Decolonizing African Knowledge: Autoethnography and African EpistemologiesAddressing the consequences of European slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism on African history, knowledge and its institutions, this innovative book applies autoethnography to the understanding of African knowledge systems. Considering the 'Self' and Yoruba Being (the individual and the collective) in the context of the African decolonial project, Falola strips away Eurocentric influences and interruptions from African epistemology. Avoiding colonial archival sources, it grounds itself in alternative archives created by memory, spoken words, images and photographs to look at the themes of politics, culture, nation, ethnicity, satire, poetics, magic, myth, metaphor, sculpture, textiles, hair and gender. Vividly illustrated in colour, it uses diverse and novel methods to access an African way of knowing. Exploring the different ways that a society understands and presents itself, this book highlights convergence, enmeshing private and public data to provide a comprehensive understanding of society, public consciousness, and cultural identity. |
Contents
Autoethnography and Epistemic Liberation | 19 |
Narrative Politics and Cultural Ideologies | 45 |
Memory Magic Myth and Metaphor | 70 |
A Poetological Narration of the Nation | 99 |
A Poetological Narrative of the Self | 125 |
Satire and Society | 151 |
Narrative Politics and the Politics | 183 |
Sculpture as Archive | 205 |
Textiles as Texts | 282 |
Canvas and the Archiving of Ethnic | 327 |
Yorùbá Hair Art and the Agency | 373 |
Photography and Ethnography | 414 |
Self Collective and Collection | 453 |
| 482 | |
| 506 | |
Unless otherwise stated all images are either traditional works or the authors | 207 |
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Decolonizing African Knowledge: Autoethnography and African Epistemologies Toyin Falola Limited preview - 2022 |
Common terms and phrases
activity Adesanya aesthetic African appreciation approach archive artistic autoethnography beauty becomes belief body Carving chapter cloth collective colonial concepts considered context continued Counting the TigerVs create critical cultural defined designs dress effect engagement especially established European example existence experience expression Falola Figure forces frame function hair hairstyles head hold human idea identified identity important indigenous individual influence knowledge living magic manifest material means memory metaphoric Mouth Sweeter narrative narrator nature object one’s Orí painting past perform philosophy photograph physical political position possible practices present principles provides reality referent reflect relation religious representation represented reveals sculpture seen serve signify social society Source space specific spiritual story structure Studies style Sweeter than Salt symbolic textiles TigerVs Teeth tradition understanding University various visual Waters Western woman women Yorùbá