Systems of belonging, including ethnicity, are not static, automatic, or free of contest. Historical contexts shape the ways which we are included in or excluded from specific classifications. Building on an amazing array of sources, David L. Schoenbrun examines groupwork-the imaginative labor that people do to constitute themselves as communities-in an iconic and influential region in East Africa. His study traces the roots of nationhood in the Ganda state over the course of a millennia, demonstrating that the earliest clans were based not on political identity or language but on shared investments, knowledges, and practices.
Grounded in Schoenbrun's skillful mastery of historical linguistics and vernacular texts, The Names of the Python supplements and redirects current debates about ethnicity in ex-colonial Africa and beyond. This timely volume carefully distinguishes past from present and shows the many possibilities that still exist for the creative cultural imagination.
| ISBN: | 9780299332501 |
| Publication date: | 30th May 2021 |
| Author: | David Lee Schoenbrun |
| Publisher: | The University of Wisconsin Press an imprint of University of Wisconsin Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 376 pages |
| Series: | Africa and the Diaspora |
| Genres: |
African history Social and cultural anthropology |
Systems of belonging, including ethnicity, are not static, automatic, or free of contest. Historical contexts shape the ways which we are included in or excluded from specific classifications. Building on an amazing array of sources, David L. Schoenbrun examines groupwork-the imaginative labor that people do to constitute themselves as communities-in an iconic and influential region in East Africa. His study traces the roots of nationhood in the Ganda state over the course of a millennia, demonstrating that the earliest clans were based not on political identity or language but on shared investments, knowledges, and practices.
Grounded in Schoenbrun's skillful mastery of historical linguistics and vernacular texts, The Names of the Python supplements and redirects current debates about ethnicity in ex-colonial Africa and beyond. This timely volume carefully distinguishes past from present and shows the many possibilities that still exist for the creative cultural imagination.
The Names of the Python features in the following genres: African history, Social and cultural anthropology
The Names of the Python is available in Hardback
The Names of the Python was written by David Lee Schoenbrun and published by The University of Wisconsin Press an imprint of University of Wisconsin Press
The Names of the Python has 376 pages
Yes it is part of Africa and the Diaspora series