Miriam Driessen
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9789888528042
- eISBN:
- 9789882204416
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888528042.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Tales of Hope and Tastes of Bitterness sheds light on Chinese-led development from below, revealing its contested nature. Zooming in on everyday encounters between Chinese managers and Ethiopian ...
More
Tales of Hope and Tastes of Bitterness sheds light on Chinese-led development from below, revealing its contested nature. Zooming in on everyday encounters between Chinese managers and Ethiopian laborers on a road construction site in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, the book shows that Ethiopians define Chinese-led development as much as they are defined by it. By mobilizing civic and legal authorities, Ethiopian workers have managed to increase their leverage to such a degree that they occasionally outplay Chinese management. On the other hand, Chinese narratives of bitterness reveal that Chinese road builders perceive themselves as lacking agency. Speaking, as they do, of thwarted goodwill, these narratives are not only linked to the everyday challenges of Chinese–Ethiopian encounters and the chasm between their confident expectations and the much less rosy realities on the ground, but also to workers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and their state of suspension, as they try to stay afloat in the competitive Chinese society to which they hope one day to return.Less
Tales of Hope and Tastes of Bitterness sheds light on Chinese-led development from below, revealing its contested nature. Zooming in on everyday encounters between Chinese managers and Ethiopian laborers on a road construction site in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, the book shows that Ethiopians define Chinese-led development as much as they are defined by it. By mobilizing civic and legal authorities, Ethiopian workers have managed to increase their leverage to such a degree that they occasionally outplay Chinese management. On the other hand, Chinese narratives of bitterness reveal that Chinese road builders perceive themselves as lacking agency. Speaking, as they do, of thwarted goodwill, these narratives are not only linked to the everyday challenges of Chinese–Ethiopian encounters and the chasm between their confident expectations and the much less rosy realities on the ground, but also to workers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and their state of suspension, as they try to stay afloat in the competitive Chinese society to which they hope one day to return.
Derek B. Scott
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195309461
- eISBN:
- 9780199871254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309461.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter explores the reception of black and blackface minstrelsy outside of the USA. Europeans first acquired knowledge of the music-making of African Americans through the distorting medium of ...
More
This chapter explores the reception of black and blackface minstrelsy outside of the USA. Europeans first acquired knowledge of the music-making of African Americans through the distorting medium of blackface minstrelsy. The reaction to the early minstrel troupes in the 1840s, however, was not one of uniform praise in Britain and often entailed some unease. To win approval, blackface performers stressed the wholesomeness of their entertainment. The Ethiopian Serenaders made their first London appearance at the prestigious Hanover Square Rooms, and their status was assured when they were invited to perform before Queen Victoria. Although blackface minstrels did appeal to British working-class audiences, the big London troupes always had a bourgeois audience more firmly in their sights, thus leaving a cultural space to be occupied by music hall. In contrast, minstrelsy remained the most popular form of urban working-class entertainment in America until the rise of vaudeville in the 1880s.Less
This chapter explores the reception of black and blackface minstrelsy outside of the USA. Europeans first acquired knowledge of the music-making of African Americans through the distorting medium of blackface minstrelsy. The reaction to the early minstrel troupes in the 1840s, however, was not one of uniform praise in Britain and often entailed some unease. To win approval, blackface performers stressed the wholesomeness of their entertainment. The Ethiopian Serenaders made their first London appearance at the prestigious Hanover Square Rooms, and their status was assured when they were invited to perform before Queen Victoria. Although blackface minstrels did appeal to British working-class audiences, the big London troupes always had a bourgeois audience more firmly in their sights, thus leaving a cultural space to be occupied by music hall. In contrast, minstrelsy remained the most popular form of urban working-class entertainment in America until the rise of vaudeville in the 1880s.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
As a very young man, one of the most celebrated English authors of the eighteenth century translated a tome about Ethiopia. This experience permanently marked Samuel Johnson, leaving traces of the ...
More
As a very young man, one of the most celebrated English authors of the eighteenth century translated a tome about Ethiopia. This experience permanently marked Samuel Johnson, leaving traces of the African discourse he encountered in that text in his drama Irene;several of his short stories; and his most famous fiction, Rasselas. This book provides a much needed perspective in comparative literature and postcolonial studies on the power of the discourse of the other to infuse European texts. This book illuminates how the Western literary canon is globally produced by developing the powerful metaphor of spirit possession to posit some texts in the European canon as energumens, texts that are spoken through. The model of discursive possession offers a new way of theorizing transcultural intertextuality, in particular how Europe’s others have co-constituted European representations. Through close readings of primary and secondary sources in English, French, Portuguese, and Gəʿəz, the book challenges conventional wisdom on Johnson’s work, from the inspiration for the name Rasselas and the nature of Johnson’s religious beliefs to what makes Rasselas so strange.Less
As a very young man, one of the most celebrated English authors of the eighteenth century translated a tome about Ethiopia. This experience permanently marked Samuel Johnson, leaving traces of the African discourse he encountered in that text in his drama Irene;several of his short stories; and his most famous fiction, Rasselas. This book provides a much needed perspective in comparative literature and postcolonial studies on the power of the discourse of the other to infuse European texts. This book illuminates how the Western literary canon is globally produced by developing the powerful metaphor of spirit possession to posit some texts in the European canon as energumens, texts that are spoken through. The model of discursive possession offers a new way of theorizing transcultural intertextuality, in particular how Europe’s others have co-constituted European representations. Through close readings of primary and secondary sources in English, French, Portuguese, and Gəʿəz, the book challenges conventional wisdom on Johnson’s work, from the inspiration for the name Rasselas and the nature of Johnson’s religious beliefs to what makes Rasselas so strange.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
The first chapter lays out the ancient basis for the claims for exceptionality of the Ethiopian highlanders who call themselves the Habesha, from their ancient empires through their early modern ...
More
The first chapter lays out the ancient basis for the claims for exceptionality of the Ethiopian highlanders who call themselves the Habesha, from their ancient empires through their early modern ones. The historical record indicates not only that the Habesha have been central to world history, but also that they have been engaged for millennia in convincing powerful outsiders to recognize and respect them.Less
The first chapter lays out the ancient basis for the claims for exceptionality of the Ethiopian highlanders who call themselves the Habesha, from their ancient empires through their early modern ones. The historical record indicates not only that the Habesha have been central to world history, but also that they have been engaged for millennia in convincing powerful outsiders to recognize and respect them.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
This chapter details the Habesha discourse that Johnson encountered and forwarded when translating A Voyage to Abyssinia. The first type is argumentative, having to do with claims that the Habesha ...
More
This chapter details the Habesha discourse that Johnson encountered and forwarded when translating A Voyage to Abyssinia. The first type is argumentative, having to do with claims that the Habesha made about their religion, ethnic neighbors, and legends. The second type of Habesha discourse is expressive, having to do with the “characters” who appear in the text.Less
This chapter details the Habesha discourse that Johnson encountered and forwarded when translating A Voyage to Abyssinia. The first type is argumentative, having to do with claims that the Habesha made about their religion, ethnic neighbors, and legends. The second type of Habesha discourse is expressive, having to do with the “characters” who appear in the text.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
The previous three chapters argued that Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of spiritual and emotional turmoil opened him to certain African representations. ...
More
The previous three chapters argued that Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of spiritual and emotional turmoil opened him to certain African representations. This chapter analyzeshow Johnson’s tragedy Irene is animated bytheHabesha discourse that inhabits A Voyage to Abyssinia. Although Irene’s plot may seem far from that of A Voyage to Abyssinia, both texts strikingly emphasize the conversion of oriental Christian women.Less
The previous three chapters argued that Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of spiritual and emotional turmoil opened him to certain African representations. This chapter analyzeshow Johnson’s tragedy Irene is animated bytheHabesha discourse that inhabits A Voyage to Abyssinia. Although Irene’s plot may seem far from that of A Voyage to Abyssinia, both texts strikingly emphasize the conversion of oriental Christian women.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
In this chapter and the next, the purpose is not to curtail any of the ongoing scholarly discussions of Rasselas. Rather, the purpose is to lay next to them a reading of Rasselas as, paradoxically ...
More
In this chapter and the next, the purpose is not to curtail any of the ongoing scholarly discussions of Rasselas. Rather, the purpose is to lay next to them a reading of Rasselas as, paradoxically and impossibly, a Habesha text. This chapter argues that the text is partly animated by Habesha discourse and therefore is partly African. Positing Rasselas as an energumen, a text through which others speak, is not a way to diminish Rasselas, but to open up new ways of reading it, readings that focus on the extraordinary connections this text has to other traditions, in particular African discourse and self-representations.Less
In this chapter and the next, the purpose is not to curtail any of the ongoing scholarly discussions of Rasselas. Rather, the purpose is to lay next to them a reading of Rasselas as, paradoxically and impossibly, a Habesha text. This chapter argues that the text is partly animated by Habesha discourse and therefore is partly African. Positing Rasselas as an energumen, a text through which others speak, is not a way to diminish Rasselas, but to open up new ways of reading it, readings that focus on the extraordinary connections this text has to other traditions, in particular African discourse and self-representations.
Stephen Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386691
- eISBN:
- 9780199863600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386691.003.008
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Stephen Johnson focuses on the interlacing gender and racial implications of a moment of cross‐dressing in the career of the black minstrel performer William Henry Lane, known as “Juba.” Surrounded ...
More
Stephen Johnson focuses on the interlacing gender and racial implications of a moment of cross‐dressing in the career of the black minstrel performer William Henry Lane, known as “Juba.” Surrounded by white men in blackface singing “Lucy Long” on an 1848 tour of England by the Ethiopian Serenaders, Lane must have presented an unusual challenge to the British middle classes. Working from descriptions of Juba by journalists of the time, including Charles Dickens, and calling on theories of cross‐dressing by Marjorie Garber and of minstrelsy by Eric Lott and W. T. Lhamon, Johnson considers this particularly dexterous “wench dance” as a possibly confusing and distracting performance that could have displaced for the moment prevailing prejudices against color.Less
Stephen Johnson focuses on the interlacing gender and racial implications of a moment of cross‐dressing in the career of the black minstrel performer William Henry Lane, known as “Juba.” Surrounded by white men in blackface singing “Lucy Long” on an 1848 tour of England by the Ethiopian Serenaders, Lane must have presented an unusual challenge to the British middle classes. Working from descriptions of Juba by journalists of the time, including Charles Dickens, and calling on theories of cross‐dressing by Marjorie Garber and of minstrelsy by Eric Lott and W. T. Lhamon, Johnson considers this particularly dexterous “wench dance” as a possibly confusing and distracting performance that could have displaced for the moment prevailing prejudices against color.
Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, Jorgelina Marino, Dada Gottelli, and David W. Macdonald
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198515562
- eISBN:
- 9780191705632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198515562.003.0020
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), at about 20 kg, differs from such typical, medium-size canids as the coyote (Canis latrans) in its unusually long legs and a long muzzle. Restricted to ...
More
The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), at about 20 kg, differs from such typical, medium-size canids as the coyote (Canis latrans) in its unusually long legs and a long muzzle. Restricted to rodent-rich Afroalpine habitat within the Ethiopian highlands, its diurnal habits and distinctive coat render this species conspicuous. Field studies of Ethiopian wolves began in 1988, with a focus on the Bale Mountains. Conservation and research activities continue in Bale and have recently expanded to other populations in Ethiopia. This chapter analyses data previously presented.Less
The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), at about 20 kg, differs from such typical, medium-size canids as the coyote (Canis latrans) in its unusually long legs and a long muzzle. Restricted to rodent-rich Afroalpine habitat within the Ethiopian highlands, its diurnal habits and distinctive coat render this species conspicuous. Field studies of Ethiopian wolves began in 1988, with a focus on the Bale Mountains. Conservation and research activities continue in Bale and have recently expanded to other populations in Ethiopia. This chapter analyses data previously presented.
Niall Finneran
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264782
- eISBN:
- 9780191754012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264782.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is ...
More
Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is historically attested as being of immense economic importance in the Aksumite and post-Aksumite period; and second, that the ‘social memory’of slavery within the modern Ethiopian psyche has fuelled an ethnohistorical — potentially racist — dichotomy between the ‘Semitic’ highlands and the ‘Cushitic’ lowlands. This dichotomy also broadly mirrors a religious Christian/Muslim separation. This chapter argues that although apparently archaeologically invisible, the long history of slavery within this region of Africa has left a profound and legible cultural imprint upon its peoples and landscapes.Less
Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is historically attested as being of immense economic importance in the Aksumite and post-Aksumite period; and second, that the ‘social memory’of slavery within the modern Ethiopian psyche has fuelled an ethnohistorical — potentially racist — dichotomy between the ‘Semitic’ highlands and the ‘Cushitic’ lowlands. This dichotomy also broadly mirrors a religious Christian/Muslim separation. This chapter argues that although apparently archaeologically invisible, the long history of slavery within this region of Africa has left a profound and legible cultural imprint upon its peoples and landscapes.
Adrian Hastings
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263999
- eISBN:
- 9780191600623
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263996.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This is the first major volume to chart the historical development and character of the whole Christian Church in Africa. Christianity provided the constitutive identity of historic Ethiopia from ...
More
This is the first major volume to chart the historical development and character of the whole Christian Church in Africa. Christianity provided the constitutive identity of historic Ethiopia from long before the fifteenth century, and from the nineteenth century it entered decisively into the life and culture of an increasing number of other African peoples. In the course of the twentieth century, African Christians have become a major part of the world church, and arguably, modern African history as a whole is not intelligible without its powerful Christian element. This book links together Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and the numerous ‘Independent’ churches of modern times, and focuses throughout on the role of conversion, the shaping of church life and its relationship to traditional values, and the impact of political power. The author also compares the relation of Christian history with the comparable development of Islam in Africa. The period covered, in fact, goes beyond 1950 into the 1950s, although this decade is not covered in detail, since it has already been dealt with in A History of African Christianity 1950–1975 (1979). The intention of the book is to end with some account of where the churches had reached on the eve of the collapse of colonialism. It is arranged to cover three main periods: (1) 1450–1780, a medieval environment; (2) 1780–1890, from the anti‐slavery to total subjugation; and (3) 1890–1960, the Christianizing of half a continent.Less
This is the first major volume to chart the historical development and character of the whole Christian Church in Africa. Christianity provided the constitutive identity of historic Ethiopia from long before the fifteenth century, and from the nineteenth century it entered decisively into the life and culture of an increasing number of other African peoples. In the course of the twentieth century, African Christians have become a major part of the world church, and arguably, modern African history as a whole is not intelligible without its powerful Christian element. This book links together Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and the numerous ‘Independent’ churches of modern times, and focuses throughout on the role of conversion, the shaping of church life and its relationship to traditional values, and the impact of political power. The author also compares the relation of Christian history with the comparable development of Islam in Africa. The period covered, in fact, goes beyond 1950 into the 1950s, although this decade is not covered in detail, since it has already been dealt with in A History of African Christianity 1950–1975 (1979). The intention of the book is to end with some account of where the churches had reached on the eve of the collapse of colonialism. It is arranged to cover three main periods: (1) 1450–1780, a medieval environment; (2) 1780–1890, from the anti‐slavery to total subjugation; and (3) 1890–1960, the Christianizing of half a continent.
Adrian Hastings
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263999
- eISBN:
- 9780191600623
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263996.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
An account is given of the origins of Christian Ethiopian Church up to the Age of Emperor Zara Ya’iqob (who came to the throne in 1434) and his son Baida Maryam (who came to the throne in the 1470s). ...
More
An account is given of the origins of Christian Ethiopian Church up to the Age of Emperor Zara Ya’iqob (who came to the throne in 1434) and his son Baida Maryam (who came to the throne in the 1470s). The chapter starts with an introduction covering the Council of Dabra Mitmaq called by Zara Ya’iqob in 1449, at which he settled the question of observance/non‐observance of the Sabbath by decreeing that both the Jewish and Christian Sabbaths (Saturday and Sunday, respectively) be recognized. It then traces the origin of Ethiopian Christianity back to the conversion of King Ezana in the fourth century in the Semitic kingdom of Aksum on the Red Sea coast, before going on to discuss the Coptic and Aksumite origins of the Church, Ethiopia's Hebraic character, monasticism, and monarchy in the fourteenth century, and the ‘House of Ewostatewos’ (an Ethiopian Christian movement that observed the Jewish Sabbath rather than the Christian Sabbath). The last part of the chapter discusses the policies of Zara Ya’iqob, a convinced sabbaterian, kingdom unifier, scholar, and expounder of an extremely rigid and detailed religion, who was canonized after his death. The Age of his son Baida Maryam that followed was much more relaxed, but still religious.Less
An account is given of the origins of Christian Ethiopian Church up to the Age of Emperor Zara Ya’iqob (who came to the throne in 1434) and his son Baida Maryam (who came to the throne in the 1470s). The chapter starts with an introduction covering the Council of Dabra Mitmaq called by Zara Ya’iqob in 1449, at which he settled the question of observance/non‐observance of the Sabbath by decreeing that both the Jewish and Christian Sabbaths (Saturday and Sunday, respectively) be recognized. It then traces the origin of Ethiopian Christianity back to the conversion of King Ezana in the fourth century in the Semitic kingdom of Aksum on the Red Sea coast, before going on to discuss the Coptic and Aksumite origins of the Church, Ethiopia's Hebraic character, monasticism, and monarchy in the fourteenth century, and the ‘House of Ewostatewos’ (an Ethiopian Christian movement that observed the Jewish Sabbath rather than the Christian Sabbath). The last part of the chapter discusses the policies of Zara Ya’iqob, a convinced sabbaterian, kingdom unifier, scholar, and expounder of an extremely rigid and detailed religion, who was canonized after his death. The Age of his son Baida Maryam that followed was much more relaxed, but still religious.
William, S.J. Harmless
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195162233
- eISBN:
- 9780199835645
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195162234.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The Apophthegmata Patrum has come down to us in two basic forms: the Alphabetical Collection and the Systematic Collection. The Alphabetical Collection gathers some 1,000 sayings and brief narratives ...
More
The Apophthegmata Patrum has come down to us in two basic forms: the Alphabetical Collection and the Systematic Collection. The Alphabetical Collection gathers some 1,000 sayings and brief narratives under the names of 130 prominent monks and arranges these according to the Greek alphabet. This chapter focuses on the Alphabetical Collection, whose poignant anecdotes—like a set of snapshots in a photo album—offer striking portraits of leading desert fathers. This chapter explores the Apophthegmata’s portraiture of four figures from Scetis: Abba Macarius the Egyptian, Abba John the Little, Abba Moses the Ethiopian, and Abba Poemen.Less
The Apophthegmata Patrum has come down to us in two basic forms: the Alphabetical Collection and the Systematic Collection. The Alphabetical Collection gathers some 1,000 sayings and brief narratives under the names of 130 prominent monks and arranges these according to the Greek alphabet. This chapter focuses on the Alphabetical Collection, whose poignant anecdotes—like a set of snapshots in a photo album—offer striking portraits of leading desert fathers. This chapter explores the Apophthegmata’s portraiture of four figures from Scetis: Abba Macarius the Egyptian, Abba John the Little, Abba Moses the Ethiopian, and Abba Poemen.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
The introduction delineates models of transcultural contact and notes their limits. It then lays out the model of discursive possession and textual energumens, addresses possible challenges to the ...
More
The introduction delineates models of transcultural contact and notes their limits. It then lays out the model of discursive possession and textual energumens, addresses possible challenges to the model, and provides two instructive examples of spirit possession from West and East Africa. Finally, it addresses the vexed terms “Africa,” “Europe,” “Ethiopia,” and the “Habesha” (the name of the people of the highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea who are the focus of this book) and describes how the terms are used.Less
The introduction delineates models of transcultural contact and notes their limits. It then lays out the model of discursive possession and textual energumens, addresses possible challenges to the model, and provides two instructive examples of spirit possession from West and East Africa. Finally, it addresses the vexed terms “Africa,” “Europe,” “Ethiopia,” and the “Habesha” (the name of the people of the highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea who are the focus of this book) and describes how the terms are used.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
This chapter describes Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of mental illness, which resulted in his discursive possession. The chapter analyzes how the multiple ...
More
This chapter describes Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of mental illness, which resulted in his discursive possession. The chapter analyzes how the multiple conflicting sources of the textwould have contributed to such.Less
This chapter describes Johnson’s experience of translating A Voyage to Abyssinia during a period of mental illness, which resulted in his discursive possession. The chapter analyzes how the multiple conflicting sources of the textwould have contributed to such.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
Johnson was drawn to Voyage historique d'Abissinie, this chapter proposes, by its African Christianity. That is, translating it was a way of thinking about what it meant to be a Christian and how ...
More
Johnson was drawn to Voyage historique d'Abissinie, this chapter proposes, by its African Christianity. That is, translating it was a way of thinking about what it meant to be a Christian and how differently Christianity could be imagined. That Johnson’s interest in the text was that of a religious explorer becomes clear when examining his reading, his religious beliefs, and his editing of Voyage historique d'Abissinie.Less
Johnson was drawn to Voyage historique d'Abissinie, this chapter proposes, by its African Christianity. That is, translating it was a way of thinking about what it meant to be a Christian and how differently Christianity could be imagined. That Johnson’s interest in the text was that of a religious explorer becomes clear when examining his reading, his religious beliefs, and his editing of Voyage historique d'Abissinie.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
Johnson wrote many “oriental tales” over the same decade he wrote Rasselas, in the 1750s. Most appear to contain details that rise from Johnson’s reading about the Habasha. Some of the Habesha ...
More
Johnson wrote many “oriental tales” over the same decade he wrote Rasselas, in the 1750s. Most appear to contain details that rise from Johnson’s reading about the Habasha. Some of the Habesha details in Johnson’s tales are mere geography or nomenclature, yet the amalgam of resemblances suggests a deep resonance, one informed by Habesha self-representations.Less
Johnson wrote many “oriental tales” over the same decade he wrote Rasselas, in the 1750s. Most appear to contain details that rise from Johnson’s reading about the Habasha. Some of the Habesha details in Johnson’s tales are mere geography or nomenclature, yet the amalgam of resemblances suggests a deep resonance, one informed by Habesha self-representations.
Wendy Laura Belcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793211
- eISBN:
- 9780199949700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793211.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature, World Literature
Why is Rasselas so strange? It is the argument of this chapter that this is so at least partly because of Samuel Johnson’s strange relationship with the literature about the Habesha. While, of ...
More
Why is Rasselas so strange? It is the argument of this chapter that this is so at least partly because of Samuel Johnson’s strange relationship with the literature about the Habesha. While, of course, Rasselas does appropriate and misrepresent the Habesha, it is also an instance of the power of Africandiscourse to co-constitute the representations of the English canon. In the previous chapters have explored loaned words and images from the Habesha that appeared in Johnson’s fiction. In unpacking the relationship of Rasselas to Johnson’s reading about the Habesha, however, this chapter focuses on the more profound influences onRasselas of Habesha discourse.Less
Why is Rasselas so strange? It is the argument of this chapter that this is so at least partly because of Samuel Johnson’s strange relationship with the literature about the Habesha. While, of course, Rasselas does appropriate and misrepresent the Habesha, it is also an instance of the power of Africandiscourse to co-constitute the representations of the English canon. In the previous chapters have explored loaned words and images from the Habesha that appeared in Johnson’s fiction. In unpacking the relationship of Rasselas to Johnson’s reading about the Habesha, however, this chapter focuses on the more profound influences onRasselas of Habesha discourse.
Michèle Lamont, Graziella Moraes Silva, Jessica S. Welburn, Joshua Guetzkow, Nissim Mizrachi, Hanna Herzog, and Elisa Reis
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691183404
- eISBN:
- 9781400883776
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691183404.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Racism is a common occurrence for members of marginalized groups around the world. This book illuminates their experiences and responses to stigmatization and discrimination by comparing three ...
More
Racism is a common occurrence for members of marginalized groups around the world. This book illuminates their experiences and responses to stigmatization and discrimination by comparing three countries with enduring group boundaries: the United States, Brazil and Israel. The book delves into what kinds of stigmatizing or discriminatory incidents individuals encounter in each country, how they respond to these occurrences, and what they view as the best strategy—whether individually, collectively, through confrontation, or through self-improvement—for dealing with such events. The book draws on more than 400 in-depth interviews with middle- and working-class men and women residing in and around multiethnic cities to compare the discriminatory experiences of African Americans, Black Brazilians, and Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as Israeli Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahi (Sephardic) Jews. Detailed analysis reveals significant differences in group behavior: Arab Palestinians frequently remain silent due to resignation and cynicism while Black Brazilians see more stigmatization by class than by race, and African Americans confront situations with less hesitation than do Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahi Jews, who tend to downplay their exclusion. The book accounts for these patterns by considering the extent to which each group is actually a group, the sociohistorical context of intergroup conflict, and the national ideologies and other cultural repertoires that group members rely on. The book opens many new perspectives into, and sets a new global agenda for, the comparative analysis of race and ethnicity.Less
Racism is a common occurrence for members of marginalized groups around the world. This book illuminates their experiences and responses to stigmatization and discrimination by comparing three countries with enduring group boundaries: the United States, Brazil and Israel. The book delves into what kinds of stigmatizing or discriminatory incidents individuals encounter in each country, how they respond to these occurrences, and what they view as the best strategy—whether individually, collectively, through confrontation, or through self-improvement—for dealing with such events. The book draws on more than 400 in-depth interviews with middle- and working-class men and women residing in and around multiethnic cities to compare the discriminatory experiences of African Americans, Black Brazilians, and Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as Israeli Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahi (Sephardic) Jews. Detailed analysis reveals significant differences in group behavior: Arab Palestinians frequently remain silent due to resignation and cynicism while Black Brazilians see more stigmatization by class than by race, and African Americans confront situations with less hesitation than do Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahi Jews, who tend to downplay their exclusion. The book accounts for these patterns by considering the extent to which each group is actually a group, the sociohistorical context of intergroup conflict, and the national ideologies and other cultural repertoires that group members rely on. The book opens many new perspectives into, and sets a new global agenda for, the comparative analysis of race and ethnicity.
Richard J. Reid
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199211883
- eISBN:
- 9780191725135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199211883.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter places emphasis on the legacy of violent liberation war in both Ethiopia and Eritrea since the early 1990s. The chapter is concerned with the institutionalization of violence in the ...
More
This chapter places emphasis on the legacy of violent liberation war in both Ethiopia and Eritrea since the early 1990s. The chapter is concerned with the institutionalization of violence in the modern states of the region, manifest in the successor movements to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)in Ethiopia and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)in Eritrea. The authoritarianism of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, and the ongoing utility of ethnicity as organizational tool, is explored, as is the militarism at the heart of Eritrea as a ‘frontier state’. Continuing conflict, most dramatically in terms of Oromo nationalist violence, wars in Somalia and their regional implications, and the recent war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, is examined in terms of both historical pattern and carefully crafted notions of destiny.Less
This chapter places emphasis on the legacy of violent liberation war in both Ethiopia and Eritrea since the early 1990s. The chapter is concerned with the institutionalization of violence in the modern states of the region, manifest in the successor movements to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)in Ethiopia and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)in Eritrea. The authoritarianism of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, and the ongoing utility of ethnicity as organizational tool, is explored, as is the militarism at the heart of Eritrea as a ‘frontier state’. Continuing conflict, most dramatically in terms of Oromo nationalist violence, wars in Somalia and their regional implications, and the recent war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, is examined in terms of both historical pattern and carefully crafted notions of destiny.
