Masquerading politics : kinship, gender, and ethnicity in a Yoruba town / John Thabiti Willis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Willis, John Thabiti, 1976- author.

Series:

African expressive cultures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yoruba (African people)--Rites and ceremonies.

Yoruba (African people).

Yoruba (African people)--Nigeria--Otta--History.

Gelede (Yoruba rite).

Egúngún.

Masquerades.

History.

Masks, Yoruba.

Otta (Nigeria)--History.

Otta (Nigeria).

Yoruba (African people)--Politics and government.

Masks, Yoruba--Nigeria--Otta--History.

Masquerades--Nigeria--Otta--History.

Egúngún--Nigeria--Otta.

Egúngún.

Gelede (Yoruba rite)--Nigeria--Otta.

Nigeria--Otta.

Genre:

History.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 198 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2018]

Summary:

In West Africa, especially among Yoruba people, masquerades have the power to kill enemies, appoint kings, and grant fertility. John Thabiti Willis takes a close look at masquerade traditions in the Yoruba town of Otta, exploring transformations in performers, performances, and the institutional structures in which masquerade was used to reveal ongoing changes in notions of gender, kinship, and ethnic identity. As Willis focuses on performers and spectators, he reveals a history of masquerade that is rich and complex. His research offers a more nuanced understanding of performance practices in Africa and their role in forging alliances, consolidating state power, incorporating immigrants, executing criminals, and projecting individual and group power on both sides of the Afro-Atlantic world.--Publisher's summary.

Contents:

Introduction

The early history of Otta and the origins of Egungun and Gelede

"Children" and "wives" in the politics of the Oyo empire during the era of the Atlantic slave trade

The emergence of new warriors, wards, and masquerades : the Otta kingdom during the era of imperial collapse

"A thing to govern the town" : gendered masquerades and the politics of the chiefs and the monarchy in the rebuilding of a town, 1848-1859

Wives, warriors, and masks: kinship, gender, and ethnicity in Otta, 1871-1928

Conclusion : Egungun and Gelede at Otta today.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-190) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Willis, John Thabiti, 1976- author. Masquerading politics

ISBN:

9780253031440

0253031443

9780253031464

025303146X

OCLC:

972385697