concerns, perhaps without fully appreciating the political craft or guile with which these discourses are invested. In seeking to void the charge of delusion, an empathetic reading of demonization risks missing the strategic significance of mythic interventions intended to extract political advantage. This article examines an instance of mythic creativity in the politics of late nineteenth-century interior Sierra Leone as an example of the stagecraft sometimes implicit in African public authority. The case is that of the human leopard, an avatar of commercially compromised chieftaincy. The article asks whether the alleged activities of these leopards were the straight bananas of a certain form of anti-colonial political resistance. In a concluding discussion, some consequences for understanding current forms and practices of local public authority are inferred.

妖魔化是政治话语的普遍方面。我们熟悉将布鲁塞尔官僚妖魔化为追求英国退出欧洲联盟的工具，并且我们讲述了一些香蕉被强制拉成盐的强制性矫正的故事，但是令人沮丧的是，一些不满意的选民选择接受这些鸭蛋为真。但是不知何故，关于非洲恶魔的故事得到了更大的本体论方面的尊重，不仅是殖民大国热衷于通过要求执行文明使命来增强自己的合法性，而且是人类学家渴望了解他们的线人的想象力关注，也许没有充分欣赏与这些话语有关的政治技巧或诡计。为了使妄想无效，对妖魔化的同理心阅读可能会失去旨在获取政治优势的神话干预的战略意义。本文考察了19世纪末塞拉利昂内陆政治中神话般的创造力的一个实例，以此作为有时隐含在非洲公共权力机构中的舞台艺术的例子。情况就是人类的豹子，这是商业上受侵害的酋长的化身。文章问这些豹子的所谓活动是否是某种形式的反殖民政治抵抗的直截了当的香蕉。在最后的讨论中，推断出对理解当前地方公共权力机构的形式和做法的某些后果。本文考察了19世纪末塞拉利昂内陆政治中神话般的创造力的一个实例，以此作为有时隐含在非洲公共权力机构中的舞台艺术的例子。情况就是人类的豹子，这是商业上受侵害的酋长的化身。文章问这些豹子的所谓活动是否是某种形式的反殖民政治抵抗的直截了当的香蕉。在最后的讨论中，推断出对理解当前地方公共权力机构的形式和做法的某些后果。本文考察了19世纪末塞拉利昂内陆政治中的神话创造力实例，以此作为有时隐含在非洲公共权力机构中的舞台艺术的例子。情况就是人类的豹子，这是商业上受侵害的酋长的化身。文章问这些豹子的所谓活动是否是某种形式的反殖民政治抵抗的直截了当的香蕉。在最后的讨论中，推断出对理解当前地方公共权力机构的形式和做法的某些后果。文章问这些豹子的所谓活动是否是某种形式的反殖民政治抵抗的直截了当的香蕉。在最后的讨论中，推断出对理解当前地方公共权力机构的形式和做法的某些后果。文章问这些豹子的所谓活动是否是某种形式的反殖民政治抵抗的直截了当的香蕉。在最后的讨论中，推断出对理解当前地方公共权力机构的形式和做法的某些后果。