African Sartorial Culture and the Question of Identity: Towards an African Philosophy of Dress

2021 ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Ademola Kazeem Fayemi
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
African Identity ◽  
Sub Saharan

This paper is a critical interrogation of the apparel culture as a marker of African identity in traditional and contemporary Africa. The article philosophically discusses the sartorial culture of sub-Saharan Africans in the light of its defining elements, identity, and non-verbal communicative proclivities. Focusing on the Yoruba and the Ashanti people, the author argues that African dress expresses some symbolic, linguistic, and sometimes hidden, complex and immanent meaning(s) requiring extensive interpretations and meaning construction. With illustrative examples, he defends the position that the identity of some cultural regions in Africa can be grouped together based on the original, specific techniques and essence of dress that they commonly share. Against the present absence of an African philosophy of dress in the African sartorial culture and knowledge production, he argues the imperativeness of an African philosophy of dress, its subject matter, and connections to other cognate branches of African philosophy, and the prospects of such an ancillary African philosophy.

Ubuntu in Malawi

2021 ◽  
pp. 76-84
Author(s):  
Mapopa William Sanga
Keyword(s):  
Developing Country ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Socialization Process ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Malawian Child

The philosophy of Ubuntu or umunthu has its roots in humanist African philosophy, where the idea of community is one of the building blocks of society. In sub-Saharan Africa, the most striking features of the cultures of different people is their non-individualistic character, where community is the cornerstone in African thought and life. In Malawi, a developing country in Southern Arica, the Umunthu philosophy is embedded in the socialization process. Malawians are well-known in the world to be very kind and polite people. Malawian children are expected to embrace these values from their parents or guardians. Interestingly though, not every Malawian child ends up being a high holder of Ubuntu in their adulthood and that is the painful reality. The question then arises, is Ubuntu or umunthu a true reflection of humanity in Malawi or just a farce? The chapter answers this question by carefully exploring the umunthu philosophy, analyzing it in critical contexts in the Malawian society.

Recent Work in African Philosophy: Its Relevance beyond the Continent

Mind ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Metz
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
English Language ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Cultural Engagement ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Do So

Abstract In this article I critically discuss some recent English language books in African philosophy. Specifically, I expound and evaluate key claims from books published by sub-Saharan thinkers since 2017 that address epistemology, metaphysics, and value theory and that do so in ways of interest to an audience of at least Anglo-American-Australasian analytic philosophers. My aim is not to establish a definitive conclusion about these claims, but rather to facilitate cross-cultural engagement by highlighting their relevance, at least to many western philosophers, and by presenting challenges to these claims that such philosophers would be likely to mount.

scholarly journals The Impact of African Philosophy on the Realisation of International Community and the Observance of International Law

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-33
Author(s):  
Foluke Ifejola Ipinyomi
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Free Market ◽  
International Community ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

The legal nature of international law is uncertain, despite being the foundation of the international community. Its non-universality questions the cohesion and efficacy of the international community. The international community operates as an exclusive club, coalescing around certain shared values, like liberal democracy and free market economy. Sub-Saharan Africa is usually excluded from being an active part of the international community due to differing values; a shared understanding of community which conflicts with the shared values of the core of the international community. Furthermore, their post-colonial nature deters African states from choosing their own path or adopting the norms of the ‘international community.’ A paradigmatic shift in research into sub-Saharan Africa and the international community is necessary to ensure a truly effective international community and wider observance of international law.

scholarly journals A glimpse of African identity through the lens of Togolese literature

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Marie Line J. Charles-Galley
Keyword(s):  
Modern World ◽  
Western World ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
African Identity ◽  
The People ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Modern Identity

Togo, this small West African nation, is still relatively unknown, even in today's jet set world. The western world is only now discovering the numerous advances Togo has made in its social and economic policies, but most of all in its political conjectures. After its Independence on April 27, 1960, Togo had barely begun its journey to democracy when the dictatorship of Gnassingbe Eyadema became the yoke of the people for over thirty-one years, on April 14th, 1967. The consequences of the stranglehold exercised by Gnassingbe was to shut the nation's cultural growth and cause the people to close in onto themselves and build a protective barrier between themselves and the rest of the world. Yet, Togo had great beginnings. It was one of the pioneers of Sub-Saharan literature, publishing in 1929 one of the first true African novels still read today. In 1929, native son Felix Couchoro, was among the first Sub-Saharan authors to write a novel which gave agency to an African protagonist in a story set in Africa, with an African-themed plot, and with a conclusion that aimed at rethinking African society. Couchoro was the first to look deeply into his culture and the social identity of his nation. He brought forth suggestions that would help in Togo's growth and insure its successful battle for Independence. In doing so, however, Couchoro also created great controversy around a subject which continues to plague not only Togolese people, but all Africans who feel pulled in two directions: preserving their authentic traditional customs while taking an active part in the modern world, through economic improvements as well as technological advances. In this dissertation, I will first study Couchoro's flagship novel which was the starting point of this quest for a modern identity, then analyze how subsequent Togolese writers have taken up Couchoro's legacy.

scholarly journals African Philosophy in the Contemporary World

2019 ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
Ejike Sam-Festus Chukwujekwu
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Modern World ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
African Identity ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
African Renaissance ◽  
European Culture ◽  
European Colonization

This author focuses on African philosophy issues, ideas and the major trends of its development in the contemporary world. The researcher emphasizes that one of the main trends in the development of African philosophy in the contemporary world is the search for African identity, ideas of African renaissance. The development of African philosophy in the early and mid 20th century had the immense influence of the anticolonial movement, which resulted in rapid development of socio-political movements. The article discusses the most influential of them, such as negritude, Pan-Africanism, African socialism, and others. The paper is of particular interest due to the fact that the countries of this continent have undergone a different path of development. From the very moment of the discovery of the continent, the states located in it were viewed and existed as colonies of European countries, i.e. they were ruled by the metropolis, which established its political and economic power. In addition to the negative impact of the metropolis it had a positive one. With the arrival of the Europeans European culture and values came, that ultimately led to the fight for independence. The article also discusses the major stages of European colonization of the 15th-19th centuries, also the difficulties and challenges in obtaining freedom from the metropolis, which became a new impetus for the development of philosophical views. Taking into account African identity and European culture and values, the significant role of the African Renaissance and socio-political teachings are considered as a way of developing African philosophy in the modern world. The author pays special attention to the African historiographic survey, to four periodization stages of African philosophy: (early period, second period, late period, and a new era). The researcher also presents traditional thought and suggestions of a typology of tendencies by African philosophers in modern African philosophy.

scholarly journals The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Form Function ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Sub Saharan

Written by the foremost scholars in figurine studies, this volume provides the definitive Handbook on prehistoric figurines in relation to their subject matter, form, function, context, chronology, meaning, and interpretation. Global in focus, the figurines from Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe are all considered. Chronologically, the coverage ranges from the Middle Palaeolithic through to areas and periods where an absence of historical sources renders figurines ‘prehistoric’ even though they might have been produced in the mid-2nd millennium AD, as in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Specific themes that are discussed by contributors include, for example, theories of figurine interpretation, meaning in processes and contexts of figurine production, use, destruction and disposal, and the cognitive and social implications of representation.

Anglican Mission in Twentieth-Century Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth E. Prevost
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
Sub Saharan

Anglican mission in Africa had the capacity to challenge and unseat social, political, and religious hierarchies and identities as much as to create and reinforce them. This chapter considers how twentieth-century movements in colonial statecraft, welfare and development, anti-colonial nationalism, and decolonization found expression in Anglican mission in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, it looks at how the Anglican missionary commitment to indigenization played out in government and society, education and knowledge production, ritual and spirituality, political dissent, and devolution—often in unexpected ways that thwarted the intent of mission establishments and reshaped the character of Anglicanism. Approaching missions as communities, structured by changing norms of authority and social cohesion, can reveal the complex interrelationships of local, regional, and global dynamics of Anglican ideology and practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document