4 - Tradition, Modernity and Ways of Knowing
Africa Review of Books,
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2010): Africa Review of Books, Volume 6, n° 1, 2010
Abstract
The books under review raise interesting issues germane to contemporary debates about tradition, modernity and ways of knowing. The questions thus raised include: do categories of tradition and modernity exist in the day-to-day lives of people? If so, how can tradition be distinguished from modernity? Do people draw distinctions about what is traditional and what is modern in their day-to-day lives? To what extent do people think and live in binaries? To what extent are people shaped by education, the physical environment, age, race, gender and experience? How do people draw daily on their traditions and modernities to live their lives and interact with others? And with what outcomes? The three books by Francis Nyamnjoh offer, through the issues they articulate and the characters they develop, intriguing insights into these questions on the complex entanglements of ways of knowing inspired by the interplay between traditions and modernities in an African setting. Francis Nyamnjoh shows that knowledge is not by any means a neutral realm...
Keywords
- Beck, U., 1992, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, London: Sage.
- Eisenstadt, S. N., 2000, ‘Multiple Modernities’, Daedalus, Winter 129, No. 1, Research Library Core.
- Fukuyama, F., Sept-Oct 2006, ‘The Clash of Cultures and American Hegemony’, a presentation to the American Political Science Association.
- Giddens, A., 1991, Modernity and Self Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Harris, M., 2007, ‘Introduction: Ways of Knowing’, in Ways of Knowing New Approaches in the Anthropology of Experience and Learning, Berghahn.
- Inglehart, R., et al, 2000, ‘Modernisation, Cultural Change and the Persistence of Traditional Values’, American Sociological Review, 65, No. 1.
- Krog, A, et al, 2009, The Goat in There was This Goat, Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal Press.
- Latour, B., 1993, We Have Never Been Modern, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Latour, B., 2004, ‘Whose Cosmos, Which Coosmopolitics? Comments on the Peace terms of Ulrich Beck’, Common Knowledge, 10, No. 3.
- Latour, B., 2007, ‘ The Recall of Modernity’, Cultural Studies Review, 13, No. 1.
- Mbembe, A., 2001, On The Postcolony, Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Nanda, M., 2003, Prophets facing Backwards: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
- Norris, P., et al, 2004, Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2007, The Disillusioned African, Bamenda: Langaa.
- Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2008, Souls Forgotten, Bamenda: Langaa.
- Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2009, Married But Available, Bamenda: Langaa.
- Schmidt, V. H., 2006, ‘Multiple Modernities or Varieties of Modernity’, Current Sociology, 54, No. 77.
References
Beck, U., 1992, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, London: Sage.
Eisenstadt, S. N., 2000, ‘Multiple Modernities’, Daedalus, Winter 129, No. 1, Research Library Core.
Fukuyama, F., Sept-Oct 2006, ‘The Clash of Cultures and American Hegemony’, a presentation to the American Political Science Association.
Giddens, A., 1991, Modernity and Self Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Harris, M., 2007, ‘Introduction: Ways of Knowing’, in Ways of Knowing New Approaches in the Anthropology of Experience and Learning, Berghahn.
Inglehart, R., et al, 2000, ‘Modernisation, Cultural Change and the Persistence of Traditional Values’, American Sociological Review, 65, No. 1.
Krog, A, et al, 2009, The Goat in There was This Goat, Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal Press.
Latour, B., 1993, We Have Never Been Modern, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Latour, B., 2004, ‘Whose Cosmos, Which Coosmopolitics? Comments on the Peace terms of Ulrich Beck’, Common Knowledge, 10, No. 3.
Latour, B., 2007, ‘ The Recall of Modernity’, Cultural Studies Review, 13, No. 1.
Mbembe, A., 2001, On The Postcolony, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Nanda, M., 2003, Prophets facing Backwards: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Norris, P., et al, 2004, Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2007, The Disillusioned African, Bamenda: Langaa.
Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2008, Souls Forgotten, Bamenda: Langaa.
Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2009, Married But Available, Bamenda: Langaa.
Schmidt, V. H., 2006, ‘Multiple Modernities or Varieties of Modernity’, Current Sociology, 54, No. 77.