Book

BORN DIFFERENT

Written by Czech cultural anthropologist Kateřina Mildnerová and illustrated with photographs by Mozambican photojournalist Antonio Cossa, Born Different (JOTA Publisher) combines rigorous research, literary storytelling, and powerful photography to offer a compelling account of the everyday lives and inner worlds of people with albinism in Africa.

While in some parts of Africa albinism is associated with curses, stigma, and violence, elsewhere it is regarded as a sign of sacredness and spiritual significance. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Zambia and Benin, the book reveals the striking contrast between these two cultural worlds. In Zambia, it gives voice to people with albinism who live in constant fear of abduction, sexual violence, brutal attacks, and ritual killings driven by deeply rooted myths and superstitions. By contrast, in West African Benin, people with albinism are socially respected and revered within the traditional religion of Vodun as incarnations of the creator deity. Through these contrasting realities, the book invites readers to reflect on how cultural understandings of normality and difference shape the value of human life.

The book is accompanied by a collection of documentary photographs and artistic portraits from Zambia and Benin. Together with the literary narratives, they convey a powerful message: difference should never determine the value of a human life, and every person deserves to live with dignity.

The book has been published in both Czech and English.