Beyond Words

Discourse and Critical Agency in Africa

By: Andrew Apter

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 July 2007 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
192 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
22.99 x 16.34 x 1.16

Paperback

$81.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $20.44 with

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

Even within anthropology, a discipline that strives to overcome misrepresentations of peoples and cultures, colonialist depictions of the so-called Dark Continent run deep. The grand narratives, tribal tropes, distorted images, and "natural" histories that forged the foundations of discourse about Africa remain firmly entrenched. In "Beyond Words, " Andrew Apter explores how anthropology can come to terms with the "colonial library" and begin to develop an ethnographic practice that transcends the politics of Africa's imperial past.
The way out of the colonial library, Apter argues, is by listening to critical discourses in Africa that reframe the social and political contexts in which they are embedded. Apter develops a model of critical agency, focusing on a variety of language genres in Africa situated in rituals that transform sociopolitical relations by self-consciously deploying the power of language itself. To break the cycle of Western illusions in discursive constructions of Africa, he shows, we must listen to African voices in ways that are culturally and locally informed. In doing so, Apter brings forth what promises to be a powerful and influential theory in contemporary anthropology.

Industry Reviews

"A counterintuitive rereading of classic anthropological texts from the colonial archive, Beyond Words proposes a brilliant solution to one of the most pressing intellectual/political issues in African studies today. Responding to trenchant critiques of anthropology's complicity with colonialism and Eurocentric thought, Apter argues that these texts - of Dogon cosmological reflection, of Tswana praise poetry - be reread as critical reflection on power and authority, as vernacular criticism that was history-making rather than history-erasing and politics-averse." - Charles Piot, Duke University"

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Sociology & Anthropology Sociology Politics & Government Anthropology Social & Cultural Anthropology, Ethnography History Regional & National History African History Archaeology

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Que Faire?	p. 15
The Politics of Panegyric	p. 32
Rituals against Rebellion	p. 50
Discourse and Its Disclosures	p. 66
Griaule's Legacy	p. 97
Decolonizing the Text	p. 130
Bibliography	p. 149
Index	p. 165
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Beyond Words

Discourse and Critical Agency in Africa

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Archaeology

Island at the Edge of the World

The Forgotten History of Easter Island

The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

Magicians of the Gods

The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilisation - The Sequel to Fingerprints of the Gods

Domination

The Last Dynasty

Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra

The Children of Ash and Elm

A History of the Vikings

Forms of the Visible

An Anthropology of Figuration

Deep Time Dreaming

Uncovering Ancient Australia : Winner of the 2019 Ernest Scott Prize

Istanbul

A Tale of Three Cities

Subsistence Strategies and Craft Production at the Ancient Egyptian Ramesside Fort of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham

Bloomsbury Egyptology

Urbanism and Empire in Roman Sicily

The Neolithic in Jersey

Jersey Heritage Research Series

Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds

Papers from a Special Session of the Fifty-fifth Meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, held in Berlin on 6th August 2022

Fingerprints Of The Gods

The Quest Continues

The Secret Teachings of All Ages

An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy

The Archaeologist's Field Handbook

2nd Edition - The essential guide for beginners and professionals in Australia

Crypt

Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond

The Memory Code

The Traditional Aboriginal Memory Technique That Unlocks the Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Ancient Monuments the World Over

The Last Neanderthal

Understanding How Humans Die

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

A New History

The Underworld

Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean

The Secret Lives of Dinosaurs

Unearthing the Real Behaviors of Prehistoric Animals

Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage

Egyptian Archaeology and the Museum

This product is categorised by