Full Description
This volume provides a documentation of the African immigrant culture in America. It is a systematic representation of their background and personality, rituals and symbols of identity, beliefs and self-concept, world view and communication pattern, attitude and family values, and acculturation and enculturation process. The culture of this immigrant group, uniquely removed from the culture of the initial group that came to America unwillingly, presents an opportunity for a meaningful comparative analysis of these two cultures and the cultures of other immigrant groups. It also incorporates some strategies for teaching this culture and the cultures of other ethnic groups, for education in the multicultural classroom.
Contents
Dedication Table of Contents ii Foreword viii Preface x Acknowledgment xv CHAPTER 1 I Too Dream America: A prelude 1 CHAPTER 2 "Cry the Beloved Continent" 37 CHAPTER 3 Coming to America 41 Genesis 41 Exodus 42 Numbers 43 "The Center Cannot Hold" 45 "The Arrow of God" 46 "This is Our Chance" 47 The Cock on a Foreign Soil 48 "The Lost Finger" 50 The Best of Both Worlds 52 The Pendulum Effect 52 CHAPTER 4 One People, One Destiny 53 "Bele m a Ipaye" 53 "Pearls of the Nile River" 54 "Egbe Omo Yoruba" 54 "Our Sentiment" 55 The Homowo Festival 57 Nostalgia 58 CHAPTER 5 The Rituals of Identity 71 World View 72 Family Core Values 72 Familism 73 Filial Piety 73 Respect for Elderly 74 Respect for Authority 75 "one Soiled Finger" 75 Fatalism 76 Keeping the Dream Alive 77 "One Man, One Machete" 78 "Things Fall Apart" 79 "No Longer At Ease" 81 CHAPTER 6 Symbols of Identity 83 Auditory Communication Patterns 83 Story Telling 83 Proverbs 83 Music 84 Drums 84 Visual Communication Patterns 84 Gestures 84 Clothing 85 Tender Palm Fronds 85 Home Cooking 85 Audacious Ventures 87 Birth 88 Death and Burial 89 "The River Between" 91 Marriage 92 Divorce 93 Religion 94 Cultural Patterning of Time 95 A Generation Displaced 96 "Weep Not, Child" 97 A Lost Generation 98 CHAPTER 7 African World View: The Case of the Igbo 99 Masters of their Environment 100 The Igbo World 102 The Igbo Immigrant Group 108 CHAPTER 8 Masking Traditions 117 The Ritual of Sanctity 122 The Ritual of Propitiation 122 The Ritual of Invitation 123 Oji: Oke Osisi 124 The Ritual of Invocation 125 Summary 129 CHAPTER 9 You God, Our God 131 Religion and the Art of the Igbo 131 Predestination 132 The Ikenga 132 The Supreme Being 133 The Duity 133 The Mystical Medium 135 "Just a Piece of Wood" 136 "Helps to Devotion" 136 Amadioha: The god of Thunder 137 Ala: The Earth Mother 137 CHAPTER 10 Silence and the Art of the Igbo 139 "Silent Night" 146 Types of Silences 146 CHAPTER 11 Theater and the Art of the Igbo 149 Ritual and Spirit-Cult Performance 154 Yam: The King of Crops 154 Igbo Art in Motion 159 Masquerading 161 Summary 165 CHAPTER 12 The Search for Meaning 167 The Gathering 167 The Costumes 167 The Ceremony 169 The Transcending Ladder 170 Okonko 179 Visitors from Underworld 180 Conclusion 183 CHAPTER 13 "Through a Glass Dimly" 185 Power 185 Traditional/Normative Power 185 Supernatural/Divine Power 185 Roles 186 The Chief Ritualist 186 Mother Earth 186 Masquerades 186 Ancestors 187 Binary Oppositions 187 Power: Traditional/Normative Vs Spiritual/Divine 188 Heaven Vs Earth 188 Male Vs Female 189 Spiritual Vs Material World 190 Silence Vs Loquacity 191 Benevolent Vs Malevolent 191 Old Age Vs Youth 192 Spirit-Regarding Vs Man-Regarding 192 Conclusion 193 Questions, Discussions, and Activities 195
