Slide 3: People, languages And Cultures Flashcards
Describe Afro Asiatic
*super family language
- spoken in western, northern, and northeastern Africa
- Spoken by over 300 million peoples
- Main divisions: Semitic
- Examples: Arabic
Describe Niger Congo
*super family language
- Spoken mainly in western, eastern, and Southern Africa regions
- largest in geographical area
- 600 million people speak the language
Describe Nilo-Saharan
*super family language
- spoken mainly in Nile valley (Ethiopia, Sudan, northern Kenya)
- spoken by the 50-60 million Nilotic
Describe Khoi-San
*super family language
- mainly spoken in the Namibia ( kalahari desert), Botswana and Central Tanzania
- 300,000 people speak the language
Austronesian language
- spoken in Madagascar
- the sub branch of austronesian language spoken in Madagascar is Malagasy, which is in turn, a subgroup of Malayo- Polynesian
Concept of ethnicity
Analytical tool that identifies the roles and interests influencing the choices of groups and individuals
Ethnicity
Defines a sense of collective identity in which an ethnic group perceives itself as sharing a historical past and a variety of social norms and customs including:
- roles of elders and other age groups in the society
- relationship between males and females
- rites and practices of marriage and divorces
- proper means of resolving conflict
What are the consenting views about ethnicity ?
First group argues
- its dysfunctional
- supposedly causes political instability, social instability, economic instability
Second group argues:
Traditional human identity was based on kinship groups or clans :
-implies that’s ethnicity effective means of social, economic, and political organizations for millennia
-ethnicity was not against stability or development
- ethnic groups do not have worse Econ performance
- are safer that homogenous society
In reality, ethnicity does not affect democracy or development. African leaders flares up conflict to prolong time in office
When can ethnicity be dysfunctional?
- Ethnicity loyalties may overwhelm national purposes
- ethnic dominance may permanently bias public policy in favor of the dominant group
- minority groups may lose out
What are the Single ethnic groups in Africa?
- Swaziland (e.g. Swazi )
- Somalia (e.g Somali)
What are the two or more ethnic groups ?
- Rwanda (ethics groups Tutsis and Hutus)
- Botswana (Tswana and Kalanga)
What are the dominant groups of Africa?
- Kenya ( e.g Kikuyu and Luo)
- Ethiopia ( Oromo & Amhara mange more that 70% of pop.)
-Tanzania: 120 ethnic groups
-Nigeria: over 500 ethnic groups
Hausa-Fulani 29%
Yoruba 21 %
Igbo 18%
Pre colonial Africa vs Colonialism
Precolonial: African states organized societies though an elaborate system based on family, lineage, clan etc
Colonialism: groups divided or combined with no regard to the common characteristic or distinctive attributes
What are the major ethic groups in Africa and where do they reside ? HOYA
Hausa: spoken in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon , Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan
50 million speakers
*chadic- sub family of Afro-astatic
Yoruba: spoken in Nigeria and Benin
40 million speakers
Oromo: spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia
Cushitic (sub group of Afro asiatic)
35 million speakers
Akan: spoken in Ghana and Cote d’ivoire
sub group of Niger-Congo
20 million speakers
What is body art? dates back? evidence of it found where? What is it’s purpose?
- Changing natural skin to “social skin”
- oldest form of art in Africa
- dates back 165,000 years ago
- evidence found in cave painting and rock engravings back to Stone Age
- engravings include human body decorated head to toe a testimony to the powerful human instinct to a beautif the skin
- body mondification is for:beauty, ritual, identity, treat certain aliements such as measles, pneumonia, stomach pains
What is dental modification ?
- earliest evidence dates back to Tilemsi Valley of eastern Mali
- front tooth removal of sharpening common in Niger Congo and Nilo Saharan speakers
What is symbolic about food?
“Food for thought”
Religious reasoning- learn to dislike idea of eating for example pork- that is feeding thought
Food develops relations- feeds spiritual need
Sorghum beer = “blood and mother milk” to bond everyone as brother and sister
What are the religions in Africa?
-Contemporary African religions: monotheism ( Christianty, Islam, Judaism) and polytheism ( indigenous African religion)
Syncretize: merging to or more religions
Some religions are mergered to adjust the belief systems to practical life styles
All of life is arranged in hierarchy of souls and powers :
Supreme being
Ancestors
Magical powers
What image does africa have of a happy life? What are the moral codes?
African image of happy life is one in which God is the superior and among the people, His presence supplies them with food, shelter, peace, immortality and a moral code
Moral code: Obey ancestors Honor parents and relatives Be loyal and responsible to the others One must avoid breaking taboos or norms
What is the dismal science ? What did Marshall Salins sugget about hunter gatherers?
- Economics traditionally take economic system as separable from social system
- void of cultural elements
- Anthropologists claim that Econ must Always be situated in its socio- cultural context
- Marshall Sahlins ( 1968-1972) suggested that hunter gatherers society don’t try to maximize their economic benefits
Marshall Sahlins- the original affluent society theory
- Claims that hunter fathers were the original affluent society ( rich)
- Used this theory to shift anthropologist who sees hunter gatherers as primitive and always on the dye of starvation
- Sahlin’s stated that “all the people wants are easily satisfied”
- Supposedly hunter gathers reached affluence by wanting little and netting needs and wants by what’s required to them
- hunter gatherers road to affluence is desiring little why western societies produce too much
What is Mary Douglas case study ?
“What determines economic development: culture or nature?”
-case studies the poverty amount Lele and Bushong
-she states lele are more poor than bushong even in the same vicinity
Lele:
lele have poor land and inefficient tech and begin work at 30 and retire early
Bushong start work at 18
Therefore Econ development is not only determined by physical environment but social organization
What is Metaphor of economy ?
-Econ is a metaphor and model of and for moral and social order
-money obtained from such selling is tainted and brings bitter blessings
-Nuer distinction btw good money and bad money
• cattle reps. Blood of both the animal and lineage and should be used to create bondage such as marriage; separated from blood cattle and blood cattle
• money used for impersonal transactions such as paying taxes
What is ghost marriage?
A man may marry his brother’s wife if he dies
The children from this marriage will be considered the descendants of a dead man
Purpose:
- to maintain continuity of family lineage and succession to important social position
- Nuer woman of wealth may marry a deceased man to keep her wealth but this form of “ghost” marriage
Consists of no loving husband and the woman can conceive children which in turns is a widow taking care of her wealth and children
