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.
Italian Influence on the Development of Calvinist Scholasticism
THIS ARTICLE TRIES to show that the rise of Calvinist scholasticism, which was the most important development in Calvinist theology during the second half of the sixteenth century, stemmed largely from several converging Italian influences, particularly from the writings of Peter Martyr Vermigli and Jerome Zanchi. Here Calvinist theology refers not only to the personal thought of John Calvin but also to the teachings of the founders of the Reformed or Calvinist tradition as it spread out from Geneva and Switzerland to France, Germany, England, Scotland, Poland, and the Low Countries. In this context Calvin emerges as the brightest star in a galaxy of Reformed theologians which includes Heinrich Bullinger, Pierre Viret, Theodore Beza and Wolfgang Musculus as well as Martyr, Zanchi and others. These theologians were often more influential than Calvin himself at a given place or time or on a given point of doctrine. Bullinger, Martyr, and Martin Bucer were all more important for spreading Calvinist ideas to Edwardian England than was John Calvin. Early Elizabethan Protestantism looked more to Zurich than to Geneva, as did early Polish Calvinism. German Calvinism owed more to Heidelberg than to Geneva.' These leaders developed their theologies sometimes in mutual dependence, sometimes with surprising independence. By no means was their relation to Calvin simply that of disciple to master, for each gave a personal nuance to his style of Calvinism. Thus the sixteenth century Jesuit Cornelius Schulting states on the opening page of his five volume polemic against Calvin and Peter Martyr that Martyr was clearer and far more learned than Calvin.2 Recently John Bray has pointed out that research in seventeenth century Calvinism leads "to the conclusion that the impact of Calvin upon the Calvinistic movement has been greatly over-rated. It may well be that some of