Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea
Research output: Book/Report › Doctoral thesis › Research
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Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea. / Højbjerg, Christian Kordt.
1 ed. Durham, North Carolina : Carolina Academic Press, 2007. 360 p. (Carolina Academic Press Ritual Studies Monograph Series).Research output: Book/Report › Doctoral thesis › Research
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TY - THES
T1 - Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea
AU - Højbjerg, Christian Kordt
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guiena is an anthropological study of a West African people's ongoing commitment to a specific religious tradition that invovlves both secrecy and public ritual. Loma secret religious practice appears to have been relatively unaffected by a long-term suppression, including the exposure of secrecy, by the postcolonial authorities. In recent years the famous male ritual association known as Poro has even taken on new significance in the context of political upheaval in the war-torn border area between Guinea and Liberia. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and regional comparative research, the study not only provides a detailed account of hitherto unknown ritual practices in the Upper Guiena forest and coastal region, it also challenges recurring claims about the political role of secret societies in this part of West Africa.The retention of 'tradition' in the face of 'change' is of central analytical concern to Resisting State Iconoclasm. Against presentist accounts of persistent culture, the author argues that an adequate explanation of Loma religious resilience requires a composite approach addressing both the political dynamics of the studied area and the cognitive and relational processes involved in the transmission of religious and ritual tradition. The result of this approach serves as background for a critical engagement with current theories of the successful, enduring distribution of cultural ideas and practices.
AB - Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guiena is an anthropological study of a West African people's ongoing commitment to a specific religious tradition that invovlves both secrecy and public ritual. Loma secret religious practice appears to have been relatively unaffected by a long-term suppression, including the exposure of secrecy, by the postcolonial authorities. In recent years the famous male ritual association known as Poro has even taken on new significance in the context of political upheaval in the war-torn border area between Guinea and Liberia. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and regional comparative research, the study not only provides a detailed account of hitherto unknown ritual practices in the Upper Guiena forest and coastal region, it also challenges recurring claims about the political role of secret societies in this part of West Africa.The retention of 'tradition' in the face of 'change' is of central analytical concern to Resisting State Iconoclasm. Against presentist accounts of persistent culture, the author argues that an adequate explanation of Loma religious resilience requires a composite approach addressing both the political dynamics of the studied area and the cognitive and relational processes involved in the transmission of religious and ritual tradition. The result of this approach serves as background for a critical engagement with current theories of the successful, enduring distribution of cultural ideas and practices.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - Vestafrika
KW - Ritual
KW - Tradition
KW - Etnologi
KW - West Africa
KW - Ritual
KW - Tradition
KW - Ethnology
M3 - Doctoral thesis
SN - 1-59460-218-2
SN - 978-1-59460-218-4
T3 - Carolina Academic Press Ritual Studies Monograph Series
BT - Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea
PB - Carolina Academic Press
CY - Durham, North Carolina
ER -
ID: 2432987