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Stories of an African Bar Girl – “an ethnography done by an illiterate”

Published on January 27, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, books, fieldwork / methods, gender

Anthropologist Eric Gable, allAfrica.com

It is hard to decide what to call this remarkable book, the first of two volumes. It is for the most part a collection of stories told by a West African bar girl,”Hawa,” to anthropologist and musicologist John Chernoff in the mid 1970s. She tells about her life as a girl in a Muslim village and as a young woman in Accra, Lomé, and several other places, the lives of her fellow bar girls and about the men (mostly European but also African) she encountered, took from, gave to and left.

Chernoff wants the reader to approach Hawa’s stories as “an ethnography done by an illiterate.” Hawa is not only an ethnographic subject; she is also an observer, an ethnographer. Like all ethnographers her observations are partial, skewed, but also enlightening. >> continue

Anthropologist Eric Gable, allAfrica.com

It is hard to decide what to call this remarkable book, the first of two volumes. It is for the most part a collection of stories told by a West African bar girl,"Hawa," to anthropologist and musicologist…

Contemporary art from Africa is branching out in radical ways

Published on January 23, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, art, migration

Daily Telegraph

The biggest exhibition of contemporary African art ever held in Europe, Africa Remix (Hayward Gallery, South Bank, London) is a dizzying testimony to the variety of artistic expression throughout this vast continent – from Nigerian junk sculpture to Egyptian video installation, from South African sculptor Jane Alexander’s haunting animal-headed figures to the obsessive fantasy cities of Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez. Perhaps the biggest departure from previous showings is the fact that many of the artists don’t live or work in Africa. >> continue

Daily Telegraph

Eating Christmas in the Kalahari

Published on December 19, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, journal articles / papers, persons and theories, San-bushmen

Richard B. Lee, Natural History, December 1969

“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay Lee was published in the December 1969 issue of Natural History. It is one of the’s most frequently reprinted stories. In the final paragraph, Lee wondered what the future would hold for the !Kung Bushmen with whom he had shared a memorable Christmas feast. >> continue (pdf, link updated 3.9.2019)

Richard B. Lee, Natural History, December 1969

Cultural values and the spreading of AIDS in Africa

Published on December 1, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, gender, medical anthropology / ethnobothany

Christian Science Monitor

Awareness levels around the world are higher than they’ve ever been, but so is the pace at which the virus spread, according to the report. The real hurdle, say observers, is translating awareness into behavior change, and the effort often runs up against longstanding and strongly held cultural values.

African men who have become disempowered through a history of colonialism, racism, and poor economic prospects are unwilling to give up the power they hold over women, says Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, head of anthropology at South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“I don’t think we’re putting enough emphasis on changing men’s behavior,” says Ms. Leclerc-Madlala. She says a key solution is for male African leaders – whether politicians, sports figures, or traditional rulers – to take a stand, admit publicly that men’s behavior is a problem, and urge men to change. >> continue

Christian Science Monitor

Awareness levels around the world are higher than they've ever been, but so is the pace at which the virus spread, according to the report. The real hurdle, say observers, is translating awareness into behavior change, and the…

Modern technology revives traditional languages

Published on November 14, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language, technology

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) – One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian scientists said on Thursday. In groundbreaking research, the ancient script of Ethiopic, which dates back to the fourth century, has been adapted so it can be used for SMS text messaging.

The scientists believe it will open up the digital age to millions of people in Ethiopia who cannot speak or write English, but use their own centuries-old alphabet. >> continue

Inuit language finds home on net

(BBC News) Browser settings on normal computers have not supported the language to date, but attavik.net has changed that. It provides a content management system that allows native speakers to write, manage documents and offer online payments in the Inuit language.

It could prove a vital tool to keep the language alive in one of the most remote communities on earth. >> continue

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian…