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.
The Structure and Significance of Kuranko Clanship
Opening Paragraph Recently renewed interest in the history and social structures of the Mande-speaking peoples of the West Sudan has brought to attention a problem of both ethnographical and theoretical importance. It is the problem of understanding the structure and functions of clanship in Mande societies, while at the same time interpreting the meanings of clan names, rituals, myths, totemic usages, and inter-clan relationships. In approaching the first aspect of the problem one is faced with questions of definition which have not been satisfactorily resolved; for example, are the nyamakala groups properly defined as ‘castes’, and are the dyamu (or diamu) to be described as ‘clans’ or as ‘patronymic groups’. Résumé STRUCTURE ET SIGNIFICATION DU SYSTÈME CLANIQUE KURANKO Les Kuranko, population de parler mande, habitent les hauts plateaux de la Guinée occidentale. Cet article explique la structure et la signification du système clanique, ainsi que son symbolisme, chez les Kuranko de la Sierra Leone. L'histoire, l'organisation politique, les règles du mariage, la classification des animaux et le système de parenté sont évoqués afin de montrer que les totems claniques particuliers, ainsi que la fonction et la position de chaque clan, ne sont ni fortuits ni aléatoires: ils constituent un système et un tout organisé.