Vandalia: Identity, Policy, and Nation-Building in Late-Antique North Africa

<p>In 534, after the conquest of the Vandal kingdom, Procopius tells us that the emperor Justinian deported all remaining Vandals to serve on the Persian frontier. But a hundred years of Vandal rule bred cultural ambiguities in Africa, and the changes in identity that occurred during the Vandal century persisted long after the Vandals had been shipped off to the East: Byzantine and Arabic writers alike shared the conviction that the Africans had, by the sixth and seventh centuries, become something other than Roman. This thesis surveys the available evidence for cultural transformation and merger of identities between the two principal peoples of Vandal Africa, the Vandals and the Romano-Africans, to determine the origins of those changes in identity, and how the people of Africa came to be different enough from Romans for ancient writers to pass such comment. It examines the visible conversation around ethnicity in late-antique Africa to determine what the defining social signifiers of Vandal and Romano-African identity were during the Vandal century, and how they changed over time. Likewise, it explores the evidence for deliberate attempts by the Vandal state to foster national unity and identity among their subjects, and in particular the role that religion and the African Arian Church played in furthering these strategies for national unity. Finally, it traces into the Byzantine period the after-effects of changes that occurred in Africa during the Vandal period, discussing how shifts in what it meant to be Roman or Vandal in Africa under Vandal rule shaped the province's history and character after its incorporation into the Eastern Empire.</p>

Vandalia: Identity, Policy, and Nation-Building in Late-Antique North Africa

<p>In 534, after the conquest of the Vandal kingdom, Procopius tells us that the emperor Justinian deported all remaining Vandals to serve on the Persian frontier. But a hundred years of Vandal rule bred cultural ambiguities in Africa, and the changes in identity that occurred during the Vandal century persisted long after the Vandals had been shipped off to the East: Byzantine and Arabic writers alike shared the conviction that the Africans had, by the sixth and seventh centuries, become something other than Roman. This thesis surveys the available evidence for cultural transformation and merger of identities between the two principal peoples of Vandal Africa, the Vandals and the Romano-Africans, to determine the origins of those changes in identity, and how the people of Africa came to be different enough from Romans for ancient writers to pass such comment. It examines the visible conversation around ethnicity in late-antique Africa to determine what the defining social signifiers of Vandal and Romano-African identity were during the Vandal century, and how they changed over time. Likewise, it explores the evidence for deliberate attempts by the Vandal state to foster national unity and identity among their subjects, and in particular the role that religion and the African Arian Church played in furthering these strategies for national unity. Finally, it traces into the Byzantine period the after-effects of changes that occurred in Africa during the Vandal period, discussing how shifts in what it meant to be Roman or Vandal in Africa under Vandal rule shaped the province's history and character after its incorporation into the Eastern Empire.</p>

From Ethnic to National Cloth: The Diverse Nature of the Tshivenḓa Ṅwenda

In times past, the Tshivenḓa traditional cloth called Ṅwenda was associated with backwardness, stupidity, and had the Vhavenḓa women undermined for being ‘too rural’. Consequently, many dumped their traditional attire for other clothes to march with the times. Recently, Ṅwenda has been drawing attention from both the Vhavenḓa men and women and other ethnic groups because of the uniqueness and beauty of its embroidery. This article aimed to investigate the reason(s) Ṅwenda recently gained prominence and appreciation among the Vhavenḓa and other ethnic groups. The article adopted the qualitative approach and the exploratory design to collect data on the diverse nature and function of Ṅwenda. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen purposively selected designers from six villages in Venḓa, including the Ṱhohoyanḓou Flea Market in the Limpopo Province and three townships in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Two tailors of Miṅwenda were selected from each of the aforementioned villages and townships. Undergirded by the Appreciative and Naturalistic Inquiries, the study also relied on the Inductive Thematic Analysis method for data analysis. It was found that Ṅwenda is used for special occasions such as weddings, parties, graduation ceremonies, and other social gatherings. Ṅwenda was also used to cover chairs, tables, and to decorate gowns, cushions, lampshades, bags, bedspreads or duvet covers, among other things. The article recommends the consideration of the role and significance of Tshivenḓa traditional attires in the ongoing discourses on the consolidation and traditionalisation of African identity as well as women’s empowerment initiatives in the postcolonial context.

ROOTLESSNESS IN ELIZABETH BOWEN'S THE DEATH OF THE HEART, AND CHINUA ACHEBE'S ARROW OF GOD: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ANGLO-IRISH AND AFRICAN POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE

Postcolonial literature views the British Empire of the nineteenth century as unique in human history and literary products for it provides writers with different subjects that deal with the idea of how to resurrect the colonized identity even after getting liberation. Postcolonial literature seems to label literature written by people living in countries formerly colonized by other colonized and other colonial powers as British. Such literature and particularly novel, emerged to focus on social, moral, and cultural influences and their interrelation with the impact of English existence upon some countries as Ireland in Europe and Nigeria in Africa. Irish novel shares its genesis with the English novel. When we write of the eighteenth century and use the phrase ' the Irish novel', we are necessarily referring to novel written by authors who, irrespective of birthplace, inhabited both England and Ireland and who thought of themselves as English or possibly both English and Irish. This fact is apparent within hands when we talk about the Anglo-Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen and her novels that show the obvious effect of her Irish identity upon her works during the period of World Wars I and II with a consideration to Ireland as a British colony. The same impact with African culture, postcolonial Nigeria, when its writers saw the changes crept to their traditions. Their literary products concentrated on questioning their nation how to keep and reserve African identity from alternations. Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian writer tried to reflect his culture in a mirror to readers and challenge them with their own strength and weakness in his novel Arrow of God. His novel tackles these weaknesses of the traditional outlook and senses for change. The research paper tackles the concept of rootlessness in postcolonialism through Anglo-Irish novel The Death of the Heart (1938) of Elizabeth Bowen ,which is tackled in the first section , and postcolonial Nigerian novel Arrow of God (1964) written by Chinua Achebe in the second section. The paper ends with conclusions and works cited.

3 Stages of a Pan-African Identity Framework for Establishing Self-Sovereign Identity With Blockchain

The African continent (specifically its overwhelming in(animate) resources) is often referred to as the sleeping giant by magazines, blogs, research presentations and articles, and NGOs [such as World Bank]. Reasons for this moniker/title include the continent’s plentiful natural resources, its large and quickly growing young population, and the young population’s quick adoption and acclimatization to technology. Most countries on the continent are known as developing countries due to lack of access to safe drinking water, reliable electricity and roads, sanitation and hygiene, and a high number of people with tropical/infectious diseases. However, due to the usefulness of cellular phones and technology, several countries and companies within them have focused on cell phone proliferation (91% in Kenya). Smart phone usage allows Kenyans access to the world’s information and potentially endless innovation. Given that a large number of Kenyans with smartphones use social media, coupled with the advent of Europe’s GDPR (general data protection regulation), African identity and its associated data became an area of great interest. As the world is quickly progressing into a digital economy, a solution must be created that allows us to regain and control our identities, doing our best to ensure losing such is infinitely close to computationally and probabilistically impossible/improbable. Developing a blockchain-based identity backbone using biometrics and historical family information while allowing government-based identification documents is the best way forward. Three stages have been identified as necessities to accomplish the development of this system before opening it further beyond the pan-African worldwide community. The three stages are defined by systems that allow for biometric/demographic registration (stage 1), interoperability and security hardening (stage 2), and biometric modality data analysis/organization/association (stage 3).

Erratum: In defence of communitarianism philosophy: The contribution of moderate communitarianism to the formation of an African identity

No abstract available.

Skin whitening as a menace to African identity through Tony Morrison's 'The Bluest Eyes': An Afrocentric examination

The African democratic forces, among other things, aimed to resuscitate and re-essentialise African identities that the colonial administration had endangered earlier. These autonomous corps dispensed mechanisms to champion Africanism and conscientise African natives about their heritage. The cherishing of African identities automated decolonial shifts and inculcated an urge into Africans to be proud of who they are and where they come from. Notwithstanding these efforts, the study diagnoses skin whitening as a stubborn nemesis that menaces the authenticity of Africanism in the present day. Many Africans, especially black women appear to be gravitated to skin whitening. This act embraces the attempt to alter one’s dark skin tone to be bright. Most of the skin whiteners are postulated to whiten their skins in an effort to qualify into the modern-day Eurocentric criterions of beauty at the expense of their black (African) identity. This paper employed a qualitative methodology and has relied on secondary data to unveil the extent to which skin whitening imperils African identities. It has employed Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes as a lens to crystalise the impacts of skin whitening on Africanism. The study has discovered that the skin-whitening phenomenon epitomises and perpetuates Eurocentric ideologies and it is preferred by most women because of the assumed glory that comes with the white identity such as social class, privilege, attractiveness, favour, and admiration.

“I am an African”: A Philosophical Enquiry of Identity and Culture

With the public frenzy over Thabo Mbeki’s speech, “I am an African” that was delivered in 1996, South Africa has since become a subject of debate as to who is an African and what constitutes as African. This has been going on for almost two decades and a half now. Mbeki’s speech appears to have evoked solemn questions relating to the issues of identity and culture. Subsequent to that speech, the South African public began to question what it meant to be African. The central point of enquiry was: what makes one an African? Is it the color of their skin? Their citizenship? Or is one merely an African because others regard him or her as such? These and many other questions arise when one touches upon the subject of Africans. These perplexing questions, however, are not only unique to the South African context; they apply, to some extent, to the general continent of Africa. With talks and debates about African renaissance, decoloniality, and indigenization, the question of African identity and culture resurfaces. Here, the discussion hubs around the issue of African persona and what it means to be authentically African. By means of document analysis, this paper critically employs a philosophical approach in order to grapple with the subject of identity and culture. This is done through a systematic discussion of the following facets: (a) history, (b) identity, and (c) culture. These three facets are therefore critically engaged in order to establish what constitute an African and what can be characterized as an African identity.

‘I Am an African’

The question, who is an African? in the context of understanding African identity has biological, historical, cultural, religious, political, racial, linguistic, social, philosophical, and even geographical colourations. Scholars as well as commentators have continued to grapple with it as it has assumed a syncretistic or intersectional characterisation. The same applies to, “what is Africa?” because of the defined Western construct of its geography. This foray of concepts appears to be captured in ‘I am an African’, a treatise that exudes the telos of African past, present and the unwavering hope that the future of Africans and Africa is great in spite of the cynicism and loss of faith that the present seems to have foisted on the minds of many an African. Through a critical analysis, it is argued that African religion has a value that is capable of resolving the contentious identity crisis of an African.