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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Panyin: The Elder in the Akan Culture of Ghana
Author:Geest, Sjaak van der
Year:1998
Periodical:Canadian Journal of African Studies
Volume:32
Issue:3
Pages:449-493
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:elderly
Akan
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/486325
Abstract:'Successful aging', a popular concept in the gerontological literature, stresses elderly people's ability to take care of themselves. 'Successfully old' are those who are physically fit and socially active and whose cognitive functions are intact. The Akan equivalent of 'successfully old', the 'opanyin', is strikingly different from the gerontological concept. For an Akan elder, being successful is not so much a matter of being self-reliant or independent, but of enjoying dependency. An 'opanyin' is someone who is radically different from a young person: more patient, more careful, less selfish, more relaxed. The care by relatives proves that one has lived a good life and is now being rewarded for it. 'Successfully old' in Kwahu-Tafo, a rural town in south Ghana where the author carried out field research in 1994, refers first of all to what has passed. Today, most of the elders in Kwahu-Tafo do not have a pleasant and comfortable old age. The elders are losing ground and status to the young and what is left are proverbs which extol the virtues of the 'opanyin'. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French.
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