-
What is the definition of culture
Way of life
-
Material culture
Physical, visible elements
-
Non-material culture
Invisible, intangible elements
-
African art - 5 traditions
- Craftsmaking
- Royal art
- Nok culture
- Glyptic art
- Architectural art
-
African art - 4 standards
- Smoothness
- Symmetry
- Ephebism
- Hypermimesis
-
Craftsmaking
Textile weaving, maskmaking
-
Royal art
Throwns, crowns, other regalia
-
Nok culture
- Sculpture of bronze and clay
- - ife, benin people
-
Glyptic art
Painting on rocks and walls
-
Architectural art
Ex., great zimbabwe ruins, pyramaids
-
Ephebism
Emphasis on youthful images
-
Hypermimesis
General resemblance rather than exact representation
-
Language families
- Afro-asiatic
- Nilo-saharan
- Khoisan
- Niger-congo-kordofanian
- - kordofanian
- - niger-congo
-
Afro-Asiatic or hamito-Semitic
- -Most important
- -Semetic branch includes languages also spoken in asia and north africa
- -arabic leading in this group
- -amharric official language of ethiopia
- -other semitic include tigre in eritrea, berber in NW, somali in somalia
-
Nilo-Saharan
- -spoken along parts of the nile and niger in...
- -chad
- -uganda
- -western sudan
- -western kenya
-
Khoisan
- -smallest language family
- -no more than 100000 speakers altogether
- -khoikhoi and san of SE africa
- -also called "click languages"
-
Niger-Congo-kordofanian
Made up of two subfamilies
-
Kordofanian
- -made up of 30 languages
- -all found in the nuba hills of southern sudan
-
Niger-Congo
- -covers almost all of africa below the sahara
- -3 out of 4 speakers
- -several branches
- --bantu
- --west sudanic
- --kwa
- --west atlantic
- --malayo
- --indo-european
-
Bantu languages
- -cental-sothern zulu
- -xhosa
- -shona
- -bemba
- -kikuyu
-
-
Kwa branch
Akan in west africa
-
-
Malayo
- Polynesian family
- -malagasy in madagascar
-
Indo-European
- -2members: english, afrikaans
- -indigenous to groups in south africa, zimbabwe, liberia
-
Monolingual countries
Arabic north africa except algeria
-
-
-
Anglophone counties
- -american
- -liberia
- -south africa
-
-
Lusophone countries
- -portugese
- -angola
- -mozambique
-
Language facts
- -one third of 3000 worldwide languages are in africa
- -avg african language has about 200k speakers
- -apart from arabic, most widely spoken african languages are swahili and hausa, each with more than 30 million speakers
- -kiswahili official language of east africa, and tanzania
- -hausa official of west africa
-
Explain - African societies are collectives
Interest of group is more important than that of individual
-
Functions of family
- -share resources
- -agent of socialization (to transmit values to youth)
- -unit of economic production
- -network to seek access to oppurtunities in urban areas
-
Bridewealth
- -paid by groom's family to bride's family
- -expression of gratitude
- -compensate for loss of her services
- -token of good faith
- -to respect bride and not mistreat her
-
Christianity
- Largest religion
- -earlist period: introduced in N africa during apostolic age in 1st century AD, declined in 7th with rise of islam
- -2nd phase: during portugese exploration of atlantic coasts during 15th century, missionaries sent to convert many areas
- -3rd phase: reaction to slave trade in 19th century, coincided with colonial expansion
-
Ethiopian type Christian churches
- -emerged toward end of 19th century, beginning of 20th
- -essentialy protest movements
- -broke away from missionary churches - seen as supporting oppressive colonial regimes
- -found mostly in ES africa
- -african leaders
- -non prophetic
- -do not place a great deal of emphasis on holy spirits
-
Spirit type Christian churches
- -aka zionist
- -prophetic
- -emphasis on holy spirit
- -drumming, dancing
- -concerned with practical benefits of religion rather than salvation in after-life
- -appeal to those upset with the destruction of social culture
-
Messianic Christian churches
- -special focus on leader who has prophetic powers
- -leaders occupies a special place between his followers and god
- -ex. Simon kimbangu - he founded an african christian church called the church of jesus christ on this earth
-
Islam
- -north africa: jihads or holy wars
- -west africa: trade, contact
- -accomodates african values more than other religions - polygamy
- -believes in the equality of the faithful
-
Judaism
-found on a limited basis in north, south africa
-
Other religions
East, south africa: hinduism, buddhism, shintoism, and taoism
-
Literature forms
- -Much african literature is oral
- -that which is not oral;
- -proverbs and riddles
- -myths and legends
- -folktales and popular stories
- -poetry
-
Proverbs and riddles
Convey accepted social norm
-
Myths and legends
- Teach about:
- -belief in supernaturak
- -history and origins of peoples and societies
-
Folktales and popular stories
- -regarded as fiction
- -spider, tortoise, hare
- -spider is anansi
- -often depicted as trickster, liar, crook, conman
- -sometimes seen as hero
-
Poetry
- -narrative epic: chanted, takes several days to perform, talks about historical legend dealing with conquerers and founders of dynasty
- -occupational poetry: belongs to a group practicing a trade or vocation
- -love songs
- -cult poetry: rituals for the divinities/oracles, celebrates the forces of nature used in practice of traditional medicine
-
Wole Soyinka
1986 - Nobel Prize
-
Chinua Achebe
- -Most outstanding: Things Fall Apart
- -1993 - Times of London named him one of the 1000 makers of the 20th century
- -Became world classic in 1993
- -Other novels
- -Arrow of God
- -No longer at ease
- -A man of the people
- -Anthills of the Savanna
-
Thomas Mofolo
- -African literature written in African Languages
- -Travelers of the East
- -Chaka the Zulu
-
Ngugij W'a Thiongo
- -Formerly James Ngugi
- -leading writer in East Africa
- -Novels:
- -Weep not child
- -The River between
- -Grain of Wheat
- -Petals of Blood
- -Devil on the cross (deals with issue of sexual harassment)
-
Negritude
- -Leopold Senghor
- -Means "Blackness"
- -African literature written in french
- -creates feelings of pride in being black
- -seeks to identify positive values in african culture
- -puts emphasis on Pan Africanism
- -reaction to colonial literature
- -became an anti-colonial ideaology
- -slogan: Leopard cannot change it's spots
- -came as part of Harlem Renasissance (1920's)
-
Outward signs of re-africanization in America
- -Afro hairdos
- -african names
-
4 Major instruments
- -Cordophones (string)
- -Idiophones (elastic material - resonant solids)
- -Aerophones (sound through air vibration)
- -Membranophones (drum-like)
-
Purpose of African Music
- -recreational
- -convey messages
-
Idiophone instrument examples
- -rattles
- -bells
- -mbira (thumb piano)
- -xylophone
-
Musicians
- -Miriam Makeba
- -Hugh Masekela
- -Lady smith black mambazo (south africa)
-
Dancing
- -utilize symbolic gestures, props, masks, costumes
- -team dancing
- -formations
- -linear
- -circular
- -serpentine
- -columns of 2 or more rows
|
|
