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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Ancestors as Elders in Africa: Further Thoughts |
Author: | Brain, James L. |
Year: | 1973 |
Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |
Volume: | 43 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | April |
Pages: | 122-133 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Subsaharan Africa Tanzania |
Subjects: | ancestor worship Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External links: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1159324 https://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pao:&rft_dat=xri:pao:article:4011-1973-043-00-000011 |
Abstract: | According to Kopytoff ('Ancestors as Elders in Africa', Africa, 41 (1971), 2), in Bantu languages there is no difference between dead ancestors and living elders and the power of the category of 'ancestral spirit' is not different from that possessed by living elders. According to the author Bantu languages do have a word for 'ancestral spirit'. (He gives a lot of examples). So his conclusion is that the term 'ancestor worship', but not 'ancestor cult' is semantically inappropriate. Examples from different African countries are given with emphasis on Tanzania. Ref., notes, summary. |