The Akan Trickster Cycle

The Akan Trickster Cycle PDF Author: Kwesi Yankah
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description

The Akan Trickster Cycle

The Akan Trickster Cycle PDF Author: Kwesi Yankah
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description


Trickster Theatre

Trickster Theatre PDF Author: Jesse Weaver Shipley
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253016592
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Get Book Here

Book Description
Trickster Theatre traces the changing social significance of national theatre in Ghana from its rise as an idealistic state project from the time of independence to its reinvention in recent electronic, market-oriented genres. Jesse Weaver Shipley presents portraits of many key figures in Ghanaian theatre and examines how Akan trickster tales were adapted as the basis of a modern national theatre. This performance style tied Accra's evolving urban identity to rural origins and to Pan-African liberation politics. Contradictions emerge, however, when the ideal Ghanaian citizen is a mythic hustler who stands at the crossroads between personal desires and collective obligations. Shipley examines the interplay between on-stage action and off-stage events to show how trickster theatre shapes an evolving urban world.

Fairy Tales with a Black Consciousness

Fairy Tales with a Black Consciousness PDF Author: Vivian Yenika-Agbaw
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786471298
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
The all new essays in this book discuss black cultural retellings of traditional, European fairy tales. The representation of black protagonists in such tales helps to shape children's ideas about themselves and the world beyond--which can ignite a will to read books representing diverse characters. The need for a multicultural text set which includes the multiplicity of cultures within the black diaspora is discussed. The tales referenced in the text are rich in perspective: they are Aesop's fables, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Ananse. Readers will see that stories from black perspectives adhere to the dictates of traditional literary conventions while still steeped in literary traditions traceable to Africa or the diaspora.

Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History

Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History PDF Author: Mbogoni, Lawrence E.Y.
Publisher: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers
ISBN: 9987082424
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since time immemorial, human beings the world over have sought answers to the vexing questions of their origins, sickness, death and after death; the meaning of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, eclipses of the sun and moon, birth of twins etc. and how to protect themselves from such mysterious events. They invented God and gods and the occult sciences (witch craft, divination and soothsaying) in order to seek the protection of supernatural powers while individuals used them to gain power to dominate others and to accumulate wealth. Human sacrifice was one way in which they sought to expiate the gods for what they believed were punishments for their transgressions. One example, the Ghana Asante Kingdom's very origins are associated with human sacrifice. On the eve of war against Denkyira, individuals volunteered themselves to be sacrificed in order to guarantee victory. Later, human sacrifice in Asante was mainly politically motivated as kings and religious leaders offered human sacrifice in remembrance of their ancestral spirits and to seek their protection against their enemies. The Asante Kingdom is one of several examples included in this study of human sacrifice and ritual killing on the African continent. Case studies include practices in Sierra Leone, Tanzania (Mainland), Zanzibar, Uganda and Swaziland. Advertisements relating to the occult was a common feature of Drum magazine, the popular South African magazine in Southern, Eastern and Central Africa in late years of colonial and early years of postcolonial periods, indicating a wide belief in these practices among the people in these countries? Each case examined is introduced by an expose of folklore that puts in perspective beliefs in the supernatural and how folklore continues to perpetuate them. Through careful study of these select cases, this book highlights general features of human sacrifice which recur with striking uniformity in all parts of sub Saharan Africa, and why they persist until today. He draws upon extensive written sources to expose these practices in other cultures including those in Western societies.

Making Men in Ghana

Making Men in Ghana PDF Author: Stephan Miescher
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253217868
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Get Book Here

Book Description
By featuring the life histories of eight senior men, Making Men in Ghana explores the changing meaning of becoming a man in modern Africa. Stephan F. Miescher concentrates on the ideals and expectations that formed around men who were prominent in their communities when Ghana became an independent nation. Miescher shows how they negotiated complex social and economic transformations and how they dealt with their mounting obligations and responsibilities as leaders in their kinship groups, churches, and schools. Not only were notions about men and masculinity shaped by community standards, but they were strongly influenced by imported standards that came from missionaries and other colonial officials. As he recounts the life histories of these men, Miescher reveals that the passage to manhood—and a position of power, seniority, authority, and leadership—was not always welcome or easy. As an important foil for studies on women and femininity, this groundbreaking book not only explores masculinity and ideals of male behavior, but offers a fresh perspective on African men in a century of change.

African Folklore

African Folklore PDF Author: Philip M. Peek
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135948739
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 1256

Get Book Here

Book Description
Written by an international team of experts, this is the first work of its kind to offer comprehensive coverage of folklore throughout the African continent. Over 300 entries provide in-depth examinations of individual African countries, ethnic groups, religious practices, artistic genres, and numerous other concepts related to folklore. Featuring original field photographs, a comprehensive index, and thorough cross-references, African Folklore: An Encyclopedia is an indispensable resource for any library's folklore or African studies collection. Also includes seven maps.

The Fairy Tale World

The Fairy Tale World PDF Author: Andrew Teverson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351609947
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 905

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Fairy Tale World is a definitive volume on this ever-evolving field. The book draws on recent critical attention, contesting romantic ideas about timeless tales of good and evil, and arguing that fairy tales are culturally astute narratives that reflect the historical and material circumstances of the societies in which they are produced. The Fairy Tale World takes a uniquely global perspective and broadens the international, cultural, and critical scope of fairy-tale studies. Throughout the five parts, the volume challenges the previously Eurocentric focus of fairy-tale studies, with contributors looking at: • the contrast between traditional, canonical fairy tales and more modern reinterpretations; • responses to the fairy tale around the world, including works from every continent; • applications of the fairy tale in diverse media, from oral tradition to the commercialized films of Hollywood and Bollywood; • debates concerning the global and local ownership of fairy tales, and the impact the digital age and an exponentially globalized world have on traditional narratives; • the fairy tale as told through art, dance, theatre, fan fiction, and film. This volume brings together a selection of the most respected voices in the field, offering ground-breaking analysis of the fairy tale in relation to ethnicity, colonialism, feminism, disability, sexuality, the environment, and class. An indispensable resource for students and scholars alike, The Fairy Tale World seeks to discover how such a traditional area of literature has remained so enduringly relevant in the modern world.

Perspectives on Mythology

Perspectives on Mythology PDF Author: Esi Sutherland-Addy
Publisher: Woeli Publishing Services
ISBN:
Category : Mythology
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description


Africa's Hidden Histories

Africa's Hidden Histories PDF Author: Karin Barber
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253347297
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Get Book Here

Book Description
'Africa's Hidden Histories' takes a private and personal look into the world of everyday Africans, as they put pen to paper. As it explores the innovative, intense, and sociable interest in reading and writing, the text opens new avenues for understanding a rich and hidden history of Africa's creative expression.

Knowing Women

Knowing Women PDF Author: Serena Owusua Dankwa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108852645
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Get Book Here

Book Description
Knowing Women is a study of same-sex desire in West Africa, which explores the lives and friendships of working-class women in southern Ghana who are intimately involved with each other. Based on in-depth research of the life histories of women in the region, Serena O. Dankwa highlights the vibrancy of everyday same-sex intimacies that have not been captured in a globally pervasive language of sexual identity. Paying close attention to the women's practices of self-reference, Dankwa refers to them as 'knowing women' in a way that both distinguishes them from, and relates them to categories such as lesbian or supi, a Ghanaian term for female friend. In doing so, this study is not only a significant contribution to the field of global queer studies in which both women and Africa have been underrepresented, but a starting point to further theorize the relation between gender, kinship, and sexuality that is key to queer, feminist, and postcolonial theories. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.