Cutrone/Huh
Period 9
WHE – Unit 3: Africa; Chapters 1 and 2
Quiz on Wednesday 11/26/08
Although this guide has much of the information from your notes, please look through your actual notes, handouts, homework assignments, and textbook chapters (which correlate with your SAWs).
Key Themes:
- Characteristics of traditional African families
- Major characteristics of Africa’s religions
- Impact of cultural diffusion on the religious landscape of Africa
- Visual, literary, and performing arts of Africa
Traditional African Religions
*Currently about 15% of Africa*
9 Points:
1. ~1000 African ethnic groups and each has its own religious system
2. Traditional religions affect all the areas of life – no distinction between the secular (everyday world) and the sacred (religious)
3. Traditional religions not primarily for the individual but for the community
4. No sacred scriptures
5. Not universal – tend to be tribal
6. No founders/reformers
7. Belief in afterlife
8. No atheists
9. Spiritual world is populated with diverse supernatural beings
God Divinities Spirits Living Dead/People
Diviners:
-interpreters between the people and the spirits and dead ancestors
-explained the case of misfortune in your life
Healers:
-helped to find a solution for physical and emotional problems
Masks:
-links between the living and the dead
Magic:
-Fetish: object believed to possess supernatural powers – believed to bring good or bad luck – composition determines its power.
10 Traditional Religious Believes of Africa (Handout)
Christianity and Islam in Africa
Christianity:
-well established all over North Africa from ancient times
-Islamic invasions limited expansion (Egypt and Ethiopia only)
-Freed slaves at the end of the 18th century brought Christianity back to West Africa
-Missionaries spread Christianity in the 19th century via hospitals, schools, and churches
-*Currently about 40% in Africa*
Islam:
-invasions of the 8th century introduce Islam to Africa
-Arabs migrated west across the Mediterranean into Southern Europe (Spain)
-Predominantly in the North along the Mediterranean coast
-Around 400 million Muslims in the continent
-*Currently about 40% in Africa*
African Literature
Griot: storyteller (p. 143)
Playwrights and filmmakers build on the tradition of the griots by putting on marks and using puppets.
Oral literature: told from the griot; recited events from history and praises of the ruler; stories and poems with a moral
Characteristics of Oral Literature: recited, put to music, passed down
Uses: religious ceremonies, with music, teach about the past, fun
Examples: riddles, fables, poems, proverbs, myths, legends
Proverbs: sayings within the culture that have a moral/lesson
Concerns and themes reflected in African literature:
-the universe has a moral order, and people who disturb it suffer misfortune
-people must respect the environment if they wish to prosper
-the conflict between old and new ways
Chinua Achebe: a Nigerian novelist who writes of the problems created by imposing European culture onto traditional African values.
African Music
Talking drums: percussion instruments such as drums and xylophones
Some common African instruments:
-thumb piano
-cowbell
-drums
-xylophone
-stringed instruments
African popular music builds on many traditions; the styles and instruments vary from region to region.
Characteristics of Music: polyrhythm, drums, gourd, thumb piano, horns, talking drums
Uses: spread messages about warfare, call people together, praise gods, communicate with supernatural world
Example: protest song
African Visual Arts
African arts influenced European artists – Picasso admired the unique features of the masks and statues; he applied similar techniques to his own paintings.
Characteristics of Masks: carved from wood, symbolize respect for ancestors
Uses: link between the living and the dead, ceremonial, costume, storytelling
Kane Kwei: a carpenter artist who makes coffins in the shapes of boats.
Characteristics of Visual Arts: paintings, statues, murals, everyday items
Uses: everyday activities, for the sake of beauty, to show ranks, to keep traditions
Example: clothes dying
Films were used to portray the injustices of real life problems, and to show various lifestyles.
Polytheism: worship of more than one god