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