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Copyright of RumeliDE Journal of Language & Literature Research / RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of RumeliDE Uluslararasi Hakemli Dil & Edebiyat Arastirmalari Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Every way of life, whether Asian, European or African, is traditional by nature. This corpus explores contradictions inherent in the traditional practice of the myth of the Kabangatendé cult of Obudu in Cross River State, Southern Nigeria. The myth presents an image of positive effects on human practitioners, leading to a consistent increase in money, social influence and political strength. It is also said to be a symbol of affluence, nobility, auspiciousness, success and prosperity with less effort. It is imperative to note that myths operate in diverse capacities. Some are authoritative and appear to have a compelling force of obedience on the people, while others are manipulated and their influence on custodians can be termed to befit situations. This study seeks to address the following questions: Is the Kabangatende cult a revolutionary myth that militates against human existence? Does this myth halt the economic, social and political transformation of its custodians? Or is it an artistic reality that favors literary aesthetics that in turn promote Obudu tradition? In an attempt to arrive at possible tentative responses to the interrogations raised, the paper hinges on Joseph Campbell’s theory of monomyth and other theories whereby empirical evidence will be drawn from ethnographic and historical research, interviews and observations. This study contributes in a better understanding on how traditional practices, with counter-productive tendencies notwithstanding, can be adhered to by the people.

The making and continuous shifts of African identities outside Africa have attracted interest from across critical disciplines. Imaginative literature has achieved a considerable status as a site and optic for critical engagement with evolving dynamics of the diasporization of African identities. This article sets out to extend what is known about this 'function' of literature by looking at how representations of female experiences of forced trans-oceanic African mobilities can potentially disrupt male-centred narratives and epistemologies, to become a critical site to read shifting trans-Atlantic African identities. Using Yaa Gyasi's novel Homegoing (2016), the paper explores how the metaphor of female descendancy dominating the narrative emplotment of female experiences of being and becoming African and African American in America, can be read as potentially illuminating and problematizing notions of African diasporic identities and in the process, charting new frames for re-imagining the present and future of African identities in the context of their pasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is the intellectual epicentre of the ideology of African renaissance and of the growing scholarly attention to decoloniality as an epistemological and aesthetic agenda of decolonisation. Paradoxically, the country is also a xenophobic crime scene: the continental state associated with endemic Afrophobic violence. This is a contradiction with both contemporary and historical significance. Positing this framing of a contradictory impulse should come with a caveat: Black South African intellectual investments in pan-Africanist projects were part of a broader cosmopolitan imaginary necessitated by South African colonial history and were thus partly projects of necessity. The origins of this politics of self-fashioning were not exclusively pan-Africanist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to contribute to the advancement of Africana Studies as a discipline, it is vital that scholars of the field continue to assess the effectiveness of the various departments under the umbrella of Africana Studies. This research explores and assesses the departmental activities of two Africana Studies departments within the California State University system to identify effective models of student research engagement as a means of carrying out the mission of the discipline. In addition, this research offers recommendations for advancing the disciplinary mission. That authors use an Afrocentric lens to link the historical fight to preserve African peoples' humanity with the constant need to reengage African culture as a source for healing and accurately addressing contemporary challenges. Lastly, this article outlines guidelines for departments and scholars in the field of Africana Studies to continue to transform academic spaces into tools for liberatory research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of diaspora is phenomena. However, it is discussed conservatively by scholars in the fields of economics, spatial geography, politics, development studies, sociology and social anthropology. This article discusses the African diaspora as a tool for fostering the African renaissance. Most, if not all, African countries were once colonies of Western states, which imply that both people and economies were deprived of freedom of movement and freedom of association both within Africa and beyond. They were therefore recipients of the so-called renaissance of the colonial masters, who were themselves diasporas of their mother nations. In fact, the Western states themselves obtained some form of renaissance from Africa, although they allegedly propose themselves to be the torchbearers of the African renaissance. The term 'renaissance' refers to an endless process of systematic transformation, systematic change and systematic reformation and is thought to be contagious. Accordingly, the African diaspora is contributing to an African renaissance in all domains of life, that is, economically, socially, politically and technologically. Those who have left Africa are facing what this article would refer to as 'payback time' – repatriating resources to the African continent in order to pay back. The diaspora is thus playing a distributive role, transferring resources from regions of higher concentration to regions of lower concentration through 'impermeable membranes' (country borders) that are never porous. This article seeks to conceptualise the role of the African diaspora, examining and/or defining who forms part of the diaspora, by outlining the challenges of such a role in the continent. The respective governments of the country in which the member of the diaspora is now residing and the government of the homeland in Africa should be involved in the way forward towards facilitating the contribution of the diaspora in terms of the revival of Africans' humanity and Afrikology. Moreover, they should be pushing for the creation of a United States of Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the intervention of the missionaries in Bapedi society, the traditional beliefs, customs and practices, such as traditional healing, circumcision, polygamy, indigenous music and rituals, had a vibrant existence. These practices had been prevalent for centuries before the arrival of Christianity. After the missionaries of all church denominations were welcomed in Bapedi society to establish churches and schools as the main vehicles for the dissemination of European culture, confusion started to build. In this article, I will highlight the reaction of Bapedi people of Sekhukhune district, Limpopo province, South Africa, to the missionary activities of Berlin Mission Society (BMS), Germany, from 19 July 1860 to 08 July 2018. The purpose of this study was to explain the conflict or integration of different cultural norms and the missionary influence on the Bapedi indigenous way of life. The questions that I attempt to answer in this article are: (1) how do people understand one another when they do not share a common cultural experience? and (2) who are to blame, the missionaries or the Bapedi people themselves? I address this question by analysing the missionary influence on Bapedi traditional beliefs, customs and practices. Primary data were collected through video recordings of cultural and religious rituals, interviews and observations. Secondary data include publications. It was concluded that in spite of fundamental and multi-consequential changes that Christianity brought about in Bapedi society, a large percentage of Bapedi people, independent churches inclusive, have used and are still following their traditional beliefs, taboos, customs and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on description of African Art and culture. Topics discussed include many African languages philosophical sayings and muses possess deep knowledge of languages; focuses on the history of African philosophy of learning that can be used to enhance educational practices; and highlights some of events, programs, and conferences with artists, professionals, and art historians such as Arts of Africa and Global Souths research program, Art Expo Nigeria, and collaborative performance.

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The control and representation of sexualities were powerful tools in the construction of colonial orders. Though Edward Said noted the centrality of the erotic to the devaluation and submission of the Orient as part of its feminisation, few scholars have explored the historicity of this process in particular colonial contexts. This paper reads Spanish colonialism in Northern Morocco through representations of prostitution and whoredom across the cultural production of different social actors, with particular attention to the peripheral and ephemeral Orientalisms of popular practice: postcards, journalism, massified travel writing and pulp fiction. With Spanish soldiers and male tourists expecting access to spaces of entertainment that included commercial sex, and women actively travelling from Metropolitan Spain and across North Africa to earn cash as a prostitutional proletariat, the practice of sex work was increasingly visible in Maghrebi urban space. I argue that Spanish colonialism in Morocco developed not only through official policy in dialogue with or in contrast to French administration, but through the management of subaltern Metropolitan and Maghrebi Spanish mobilities integrating the Spanish Protectorate into the broader region, in excess of the colonial state. Spanish women staffing brothels across North Africa embodied material limits to the modernist Spanish colonial project. Complicating and effacing the boundary between coloniser and colonised, they afford new light on the pacific penetration and brotherly colonialism (hermandad hispano-marroquí) core tropes of Spanish state building in Morocco, noted by historians and political scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the differences in the theologies followed in Africa and Germany which also impacts the religion Christianity. It talks about the influence of Christianity and colonization on the theology and the culture followed by the Africans. It tells about the impact of Western culture and missionaries on the African culture. It speaks about the African theology being based on everyday life and is not limited to academics.

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The racial stereotypical image of the African as an inferior savage standing as an obstacle in the way of civilization has been established and perpetuated in Western literature, art and media throughout centuries. Within the theoretical framework of colonialism/postcolonialism, eurocentrism, orientalism, deconstruction and other interdisciplinary fields, this research paper intends to highlight the role of the postcolonial African novel, as counter-discourse, in deconstructing the colonial narrative and challenging stereotypes with a special focus on Ama Ata Aidoo‟s Our Sister Killjoy. It intends to show how the postcolonial writers, by „writing back to the Empire‟, have protested against Western ways of categorizing others and adopted a counter discourse to assert the invalidity of colonial discourse with a view to eliminate the negative image of the colonized people in Western arts and literature. Taking Aidoo‟s Our Sister Killjoy as a casein- point, the study shows how the writer subverts and deconstructs the colonial discourse by challenging stereotypes about the colonized Other, especially the Ghanaians. Through a descriptive analytical method, Aidoo‟s novel has been critically examined to show how colonial stereotypes, perpetuated by history, media and literature, play a great role in affecting ones perception of the Other, sustain racial prejudice throughout history and result in misunderstanding among different cultures. The study concludes with a recommendation for a new strategy of writing/reading literature in which canonical and non-canonical texts should be written/read in such a way that promotes racial and gender harmony, equality, dialogue among cultures and global peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Secret Life of Bees begins with Lily's encounter of bees in her bedroom. Bees and bee-related objects function as a central symbol and motif in the novel. Apparently, they also signify guidance and demonstrate the power of a female community through a bond of relationship. Signs and symbols study the life within the society which is a part of social, cultural and psychological relation to semiology. And, also this is a girl's (Lily's) journey to find the truth about her mother whereby setting the captive nanny Rosaleen free from the bondage and finally out of the cage from the confinement of her father T. Ray. Throughout this novel Lily is in search of truth about her mother and whether her mother loved her or not. Eventually, signs and truth converge at a point in understanding the whole novel in a better perspective. Thus, this paper focuses on applying the signs to the text using semiotic theory and further focus on applying the concept of new historicism to the text in the light of truth which is a matter of interpretation of culture and history through revolution whereby affirming the Black Culture and their identity in white. Reality and courage of the novel is highlighted in the scenario of culture identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study revealed the ways that student leaders make sense of their approaches to leadership in African student organizations in the United States. Seven leaders of recognized African student organizations in universities from the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and the South took part in interviews. Discourse analysis of interview data revealed the complexity of leadership discourses and practices in a postcolonial context in showing that African student organizational leadership (a) proceeds through the accommodation and resistance to dominant Western organizational and/or colonial discourses and (b) enables leaders to make sense of theirs and their organizations' identities in the context of discourses that marginalize African forms of cultural expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the film "Black Panther" of director Ryan Coogler. Particular focus is given to the film's association with religion in Africa through its depiction of the religious traditions in the fictitious African nation of Wakanda. It describes the gods worshiped in the Wakandan culture. It also outlines the film's centricity on Afro-futurism and African Diaspora.

The article analyzes the film "Black Panther" of director Ryan Coogler. Particular focus is given to the concept of African spiritism in the film and to the prevalence of desensitization towards spiritualism in the Hollywood film industry. It also outlines the relevance of spiritualism with regard to the film's plot which showcases battles and burial events.

Human African trypanosomiasis is causing thousands of deaths every year in the rural areas of sub-saharan Africa. There is a high unmet medical need since the approved drugs are poorly efficacious, show considerable toxicity and are not easy to administer. This work describes the optimization of the pharmacokinetic properties of a previously published family of triazine lead compounds. One compound ( 35 (UAMC-03011)) with potent anti-trypanosomal activity and no cytotoxicity was selected for further study because of its good microsomal stability and high selectivity for Trypanosoma brucei over a panel including Trypanosoma cruzi , L.eishmania infantum , and Plasmodium falciparum . In vivo pharmacokinetic parameters were determined and the compound was studied in an acute in vivo mouse disease model. One of the important learnings of this study was that the rate of trypanocidal activity is an important parameter during the lead optimization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African people's relentless struggle to tell their own stories and take charge of their own historical languages is a prerequisite for achieving an African Renaissance. This argument, informed by Afrocentricity-a theoretical framework which advances the view that any examination of African issues must be informed by African history and culture-takes its cue from the great Senegalese Pan-Africanist and African Renaissance advocate, Cheikh Anta Diop. The year 2018 marks 70 years since Diop, at a tender age of 25, wrote his essay When will we be able to speak of an African Renaissance? On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of this article, it is appropriate that the African Renaissance project advocates take a moment and deeply reflect on how they can take African scholarship to higher levels and intensify and consolidate the struggle to liberate Africa from being preoccupied with the Eurocentric trajectory of privileging Europe and Europeans in all aspects of life-the intellectual, political, cultural, social and material. This article argues that embracing Africology-the Afrocentric approach to scholarship-is the first step towards the liberation of a scholarship project. Diop dedicated his life to using sciences-both the natural and social sciences for the liberation of Africa and humankind-to liberate Africans from inferiority complex, and Europeans from superiority complex. Although Diop recognised both the importance of science and ideology in the service of humanity, he drew a line between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thrust of this article speaks to the fateful colonial encounter between Africa and Europe and the resultant underdevelopment of the former. Hence, despite decolonisation having taken effect, with various internal and external attempts being made to reverse Africa's underdevelopment, the continent is still in crisis mode. However, the African renaissance continues as a newer attempt at addressing the state of affairs characterised by poverty, instability, dictatorship and growing social inequality on the continent since the beginning of the 20th century. Considering the above situation, this work asserts that the social sciences and humanities have been found wanting with regard to contributing to the process of reviving and regenerating Africa because such disciplines remain steeped in their Eurocentric origins. Therefore, to be relevant to the African renaissance, there is need to reconstruct such disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to traditional library history taught in American schools of library and information science, the library, as an institution, and librarianship, as a profession, have their roots in ancient African society. Thus Africa, in addition to being the birthplace of the modern human species, is also the birthplace of librarianship. Thousands of years before the emergence of Greece as the fountainhead of Western civilization, African people in ancient Kemet (Egypt) had developed an advanced system for collecting, organizing, describing, preserving, and providing access to information, and had developed a class of professionals to operate the system. Until this truth is known, and incorporated into our social consciousness and the library school curriculum, we will continue to masquerade as the informed, when, in reality; we are the misinformed and miseducated "educated". An African centered corrective paradigm juxtaposes and probes the above phenomena (note: the author used photographs and illustrations to further support his arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on methods, making and west African influences in the works of artist Fatimah Tuggar. Topics discussed include influence of African cultures on author to observe, alter the social, structural and viscera within and among the civilizations; Letter to Kyauta, a letter created by Tuggar as a functional letter written on wooden Qu'ranic boards decorated for graduation ceremonies; and interest of the author on all aspects of collage such as amalgam, assemblage, bricolage, hybridity, installation, montage, and suture.

This article considers the economic effects of corporatization processes in Africa through an analysis of the intervention of French media companies in the economy of Nigerian video film distribution in Frenchspeaking West Africa, and particularly in Côte d'Ivoire. In a global context that is marked by the price volatility of raw materials such as oil and copper, screen media have been described as the new 'African black gold', attracting the interest of a large number of both African and non-African players and setting in motion a process of the 'corporate takeover' of African screen media industries. Analysing this process can help us to understand wider economic transformations in Africa. This article examines what we might call the 'technopolitics' of Nigerian video films' circulation and their historical transformations by examining the microdimension of the experiences of a number of West African video film producers and distributors, and the macro-dimension of the activities of a French corporation, CanalPlus, which is investing in Nollywood's distribution. It argues that Nollywood has acquired a strategic function for French enterprises that are investing in Africa, as evidenced by the transformation of Côte d'Ivoire's role in the economy of Nigerian video films' transnational circulation. This suggests a new and transformed dimension to France's economic and political relationships with sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a more nuanced assessment of the politics of African neoliberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the African continent where the knowledge of legal profession is lacking as compared to the other regions. Topics discussed include depiction of indigenous lawyers as monsters for creating colonialism, need of lawyers by the colonial enterprises for the protection of African economic and personal interests, and reorganization of local social and political system through colonialism.

This paper engages with non-Western, specifically African, scholarship and insight with the goal of highlighting the importance of African contributions to IR theorising. We highlight the Western dominance in IR theorising and examine the inadequacy of the major analytical constructs provided by established IR theory in capturing and explaining shifting reality in Africa. We argue that African insights, experience and ideas present a challenge to dominant IR constructs and knowledge within the international system, and that these insights, when taken seriously, would enrich our understanding of IR. We show this by problematising some central (often taken-for-granted) IR concepts such as the state, liberalism and individualism and underscore the need to reconstruct more encompassing ‘stories’ and images to innovate, revise and potentially replace some of the conventional ‘stories’ that have been told in IR. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The whole culture of the Black man, his religion, his cosmology, his technology, and so on possesses scientific bases. However, the epistemological bases of his science differ from those of modern Western thought. And, this difference prevents those who study Black African culture on the basis of Western epistemology to discover its scientific scope. In this article, the author develops the naturalized epistemology of the African traditional science. This epistemology teaches us that the African starts from the notion of God, to whom all reality is attributed; the Black African science is mainly a deductive science in which knowledge is of a revelatory nature. Contrary to the Western epistemology, the focus of the epistemology of the African science is the moral and spiritual conformity of the initiate to the religious norms and the praxis of the knowledge he produces. Far from being a bunch of superstitious beliefs, the African traditional religion, which is the basis of African lore, is demonstrated today, thanks to the apologetic tools developed by the Institut des Sciences Animiques, to be a scientific knowledge whose cosmology leads to the holistic “theory of everything.” This proves the natural convergence between African traditional lore and Newtonian physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colonial Film Unit (CFU) (1939-1955) produced over 200 films, which were exhibited non-theatrically to African audiences through its fleet of mobile cinema vans. While the CFU closely monitored, and theorised on, its film texts, the particular ways in which these films were exhibited and received was afforded far less attention and remains critically overlooked by scholars. In this article, I examine the development of the mobile film show across a range of colonial territories. The London-based CFU sought to standardise film exhibition across the empire, imagining these film shows as political events, as a means of monitoring, addressing and homogenising disparate groups of colonial subjects. The regulation of film space can be understood within this context as part of the broader effort to regulate colonial space. Integral to this process was the local commentator, an often-overlooked figure within African cinema. The local commentator would organise the film show, provide additional talks, answer questions, counter unrest and recontextualise the films for local audiences, often without any direct European supervision. In examining government reports, personal interviews and, in particular, a series of audience surveys, the article repositions the commentator as a pivotal presence in the latter years of empire; a rising voice within African cultural and political life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Configurações is the property of Centro de Investigacao em Ciencias Sociais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Afrocentric paradigm has revolutionized the field of Black studies for the past several decades following scholar Molefi Asante's extensive works on the theory. Many other scholars have since advanced the Afrocentric idea with similar or dissenting views and interpretations. While recognizing the utility of these works in terms of their intellectual engagements with the theory as well as their respective contributions to the field, the literature on the theory does not appear to be endowed with many scholarly works that have explored the policy perspective of the concept. This paper makes the case for the elevation of the concept from the intellectual construct to the policy domain. The paper argues that the underlying tenets of the Afrocentric idea have the ability to redefine the widespread negative portrayal of Black identity through concrete policy ideas and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africanisation refers to a renewed focus on Africa, a reclaiming of what has been taken from Africa, and forms part of a post-colonialist and an anti-racist discourse. Africanising the curriculum involves developing scholarship and research established in African intellectual traditions. The idea is that this education will produce people who are not alienated from their communities and are sensitive to the challenges facing Africa. However, the idea of Africanisation is highly contested and may evoke a false or at least a superficial sense of 'belonging,' further marginalisation, or it may emphasise relevance. This article discusses the possibility of Africanisation and takes further the argument of Graham Duncan of how Africans can reclaim their voices in the space of theological education. It unpacks the idea of Africanisation within higher education in general, examining the rationale behind the calls for Africanisation, followed by a discussion on the implications of Africanisation for theological education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the place of the Amazigh movement and communities in the evolving political fortunes of North African states. It evaluates the prospects for attaining a genuine recognition of Amazigh ethnocultural demands as part of a broader democratic transformation of society and state, and the Amazigh movement's likely contribution to that transformation. The Amazigh movement has the potential to make alliance with governments and other sectors of societies, in part to try and balance the strength of Islamist groups. However, the process is only at the beginning stages, and there is also a possibility that Amazigh self-assertion may lead to greater polarization of North African societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented on essayist Suzanne Césaire in which she is represented as a cultural critic. Topics discussed include "writings of dissent" by Césaire and French justice minister Christiane Taubira, efforts to efforts to recast cultural specificity by Taubria with her legislative work and her role in improving the nation and a discussion on African civilization and its improvement.

There is a kernel of truth in the claim that Western philosophy and practice of education is individualistic; theory in Euro-America tends to prize properties that are internal to a human being, such as her autonomy, rationality, knowledge, pleasure, desires, self-esteem and self-realisation, and education there tends to adopt techniques focused on the individual placed at some distance from others. What is striking about other philosophical–educational traditions in the East and the South is that they are typically much more communitarian. I argue that since geographical terms such as ‘Western’, ‘African’ and the like are best construed as picking out properties that are salient in a region, it is fair to conclude that the Western is individualist and that the African is communitarian. What this means is that if I am correct about a noticeable contrast between philosophies of education typical in the West and in sub-Saharan Africa, and if there are, upon reflection, attractive facets of communitarianism, then those in the West and in societies influenced by it should in some real sense become less Western, in order to take them on. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Marketing (0354-3471) is the property of SEMA - Srpsko udruzenje za Marketing i Ekonomski fakultet Beograd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An essay on African American intellectualized repatriation is presented. The author discusses the notion of African American, African American identity, and the construction of an African civilization including ancient Egypt by African American thinkers engaged in humanitas Africana, which is an effort that recognizes Africans' contribution to world civilization including the United States.

An Annual index "Supplement To Africa Research Bulletin -Political, Social And Cultural Series" for the year 2014 Is presented.

One key political development in the past decade in many, but not all, countries across Africa has been the growing saliency of morality politics in general, and of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics in particular. I argue that the uneven upward trend in the political saliency of LGBTs is closely related to two recent political processes: (1) a rapid growth of Pentecostal, Evangelical, and related Renewalist or Spirit-filled churches (demand-side factor) and (2) a democratization process leading to heightened political competition (supply side). To evaluate the above proposition, I created an original, fine-grained longitudinal dataset of media coverage of LGBTs in Africa, which I use as a measure of issue saliency. Using a series of negative binomial regression models, I find robust evidence that the saliency of LGBTs increases with a country’s population share of Renewalist Christians and that this effect increases with rising levels of political competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses how scholarship has formulated human connections and ruptures over the Sahara. However, these formulations were, and still are, based in both physical and discursive realities that have been developed in Africa itself. The idea of a dividing Sahara is based on historical political divisions – despite a homogenous political culture in the region – and by locally developed notions of race and religion, brought about by trade and justified in Islamic religious discourse. The Saharan divide acquired a new reading in colonial historiography, which, in turn, informed scholarly work until well into the 1960s. I will suggest that both colonial and postcolonial research on the differences and connections between the Saharan shores are suffering from a civilisational bias towards North Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on a broad assessment of the scholarship on North-Western Africa, this article examines Saharan historiography with a particular view towards understanding how and why historians have long represented the continent as being composed of two ‘Africas’. Starting with the earliest Arabic writings, and, much later, French colonial renderings, it traces the epistemological creation of a racial and geographic divide. Then, the article considers the field of African studies in North African universities and ends with a review of recent multidisciplinary research that embraces a trans-Saharan approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Environmental histories of the African diaspora challenge Eurocentric interpretations of the Columbian Exchange by identifying African antecedents in New World landscapes and cultures. This paper joins that effort by tracing the formation of African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) landscapes in Bahia, Brazil. Long essential in many West African societies, the African oil palm and its products diffused to Bahia early in the colonial period. Palm oil became an integral component of Afro-Brazilian culture and cuisine, and the palm groves that yield the oil represent an Afro-Brazilian landscape. Although the palm's West African origins are well known, and despite its importance in local cultures and global economies, studies of Bahia's African oil palm landscapes remain rare and generally ahistorical. This paper marshals evidence from colonial archives, traveller's accounts, ethnographies, fieldwork and digital geographic data to analyse the formation of Bahia's Dende Coast 0Costa do Dende, or Palm Oil Coast). While Africans and Afro-Brazilians emerge as principal actors, the analysis places humans within a broader socioecological framework to demonstrate how historical processes, geographies, agroecologies and human agency all coalesced to establish and sustain Bahia's Afro-Brazilian landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]