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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Why Basotho wear blankets
Author:Bosko, Dan
Year:1981
Periodical:African Studies
Volume:40
Issue:1
Pages:23-32
Language:English
Geographic term:Lesotho
Subjects:African religions
religious rituals
Sotho
clothing
Architecture and the Arts
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00020188108707567
Abstract:Basotho can be observed wearing one, sometimes two blankets, at the height of summer, when the heat is oppressive, even by their own admission. The purpose of this paper is to explain this peculiar fact, and, by so doing, achieve an understanding of Sesotho religious symbolism. The author attempts 1) to establish the symbolic equivalence of blankets and the vagina, 2) to show that blankets, qua vagina, are the organs used in Sesotho rites de passage to effect growth, qualitative change, and passage, and 3) to demonstrate that a) the blanket and kin group are also symbolic equivalents and that b) the blanket, symbolizing the family group, effects its ritual induction of growth in the context, and for the benefit, of that group. Bibliogr., diagr., notes.
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