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What role does ritual play in the everyday lives of modern Africans? How are so-called "traditional" cultural forms deployed by people seeking empowerment in a world where "modernity" has failed to deliver on its promises? Some of the essays in Modernity and Its Malcontents address familiar anthropological issues--like witchcraft, myth, and the politics of reproduction--but treat them in fresh ways, situating them amidst the polyphonies of contemporary Africa. Others explore distinctly nontraditional subjects--among them the Nigerian popular press and soul-eating in Niger--in such a way as to confront the conceptual limits of Western social science. Together they demonstrate how ritual may be powerfully mobilized in the making of history, present, and future. Addressing challenges posed by contemporary African realities, the authors subject such concepts as modernity, ritual, power, and history to renewed critical scrutiny. Writing about a variety of phenomena, they are united by a wish to preserve the diversity and historical specificity of local signs and practices, voices and perspectives. Their work makes a substantial and original contribution toward the historical anthropology of Africa.
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Subjects
Politics and government, Social life and customs, Congresses, Witchcraft, Rites and ceremonies, Power (Social sciences), Africa, politics and government, Africa, social life and customs, Witchcraft, africa, Rites et cérémonies, Congrès, Sorcellerie, Pouvoir (Sciences sociales), Politique et gouvernement, Mœurs et coutumes, Manners and customs, Riten, Hekserij, Macht, Entkolonialisierung, Magie, Markt, Ritual, Moeurs et coutumesPlaces
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Modernity and its malcontents: ritual and power in postcolonial Africa
1993, University of Chicago Press, University Of Chicago Press
in English
0226114392 9780226114392
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2
Modernity and Its Malcontents: Ritual and Power in Postcolonial Africa
November 1, 1993, University Of Chicago Press
in English
0226114406 9780226114408
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3
Modernity and Its Malcontents: Ritual and Power in Postcolonial Africa
November 1, 1993, University Of Chicago Press
in English
0226114392 9780226114392
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Book Details
First Sentence
"BECAUSE THE BORI CULT OF POSSESSION HAS BEEN REIFIED as an "epiphenomenon" whose practices are merely symbolic and whose impact is restricted to the sphere of ritual, its historical and political significance has been largely overlooked."
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- Created April 29, 2008
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July 30, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | associate edition with work OL18262463W |
August 5, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |