An evangelical biography of evil and redemption in rural South Sudan

During fieldwork in South Sudan, researcher Ryan O’Byrne met an evangelical pastor who recounted a personal story of travelling ‘under the water’ to ‘the land of demons’. While the pastor’s story recalled narratives circulating across Africa since colonial times, the process of making sense of such an autobiography raises questions about the imposition of academic and cultural standpoints, in which a form of violence could be committed to the teller.