Dogon masks have been famous for a long time-and none more so than the kanaga mask, the so-called croix de Lorraine. A host of interpretations of this particular mask circulate in the literature,... Show moreDogon masks have been famous for a long time-and none more so than the kanaga mask, the so-called croix de Lorraine. A host of interpretations of this particular mask circulate in the literature, ranging from moderately exotic to extremely exotic. This contribution will focus on one particular mask situated within the whole mask troupe, and it will do so in the ritual setting to which it belongs: a second funeral, long after the burial. A description of this ritual shows how the mask troupe forms the constantly moving focus in a captivating ritual serving as second funeral. Thus, the mask rites bridge major divides in Dogon culture, between male and female, between man and nature, and between this world and the supernatural one. They are able to do so because they themselves are in constant motion, between bush and village and between sky and earth. Masks are matter in motion and symbols in context. Within imagistic religions such as the Dogon one, these integrative functions form a major focus of Dogon masks rituals-and hence, to some extent, of African mask rituals in general. In the Dogon case, the ritual creates a virtual reality through a highly embodied performance by the participants themselves. Then, the final question can be broached, that of interpretation. What, in the end, do these masquerades signify? And our kanaga mask, what does it stand for? Show less
Following Ingold's dwelling perspective, the world comes into being because an organism/person is continuously interacting with his/her environment through bodily activity. Ingold contrasts... Show moreFollowing Ingold's dwelling perspective, the world comes into being because an organism/person is continuously interacting with his/her environment through bodily activity. Ingold contrasts dwelling with building; in the latter, people construct the world cognitively before they can live in it. In this paper, we add the concept of 'lodging' to refer to a situation in which people live in an environment that contains increasing dominating powers. Under the influence of conservation and the implementation of a Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme, with a strong focus on tourism, the environment of the Ju/'hoansi Bushmen of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia has changed dramatically. In this paper, we use various examples to show how the environment has become more dominant, often in very subtle ways. We argue that the Ju/'hoansi do not dwell as they used to, but lodge instead in an environment that is increasingly influenced by CBNRM and tourism activities. Some of the Ju/'hoansi's agency has become limited to acquiescing; they passively adapt to and cope with the changes in their environment, while others have shown a more active adaptation strategy. Show less
The Namibian Khwe Bushmen live in the Bwabwata National Park, where they are highly affected by the park's history and conservation activities. Following Ingold's dwelling perspective, the world... Show moreThe Namibian Khwe Bushmen live in the Bwabwata National Park, where they are highly affected by the park's history and conservation activities. Following Ingold's dwelling perspective, the world comes into being because a person is continuously interacting with his/her environment. This contrasted with building, in which (wo)man constructs the world cognitively before (s)he can live in it. We apply a third notion, lodging, to refer to a situation in which people live in an essentially foreign environment. In this, many changes in the environment of the Khwe are triggered beyond their control, instead of through their interaction with their environment. Show less
van Beek, een antropoloog uit Utrecht, die nu als hoogleraar antropologie van de religie werkt in Tilburg en aan het Afrika-Studiecentrum in Leiden. Zijn studieterrein is Afrika, vooral Kameroen en... Show morevan Beek, een antropoloog uit Utrecht, die nu als hoogleraar antropologie van de religie werkt in Tilburg en aan het Afrika-Studiecentrum in Leiden. Zijn studieterrein is Afrika, vooral Kameroen en Mali. Deze memoires zien terug op een leven dat bijna een halve eeuw vervlochten is geweest met twee samenlevingen in die landen, de Kapsiki et de Dogon. Het is daaom het relaas van een dubbelleven, zowel in Nederland als in Afrika, maar ook een dubbelleven in twee verschillende Afrikaanse culturen, waar in beide gevallen een intense relatie mee is opgebouwd. Van Beeks Afrikaanse levensverhaal is verweven met deze twee gemeenschappen, hun dagelijkse leven, hun kleine en grote rituelen, en vertelt van smeden, huwelijken en maskers, en van de diepe indruk die hun prachtige begrafenisgezangen op hem maakten. Hier voeden dood en leven elkaar door de indrukwekkende wijze waarop deze mensen een boeiend bestaan weten te realiseren in een moeilijke omgeving. Dit is het Afrika van de dorpsgemeenschap, beleefd en beschreven van binnenuit, een Afrika van gewone mensen die tot ons spreken doordat zij een antropoloog de kans hebben gegeven voor een dubbelleven. Thuis in Afrika is thuiskomen bij onszelf.[2e Gewijzigde druk; oorspronkelijke uitgave: 2015] Show less
Using my own experience as a sports administrator, I describe and analyse the organisational culture of West African sports. As a cultural anthropologist and draughts player, I have been President... Show moreUsing my own experience as a sports administrator, I describe and analyse the organisational culture of West African sports. As a cultural anthropologist and draughts player, I have been President of the F‚d‚ration Mondiale du Jeu de Dames for eleven years, followed by four years as Executive Vice-President of the Conf‚d‚ration Africaine du Jeu de Dames. Using a series of first hand cases, five major principles of 'management culture' or 'board-room culture' are discerned and analysed that seem to inform the way power is handled in West African sports. These are: personal presence, the primacy of the official, the importance of board positions, the personalisation of power and finally the use of the past to legitimise the present. In all of them, the small world of draughts offers an insider's view of the relationship between notions of power, the politicisation of sports and the processes of neo-patrimonialism that inform African politics more generally. The article ends with some thoughts on the cultural specificity of these processes in West Africa and on the position of sports in the wider African society. I have been President of the F‚d‚ration Mondiale du Jeu de Dames for eleven years, followed by four years as Executive Vice-President of the Conf‚d‚ration Africaine du Jeu de Dames. Using a series of first hand cases, five major principles of 'management culture' or 'board-room culture'are discerned and analysed that seem to inform the way power is handled in West African sports. These are: personal presence, the primacy of the official, the importance of board positions, the personalisation of power and finally the use of the past to legitimise the present. In all of them, the small world of draughts offers an insider's view of the relationship between notions of power, the politicisation of sports and the processes of neo-patrimonialism that inform African politics more generally. The article ends with some thoughts on the cultural specificity of these processes in West Africa and on the position of sports in the wider African society. Show less
Beek, W.E.A. van; Rutten, M.M.E.M.; Spierenburg, M. 2008
In deze inaugurele rede analyseert de auteur de betekenis van ritueel; met name karakteriseert hij de rite in contrast met sport. Sport en religie komen in onze huidige maatschappij steeds dichter... Show moreIn deze inaugurele rede analyseert de auteur de betekenis van ritueel; met name karakteriseert hij de rite in contrast met sport. Sport en religie komen in onze huidige maatschappij steeds dichter bij elkaar te liggen, be‹nvloeden elkaar, roepen vergelijkbare emoties op en worden soms bijna identiek geacht. De auteur argumenteert waarom zij elkaars structurele tegendeel zijn, als leden van een groeiende familie van virtuele werelden. Daartoe gaat hij eerst in op de discussie over de betekenisloosheid van ritueel teneinde de virtuele wereld van de rite en religie te karakteriseren. Daarna maakt hij een vergelijking met de sport. Voor het ritueelmateriaal maakt hij gebruik van zijn ervaringen in Afrika bij de Dogon (Mali) en Kapsiki (Kameroen). [Samenvatting ASC Leiden] Show less
Cette contribution compare les m‚thodologies et les ‚pist‚mologies r‚ciproques de la missiologie et de l'anthropologie en tant que disciplines. Selon l'auteur, le but initial de l'anthropologie... Show moreCette contribution compare les m‚thodologies et les ‚pist‚mologies r‚ciproques de la missiologie et de l'anthropologie en tant que disciplines. Selon l'auteur, le but initial de l'anthropologie est de d‚crire, d'analyser et de contextualiser toutes les variations culturelles de l'humanit‚. Mais l' anthropologie a connu des changements paradigmatiques; la notion de culture s'est transform‚e: les solutions de la g‚n‚ration pr‚c‚dente sont r‚invent‚es dans l'interaction sociale d'aujourd'hui. La nouvelle conception de la culture est capitale pour comprendre la relation entre missiologie et anthropologie. Li‚e … une croyance bien d‚finie, la position ‚pist‚mologique de la missiologie est tout … fait diff‚rente. Son point de d‚part est celui d'une v‚rit‚ revendiqu‚e, voire d'une r‚flexion orient‚e dans le but d'une expansion du message, en principe grƒce … une ‚tude syst‚matique et objective des autres croyances. Le dilemme que repr‚sente pour les missionnaires la "double loyaut‚", dans sa position d'ˆtre … la fois le repr‚sentant du message chr‚tien et l'observateur de l'autre, peut sembler r‚solu dans la cr‚ation des glises ind‚pendantes africaines, qui permet … la fois d'"avoir raison" tout en respectant l'autre. AprŠs avoir not‚ les diff‚rences ‚pist‚mologiques des deux disciplines, l'auteur montre quels sont leurs points communs. L'ethnologue comme le missionnaire participent dans une interaction restreinte, et mˆme instrumentale, au milieu culturel au sein duquel ils se trouvent et travaillent. Ils ‚tablissent un lieu de "culture interm‚diaire": la situation fondamentale de leur terrain respectif est plus semblable que leurs ‚pist‚mologies divergentes ne le laissent supposer. Mais cela ne veut pas dire que les deux disciplines soient en train de s'unifier progressivement. C'est seulement dans les ann‚es d'‚mergence de l'ethnologie que la missiologie en devint un des piliers, qui sont graduellement remplac‚s par des piliers proprement anthropologiques. Indig‚nis‚e, la missiologie quant … elle emprunte d‚sormais son propre chemin. Bibliogr., notes, r‚f. [R‚sum‚ ASC Leiden] Show less
The author describes his experiences while repeating ethnographic research carried out by Marcel Griaule among the Dogon of Mali in the 1940s/1950s, and the work of one of Griaule's most important... Show moreThe author describes his experiences while repeating ethnographic research carried out by Marcel Griaule among the Dogon of Mali in the 1940s/1950s, and the work of one of Griaule's most important followers, Germaine Dieterlen. Griaule's 'Dieu d'eau' (1948) was a revelation at the time of its first publication: never before had the secrets of an African society been exposed so clearly in order to show a native philosophy on a par with what the Athenian and Indian civilizations had offered to humanity. However, the present author shows that Griaule fell into a trap: a combination of strong and overtly expressed personal convictions, with a position of authority backed by a colonial presence on his part, and on the Dogon side a small circle of crucial and creative informants, a clear courtesy bias and some monetary realism. The fact that there are no creation stories among the Dogon, at least not in the Griaulean sense, is crucial in this restudy. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
