Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts PDF Author: Teresa N. Washington
Publisher: Oya's Tornado
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
“Blazes a new trail in Africana literary criticism by providing an insight into the soul and spirit of Africana womanhood.” --Anthonia Kalu, The Ohio State University, author of Women, Literature, and Development in Africa This is the revised and expanded edition of Teresa N. Washington's groundbreaking book Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature. In Yoruba language and culture, Aje signifies both a phenomenal spiritual power and the human beings who exercise that power. Aje is the birthright of Africana women who are revered as the Gods of Society. While Africana men can have Aje, its owners and controllers are Africana women. Because it is an African female power, and due to its invisibility, ubiquity, and profundity, Aje is often maligned as witchcraft. However, as Teresa N. Washington reveals in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Aje is central to the Yoruba ethos, worldview, and cosmology. Not only is it essential to human creation and artistic creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Aje is vital to social harmony and balance. Washington analyzes forms, figures, and forces of Aje in the Yoruba world, in the Caribbean Islands, in Latin America, and in African America. Washington's research reveals that with the exile and enslavement of millions of Africans, Aje became a global force and an essential ally in organizing insurrections, soothing shattered souls, and reminding the dispossessed of their inherent divinity. From her in-depth exploration of Aje in Pan-African history and orature, Washington guides readers through rich analyses of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual manifestations of Aje that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts includes innovative readings of works by many Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, and Ntozake Shange. This revised and expanded edition of Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts will appeal to scholars of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, gender studies, and comparative literature. Devotees of Africana spiritual systems will find this book to be indispensable.

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts PDF Author: Teresa N. Washington
Publisher: Oya's Tornado
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Blazes a new trail in Africana literary criticism by providing an insight into the soul and spirit of Africana womanhood.” --Anthonia Kalu, The Ohio State University, author of Women, Literature, and Development in Africa This is the revised and expanded edition of Teresa N. Washington's groundbreaking book Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature. In Yoruba language and culture, Aje signifies both a phenomenal spiritual power and the human beings who exercise that power. Aje is the birthright of Africana women who are revered as the Gods of Society. While Africana men can have Aje, its owners and controllers are Africana women. Because it is an African female power, and due to its invisibility, ubiquity, and profundity, Aje is often maligned as witchcraft. However, as Teresa N. Washington reveals in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Aje is central to the Yoruba ethos, worldview, and cosmology. Not only is it essential to human creation and artistic creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Aje is vital to social harmony and balance. Washington analyzes forms, figures, and forces of Aje in the Yoruba world, in the Caribbean Islands, in Latin America, and in African America. Washington's research reveals that with the exile and enslavement of millions of Africans, Aje became a global force and an essential ally in organizing insurrections, soothing shattered souls, and reminding the dispossessed of their inherent divinity. From her in-depth exploration of Aje in Pan-African history and orature, Washington guides readers through rich analyses of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual manifestations of Aje that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts includes innovative readings of works by many Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, and Ntozake Shange. This revised and expanded edition of Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts will appeal to scholars of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, gender studies, and comparative literature. Devotees of Africana spiritual systems will find this book to be indispensable.

I Saw the Sky Catch Fire

I Saw the Sky Catch Fire PDF Author: T. Obinkaram Echewa
Publisher: Plume
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
T. Obinkaram Echewa is one of the premier talents to emerge from the recent brilliant outpouring of fiction from Africa. Now this remarkable writer has produced his most impressive work to date in a revelatory novel of grief and joy, conflict and love in a Nigerian village.

Catch Fire

Catch Fire PDF Author: Douglas Scott Nelson
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
ISBN: 1614480079
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Take control of your life by becoming financially bulletproof with this no-holds-barred guide to money management. A tragic accident in 2002 nearly took Doug Nelson’s life. Caught in a horrendous gas explosion, he spent six weeks in a coma and nine months rehabilitating from his injuries. But Doug was blessed—he knew that money would not be an issue during that difficult time. He had spent several years prior to the tragedy working toward, and achieving, financial freedom. In Catch Fire, Doug shares his amazing story and provides the simple tools and knowledge that can help you to achieve the same financial peace of mind. Doug debunks numerous money myths and explains how to make money work for rather than against you. His Financial Playbook provides the offensive and defensive strategies necessary to securing your economic future and pursuing your life’s true purpose. “Financial freedom is a goal many chase after, but you won't have to chase any longer after reading this book. You will be equipped and on fire to make some serious changes in your financial life.” —T. Harv Eker, bestselling author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

The Politics of Motherhood

The Politics of Motherhood PDF Author: Alexis Jetter
Publisher: UPNE
ISBN: 9780874517804
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Essays and interviews explode the myth of apolitical motherhood by showing how 20th century women have politicized their role as mothers in a wide range of social contexts.

African Novels in the Classroom

African Novels in the Classroom PDF Author: Margaret Jean Hay
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781555878788
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Many teachers of African studies have found novels to be effective assignments in courses. In this guide, teachers describe their favourite African novels - drawn from all over the continent - and share their experiences of using them in the classroom.

Overcoming Women's Subordination in the Igbo African Culture and in the Catholic Church

Overcoming Women's Subordination in the Igbo African Culture and in the Catholic Church PDF Author: Rose N. Uchem
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
ISBN: 1581121334
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
"When African scholars lament over the near destruction of African cultures, they do not reflect the reality of African women's historical traditions of empowerment and inclusion in pre-colonial/pre-Christian African societies, which were also lost in the same process of Western Christian cultural imperialism. Similarly, most male Church theologians writing or speaking about inculturation do not address the deeper cultural issues, which impact heavily on African women. ..... [from back cover]

Postcolonial Identities and West African Literature

Postcolonial Identities and West African Literature PDF Author: Anwesha Das
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527591492
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
Anchored in postcolonial theory, this book highlights the concept of “postcolonial soliloquies” as an original idea in analyzing West African literature. It uses the political theory of “dialogue” to broaden the reader’s understanding of history, culture, identity and indigenous memories. The book shows how the novels of T. Obinkaram Echewa plunge into the known territory of colonial history with new boundaries.

Being and Becoming

Being and Becoming PDF Author: Ukpokolo, Chinyere
Publisher: Spears Media Press
ISBN: 1942876076
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This book illuminates the complex and constantly shifting social and cultural dynamics that shape people's identity. Specifically, the volume focuses on the intersections of gender with, culture and identity, and at different historical epochs; on the way men and women define themselves and are defined by diverse peoples and cultures across time and space in sub-Saharan Africa. The discussions presented in this anthology primarily focus on 'being' as 'a state' or 'condition', defined by sex identity, and how this identity shifts, and hence 'becoming', assuming diverse meanings in disparate societies, contexts, and time. The discourse, therefore, moves from how the perception of the self in cultural and historical contexts has informed actions and at some other times shaped interpretations given to historical facts, to how changing economic realities also shape the definitions and constructions of social and relational issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. The historical trajectories of Islamic religion, colonialism and Christian missionary activities in sub-Saharan Africa have shaped the worlds of the peoples of the region and impacted on gender relations.

Locating Gender in Modernism

Locating Gender in Modernism PDF Author: Geetha Ramanathan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113629127X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This book visits modernism within a comparative, gendered, and third-world framework, questioning current scholarly categorisations of modernism and reframing our conception of what constitutes modernist aesthetics. It describes the construction of modernist studies and argues that despite a range of interventions which suggest that philosophical and material articulations with the third world shaped modernism, an emphasis on modernist "universals" persists. Ramanathan argues that women and third-world authors have reshaped received notions of the modern and revised orthodox ideas on the modern aesthetic. Authors such as Bessie Head, Josiane Racine, T.Obinkaram Echewa, Raja Rao, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Sembene Ousmane, Salman Rushdie, Ana Castillo, Attia Hossain, Bapsi Sidhwa, and Sahar Khalifeh, are visited in their specific cultural contexts and use some form of realism, a mode that western modernism relegates to the nineteenth century. A comparative methodology and extensive research on intersecting topics such as post-coloniality and the articulation between gender and modernist aesthetics facilitates readings of the modern in twentieth century literature that fall outside standards of western modernism. Considering the relationship between aesthetics and ideology, Ramanathan lays out a critical apparatus to enhance our understanding of the modern, thus suggesting that form is not universal, but that the history of forms, like the history of colonialism and of women, indicates very specific modalities of the modern.

Student Encyclopedia of African Literature

Student Encyclopedia of African Literature PDF Author: Douglas Killam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313054517
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
African literature is a vast subject of growing output and interest. Written especially for students, this book selectively surveys the topic in a clear and accessible way. Included are roughly 600 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, genres, and major works. Many entries cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. Africa is a land of contrasts and of diverse cultures and traditions. It is also a land of conflict and creativity. The literature of the continent draws upon a fascinating body of oral traditions and lore and also reflects the political turmoil of the modern world. With the increased interest in cultural diversity and the growing centrality of Africa in world politics, African literature is figuring more and more prominently in the curriculum. This book helps students learn about the African literary achievement. Written expressly for students, this book is far more accessible than other reference works on the subject. Included are nearly 600 alphabetically arranged entries on authors, such as Chinua Achebe, Athol Fugard, Buchi Emecheta, Nadine Gordimer, and Wole Soyinka; major works, such as Things Fall Apart and Petals of Blood; and individual genres, such as the novel, drama, and poetry. Many entries cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography.