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Africa - page 2 1 - 2 - 3
No. 76
ISBN 978-90-5789-023-9
136 pp.
Leiden 1999
OUT OF PRINT

La Geste de Nankoman. Textes sur la fondation de Naréna (MALI)

Seydou Camara and Jan Jansen (red.)

Cet ouvrage, qui est un premier essai de collaboration scientifique sur le sujet, montre qu'il existe encore en Afrique de grands cycles narratifs inconnus et qu'il y a encore beaucoup de travail à faire en la matière. Il est l'aboutissement d'un projet conçu et réalisé par deux cher­cheurs qui ont bien voulu contri­buer à une meilleure connais­sance de l'histoire du Manden et du fonctionnement de la so­ciété mandingue où la geste est un genre littéraire fort prisé. Soucieux de la sauvegarde des témoignages oraux, les auteurs ont entrepris de livrer au public ce que la traditi­on a retenu et que les notables et bardes croient être la vérité historique sur la fondation de Naréna, localité maninka (malinké) du sud-ouest du Mali.

(In French, 136 pp.)

No. 75
ISBN 978-90-5789-022-2
236 pp.
Leiden 1999
OUT OF PRINT
A history of Tigrinya literature in Eritrea. The oral and the written, 1890 -1991

Ghirmai Negash

This pioneer study traces the history of Tigrinya literature in Eritrea, a barely explored field, principally using original sources and framing it against the background of the country's colonial history. It treats oral and written literary traditions in Tigrinya as one literary system, rather than separately.
While taking up the challenge to bring this largely unknown body of African literature into the 'mainstream' of world literary history and epistemology, the author initially raises a fundamental question: why has this literature barely drawn the attention of the literary establishment? In offering an explanation, he maintains that the colonial history of Eritrea and the armed struggle were the main factors, but he also criticises scholars in the West, whom he reproaches for being scholarly inaccurate and ideologically subversive in their treatment and representation of Tigrinya literature. These claims are based on empirical evidence, but are also sustained by a post-colonial analytical discourse that is translated into the context of the political, cultural and linguistic policies of the former Ethiopian regimes of Haile Selassie and the Dergue in Eritrea.
This is an original study introducing a novel topic and, in that capacity, it breaks new ground in Eritrean studies.

(In English, 236 pp.)
No. 65
ISBN 978-90-5789-004-8
338 pp.
Leiden 1998
SOLD OUT
 
Taxonomic-Linguistic Study of plantain in Africa
Gerda Rossel

Taxonomic-Linguistic Study of plantain in Africa presents a new and multidisciplinary approach of crop history. The two main components of the study concern the various aspects of the distribution of plantain (Musa spp. ABB) diversity and the scientific as well as ethnobotanical classification and nomenclature of the crop and its cultivars. The outcomes of these components are combined with historical, cultural, ecological, agronomical and economical information and integrated into a theory about the introduction, spread and diversification of plantain in the African continent.
(In English, 338 pp., incl. appendices)

This therefore is a volume deserving not only of a wide readership, but also accolade; it was a deserved winner of the Klinger Book Award from the Society for Economic Botany.' - James Lafleur in: JALL 25-1 (2004)

To purchase this book, please contact the author at gerdarossel@planet.nl or call her at (+31)(0)6 25 35 81 89.


 

No. 59
ISBN 978-90-73782-91-4
336 pp.
Leiden 1997
OUT OF PRINT
Le Panégyrique Mbíímbi. Étude d'un genre poétique oral yaka (République Démocratique du Congo)

N'soko Swa-Kabamba Joseph

Pendant longtemps le panégyrique dynastique mbíímbi a été considéré comme un phénomène curieux dont la pratique était réservée à la cour de Kyáámbvu, le roi des Bayaka. Mais, soumis à un examen rigoureux et méthodique, ce chant d'exaltation est apparu dans sa spécificité. C'est une littérature officielle au service de l'idéologie de la minorité dominante, dans une société yaka où les oppositions entre envahisseurs dominants Baluwa et autochtones dominés Bayaka, sont encore assez perceptibles.
Par-delà son caractère propagandiste, cette poésie de cour draine en filigrane la culture yaka commune aux uns et aux autres, véhiculant la vision du monde du peuple yaka. D'autre part, ce panégyrique est une esthétique verbale. En effet, les chantres dynastiques bavwáala, spécialistes détenteurs de ce genre littéraire, portent un soin particulier à l'agencement des mots, et à un choix riche d'images et de symboles qui ne manquent pas de fasciner leurs auditeurs.
(In French, 336 pp., incl. maps, bibl. and indexes)
No. 54
ISBN 978-90-73782-81-5
350 pp.
Leiden 1997
OUT OF PRINT
Land right, marriage left. Women's Management of Insecurity in North Cameroon
Adri van den Berg
This book discusses the mounting insecurity of Giziga in the region of Mindif, North Cameroon, and the strategies these women have developed to manage their situation. The case of Giziga women is particularly urgent, because of three specific and concurring factors. First, the paradox of marriage and divorce among the Giziga: while marriage is the only accepted way for women to acquire access to resources, more than 60% of the women divorce, often several times, thereby losing those resources again. A second factor is the extremely complicated, multi-layered, and discordant socio-political situation in Mindif, aggravated by scarcity of natural resources. Thirdly, Giziga women have to deal with strong male control over female labour, and a number of other gender inequalities which leave women with little autonomy and control of resources. Women follow various concurrent strategies to manage their insecurity. Although access to land is important for Giziga women in their daily struggle against insecurity, they often give priority to the freedom to divorce. Divorce can be considered a counterstrategy against male control over women's lives, labour, and resources. In conclusion the book discusses the idea of temporary security.
(In English, 350 pp., incl. photogr. and figs., with French summary)
 
No. 53
ISBN 978-90-73782-80-8
138 pp.
Leiden 1997
OUT OF PRINT
The Kingdom of Allada
Robin Law
The Kingdom of Allada was, prior to the rise of Dahomey in the early eighteenth century, the largest and most powerful kingdom along what used to be called the Slave Coast. It compromised the southern part of the modern republic of Benin, West Africa.
The present book uses many sources, most of which recorded by foreign visitors. Prominent among these are records of the Dutch West India Company, but there are also Portuguese, English and French sources.
The history of Allada, as one of the largest and most important indigenous states of coastal West Africa encountered by the Portuguese on their arrival in the region at the end of the sixteenth century, and subsequently as a principal supplier of slaves for the Atlantic slave trade, is perhaps of sufficient intrinsic interest in itself to warrant a detailed study. But in addition, the coincidence in time of the kingdom's decline and overthrow with the expansion of the Atlantic slave trade in the region makes it an illuminating case-study of the impact of the latter on indigenous African economic, social and political development.
(In English, 138 pp., incl. bibl.)
 
No. 51
ISBN 978-90-73782-75-4
283 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
Gender and Community in the Kabyle Literary Space

Daniella Merolla

What place do women and men have in their community? This question is examined in a corpus of oral and written narratives from Kabylia in the north of Algeria. Kabylia is a Berber-speaking region that has assumed a dissident role in Algerian literature and policy. The author's analysis of Kabyle narrative productions reveals the presence of a complex male/female dialectic and, in the novels by women writers, of a female project for a renewed community. The enables the author to question the current interpretations of Maghrebian gender relationship (male domination versus femininity reduced to procreation).Through the investigation of gender and community in narratives told in Kabyle and in novels written in French by Kabyle authors, this book clarifies the interactions between oral and written productions as well as historical issues of the relationship between the Kabyle community and the Algerian nation.
(In English, 283 pp.)
No. 47
ISBN 978-90-73782-68-6
400 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
Towards redemption. A socio-political history of the Herero of Namibia between 1890 and 1923
Jan Bart Gewald
Between 1904 and 1908 Herero society in Namibia was destroyed in a genocidal war against Imperial Germany. This book deals with the politics of Herero society prior to its destruction, and the manner in which this society reestablished itself after the war. It goes beyond previous accounts which all see the war as the totality of Herero history. Rather it charts the context without which the war cannot be understood.
Essentially this book details the socio-political history of the Herero of Namibia during the reign of the first Herero paramount, Samuel Maharero, between 1890 and 1923. The first half deals with the ways in which the political structures of Hereroland developed, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but failed to cope with German imperialism. The second half deals with Herero society in de aftermath of the Herero-German war, where on the basis of German militarism and missionary endeavour, Herero society reestablished itself. By 1923, and the funeral of Samuel Maharero, Herero society had redeveloped structures which could and were used to attempt to cope with the new South African colonial administration, and further the struggle of the Herero toward redemption.
(In English, 400 pp.)
 
No. 46
ISBN 978-90-73782-63-1
128 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
The younger brother in Mande: kinship and politics in West Africa. Selected papers from the Third International Conference on Mande Studies, Leiden, March 20-24, 1995
Jan Jansen and Clemens Zobel (eds.)
Sentiments associated with the junior/elder brother relationship reflect deep-seated, far-reaching realities of Mande society and politics that are explored for the first time in the papers collected by Jan Jansen en Clemens Zobel. In the process of exploring the role of the younger brother in Mande society, the contributors to this volume introduce an interesting new perspective on the inner workings of one of the most dynamic and historically fascinating cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. Through the discussions involving the dynamics of fraternal relations, featured not only in venerable oral tradition but in today's Mande world, this volume addresses issues central to a very significant portion of West African society from early times to present.
(In English, 128 pp.)
 
No. 43
ISBN 978-90-73782-60-0
280 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
Etude comparative des langues ngiri de l'entre Ubangi-Zaire
Motingea Mangulu
Le livre est une étude comparative du point de vue phonétique et grammatical d'un groupe de langues bantoues parlées au nord-ouest du Zaîre entre la rivière Ubangi et le Fleuve. C'est dans cette région qu'on situe l'origine du lingala. La comparaison, basée principalement sur de brèves esquisses antérieurement élaborées pour la plupart par l'auteur, débouche sur la reconstruction d'une langue ancestrale nommée ici proto-ngiri par référence à la rivière Ngiri qui traverse l'aire géographique considérée. La comparaison phonologique procède par l'examen des correspondances dans diverses catégories de sons. Elle tient compte en outre de leur position à l'intérieur de la racine. La comparaison morphologique, éclarée par l'évolution phonologique, s'efforce avant tout de reconstituer le système de classes et d'accord. Sont ensuite examinés historiquement les adjectifs, les formes pronominales et les morphèmes verbaux avec un essai de reconstruction de principaux tiroirs de conjugaison. La recherche des innovations en vue d'aboutir à une sous-classification généalogique fait découvrir que certaines langues concernées par la comparaison n'appartiennent pas génétiquement au groupe de langues ngiri. C'est le cas du lingombe et de petits parlers localisés à l'extrême nord-ouest du domaine. Les vrais locuteurs issus de la communauté dont la protolangue est établie ici sont les Riverains qui se subdivisent en deux principales sous-branches: les Motembo et les Bobangi.
Dans une dernière partie de l'etude est présentée à titre de spécimen l'esquisse d'une langue ngiri, le mpundza. Un lexique proto-ngiri, un index français-proto-ngiri de même qu'un vocabulaire comparé de dix langues ngiri sont repris en annexe.
(En Français, 280 pp.)
 
No. 40
ISBN 978-90-73782-57-0
414 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
The Kana Language
Suanu M. Ikoro
The Kana Language is the first exhaustive description of Kana, a Cross River language spoken in the north-eastern fringe of Ogoniland in south-eastern Nigeria. The variety represented here is the Babbe dialect, based on the author's speech as a native speaker of Kana.
The book covers the phonological, morphological and syntactic features of Kana. Sound symbolism, focus and question phenomena are also described. A major problem in the description of Cross River languages is the consonant systems of these languages. The present author argues that an analysis which accepts morphological information in the description of Kana consonants is superior to one that rejects such information. In the sections on morphology and syntax, the author shows that even though Kana cannot be described as an agglutinative language, an earlier morphology of this type seems reconstructable. Furthermore, the author argues that in Kana, transitivity should be viewed as a continuum instead of the traditional 2merolladichotomy of transitive versus intransitive verbs.
A significant part of the study is the discovery of a productive system of numeral classifiers, contrary to popular views that only noun classes, and not numeral classifiers, occur in African languages.
Discussing data from various parts of Kana grammar, the book is of interest to the Africanist as well as a general linguistic readership.
(In English, 414 pp.)
 
book
No. 39
ISBN 978-90-73782-54-9
312 pp.
Leiden 1996
OUT OF PRINT
Kikuyu gender norms and narratives

Inge Brinkman

Kikuyu Gender Norms and Narratives is a book about imagination. It offers an interpretation of the divergent ways in which Kikuyu gender norms are imagined. The author maps the divergent views on changing morality, identity and gender relations. Such views can be found in daily conversations, scholarly articles, political meetings, newspapers and literature, to mention but a few examples. This book concentrates on literary imaginations of Kikuyu gender norms, but explicitly links these to extra-literary imaginations of Kikuyu gender norms.This combination of divergent sources enables the author to study imaginations not as isolated instances, but as processes connecting different texts, various kinds of literature and a number of contextual circles. Differences in normative imaginations may be expressed in texts, but can also become manifest in the interpretation of literature or the status attributed to it. Images in literary works are not limited to one text, crosscut different texts and relate to debates in society. This book shows that texts and contexts, both in plural, stand in dynamic interaction.
(In English, 312 pp.)
 
 
290 pp.
Leiden 2000
 
OUT OF PRINT
Ieder mens wordt als moslim geboren. De sociale identiteiten van de lokale elite in Manduar (Gambia)
Berend Timmer

Ieder mens wordt als Moslim geboren gaat over de stichters en daarmee ook de dorpselite van het dorp Manduar, de Bojang. Hun visie, en die van hun voorvaderen, op de wijze waarop sociale relaties invulling dienen te krijgen, is van grote invloed op de sociale organisatie van het dorp. Op grond van de verhalen over het ontstaan van het dorp presenteren de Bojang zich als de stichters, als de autochtonen. Dit geldt niet alleen voor de Bojang die altijd al in Manduar wonen, maar ook de Bojang die zich recent in het dorp gevestigd hebben. Iedereen die niet tot de familie van de stichter behoort, wordt als gast gecategoriseerd, ook al wonen enkelen van hen al sinds de stichting van het dorp in Manduar.
Sommige van de gasten zijn een hechte relatie aangegaan met hun gastheren, anderen houden zich afzijdig en weer anderen accepteren de door de Bojang geclaimde autoriteit niet en verzetten zich. Hoe komt de relatie tussen gast en gastheer tot stand en welke factoren spelen hierbij een rol? Onder welke voorwaarden halen gast en gastheer de banden met elkaar aan? Hoe ontwikkelen de sociale identiteiten van de betrokkenen zich onder deze omstandigheden?
Dit boek biedt inzicht in de dynamiek van het sociale leven door een gedetailleerde beschrijving te geven van het huwelijksritueel alsook van de naamgevingceremonie, acht dagen na de geboorte. Daarbij blijkt steeds weer dat de sociale identiteiten van een persoon in hoge mate afhangen van diegenen waarmee hij in zijn dagelijks leven te maken heeft en de wijze waarop hij invulling wil geven aan hun onderlinge sociale relaties.
(In Dutch, 290 pp., incl. index)

 
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