Academic literature on the topic 'Mende (African people) Mende (African people)'

Whenever historians of Africa write: “According to tradition…”, they evade the crucial question of what kind of oral tradition they are referring to. The assumption that oral tradition is something more or less of the same nature throughout Africa, or indeed the world, still permeates many studies on African history; and even those who have themselves collected oral material seldom pause to consider how significant this material is or how it compares with that available in other areas.The majority of studies of oral tradition have been written by people who worked with fairly formal traditions; and those who, after reading such studies, go and work in societies where such traditions do not exist are often distressed and disappointed. There is therefore still a need for localized studies of oral tradition in different parts of Africa. As far as Sierra Leone is concerned, no work specifically devoted to the nature of oral tradition has been published, despite several valuable publications on the oral literature of the Limba and Mende. The notes that follow are intended to give a rough picture of the kind of oral material I obtained in a predominantly Mende-speaking area of Sierra Leone in 1977-78 (supplemented by a smaller number of interviews conducted in 1973-75, 1980, and 1984). My main interest was in the eighteenth and nineteenth century history of what I have called the Galinhas country, the southernmost corner of Sierra Leone.I conducted nearly all of my interviews through interpreters and did not use a tape recorder more than a very few times. This was partly because the amount of baggage I could carry on foot was limited, but also because I soon found that some informants were disturbed by the tape recorder, and because it was difficult to catch on tape the contributions of all the bystanders.

Opening ParagraphThe masks and associated traditions of the people of the central Guinea coast of West Africa are among the most obvious and well-known features of the contemporary cultural landscape of the region. For some time social anthropologists have described the functions of the masks as social control mechanisms (Horton, 1976). Recently anthropologists have been elucidating these cultural items in terms of symbolic or structural analyses (Fischer and Himmelheber, 1976; Jdrej, 1976; MacCormack, 1980; Phillips, 1978). So far the studies concerned with symbolism, where they have not been explicitly general and theoretical (Jdrej, 1980; Tonkin, 1979), have confined themselves to a particular culture or a particular mask or subset of masks.

: I argue that the emerging genre of autofiction provides a number of useful techniques and methods by which postcolonial writers engage with the politics of memory in their depiction of a number of largely forgotten brutalities committed by the European imperial powers during the colonial era. More specifically, two of the elements of autofictional practice that have been of particular interest to postcolonial writers are its capacity to mediate between individual and collective forms of memory on the one hand; while also radically destabilizing notions of absolute truth and authenticity on the other. Drawing on research into the relationship between writing and forms of public commemoration, the article analyses Fred D’Aguiar’s portrayal of the killing of African slaves thrown overboard the slave ship Zong in 1781 in Feeding the Ghosts (1997); Kamila Shamsie’s depiction of the massacre of demonstrators protesting against colonial rule in India in Peshawar in 1930 in A God in Every Stone (2014); and Jackie Kay’s homage to the sinking of the SS Mendi, a ship carrying southern African non-combatant personnel to assist in the British effort in World War One in “Lament for the Mendi Men” (2011). It will suggest that even though these texts are not strictly works of autofiction, the techniques afforded by that genre are useful to those writers seeking to draw attention towards a number of neglected historical events. Colonial massacres, enslavement of people and naval disasters during the imperial period have received far less historical or cultural memorialization than other more widely recognized historical events such as VE Day or the Somme. By establishing these events as being culturally and morally important to remember, the article will argue, autofiction provides a number of tools for engaging with the politics of public memory and commemorative events in the present

Besides the fact that sexual relationships have been understood and misunderstood in different ways, the possibility of sexual abuse remains a big issue amongst African South Africans. It has been sexual relationships, amongst other factors, that have been widely used by one gender to dominate the other. Sometimes this happens because women, because of their defencelessness, are perceived to enjoy the kind of sexual abuse they are subjected to. It is from this kind of attitude that some people, particularly men, come to the conclusion that sexual intercourse is another form of hospitality that can be offered to women. This kind of thinking has been fuelled by the traditional rejection of singlehood or widowhood and other related situations that women find themselves in. It is for this reason that polygamy, levirate marriage and cohabitation have crept into the minds of some men. This paper will attempt to unveil how thinking of sexual intercourse as extending a form of hospitality has encouraged the domination and abuse of women in the African context. The study will also unveil how the gift of sex has been misunderstood and misinterpreted in order to subject women to sexual violence and harassment. Afgesien van die feit dat seksuele verhoudinge op verskillende wyses verstaan en misverstaan is, bly die moontlikheid van seksuele misbruik ‘n groot probleem onder Suid-Afrikaanse Afrikane. Dit was nog altyd seksuele verhoudinge, sowel as ander faktore, wat wyd deur een geslag gebruik is om die ander geslag te domineer. Soms gebeur dit omdat gedink word dat vroue, as gevolg van hulle weerloosheid, die soort seksuele misbruik waaraan hulle blootgestel word geniet. Voortvloeiend hieruit ontstaan die houding dat sommige mense, veral mans, tot die gevolgtrekking kom dat seksuele gemeenskap ‘n vorm van gasvryheid is wat vroue behoort te geniet. Hierdie soort denke word aangehelp deur die tradisionele verwerping van enkellopende vroue en weduwees en ander soortgelyke situasies waarin vroue hulleself bevind. Dit is om hierdie rede dat poligamie, swaershuwelike en saambly sommige mans se denke insluip. Hierdie artikel sal poog om aan te toon hoe ‘n denkbeeld van seksuele omgang as ‘n vorm van gasvryheid die dominasie en mishandeling van vroue in die Afrika-konteks versterk is. Die studie sal ook aantoon hoe die “geskenk” van seksuele omgang vroue meer blootstel aan seksuele geweld en mishandeling.

This reflection will analyze the strategies used by two Latin American black writers to present the theme of blackness in the 19th century. On one side, the autobiography written by the cuban Juan Francisco Manzano (1835), the only autobiography text that shows one Latin American semiliterate slave black man that nar-rates your life in exchange for your liberty. On the other side the narrative written by Maria Firmina dos Reis, a free black woman considered the first female novelist in Brazil: Úrsula (1859), an abolitionist text whose main characters are white, surprises by giving voice to the slave people, who narrate their memories in Africa and are aware of their condition. Theoretical references will be used about the novel as a form of projection of an ideal future (Sommer, 2004), abolitionist texts as thesis novel (Jeffers, 2013), mask of speechlessness (Kilomba, 2019) and cimarronagem’s pedagogy (Mendes, 2019) intending to revise the Latin American literary canon in an inclusion proposal the two narratives to mandatory readings in the Litera-ture studies in the Latin American universities.

O A. interpreta o II Fórum Mundial de Teologia e Libertação a partir de dois pontos de vista: no primeiro, em forma de crônica, descreve o evento, sua programação e suporte organizacional, realça momentos transcendentes, sonda perspectivas de futuro e ensaia uma breve avaliação; no segundo, deixando-o ecoar na mente e no coração, detecta e explicita o grito sufocado de uma África em grande medida desconhecida e esquecida – grito à racionalidade ocidental, aos privilegiados de um planeta enfermo, aos pobres e excluídos do mundo, à Igreja, aos teólogos e à teologia.Abstract: The Author interprets the Second World Forum on Theology and Liberation from two points of view: in the first – a chronicle – he describes the event, its programming and organizational support, highlights its transcendent moments, examines future prospects and attempts to write a brief assessment; in the second, he detects, explains – and lets reverberate in his mind and in his heart – the stifled cry of an Africa to a large measure unknown and neglected. This is a cry on behalf of the poor and excluded people of the world directed to Western rationality, to the privileged of a sick planet, to the Church, the theologians and theology.

La importancia de los rituales funerarios en el África subsahariana ha sorprendido a los observadores, quienes, independientemente de la diversidad de los rituales, los han relacionado con el dominio del grupo sobre el individuo y con el proceso del perpetuo retorno de los muertos entre los vivos. La evolución interna de las religiones africanas tradicionales, llamadas religiones del terruño, ha hecho surgir formas culturales más elaboradas en torno a los antepasados de prestigio, intermediarios entre el mundo humano y el universo invisible. Dicha evolución preparó la aceptación de las religiones reveladas, que no han modificado totalmente los rituales mortuorios ni han eclipsado por completo la creencia en los antepasados y en la reencarnación. Lo que transforma los rituales funerarios y la idea de la muerte son los fenómenos vinculados con la modernidad, en particular el éxodo rural y la emigración a lugares lejanos. A partir de ciertas referencias a los principales conocimientos sobre la muerte y los ritos funerarios del África subsahariana y a partir de dos investigaciones de campo, una llevada a cabo en el Senegal y la otra en Francia, el autor de este artículo se esfuerza por analizar el sentido de la transformación de la idea de la muerte y de los ritos funerarios que se puede observar hoy en día al sur del Sáhara.Abstract: The importance of funeral ritual in Black Africa has impressed the observers. They have analysed these rites as reflecting the group’s domination of the individual and as expressing a process of perpetual return of dead among living people. The internal evolution of traditional African religions has produced more sophisticated cults concerning prestigious ancestors, intermediate between human and invisible world. Such an evolution has prepared the arrival of the revealed faiths which have not completely transformed the funeral rites nor destroyed the beliefs in ancestors and in reincarnation. These rituals have been above all transformed by the modern life and processes like migration and rural exodus. This article uses references to the main knowledge concerning death and funeral rites in Africa and the results of two surveys made recently in Senegal and in France to analyse the meaning of the changes of the idea of death one can observe today in the south of Sahara.Résumé : L’importance des rituels funéraires en Afrique subsaharienne a frappé les observateurs qui les ont reliés, au-delà de leur diversité, à la domination du groupe sur l’individu et à un processus de retour perpétuel des morts parmi les vivants. L’évolution interne des religions africaines traditionnelles, appelées religions du terroir, a fait émerger des formes cultuelles plus élaborées autour d’ancêtres prestigieux, intermédiaires entre le monde humain et l’univers invisible. Cette évolution a préparé l’acceptation des religions révélées qui n’ont pas modifié totalement les rituels mortuaires ni tout à fait éclipsé la croyance aux ancêtres et à la réincarnation. Ce sont les phénomènes liés à la modernité, en particulier l’exode rural et les migrations lointaines, qui transforment les rituels funéraires et l’idée de la mort. A partir de références aux principales connaissances sur la mort et les rites funéraires en Afrique subsaharienne et à partir de deux recherches de terrain, l’une menée au Sénégal et l’autre en France, cet article s’efforce d’analyser le sens des transformations de l’idée de la mort et des rites funéraires que l’on peut observer aujourd’hui au sud du Sahara.

This article reports the experiences of people with oculocutaneous albinism in South Africa. Oculocutaneous albinism is an inherited disorder characterised by the defective production of melanin, with little or no pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. This condition is found globally, with a high prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa and in clusters in South America. People with this condition are often stigmatised and discriminated against owing to myths and superstitions held by the public about the condition. To date no studies have explored the psychosocial aspects of oculocutaneous albinism. A qualitative study was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa during 2007 where a purposive sample of 15 members of the black population with oculocutaneous albinism participated in in-depth individual phenomenological interviews. One central question was posed to facilitate the interviews: Could you please share your experience as a person with albinism? Data from the interviews were analysed using Collaizi’s qualitative data analysis method and three main themes emerged: (1) perceptions of the internal environment, for example the self; (2) experiences in the external environment, for example family and community; and (3) the need for selfdevelopment and growth based on their experiences. Recommendations are made to enhance the self-concept of and promote a sense of belonging, self-development and growth in people with oculocutaneous albinism.OpsommingHierdie aanbieding is ‘n verslag oor bevindings van die ervaring van persone met okulokutaneuse albinisme in Suid-Afrika. Okulokutaneuse albinisme is ‘n oorerflike afwyking, gekenmerk deur ‘n gebrekkige melanien produksie. Daar is min of geen pigmentasie in die vel, hare en oë nie. Hierdie toestand word wêreldwyd aangetref met ‘n hoër voorkoms in sub-Sahara Afrika en groepe in Suid Amerika. Mense met hierdie toestand het dikwels ‘n stigma en daar word teen hulle gediskrimineer as gevolg van mites en bygelowe van die publiek oor die toestand. Tot datum het geen studies die psigososiale aspek van hierdie toestand ondersoek nie. ‘n Kwalitatiewe studie is in Johannesburg, Suid-Afrika uitgevoer in 2007. ‘n Doelgerigte steekproef van 15 swart mense met okulokutaneuse albinisme het deel geneem aan in diepte individuele fenomenologiese onderhoude. ‘n Sentrale vraag was gestel om die onderhoude te fasiliteer: Kan u asseblief u ervaring as ‘n persoon met albinisme deel?”’ Data van die onderhoude was geanaliseer deur van Collaizi’s se kwalitatiewe data analise metode gebruik te maak. Drie hooftemas het te voorskyn gekom, naamlik: (1) persepsies van die interne omgewing byvoorbeeld die self; (2) ervarings van die eksterne omgewing, byvoorbeeld die familie en die gemeenskap; en (3) die behoefte vir self ontwikkeling en groei gebaseer op hulle ervarings. Aanbevelings is gemaak deur die navorsers om self konsep uit te lig , en om ‘n gevoel van ‘behoort aan’, self ontwikkeling en groei in mense met okulokutaneuse albinisme te bevorder.

It seems that many people who are seeking meaning and purpose in their lives, are exploring spirituality as a way of providing greater levels of understanding of their life journeys. The focus of this research was to ascertain the meaning and purpose that spirituality gives to peoples’ lives. This study was based on interviews conducted with ten professionals at middle and senior management levels, in a South African Financial Services company. A thematic analysis approach was used within the qualitative research paradigm. Respondents indicated through various themes, that having a spiritual perspective in life, helps them create meaning and purpose in their lives. Opsomming Dit wil voorkom of baie mense wat na sin en betekenis in hulle lewens soek, die moontlikhede van spiritualiteit verken as ’n wyse om hoër vlakke van insig in hul lewensreise te bewerkstellig. Die fokus van hierdie navorsing was om vas te stel watter sin en betekenis spiritualiteit aan mense se lewens gee. Hierdie studie is gebaseer op tien onderhoude wat met professionele persone op middel en senior bestuursvlakke in ’n Suid-Afrikaanse dienstemaatskappy gevoer is. ’n Tematiese ontledingsbenadering binne die kwalitatiewe navorsingsparadigma is gebruik. Respondente het aan die hand van ’n verskeidenheid temas aangedui dat ’n spirituele lewensperspektief tot sin en betekenis in hul lewens bydra.

The escalating rate of AIDS-related deaths in South Africa has led to an increase in social scientific research on the perceptions and Experiences of people suffering from AIDS by focusing on their physical health and emotional well-being. Opsomming Die styging in die getal VIGS-verwante sterftes in Suid-Afrika het gelei tot 'n toename in sosiaalwetenskaplike navorsing oor die persepsies en belewenisse van mense met VIGS, met die fokus op hul fisieke Gesondheid en emosionele welsyn. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

This study which is the product of library research and fieldwork seeks, on account of the persistent marginalisation of African Traditional Religion (ATR) in Sierra Leone by Islam and Christianity, to investigate the place of ATR in inter-religious encounters in the country since the advent of Islam and Christianity. As in most of sub-Saharan Africa, ATR is the indigenous religion of Sierra Leone. When the early forebears and later progenitors of Islam and Christianity arrived, they met Sierra Leone indigenes with a remarkable knowledge of God and a structured religious system. Successive Muslim clerics, traders, and missionaries were respectful of and sensitive to the culture and religion of the indigenes who accommodated them and offered them hospitality. This approach resulted in a syncretistic brand of Islam. In contrast, most Christian missionaries adopted an exclusive and insensitive approach to African culture and religiosity. Christianity, especially Protestantism, demanded a complete abandonment of African culture and religion, and a total dedication to Christianity. This attitude has continued by some indigenous clerics and religious leaders to the extent that Sierra Leone Indigenous Religion (SLIR) and it practitioners continue to be marginalised in Sierra Leone's inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. Although the indigenes of Sierra Leone were and continue to be hospitable to Islam and Christianity, and in spite of the fact that SLIR shares affinity with Islam and Christianity in many theological and practical issues, and even though there are many Muslims and Christians who still hold on to traditional spirituality and culture, Muslim and Christian leaders of these immigrant religions are reluctant to include Traditionalists in interfaith issues in the country. The formation and constitution of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) which has local and international recognition did not include ATR. These considerations, then beg the questions: * Why have Muslim and Christian leaders long marginalised ATR, its practices and practitioners from interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Sierra Leone? * What is lacking in ATR that continues to prevent practitioners of Christianity and Islam from officially involving Traditionalists in the socio-religious development of the country? Muslim and Christians have given several factors that are responsible for this exclusion: * The prejudices that they inherited from their forebears * ATR lacks the hallmarks of a true religion * ATR is primitive and economically weak * The fear that the accommodation of ATR will result in syncretism and nominalism * Muslims see no need to dialogue with ATR practitioners, most of whom they considered to be already Muslims Considering the commonalities ATR shares with Islam and Christianity, and the number of Muslims and Christians who still hold on to traditional spirituality, these factors are not justifiable. Although Islam and Christianity are finding it hard to recognise and include ATR in interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Sierra Leone, ATR continues to play a vital role in Sierra Leone's national politics, in the search and maintenance of employment, and in the judicial sector. ATR played a crucial part during and after the civil war. The national government in its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report acknowledged the importance and contribution of traditional culture and spirituality during and after the war. Outside of Sierra Leone, the progress in the place and level of the recognition of ATR continues. At varying degrees, the Sociétié Africaine de Culture (SAC) in France, the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Vatican, and the World Council of Churches, have taken positive steps to recognise and find a place for ATR in their structures. Much about the necessity for dialogue and cooperation with ATR can be learnt in the works and efforts of these secular and religious bodies. If nothing else, there are two main reasons why Islam and Christianity in Sierra Leone must be in dialogue with ATR: * Dialogue of life or in community. People living side-by-side meet and interact personally and communally on a regular basis. They share common resources and communal benefits. These factors compel people to be in dialogue * Dual religiosity. As many Muslims and Christians in Sierra Leone are still holding on to ATR practices, it is crucial for Muslims and Christians to dialogue with ATR practitioners. If Muslims and Christians are serious about meeting and starting a process of dialogue with Traditionalists, certain practical issues have to be considered: * Islam and Christianity have to validate and accept ATR as a true religion and a viable partner in the socio-religious landscape of Sierra Leone * Muslims and Christians must educate themselves about ATR, and the scriptures and teachings of their respective religious traditions in order to relate well with Traditionalists These are starting points that can produce successful results. Although at present Muslims and Christians in Sierra Leone are finding it difficult to initiate dialogue and cooperation with Traditionalists, all hope is not lost. It is now the task of the established IRCSL to ensure the inclusion of ATR. Islam and Christianity must remember that when they came as strangers, ATR, played host to them and has played and continues to play a vital role in providing hospitality, and allowing them to blossom on African soil.
Religious Studies and Arabic
D.Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

AFRIKAANS : Verstedeliking is ’n verskynsel wat sowel Afrikaners as swart mense in die twintigste eeu in Suid-Afrika geaffekteer het. In sommige opsigte was die traumatiese effek van hierdie gebeure vergelykbaar vir die twee groepe, maar in andere was dit ’n heel ander werklikheid vir Afrikaners om die platteland vir die stad te verruil as vir swart mense. Daar bestaan weinig studies wat ’n gesamentlike blik op die verstedeliking van die twee groepe werp. Hierdie studie doen juis dit deur die representasie in literêre tekste van die stad en die stadslewe deur Afrikaners en swart mense te ondersoek. Die welbekende stad/plattelandopposisie word verken, maar met die klem op die stad soos wat dit in literêre tekste gerepresenteer word. Die term “cultuurtekst” word in hierdie bestudering van representasie aangewend. Die term word deur Maaike Meijer gebruik vir die verskynsel waar bepaalde wyses van representasie rondom ’n onderwerp voortdurend herhaal. Die cultuurtekst is dus ’n denkbeeldige ‘teks’ wat bestaan uit verstarde kodes van representasie (of kulturele skemas, soos wat sy dit ook noem) wat steeds weer in individuele tekste herhaal word. Die doel van die studie is om die bestaan van kultuurtekste oor die verstedeliking van Afrikaners en swart mense aan te toon. Literêre tekste in Afrikaans word bestudeer om ’n stel kulturele skemas te identifiseer wat oor ’n verskeidenheid tekste aangetref word, wat aandui dat ’n kultuurteks oor Afrikanerverstedeliking in hierdie tekste herhaal word. Dieselfde werkwyse word betreffende swart verstedeliking gevolg: Engelse en Zulutekste word bestudeer om bewys te lewer van ’n kultuurteks oor verstedeliking. Laastens word hierdie kultuurtekste oor verstedeliking met mekaar vergelyk, aangesien bepaalde feite rondom Afrikaner/swart verstedeliking pas duidelik word wanneer ’n vergelykende benadering gevolg word. Deur hierdie vergelyking word gevolgtrekkings ENGLISH : Urbanization is a phenomenon that affected both Afrikaners and black people in twentieth century South Africa. In some respects the traumatic effect of these events are comparable for the two groups, but in others the experience of leaving the country for the city was a very different reality for Afrikaners and black people. Few studies have taken a simultaneous look at the urbanization undergone by the two groups. This study does this by investigating the representation in literary texts of the city and city life as experienced by black people and Afrikaners. The well-known opposition of city/country is explored, but with the emphasis on the city as it is represented in literary texts. In studying this representation, the term “cultuurtekst” (cultural text) is employed. The term is used by Maaike Meijer to describe the phenomenon of certain ways of representation around a specific topic being constantly repeated. The cultuurtekst is thus an imaginary ‘text’ consisting of fixed codes of representation (cultural schemes, as she also calls them) that we find being echoed anew in individual texts. The aim of the study is to prove the existence of such a cultuurtekst pertaining to the urbanization of both black people and Afrikaners. In order to achieve this, literary texts in Afrikaans are studied to identify a set of cultural schemes that are found across a variety of texts, thus indicating that a cultuurtekst about Afrikaner urbanization is being repeated in these texts. The same procedure is followed concerning black urbanization: English and Zulu texts are studied to establish evidence of a cultuurtekst about urbanization. Finally, these cultural texts about urbanization are compared with one another, seeing that certain facts about Afrikaner/black urbanization only become truly clear when a comparative approach is followed. From this comparison conclusions are drawn about the similar and different experiences of urbanization and city life for Afrikaners and black people. Copyright
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009.
Afrikaans
unrestricted