Medicinal Rule

A Historical Anthropology of Kingship in East and Central Africa

Nonfiction, History, Africa, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Medicinal Rule by Koen Stroeken, Berghahn Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Koen Stroeken ISBN: 9781785339851
Publisher: Berghahn Books Publication: September 7, 2018
Imprint: Berghahn Books Language: English
Author: Koen Stroeken
ISBN: 9781785339851
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Publication: September 7, 2018
Imprint: Berghahn Books
Language: English

As soon as Europeans set foot on African soil, they looked for the equivalents of their kings – and found them. The resulting misunderstandings last until this day. Based on ethnography-driven regional comparison and a critical re-examination of classic monographs on some forty cultural groups, this volume makes the arresting claim that across equatorial Africa the model of rule has been medicine – and not the colonizer’s despotic administrator, the missionary’s divine king, or Vansina’s big man. In a wide area populated by speakers of Bantu and other languages of the Niger-Congo cluster, both cult and dynastic clan draw on the fertility shrine, rainmaking charm and drum they inherit.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

As soon as Europeans set foot on African soil, they looked for the equivalents of their kings – and found them. The resulting misunderstandings last until this day. Based on ethnography-driven regional comparison and a critical re-examination of classic monographs on some forty cultural groups, this volume makes the arresting claim that across equatorial Africa the model of rule has been medicine – and not the colonizer’s despotic administrator, the missionary’s divine king, or Vansina’s big man. In a wide area populated by speakers of Bantu and other languages of the Niger-Congo cluster, both cult and dynastic clan draw on the fertility shrine, rainmaking charm and drum they inherit.

More books from Berghahn Books

Cover of the book Transcultural Montage by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book The Long Way Home by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Laborers and Enslaved Workers by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book The Limits of Meaning by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Living on Thin Ice by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Collaborative Intimacies in Music and Dance by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Youth Gangs and Street Children by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Island Historical Ecology by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Contesting Deregulation by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Media and Revolt by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Children in the Holocaust and its Aftermath by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Comparative and Transnational History by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book European Foundations of the Welfare State by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Economic Citizenship by Koen Stroeken
Cover of the book Fetishes and Monuments by Koen Stroeken
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy