The second edition of Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation is both an introduction to the cultures of Africa and a history of the interpretations of those cultures. Key essays explore the major issues and debates through a combination of classic articles and the newest research in the field. Explores the dynamic processes by and through which scholars have described and understood African history and culture Includes selections from anthropologists, historians, philosophers, and critics who collectively reveal the interpenetration of ideas and concepts within and across disciplines, regions, and historical periods Offers a combined focus on ethnography and theory, giving students the means to link theory with data and perspective with practice Newly revised and updated edition of this popular text with 14 brand new chapters and two new sections: Conflict and Violent Transformations; and Development, Governance and Globalization
African reaction and adaptation to colonial rule, the emergence of the masses to political and social importance, and the formation of national institutions are the broad topics appraised by modern African, U.S., and European governmental leaders, anthropologists, historians, colonial servants, and others.
Drawing on the ever contentious and antagonistic relationship between the writer and the state, especially in the postcolony, the chapters assembled in this collection delineate Bill F. Ndi, the poet and playwright’s arduous and sometimes dangerous role as a custodian or guardian of the socioeconomics and politico-cultures of the Cameroonian postcolony and Africa at large. The chapters insist that granted The Cameroons’ quadruple experience of colonialism (through the Germans, the French, the British and La République du Cameroun), Cameroun and British Southern Cameroons’ history needs to purge itself of the epistemic and ontological violence of Francophonecentric historiography. “Bill F. Ndi possesses a unique and powerful voice within the Cameroonian literary scene and this apposite volume of critical essays attempts not only to situate him properly within that domain but also to significantly augment his already considerable stature.” Sanya Osha, University of Cape Town, South Africa “Bill F. Ndi is an unapologetic and committed firebrand writer with a position that refuses to seek validation from the same who oppress and blackball black writing. Hassan Yosimbom’s book is a testimony to Ndi’s resolve to resist anything that stands in the way of his people’s freedom.” Koua Viviane, PhD. (Comparative literature, Limoges: France), College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University, Auburn Alabama. “This book is a work of the utmost importance to understand the subtleties and complexities of the anglophone Cameroonian crisis and ongoing civil war in the Cameroons.” Professor Aghi Bahi, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire “In this book, Yosimbom delves into the intricate impact of imperialism by examining the works of Bill F. Ndi, a modern postcolonial writer of British Southern Cameroons extraction. The book is a compelling analysis of the relationship between writers and the state. It stresses the need to challenge Francophone-centric views and empower the marginalized and oppressed Anglophones in the Cameroons. Brought to the limelight is the rootedness of this historical imbalance and its perpetuation by Francophone-dominated regimes and the complicit panhandling Anglophone elites. Addressed are the themes of peace, identity, autonomy, resilience, and resistance…” Maimo Mary Mah, Development Communication Specialist/Consultant Drawing on the ever contentious and antagonistic relationship between the writer and the state, especially in the postcolony, the chapters assembled in this collection delineate Bill F. Ndi, the poet and playwright’s arduous and sometimes dangerous role as a custodian or guardian of the socioeconomics and politico-cultures of the Cameroonian postcolony and Africa at large. The chapters insist that granted The Cameroons’ quadruple experience of colonialism (through the Germans, the French, the British and La République du Cameroun), Cameroun and British Southern Cameroons’ history needs to purge itself of the epistemic and ontological violence of Francophonecentric historiography. “Bill F. Ndi possesses a unique and powerful voice within the Cameroonian literary scene and this apposite volume of critical essays attempts not only to situate him properly within that domain but also to significantly augment his already considerable stature.” Sanya Osha, University of Cape Town, South Africa “Bill F. Ndi is an unapologetic and committed firebrand writer with a position that refuses to seek validation from the same who oppress and blackball black writing. Hassan Yosimbom’s book is a testimony to Ndi’s resolve to resist anything that stands in the way of his people’s freedom.” Koua Viviane, PhD. (Comparative literature, Limoges: France), College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University, Auburn Alabama. “This book is a work of the utmost importance to understand the subtleties and complexities of the anglophone Cameroonian crisis and ongoing civil war in the Cameroons.” Professor Aghi Bahi, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire “In this book, Yosimbom delves into the intricate impact of imperialism by examining the works of Bill F. Ndi, a modern postcolonial writer of British Southern Cameroons extraction. The book is a compelling analysis of the relationship between writers and the state. It stresses the need to challenge Francophone-centric views and empower the marginalized and oppressed Anglophones in the Cameroons. Brought to the limelight is the rootedness of this historical imbalance and its perpetuation by Francophone-dominated regimes and the complicit panhandling Anglophone elites. Addressed are the themes of peace, identity, autonomy, resilience, and resistance…” Maimo Mary Mah, Development Communication Specialist/Consultant
Drawing on a wide range of oral and written sources, this book tells the story of Tanzania's socialist experiment: the ujamaa villagization initiative of 1967-75. Inaugurated shortly after independence, ujamaa ('familyhood' in Swahili) both invoked established socialist themes and departed from the existing global repertoire of development policy, seeking to reorganize the Tanzanian countryside into communal villages to achieve national development. Priya Lal investigates how Tanzanian leaders and rural people creatively envisioned ujamaa and documents how villagization unfolded on the ground, without affixing the project to a trajectory of inevitable failure. By forging an empirically rich and conceptually nuanced account of ujamaa, African Socialism in Postcolonial Tanzania restores a sense of possibility and process to the early years of African independence, refines prevailing theories of nation building and development, and expands our understanding of the 1960s and 70s world.
African Oral Literature: Its Philosophical Thoughts Conveyed in Yuruba Society explores the ways that the Yoruba people of Nigeria have made remarkable contributions to the world’s civilization. Yoruba philosophical, religious tenets, artistic tenets, ideas, and icons have helped to transform religious beliefs and practices and the arts. When considering the study of Yoruba oral traditions, one learns how its philosophical concepts are the bases for an interpretation of what constitutes their aesthetic performance in art forms. This book introduces distinguished Yoruba cultural historians documenting the full spectrum, which extends beyond the visual art form. Through oral tradition, the effigy with its ako naturalism is not judged for its photographic realism, but for its efficacy within the context of the ako traditional ceremony, which is intended to make the end of this life and the beginning of the next one honorable and dignifying for one's parents where good will is needed by those still on earth. About the Author Howard James Jordan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1948. He is a lifetime member of the following associations: The Buffalo Soldiers, 24th Infantry Regiment of New Jersey; The Buffalo Soldiers 9th & 10th Horse Cavalry Association of Baltimore, MD and Los Angeles, CA; Disabled American Veterans (DVA) and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Dept. of New Jersey. Howard’s hobbies include writing, reading history, dancing, roller skating, horseback riding, traveling, wood carving, and painting. He also taught art in Nigeria Secondary Schools, was a research assistant at Nigerian University, and taught special education in Philadelphia Public Schools.
This groundbreaking new source of international scope defines the essay as nonfictional prose texts of between one and 50 pages in length. The more than 500 entries by 275 contributors include entries on nationalities, various categories of essays such as generic (such as sermons, aphorisms), individual major works, notable writers, and periodicals that created a market for essays, and particularly famous or significant essays. The preface details the historical development of the essay, and the alphabetically arranged entries usually include biographical sketch, nationality, era, selected writings list, additional readings, and anthologies
Focusing on the problems and conflicts of doing African diaspora research from various disciplinary perspectives, these essays situate, describe, and reflect on the current practice of diaspora scholarship. Tejumola Olaniyan, James H. Sweet, and the international group of contributors assembled here seek to enlarge understanding of how the diaspora is conceived and explore possibilities for the future of its study. With the aim of initiating interdisciplinary dialogue on the practice of African diaspora studies, they emphasize learning from new perspectives that take advantage of intersections between disciplines. Ultimately, they advocate a fuller sense of what it means to study the African diaspora in a truly global way.
In 1968 the Third World Liberation Front at San Francisco State College demanded the creation of a Third World studies program to counter the existing curricula that ignored issues of power—notably, imperialism and oppression. The administration responded by institutionalizing an ethnic studies program; Third World studies was over before it began. Detailing the field's genesis and premature death, Gary Y. Okihiro presents an intellectual history of ethnic studies and Third World studies and shows where they converged and departed by identifying some of their core ideas, concepts, methods, and theories. In so doing, he establishes the contours of a unified field of study—Third World studies—that pursues a decolonial politics by examining the human condition broadly, especially in regard to oppression, and critically analyzing the locations and articulations of power as manifested in the social formation. Okihiro's framing of Third World studies moves away from ethnic studies' liberalism and its U.S.-centrism to emphasize the need for complex thinking and political action in the drive for self-determination.