Naming Africans: On the Epistemic Value of Names

ISBN-13: 9783031134746 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023 / 191 str.

Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí; Hewan Girma

Opis

Focusing on the epistemic value of African names, this edited collection is based on the premise that personal names constitute valuable sources of historical and ethnographic information and help to unveil endogenous forms of knowledge.  The chapters assembled here document and analyze personal names and naming practices in a slew of African societies on the geographically vast and ethnically diverse continent, including contributions on the naming practices in Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. The contributors to this anthology are scholars from different African language communities who investigate names and naming practices diachronically. Taken together, their work offers a comparative focus that juxtaposes different African cultures and reveals the historical and epistemic significance of given names.

Spis treści

1.Introduction: What is Not in A Name? On the Epistemic Value of African Personal Names and Naming Practices.- 

2. Toward a Genealogy of Gender, Gendered Names, and Naming Practices .- 

3. Amharic Names, Naming Ceremonies and Memory.- 

4. Engendering Personal Names in Basaa Culture: From the Origins to the Epic Tradition and Beyond.-