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| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2014 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende | Till Förster (till.foerster@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | Secret societies are a long established subject of social anthropology, history, com-parative religion and African studies. The first lore of such societies reached Europe in the 16th century – long before the imperialist conquest of the inner parts of West Africa. Portuguese and later Dutch, French and British sailors brought stunning stories of brutes back home, of reckless men that could transform into “devils”, “ghosts” or at least fierce animals such as giant snakes, leopards and lions. Very few of these sailors knew exactly what they were talking about, but many were sure that this would only be possible through magic and sorcery. Even the en-lightened travellers of the 18th century were not sure about the true nature of these beings that, they were told, could swallow a man on the spot. It was the birth of a trope that winds through many travelogues and adventures’ narratives until the late 20th century. When the European imperial powers began to establish their domination in the second half of the 19th century, they learned that these secret societies could become real obstacles to their attempts to govern the new colonies. They were difficult to combat, as they often did not have a head or a central command. The societies were rather organised in an acephalous way and communicated through a language or signs that neither the Europeans nor the uninitiated Af-ricans of their auxiliary forces understood. When the secret societies became the subject of more systematic inquiries and of scholarly interest, it became obvious that they shared many features. Interestingly, membership was almost never secret. In the respective societies, everybody knew who was a member and who not. Secrecy was a prescript that related to knowledge only. Many of the societies organised “bush schools” where the young initiates were introduced into that knowledge and where they were also submitted to hard physical labour and all sorts of tests that an outsider was not allowed to see. Many of the secret societies had, however, also an exhilarating side. The initiates were engaging in mask performances that entertained other members but frightened uninitiated men, women and children. Most recently, in the 21st century, some of the secret societies had to renew their old ethics of masculinity and bravery. During the civil wars in the West African conflict zone, they were again defending their villages against outside intruders and provided security. They merged with other associations, sometimes vigilantes groups or so-called traditional hunters. At times, they developed new forms of organisation and integrated old and contemporary legends into a novel sort of narrative that, however, still praised the courage and capabilities of the initiated men. For full program see "Bemerkungen" below. |
| Lernziele | The seminar follows the trajectories of West African secret societies from early modern times through the present. It introduces into the scholarly writing from different disciplinary perspec-tives and provides an overview over the best-known secret societies between Senegal and the bight of Biafra. The seminar has hence three aims: - Firstly, it tries to introduce into historical documents on secret societies in West Africa and how these documents have to be read from an anthropological viewpoint. - Secondly, it introduces into scholarly literature on such societies by analysing them from the perspectives of social anthropology, comparative religion and political sociology. - Thirdly, the seminar tries, where possible, to capture the recent changes in the organisation of such societies and how the members as well as non-members make sense of them. The seminar works on two levels: The first and the second part are suited for advanced BA students and MA students in their first year. The third part is addressing advanced MA students. Parts two and three are also suited for all students who want to analyse a body of ethnographic work from the perspective of social anthropology. They should try to examine how ethnographic descriptions speak to the more general concepts of anthropology as, for instance, acephalous and segmentary forms of social organisation. All participants are expected to present a book on the subject, either a his-torical account or an ethnographic case study. The presentation should be about 30min., fol-lowed by a discussion of 15min. A handout about the most important arguments of that text should accompany the presentation. The handout should not have more than two pages. All students who want to write a seminar paper should do a presentation of about 45 to 60min., followed by a discussion of 30 to 45min. It is expected that the presenters writing a seminar paper search for the relevant literature and develop a presentation that gives the other students an overview on that particular subject. |
| Literatur | Abraham, Arthur, 1978: Mende Government and Politics under Colonial Rule. Freetown: Sierra Leone Univ. Press [dist. by Oxford Univ. Pr.] Alldridge, Thomas J., 1901: The Sherbro and Its Hinterland. London: Macmillan. Anonymous, 1916: The Ogboni and other secret societies in Nigeria, in: African Affairs 16 (61): 16–29. Bascom, William R., 1969: The sociological role of the Yoruba cult-group. New York: Kraus Reprint. Beatty, Kenneth James, 1915: Human Leopards: An account of the trials of human leopards before the special commission court. London: Hugh Rees [accessible at: http://www.archive.org/stream/humanleopardsacc00beatuoft/humanleopardsacc00beatuoft_djvu.txt] Bellman, Berryl L., 1984: The Language of Secrecy: Symbols and Metaphors in Poro Ritual. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Boone, Sylvia Ardyn / Busselle, Rebecca, 1986: Radiance from the Waters: ideals of feminine beauty in Mende art. New Haven: Yale University Press. [on Sande society and its arts] Brain, Robert, 1972: Bangwa Kinship and Marriage. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr. Brain, Robert / Pollock, Adam, 1971: Bangwa Funerary Sculpture. London: Duckworth. Burrows, D., 1914: The Human Leopard Society of Sierra Leone, in: Journal of the Royal African Society 13 (no. 50): 143–151. Butt-Thompson, Frederick William, 1929: West African Secret Societies. London: Witherby. Dapper, Olfert, 1668: Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten van Egypten, Barbaryen, Libyen, Biledulgerid, Guinea, Ethiopiën, Abyssine ... Amsterdam: J. van Meurs. [a compilation of travel accounts of his time, a German translation was published in 1670 as: Umbstaendliche und eigentliche Beschreibung von Africa. Accessible at google books.] Dieterlen, Germaine / Cissé, Youssouf, 1972: Les fondements de la société d'initiation du Komo. Paris, La Haye: Mouton. Dorjahn, Vermon R., 1959: The organization and functions of the Ragbenle society of the Temne, in: Africa 29: 156–170. —, 1962: The initiation of Temne Poro officials, in: Man : 36–40. Drewal, Margaret Thompson, 1992: Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Pr. Ellis, Stephen, 2001: The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War. London: Hurst. Falkenstein, Julius August Ferdinand, 1885: Afrikas Westküste. : Freytag. Förster, Till, 1987: Der Poro-Bund der Senufo heute, in: Baessler-Archiv N.F. 35: 191–220. —, 1990: Der poro-Bund der Senufo, Elfenbeinküste, in: Gisela Völger (ed.), Männerbande, Männerbünde. Köln: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Bd. 2: 315–324. —, 1997: Zerrissene Entfaltung: Alltag, Ritual und künstlerische Ausdrucksformen im Norden der Côte d’Ivoire. Köln: Köppe. Fraenkel, Merran, 1964: Tribe and Class in Monrovia. London: Oxford University Press. Frobenius, Leo, 1898: Masken und Geheimbünde Afrikas. Karras. Green, M, 1958: Sayings of the ỌkọŊkọ Society of the Igbo-Speaking People, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 21: 157–173. Guenter, Abé, 1992: Jungle Pilot in Liberia. Schaumburg: Regular Baptist Press [account from the 1930s]. Harley, George Way, 1941: Native African Medicine: With Special Reference to Its Practice in the Mano Tribe of Liberia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Hart, William A., 1993: The “laywer” of Poro? A sixteenth century West African masquerade, in: Res: Anthropolo-gy and Aesthetics 23: 83–95. Hildebrand, Eugen, 1937: Die Geheimbünde Westafrikas als Problem der Religionswissenschaft. Leipzig. Holsoe, Svend E., 1980: Notes on the Vai Sande society in Liberia, in: Ethnologische Zeitschrift Zürich 1: 97–111. Jedrej, M. C., 1986: Cosmology and Symbolism on the Central Guinea Coast, in: Anthropos 81: 497–515. —, 1990: Structural Aspects of a West African Secret Society, in: Ethnologische Zeitschrift Zürich 1: 133–142 Jones, Adam, 1990: Decompiling Dapper: A preliminary search for evidence, in: History in Africa 17: 171–209. Johnston, Harry, 1905–06: The Living Races of Mankind: a popular illustrated account of the customs, habits, pursuits, feasts and ceremonies of the races of mankind throughout the world. London: Hutchinson. Joset, Paul-Ernest, 1955: Les Sociétés Secrètes des Hommes-Léopards en Afrique Noire. Paris: Payot. Junge, Werner, 1950: Bolahun: als deutscher Arzt unter schwarzen Medizinmännern. Stuttgart: Engelhornverlag. —, 1952–53: Das Weltbild des Urwaldnegers, in: Tribus 2/3: 405–417. Lamp, Frederick, 1985: Cosmos, Cosmetics, and the Spirit of Bondo, in: African Arts 18.3: 28–43, 98–99. Leopold, Robert S., 1983: The Shaping of Men and the Making of Metaphors: The Meaning of White Clay in Poro and Sande Initiation Society Rituals, in: Anthropology 7.2: 21–42. Lindskog, Birger, 1954: African Leopard Men. (Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia, 7) Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells. Little, Kenneth L., 1949: The Role of the Secret Society in Cultural Specialization, in: Simon Ottenberg (ed.), Cul-tures and Societies of Africa. New York: Random House [reprint 1961]. —, 1965: The political function of the Poro, in: Africa 35.4: 349–365. MacCormack, Carol P., 1975: Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society, in: Dana Raph-ael (ed.), Being Female: Reproduction, Power, and Change. The Hague, pp. 155–163. —, 1982: Ethnography of Fertility and Birth. London: Academic Pr. MacIntosh, Donald, 1998: Travels in the White Man's Grave: Memoirs from West and Central Africa. Castle Douglas: Neil Wilson. Mark, Peter, 1992: The Wild Bull and the Sacred Forest: form, meaning and change in Senegambian initiation masks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Marriott, Fitzgerald H.P., 1899: The Secret Societies of West Africa, in: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Insti-tute of Great Britain and Ireland 29.1–2: 21–27. McClusky, Pamela, 2002: Art from Africa: Long steps never broke a back. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum. McNaughton, Patrick R., 1979: Secret Sculptures of Komo. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. Miller, Ivor L., 2009: Voice of the Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba. Jackson: University Press of Missis-sippi. Ottenberg, Simon, 1989: Boyhood Rituals in an African Society: An interpretation. Seattle: University of Washing-ton Press. Phillips, Ruth B., 1995: Representing Woman: Sande Masquerades of the Mende of Sierra Leone. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Poore Sheehan, Perley, 2007: The Leopard Man and Other Stories. Pulpville Press Pratten, David, 2007: The Man-Leopard Hunters: History and Society in Colonial Nigeria. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Reeck, Darrell, 1976: Deep Mende: religious interactions in a changing african rural society. Leiden: Brill. Röschenthaler, Ute, 1997: Die Komplementarität von Frauen- und Männerbünden bei den Ejagham in Kamerun, in: Gisela Völger (ed.), Sie und Er. Köln: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Bd. 1: 279–284. Saha, S.C., 1998: Culture in Liberia. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Schäfer, Rita, 1997: Initiation in den Sande- und Poro-Bund bei den Mende, Sierra Leone, in: Gisela Völger (ed.), Sie und Er. Köln: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Bd. 2: 77–84. Schwab, G., [1947] 1968: Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland. Ed. with additional material by G. W. Harley. Report of the Peabody Museum to Liberia. New York: Kraus Reprint. Schurtz, Heinrich, 1902: Altersklassen und Männerbünde: Eine Darstellung der Grundformen der Gesellschaft. Berlin: Reimer. [online accessible at: https://archive.org/details/altersklassenun00schugoog ] Strong, Richard Pearson, 1930: The African Republic of Liberia and the Belgian Congo: Based on the observations made and material collected during the Harvard African Expedition 1926–1927. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Tanga, P T, 2006: The role of women’s secret societies in Cameroon’s contemporary politics: the case of Ta-kumbeng, in: African Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Sport Facilitation 8: 1–17. Thomas, Northcote W, 1916: Anthropological Report on Sierra Leone. London: Harrison and Sons [accessible online at: https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_tem_vertxt-1 ] Vandenhoute, P. Jan, 1989: Poro and mask. Gent: S. E. A. Department Ethnic Art. Webster, Hutton, 1908: Primitive Secret Societies: A study in early politics and religion. New York: MacMillan. [online accessible at: http://www.aasrschenectady.org/lib/Other%20Societies/Webster%20H%20-%20Primitive%20Secret%20Societies%201908%20Complete.pdf ] Weisser, Gabriele, 1992: Frauen in Männerbünden: Zur Bedeutung der Frauen in den Bünden der Yoruba. Saar-brücken. |
| Bemerkungen | Detailed Program 26.02.2014 No class 05.03.2014 Introduction. What is secrecy? (Simmel 1904) 12.03.2014 No class (carnival break) 19.03.2014 Historical accounts. 1.1 Olfert Dapper 1668: a compilation of early sources. 1.2 Travellers and expeditions: the late 18th and 19th century. 26.03.2014 No class 02.04.2014 1.3 The beginning of imperial penetration: late 19th and early 20th century. 1.4 Horror for the Colonizers: The colonial era. 09.04.2014 The Upper Guinea Coast 2.1 Jola: The wild bull 16.04.2014 (Block 14-18h) 2.2 The Mende poro: The male society 2.3 The Mende and Timne sande: The female society 23.04.2014 The Savannahs 3.1 The Bamana komo and ntome 30.04.2014 (Block 12-16h) 3.2 The Senufo poro 07.05.2014 The Eastern Guinea Coast and Biafra 4.1 The Yoruba egungun and ogboni 14.05.2014 4.2 Cameroon grasfields: and court societies 21.05.2014 New Ways 5 Secret Societies and Civil War in Liberia and Sierra Leone 28.05.2014 No class - Exam week |
| Teilnahmebedingungen | Die Teilnehmerzahl ist auf 30 Personen beschränkt. Die Plätze werden nach Anmeldedatum und Studienfachzugehörigkeit vergeben. Vorrang haben die Studierenden der unter "Module" aufgelisteten Studienfächer/-gänge. |
| Anmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung | www.isis.unibas.ch |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
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Keine Einzeltermine verfügbar, bitte informieren Sie sich direkt bei den Dozierenden.
| Module |
Modul Ethnographie (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Ethnographien (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie) Modul Fields: Governance and Politics (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul Fields: Media and Imagination (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul Regionalthemen der Ethnologie (Master Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Sachthematische Fragestellungen der Ethnologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie) Modul Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Master Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Social Anthropology (Master Studiengang: African Studies (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Theory and General Anthropology (Master Studienfach: Anthropology) Modul Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung in der Ethnologie: Ethnographien (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie) Modul Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung in der Ethnologie: Sachthemen (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie) Weitere Lehrveranstaltungen für den Wahlbereich Soziologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Soziologie) |
| Leistungsüberprüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| Hinweise zur Leistungsüberprüfung | Papers should be 20 to 25 pages long (12pt, 1.5 line spacing or ca 8000 words). Registration for papers is open until March 31, 2014. They are due on June 30 for those who will need the credits this semester. All others may submit their papers until the beginning of the autumn term 2014, i.e. by September 15, 2014. All papers should be submitted as word- or pdf-files via e-mail. |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Leistungsüberprüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Wiederholtes Belegen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Fachbereich Ethnologie |