CAs Amadou Hampâté Bâ rightly writes in his preface to this admirable book, Africa is above all the land of religion. Not of a mystical and abstract religion dedicated to the great questions of metaphysics, but of an earthly religion, linked to nature, which is expressed at every moment of life, which inspires men and women with every gesture, every word. This is the meaning of this book, a collection of myths, songs, offerings, prayers collected in the vast country that was once called Sudan, from the Arab As-souad, the “black country”. Songhay, Peul, Dogon, Mossi, Bambara, Fân, Yoruba of West Africa, Korona, Bantou, Nuer, Chagga, Hottentots of South and East Africa, their word seized by great travelers and lovers of Africa such as Germaine Dieterlen, who collaborated with Amadou Hampâté Bâ and Marcel Griaule, Jean Rouch, the filmmaker of The lion hunt with the bow, or Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard, discovers in our eyes an unknown part of culture universal. It shows us the strength of myths, but also the humor, poetry, imagination of African peoples, as diverse in their culture as in their history. Such as the songhay magic formulas "to escape through the walls", the incantation of the Fulani blacksmiths, the prayer of the Tutshiokwe of Katanga to help women during a difficult childbirth, the worship of the Fa and the Orisa who mingles with the voodoo of the Americas, praising Amma, the God of the Dogon, or Mbedzi, the kalanga high priest of the God Mwali, “the swirling water pond”. May these sparkling plots introduce today's reader to the spiritual treasure of Africa, the continent too long forgotten.
Sacred texts from black Africa
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Release Date | 2011-05-20T00:00:01Z |
Language | French |
Number Of Pages | 392 |
Publication Date | 2011-05-20T00:00:01Z |