Africa

by Falola, Toyin

• ISBN13: 9780890897690
• ISBN10: 0890897697
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-28
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Press

Summary

Africa: Volume 2 is part of a series of books which adopts a new perspective on African history and culture, surveying the wide array of societies and states that have existed on the African continent and introducing readers to the diversity of African experiences and cultural expressions. Toyin Falola has brought together African studies professors from a variety of schools and settings. Writing from their individual areas of expertise, these authors work together to break general stereotypes about Africa, focusing instead on the substantive issues of the African past from an African perspective. The texts are richly illustrated and include maps and timelines to make cultural and historical movements clearer, and suggestions for further reading will help readers broaden their own particular interests. Africa provides new perspectives that challenge the accepted ways of studying Africa, flexibility for instructors to structure courses, and encouragement for readers who are eager to learn about the diversity of the African experience. Volume 2, African Cultures and Societies Before 1885 provides a broad view of precolonial experiences and expressions in Africa. The book focuses on culture as a means of understanding both the traditions that thrived throughout Africa and the efforts of modern Africans to reclaim their cultural past in lands that have been divided and exploited by Western imperial powers.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
List of Illustrations and Maps	xi
Notes on Authors	xv
Introduction	xix
Toyin Falola
The Study of Cultures	3	(16)
Vik Bahl
Intergroup Relations	19	(16)
Toyin Falola
Social Institutions	35	(24)
Austin M. Ahanotu
Education	59	(14)
Julius O. Adekunle
Indigenous Religions	73	(22)
Joel E. Tishken
Talking to God: Divination Systems	95	(12)
Kathleen O'Connor
Islam	107	(22)
Toyin Falola
Steven J. Salm
Christianity	129	(20)
Felix Ekechi
Politics and Government	149	(12)
Saheed A. Adejumobi
Pastoralism	161	(16)
John Lamphear
Agriculture, Trade and Industries	177	(12)
Toyin Falola
Medicine, Science and Technology	189	(28)
William C. Barnett
Cities and Architecture	217	(24)
Jacqueline Woodfork
Art	241	(24)
dele jegede
Music	265	(20)
Steven J. Salm
Written and Oral Literature	285	(18)
Steven J. Salm
The Europeans in Africa: Prelude to Colonialism	303	(16)
Apollos O. Nwauwa
Index	319