Culture

Re-thinking sexualities in Africa

Medarbetare:	Arnfred, Signe
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Women, gender relations, sexuality, Culture, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi

The volume brings together papers by African and Nordic/Scandinavian gender scholars and anthropologists, in attempts to investigate and critically discuss existing lines of thinking about sexuality in Africa, while at the same time creating space for alternative approaches. Issues of colonial and contemporary discourses on 'African sexuality' and on 'female genital mutilation' are being discussed, as well as issues of female agency and of feminists' engagement with HIV/AIDS. The volume contributes to contemporary efforts of re-thinking sexualities in the light of feminist, queer and postcolonial theory.

Kultur i Afrika : Bildkonst, film, teater, musik, litteratur och dans

Medarbetare:	Palmberg, Mai | Backström, Carita
Utgivare:	Stockholm ; Uppsala : Bokförlaget Tranan ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Culture, Visual arts, music, Films, Theatre, Dance, literature, Africa, Aesthetic subjects, Estetiska ämnen

Ett annorlunda möte med Afrika genom dess samtida konst och kultur. Här hörs afrikanska röster från de senaste årtiondens litteratur, teater, musik, dans, film och bildkonst. Det handlar om drömmar, kärlek och svek, Afrikas kulturarv, mångdubbla identiteter, maktfullkomliga härskare, världens tillstånd och frågor om tradition och modernitet. Redaktörerna har valt material från möten med utövande konstnärer och inbjudit forskare till översikter och analyser. Tips på böcker, internetsidor, tidskrifter och kulturfestivaler för nya vandringar i Afrikas kultur finns i slutet av boken.

A democracy of chameleons : politics and culture in the New Malawi

Medarbetare:	Englund, Harri
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Christian Literature Association in Malawi
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Malawi, Civil Society, Culture, Democratisation, Human rights, politics, poverty, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

After thirty years of autocratic rule under ”Life President” Kamuzu Banda, Malawians experienced a transition to multiparty democracy in 1994. A new constitution and several democratic institutions promised a new dawn in a country ravaged by poverty and injustice. This book presents original research on the economic, social, political and cultural consequences of the new era. The book engages with a culture of politics in order to expand the purview of critical analysis from the elite to the populace in its full diversity. A new generation of scholars, most of them from Malawi, cover virtually every issue causing debate in the New Malawi: poverty and hunger, the plight of civil servants, the role of the judiciary, political intolerance and hate speech, popular music as a form of protest, clergy activism, voluntary associations and ethnic revival, responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and controversies over women’s rights. Both chameleon-like leaders and the donors of Malawi’s foreign aid come under critical scrutiny for supporting superficial democratization. The book ends with a rare public statement on the New Malawi by Jack Mapanje, Malawi’s internationally acclaimed writer. Dismayed at the continuation of an ”oral culture of dictatorship”, Mapanje urges Malawians to confront their past in order to have a future that is free from fear and intolerance.Anyone interested in politics and culture in sub-Saharan Africa will find this book an important source of insight and detailed analysis for a comparative understanding of Africa’s democratization.

Encounter images in the meetings between Africa and Europe

Medarbetare:	Palmberg, Mai
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2001
Ämnesord:	development, Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

In 1995 the Nordic Africa Institute initiated a research project on cultural aspects of development and Nordic-African relations. One of the aims was to contribute to providing other images of Africa than the negative images of misery, war and catastrophes often conveyed by the mass media. Another was to encourage cultural aspects of change in Africa, and the dynamics of cultural production itself. It is indisputable that negative images of Africa increasingly dominate everyday reporting and therefore public opinion too. The generalised pessimistic pictures are in stark contrast to what those of us have experienced who have had the opportunity to visit Africa and work there. It was important not only to encourage alternatives to stereotypes and generalisations, which portrayed Africans as helpless victims, but also to try to understand how and why, and to what extent these images had developed. This was the theme of the first conference organised within the new project on culture, coordinated by Mai Palmberg. This research project was called "Cultural Images in and of Africa", and the seminar dealt primarily with the images of Africa developed in Europe. A selection of edited papers from this seminar is presented here.

Introduktion [till Kultur i Afrika: bildkonst, film, teater, musik, litteratur och dans]

Upphovspersoner:	Palmberg, Mai | Backström, Carita
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Cultural Images and Expressions | Stockholm ; Uppsala : Tranan ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Culture, Visual arts, music, Films, Theatre, Dance, literature, Africa, Aesthetic subjects, Estetiska ämnen

Ett annorlunda möte med Afrika genom dess samtida konst och kultur. Här hörs afrikanska röster från de senaste årtiondens litteratur, teater, musik, dans, film och bildkonst. Det handlar om drömmar, kärlek och svek, Afrikas kulturarv, mångdubbla identiteter, maktfullkomliga härskare, världens tillstånd och frågor om tradition och modernitet. Redaktörerna har valt material från möten med utövande konstnärer och inbjudit forskare till översikter och analyser. Tips på böcker, internetsidor, tidskrifter och kulturfestivaler för nya vandringar i Afrikas kultur finns i slutet av boken. 

What’s culture got to do with it? : A report from a conference June 15-18, 2009 in Uppsala

Medarbetare:	Palmberg, Mai
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Africa, Culture, Arts, literature, Poetry, music, Film, Conference reports, HUMANITIES and RELIGION, HUMANIORA och RELIGIONSVETENSKAP

What’s culture got to do with it? was the name of an international conference on June 15-18, 2009 in Uppsala, organisedby the 'Cultural Images in and of Africa' research programmeat the Nordic Africa Institute, and funded by the Riksbankens jubileumsfond and Statens kulturråd in Sweden. Scholars participated from 15 countries and 36 universities or research institutes, with 10 African countries represented. This report reproduces the keynote speeches of Karin Barber, Elleke Boehmer, Stefan Jonsson, and Signe Arnfred. The rapporteurs summarise the presentation and discussion of the 27 papers selected for the conference. The report also contain pictorial memories from the conference, and poetry by the three Nordic Africa Institute guest writers present.

Writers, writing on conflict and wars in Africa

Medarbetare:	Ndibe, Okey | Hove, Chenjerai
Utgivare:	London : Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd. and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	literature, Novels, Authors, Artists, Culture, conflicts, Civil war, politics, Criticism, Africa, Litteraturvetenskap

Many African countries are caught up in perennial or recurrent political conflicts that often culminate in devastating wars. These flaring conflicts and wars create harrowing economic hardships, dire refugee problems, and sustain a sense of despair in such countries. By their nature, these conflicts and wars affect writers in profound and sometimes paradoxical ways. On the one hand, literature—whether fiction, poetry, drama, or even memoirs—is animated by conflict. On the other hand, the sense of dislocation as well as the humanitarian crises unleashed by wars and other kinds of conflicts also constitute grave impediments to artistic exploration and literary expression.  Writers and artists are frequently in the frontline of resistance to the kinds of injustices and abuses that precipitate wars and conflicts. Consequently, they are often detained, exiled, and even killed either by agents of state terror or by one faction or another in the tussle for state control.  Writers, Writing Conflicts and Wars in Africa is a collection of testimonies by various writers and scholars who have experienced, or explored, the continent’s conflicts and woes, including how the disruptions shape artistic and literary production.  The book is divided into two broad categories: in one, several writers speak directly, and with rich anecdotal details about the impact wars and conflicts have had in the formation of their experience and work; in the second, a number of scholars articulate how particular writers have assimilated the horrors of wars and conflicts in their literary creations.  The result is an invaluable harvest of reflections and perspectives that open the window into an essential, but until now sadly unexplored, facet of the cultural and political experience of African writers.  The broad scope of this collection—covering Darfur, the Congolese crisis, Biafra, Zimbabwe, South Africa, among others—is complemented by a certain buoyancy of spirit that runs through most of the essays and anecdotes.

Same and other : negotiating African identity in cultural production

Upphovspersoner:	Palmberg, Mai | Eriksson Baaz, Maria
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Cultural Images and Expressions | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2001
Ämnesord:	development, Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The idea of African Otherness has occupied a central role in discourses on cultural production in Africa, whether film, literature, music or the arts. These claims, articulated both by 'Western' and 'African' critics and consumers, means that particular criteria and standards are adopted in relation to cultural production in Africa. The claim to African Otherness is gaining new strength in the wake of globalisation, but it is also increasingly challenged by a number of contemporary artists. This book deals with the question of relevance and meaning of the signifier in various fields of contemporary cultural production in Africa: literature, film, sculpture, music, popular drama.

Singing culture : a study of gospel music in Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson:	Chitando, Ezra
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Zimbabwe, music, Christianity, Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This study examines the historical development, social, political and economic significance of gospel music in Zimbabwe. It approaches music with Christian theological ideas and popular appeal as a cultural phenomenon with manifold implications. Applying a history of religions approach to the study of a widespread religious phenomenon, the study seeks to link religious studies with popular culture. It argues that gospel music represents a valuable entry point into a discussion of contemporary African cultural production. Gospel music successfully blends the musical traditions of Zimbabwe, influences from other African countries, and musical styles from other parts of the world. Through the application of multiple methodological lenses, the study sets out to describe, analyse and interpret gospel music in Zimbabwe during the 1990s. It outlines the historical development of popular music in Zimbabwe, alongside locating the emergence of gospel music in the politically and economically challenging 1990s. The report captures the impact of Christianity on music performances, highlights the various groups of cultural workers who have derived opportunities from gospel music and undertakes an analysis of the context in which gospel music was able to thrive. Through an examination of dominant themes in Zimbabwean gospel music and its creative appropriation of various musical styles, the study illustrates the complexity underlying contemporary African artistic products. This study also seeks to bring to the fore the long-standing issue of the relationship between Christianity and African culture. Although many African theologians, nationalists, missiologists, Non-Governmental Organisation activists and other practitioners have proffered valuable insights, in most instances their efforts have been vitiated by a preoccupation with a frozen view of African culture. Many writers have tended to view African culture as a relic from some glorious past. Although this may please avid cultural nationalists, it obfuscates the inherently adaptive nature of African, and indeed of any other, culture. Consequently, in this study the focus is on gospel music as an integral part of contemporary African culture. By examining gospel music texts, performances by artists and audiences at gospel concerts and television presentations, the study contributes to the discourses on religion and public spaces. The report also brings to the fore the neglected theme of music and the construction of religious and other identities.