Oral Tradition in Changing Political Contexts: The Kisra Legend in Northern Borgu
Until the mid-1950s all the received traditions in Nigerian Borgu were unanimous that Bussa was established by Woru, the eldest son of Kisra (alhough some versions claim that it was Kisra himself), while Shabi and Bio, his younger brothers, established Nikki and Illo respectively. These traditions were recorded in the early period of colonial rule by colonial anthropologists and most of these accounts are deposited at the National Archives in Kaduna. From the 1950s new traditions began to emerge challenging certain aspects of these earlier versions. One such aspect that has attracted attention is the order of the establishment of the principal Borgawa states. The new traditions denied any link between Kisra and Bussa, and also condemned the prominent role assigned to the Emir of Bussa. The principal objective of the present paper is to explain the political situation that gave rise to the emergence of these new traditions, and to show how suspectible oral tradition, especially traditions of origin, is to political manipulation. Edmund Leach and J.A. Atanda have demonstrated this in different works. In his work on highland Burma Leach shows how traditions of origins “change with clock-like regularity in response to shifts in the political constellation.” In his turn Atanda shows how oral tradition “undergoes revisions when regimes change, care being taken that materials ‘useless’ to the new regime are expunged and new ‘useful’ materials added to evolve to an acceptable ‘standard version’.”
Militokrasiden Plütokrasiye Benin Siyasetinin Metamorfozu
Bu calismada, Bati Afrika ulkelerinden Benin’de siyasal yapinin askerlerin iktidarindan ( militokrasi ) zenginlerin iktidarina ( plutokrasi ) dogru evrilme sureci ele alinmaktadir. Bagimsizliginin ertesinde 9 yil icerisinde 5 askeri darbenin gerceklestigi ulkede darbeler donemini takip eden 20 yil icerisinde yine ayni sayida darbe tesebbusu vuku bulmustur. Etnopolitik rekabetin etkisiyle olusan militokratik kaos, yerini Mathieu Kerekou liderliginde Marksist-Leninist bir hukumete birakmistir. Neredeyse 30 yil Benin Cumhurbaskani olarak gorev yapan Kerekou, dinler ve ideolojiler arasi gecisler konusunda, kendisinin de benimsedigi “bukalemun” lakabiyla anilacak olcude mâhir bir siyaset izlemistir. Ideolojik bir katilikla hareket etmeyen Kerekou hukumeti, Soguk Savas sonrasinda kolaylikla neo-liberalizme de gecis yapabilmistir. Liberallesme sonrasinda goreve gelen Thomas Boni Yayi ve Patrice Talon hukumetleri ise, baslangicta demokratik bir profil sergilemelerine ragmen, otoriterlesme egilimi gostermislerdir. “Pamuk krali” Talon tarafindan yonetilen mevcut Benin hukumeti, milletvekili ve cumhurbaskani adayi olmak isteyenlerin 400 bin dolardan fazla basvuru ucreti odemesini ongoren yeni secim yasasi cikararak, mustakbel bir plutokratik siyasi yapiya zemin hazirlamistir. Kucuk bir Bati Afrika ulkesinde bu kadar cesitli siyasal yapi ve anlayislarin nasil olustugu, makalenin cevap aradigi temel sorudur.
Spirit mediumship and society in Africa
Gathering together under a single cover material from a wide range of African societies, this volume allows similarities and differences to be easily perceived and suggests social correlates of these in terms of age, sex, marital status, social grading and wealth. It includes material on both traditional and modern cults.