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Elements of ghanaian culture
African cultures essays
5 elements of Ghanaian culture that bind the people together
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This paper endorses the perspective that philosophical ideas emerge from and are intimately intertwined with cultural practices. Things and feelings that shape peoples and communities over time (Morgan 2012) by forming a foundation and lens through which people interpret the world. Using the tangible illustrations of the Dipo ceremony, a typical Ghanaian funeral, the Homowo festival and the film “I told you so”, I uncover and bring to light some African ideas present in these practices, things and feelings in greater appreciation of African Philosophy.
The Dipo ceremony is celebrated in the month of April by the people of Manya and Yilo Krobo in Odumase and Somanya, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It is an initiation ceremony that marks the passage of girls into womanhood and during this event the African Traditional beliefs in Spirits and divinities become very apparent. Spirits are believed to be powers which are immaterial and incorporeal beings (The Structure of African Traditional Religion, 1973). These beings are believed to have the ability to inhabit anything including rocks, mountains, forests, water bodies and generally natural objects. Before the puberty rights commence, there is an announcement by the divinity Nana Kloweki, the Earth goddess for girls of puberty age to participate in the rites. During the rites, there is a sacred and holy stone that the initiates are required to sit on three times in their shrine. The stone is believed to have a detective spirit which would glue a pregnant girl to it as she sits as proof of her pregnancy. In addition, the initiates’ spirits are contacted to explain the type of initiation rites they would want to have with certain specifications before any rite is undertaken and this...
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...rom http://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/2673/thesis.pdf?sequence=2
Egbert Adjeso, K. Y. (Director). (1970). I told you so [Motion Picture].
Gyekye, K. (1996). Ancestorship and Tradition. In K. Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An introduction (pp. 161-167). Sankofa Publishing Company.
Gyekye, K. (1996). Communal and Individualistic Values. In K. Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An introduction (pp. 35-51). Sankofa Publishing Company.
Gyekye, K. (1996). The Family. In K. Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An Introduction. Sankofa Publishing Comapny.
Quartey-Papafio., A. (2014, March 10). Homowo Festival. Retrieved from GhanaWeb: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/homowo_festival.php
The Structure of African Traditional Religion. (1973). In E. B. Idowu, The Strucure Of African Traditional Religion: A definition (pp. 137-178). Africa: Orbis Books.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. No. 3 (1965): 524-540. http://www.jstor.org/stable/612097 (accessed December 1, 2013).
Most of this documentary supports and clarifies my understanding of contemporary African culture. During the course I’ve learned that traditional African leadership structures undertook great changes under colonial rule and continue to progress today. Pre-colonial Africa had several different states characterized by different types of leadership; these involved small family groups of hunter and gatherers, bigger organized clan groups, and micro nations. Many African communities are still being governed by a council of elders, which is responsible for facilitating conflict and making almost all the important decisions within the public.
Relationships can be discussed in all aspect of life. Including communities, families, marriage, conflicts, and divorce. The gift of any relationship is the gifts from the spirits. The author uses her African teachings, in comparison to how Americans handle different relationships. In the book, “The Spirit of Intimacy,” Sobonfu Some’s gives wisdom insightful experience of her marriage and about the Dagara people of West African beliefs and traditions when facing conflicts in leading to divorcement.
Many African cultures see life as a cycle we are born, we grow and mature, enter adulthood, and one day we will eventually die but the cycle continues long after death. In Africa art is used as a way to express many things in their society, in this paper I will focus on different ways traditional African art are used to describe the cycle of one’s life. Since Africa is such a large continent it is important to keep in mind that every country and tribe has different rituals and views when it comes to the cycle of life. It is estimated to be well over a thousand different ethnic groups and cultures in Africa today. Thousands of cultures in Africa see the stages of life bound together in a continuous cycle; a cycle of birth, growth, maturity,
Brief History From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern: the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art of the cuisine so treasured and carefully transmitted to their daughters has become part of the great culinary classics of these lands. But seldom are the African blacks given that recognition.
Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief that society as a whole is organized around values and traditions drawn from a common origin, which was created by one Supreme Being.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
Fiero, Gloria K. "Africa: Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order." The Humanistic Tradition. 6th ed.
Trupin, James E. West Africa - A Background Book from Ancient Kingdoms to Modern Times, Parent's Magazine Press. New York, 1991.
After reading different articles and learning more about African American culture, it made me want to find out more about my own family culture. There are different traditions that are pasted down in generations, which could have been a part of African culture that we don’t realize such as parenting styles. I don’t remember hearing too many stories about my past relatives growing up, so I had to find out more on my family experiences in the south. Also, I wanted to see how spirituality played a roll in my family choices. My goal in this paper is to show how I got a better understanding of the reason my family could be structured the way it is now.
The Earth Goddess is known to occupy “a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She [is] the ultimate judge of morality and conduct. And what more, she [is] in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth (36).” At first glance, Igbo culture appears to render women to be inferior to men, however it associates its most powerful god as a woman. Rituals hold a significant role in Igbo culture and are deemed to be influential in the engagements of the clan. In addition, Ani’s role as a woman in Igbo society is further advanced through her essential role in the yam harvest. People of the Igbo village “honor [their] great goddess of the earth without whose blessing [their] crops will not grow (30).” Yam harvests hold a great worth to the people of Igbo culture since it dedicates status and wealth. Hence, relying on a female figure to establish a man’s position in his village is symbolic of the importance of a women’s role. The significance of portraying a spiritual character whom is imbedded in the morality of individuals and the future of crop growth as a woman urges readers to grasp the idea that women do possess a powerful role in Igbo
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
Khapoya, Vincent B. The African Experience: An Introduction. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print.
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.
Nobles, Dr. Wade. Seeking the Sakhu: Foundational Writings for An African Psychology. 1st. Third World Press, 2006. Print.