Chapter TwentyChapter Twenty
The People and Cultures of AfricaThe People and Cultures of AfricaChapter TwentyChapter Twenty
The People and Cultures of AfricaThe People and Cultures of Africa
Afropop:
African World Music
Tribal DrummingTribal DrummingTribal DrummingTribal Drumming
Drums are made of local
native materials (hollow
tree trunks) and served as
an early form of long
distance communication.
They are also used
during ceremonial
and religious functions.
Congotronics: Postmodern Congotronics: Postmodern African MusicAfrican MusicCongotronics: Postmodern Congotronics: Postmodern African MusicAfrican Music
Religion and Society in Early AfricaReligion and Society in Early Africa
• Common cultural inheritance– Basic languages– Animist beliefs
• Oral traditions– Reverence for elderly, ancestor worship
• Emphasis on family, community– Evolution of powerful kingdoms
Three Early African Kingdoms:Three Early African Kingdoms:Ghana, Benin, ZimbabweGhana, Benin, Zimbabwe
Three Early African Kingdoms:Three Early African Kingdoms:Ghana, Benin, ZimbabweGhana, Benin, Zimbabwe
• Ghana– Caravan routes– Increased wealth from exported goods– Conquered by Berbers
• Benin (Nigeria)– New food crops, metalworking techniques– Ruled by an Oba – Decline after massive slave deportation
Bronze frieze of a Benin Oba (15th century)
Altar to the Hand and Arm, Benin (17th century)
Three Early African Kingdoms:Three Early African Kingdoms:Ghana, Benin, ZimbabweGhana, Benin, Zimbabwe
Three Early African Kingdoms:Three Early African Kingdoms:Ghana, Benin, ZimbabweGhana, Benin, Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe– Stone Age settlements (bushmen)– “Great Zimbabwe” complex– The Shona
• Ancestral spirits as birds, eagles
African LiteratureAfrican LiteratureAfrican LiteratureAfrican Literature
• Somalian oral traditions– Raage Ugaas (18th century)– Qamaan Bulhan (mid-19th century)
• Swahili-Arabic script– Recording traditional, new songs– Saiyid Abdallah (c. 1720-1810)
African LiteratureAfrican LiteratureAfrican LiteratureAfrican Literature
• Negritude– Leopold Senghor (1906-1989)– Compromise with Neo-Colonialism?
• African vs. Western language– Thomas Mofolo (1875?-1948)– Chinua Achebe (b. 1930)
Traditional African Art Traditional African Art in the Modern Periodin the Modern Period
Traditional African Art Traditional African Art in the Modern Periodin the Modern Period
• Functional, traditional– Religious objects– Maternity figures– Masks
• Complexity of influences– Western tendencies
Maasai feather headdressMaasai feather headdressMaasai feather headdressMaasai feather headdress