Anthropology of Food: Essay on Medicinal Cannibalism

Anthropology of Food: Essay on Medicinal Cannibalism Abstract Cannibalism has been a topic of morbid fascination, condemnation, and strong subject of academic and moral argument. Medicinal cannibalism and corpse medicine became a pervasive occurrence in early modern Europe and America. Egyptian mummies pulverized into powder, human flesh of those recently executed and tragically died, fat, blood, skull and moss of the dead mans skull were in high demand by physicians and their patients. Paracelsian chemists and physicians (a notorious medical movement in the late 16th and 17th century based upon theories and therapies of Paracelsus) made very careful removal and use of the entire human corpse. Thomas Willis, Robert Boyle, Charles II of England and a host of affluent gentry and aristocrats actively participated in this practice, along with the lucrative underground world of executioners, merchants, and grave robbers. This essay delves into the facts of medicinal cannibalism, purposed body parts, and healing practices. Introduction In order to understand Medicinal Cannibalism, it is important we first understand what cannibalism is; Cannibalism is the intake or consumption of one’s own species. Medical Cannibalism or the proper term iatric cannibalism is the ritualistic eating of human flesh for purpose of healing the human body. The consumption of mummies and human tissue became a infamous pharmaceutical drug used widely all over the Europe, and were still sold at highly regarded German pharmacies as recent as 1908, and continued to be practiced in the Pacific Ocean islands as late as the second half of the 20th century. Medical Cannibalism was commonplace and hit the peak of popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries. Many European royals, scientists, and clergy commonly ingested medical potions containing human blood, fat, bodily secretions, and bones believed to cure everything from cuts and bruises to seizures. Method So Jesus said to them. Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you†¦ -John 6:53 In order to gain an understanding about the history of medical cannibalism, we need to explore the Christian followers and their gruesome healing practices. In the Christian faith, the correlation between the deceased and the godly has been a elemental part of ceremony and worship. Very early on, flocks of faithful worshippers prayed over the dead martyred saints believing the saints physical remains provided a spiritual connection between man and God. Their decaying bodies and their bodily composition (such as blood, flesh, organs, bones, and secretions) believed to have holy powers to provide miracles of healing and the escape of spiritual and mortal death. These theft and vandalism of these bodies grew so widespread eventually, requiring relocation of the bodies to secure resting places. Stories of these healing miracles continued to be reported by those who prayed or touched these saints corpses: Saint Catherine of Sienas mummified head displayed at the Church of San Domenico in Siena, Italy and is believed to have healing powers. Catherine of Siena was believed to have had performed a healing ritual for a nun dying from breast cancer described as twice forced herself to overcome nausea by thrusting her mouth into the putrefying breast†¦ and drank her pus. (Sugg, 2012) In central Italy, the faithful would pour olive oil over the martyred Saint Felixs through holes in the tomb and collect the oil that had run over his decaying body to anoint the sick. (Sugg, 2012) By the Middle Ages, Christian Europe was no longer satisfied consumption of dead saints, but had grown to also hunger for human bodies. Blood For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement byt the atonement by the life. -Leviticus 17:11 Human blood believed to contain the essence of spirit and life and through consumption; the bloods life essence is transferred. Regarded as the greatest scientist of his time, Saint Albertus Magus (1206-1280), prescribed a most precious water containing the distilled blood from a healthy man. He declared any disease of the body, if it be anointed therewith, is made whole and all inward diseases by the drinking thereof. A small quantity thereof received, restoreth them that have lost all strength: it cureth the palsy effectuously, and preserveth the body from all sickness. (Sugg, 2012) In 1483, King Louis XI ailing and struggling to live, drank the blood of small children: Every day he grew worse, and the medicines profited him nothing, though of a strange character; for he vehemently hoped to recover by the human blood which he took and swallowed from certain children. (Himmelman, 1997) In 1492, Pope Innocent VIII near death after a violent stroke drank blood drained by his personal physician of three young boys causing their death as well as the unsuccessful healing of the pope resulting in death. The scientific approach to medical practice during the Renaissance triumphed over the faith-based healing of the past creating great advancements in chemistry. biology, and medicine. Oddly enough, medicinal cannibalism reached the peak of popularity and the art of alchemy. Decay is the beginning of all birth-and of all health -Paracelsus Alchemic philosophy of corpse medicine was uncomplicated: through decomposition, old matter transformed into raw material once again. Refinement of human organic matter is the base of the essence of life. Theophorastus Bombastus von Honenheim (1491-1541) Early literature is full of revelations pertaining to the potent medicinal power in the beneficial healing of an individuals ailments. The text and medical studies of medicinal cannibalism and corpse pharmacology, reveals the commonplace practice of ingesting human bodily matter and reveals a culture preoccupied. According to early literature (980-1037), the ingestion of mummies was the preparation that could cure epilepsy, nausea, colds, and the antidote of poison. By the late sixteenth century, the ingestion of mummies became a renowned pharmaceutical drug used widely all over the Europe, and were still sold at reputable German pharmacies as recent as 1908.[i] Further, ingestion of human bodies was practiced in many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean until the second half of the twentieth century. The question necessarily occurs: what’s good about it? Ingestion of human bodies is not necessarily an appealing notion even to the people in the sixteenth century. When one is prescribed a half a pound of mummy dust by a doctor as a remedy for a cold, it sounds like the risk isn’t worth taking, for one could ask many questions such as, ‘For how long do I need to take it?’ or more obviously, ‘Does that work?’ and so on. Dwelling deeper, can one consume anot her being of the same species? What would its moral implication be? Apparently, these are types of questions that were asked and have been asked by those who promoted medicinal ingestion of flesh as well as the deliberate act of cannibalism. In this paper, I will examine the types of cannibalisms as well as ways to prepare human flesh, discuss the theoretical and practical implications of cannibalism and briefly touch upon the alleged relationship between cannibalism and witchcraft in early modern Europe. If you havent read much about ancient Egyptian mummies, you may be shocked to learn that in centuries past, they were ground up into a fine powder dispensed by pharmacists to be topically applied or orally ingested as a treatment for ailments as diverse as upset stomach, gout, and epilepsy. Mumia (or mummia) was 1st prepared in the 12th c., was in common use by the 15th c., and reached great popularity by the 17th c. Mummy is become merchandise, Mizraim cures wounds, and Pharaoh is sold for balsams, wrote Sir Thomas Browne in 1841. Mummy powder was in such demand that the supply of ancient Egyptians slowed and contemporary corpses were substituted. Mumia was still available as recently as the early 20th c. Fast forward to 2012, when scientists are again looking to mummy as a cure. They fear that our (over)use of antibiotics has ravaged our intestinal flora, which in turn has changed our metabolism, damaging our immune system and contributing to obesity. Cecil Lewis of the University of Oklahoma is comparing the bacteria in the poop of ancient mummies who lived before the age of antibiotics to our own gut bacteria so they can figure out what has changed. My first hypothesis would be that chlorinated water and antibiotics fundamentally changed human microbiomes, says Dr. Lewis, who adds, Its too early to tell if its a good idea to repopulate our guts with bacteria. But its certainly an important idea that requires investigation. And presumably a more sophisticated method than ingesting mumia 1st image) An apothecary vessel inscribed MUMIÆ once contained powdered mummy and is now a specimen in the pharmacy collection of the Museums fà ¼r Hamburgische Geschichte, 2nd image) Alisa Eagleston and Elizabeth Cornu, conservators from the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum, cover the 2,500-year-old mummy of an Egyptian man named Irethorrou after being scanned at the Stanford Medical Center. These are some of the many posts I have written about ancient Egypt, if you care to read on: Ancient Egyptian perfume, Rediscovery of ancient Egypt, Raiding ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian finds, The nurse and the sphinx, Mummy toes, Ramesses repatriation, Mummies guarded, The mummies in question, and Egyptian obelisks elsewhere. Noble’s new book,Medicinal Cannibalism in Early Modern English Literature and Culture, and another by Richard Sugg of England’s University of Durham,Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians, reveal that for several hundred years, peaking in the 16th and 17th centuries, many Europeans, including royalty, priests and scientists, routinely ingested remedies containing human bones, blood and fat as medicine for everything from headaches to epilepsy. There were few vocal opponents of the practice, even though cannibalism in the newly explored Americas was reviled as a mark of savagery. Mummies were stolen from Egyptian tombs, and skulls were taken from Irish burial sites. Gravediggers robbed and sold body parts. Bibliography Dolan, M. (2012). The Gruesome History of Earing Corpses as Medicine History . Retrieved from Smithsonianmag.com: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-gruesome-history-of-eating-corpses-as-medicine Gordon-Grube, K. (1993). Evidence of Medicinal Callnibalism in Puritan New England: Mummy and Related Remidies. Early American Literature , 28, p. 185. Himmelman, P. (1997). The Medicinal Body: An Analysis of Medicinal Cannibalism in Europe, 1300-1700. Dialectical Anthropology , 22, p. 183. Noble, L. (2011). Medicinal Cannibalism in Early Modern English Literature and Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillian. Peters, H. (1899). Pictorial History of Ancient Pharmacy: With Sketches of Early Medical Practice. Chicago: G.T. Engelhart Company. Sugg, R. (2012). Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine From the Renaissance to the Victorians. Hoboken: Taylor Francis. The entries have these elements: author(s); year of publication; title; and source (publisher for books, and title of journal for reports or articles). Book titles are underlined; titles of articles are in quotation marks; journal titles are italicized. The journal title is followed by the volume number, then the number within the volume (or the month or season, depending upon the journals style) in parentheses, and then the page numbers. Citing Internet Sources There differing styles and no standard for citing Internet sources. Check with your instructor about whether your institution has a preferred style. In the absence of one, use the following style, which is adapted from the periodical reference mentioned earlier: [Author Last Name, First Name]. [Year]. [Web Page Title]. [Website title or owner]. [Website URL] (accessed [Date accessed]). [i] Shirley Lindenbaum, â€Å"Thinking about Cannibalism† Annual Reviews vol. 33 (2004): 475-498. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25064862 (accessed January 20, 2010). International Economics: Trade And Tariffs International Economics: Trade And Tariffs INTRODUCTION: International economics is becoming a major part of existing societies because of the rapid changes occurring in economic markets. As days are passing by, governments, consumers, business etc have started realizing that this economic change from their own group, society, city or country is not the only region its the effect of the dynamic world which is taking part as well. Consumers walk in the local shops and buy products grown in their own country as well as products grown in other countries. Local businesses have to compete with international markets and similarly they can bolster their fair share by selling their home grown products internationally as well in this Global time. Advancement of Telecommunications is becoming a key factor in this global world as it eases the cost of delivering products internationally. Internet is playing its part as it increases the wide view of markets even more. Easiest way to understand the rising of international economic growth is to consider the growth of exports in the past 50 years or so, assuming that one countrys export would definitely be another countrys import; one can easily tell the significant amount of rise in the exports and imports in the past 50 years. World Exports, 1948-2008 (in Billions of U.S. Dollars) On the other hand, growth in the value of exports, itself, doesnt show the importance of trade. A better method is to look at the share of traded goods in relation to the size of the world economy shows world exports as a percentage of the world gross domestic product (GDP) for the years 1970 to 2008. World exports which were just 10 percent in 1970 took its time till 2008 but the percentage grew from 10% to 30%. World Exports, 1970-2008 (Percentage of World GDP) However, as the growth in International trade and investment became more significant, trade barriers started moving steadily downwards. Just after the World War era, GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) constantly tried to convince the member countries to reduce tariffs (import tax) on imported goods. Countries kept on reducing the tax on imports asking for concession in import tax for their products among the member countries until the final round of meeting which is known as Uruguay Round held recently in 1994 where Global Trade Liberalization extended its sphere even more. After that round countries would now not only lower their tariff rates but would liberalize agricultural and services sectors alongside setting up a quota system for the multifibre agreement in clothing sector which was one of the hottest issue in the earlier era. WTO (World Trade Organization) was established in order to keep these agreements improving on regular terms and to keep discussing on further development in Trade sector and to settle down the disputes among the countries on trade. By the end of 2009, there were 153 member countries of WTO Trade Liberalization Club, and many others are pushing to become a part of WTO. This willingness of other countries to join the liberalization club is only making Free Trade phenomena easier. Another good result has come from the regional free trade agreements. Neighbouring countries or close trade partners have taken a step further and started free trading which indicates a better future for WTO and even though it is done on the grounds of trade it still resembles the basic ideology of WTO. These changes in economic patterns and a new way towards free trading is becoming a fundamental bridge for Globalization. Globalization means social, economic, cultural and environmental changes which are connecting people all over the world. Since the growing economics aspects of globalization, it is really important to understand the affects of global market over business, consumers and governments. This leads us to study International Economics. LITERATURE REVIEW: What is International Economics? International Economics is the study that assesses the propositions of International Trade, International Finance and International Lending and Borrowing. It has two major subfields, International Trade and International Finance. Our main focus in this research is over International Trade. What is International Trade? International Trade is a field in economics which implements certain economic models in order to assess international economy. It basically works on understanding supply and demand breakdown of International Markets; firm and consumer relation; oligopolistic and monopolistic market structures; and the effects of market distortions. What is Tariff? Tariff is the tax on import that a government imposes on imported goods. It is the most common way to protect ones economy is to introduce tariffs on imports. Sometimes this term tariff is used in different contexts as well for example rail road tariffs but generally more significantly used in tax on imports. Tariffs are the most common way to generate revenue for the government for centuries. It is the case because it is relatively easy to put custom duty on goods coming from other countries and administratively it is one of the easiest ways to collect tax. Countries simply place their officials at their borders and apply custom duty over the trading goods. High value of tariffs may give birth to smuggling and people finding ways to get their goods without paying taxes but even ignoring the fact that smuggling does take place, countries generate enough revenue for their governments through tariffs. Every business man wants the trade to be liberalized, by this trade liberalization they mean to reduce the tariffs which will make them bring international goods in a cheaper price. Governments resist reducing the tariffs to protect their home grown goods, if international products would come cheap, businesses would have option to get imported products resulting in deduction in home grown products which leads to job hazard or unemployment. Protectionism? Protectionism simply means protecting home grown goods against imported goods. High tariffs indicates the protection towards home grown products as if the tariffs would be low, businesses would be encouraged to get more goods from international markets rather than home grown goods. There was a time in mid 20th century when countries used to generate funds for governments by keeping high tariffs on imports. However as trade liberalization took place, other types of non-tariff barriers came into existence as well. RECENT TRADE CONTROVERSIES: In the middle of 2009, world was down to the biggest economic down pull since the early 1980s. Economic growth was going down and the unemployment all over was rising. International trade fell down all over the world and the investment both domestically and internationally took a downturn. As the economic condition unfolded, there was a similarity between this recession and the Great Depression of 1930s. One of the biggest concerns was that countries might turn back to protectionism to raise job opportunities for domestic workers. That is exactly what countries did during the period of Great Depression and it came up as a negative effect for many of them. This amplitude of negative feeling is nothing new in this current era as it has been coming since the Great Depression between the supporters and opponents of the trade liberalization on Policymaking. Even though trade advocates have successfully opened free trade markets, trade opponents have also been successful in shutting down t rade markets. Its like going three steps forward and coming back 2 steps. AMBIVILENCE ABOUT GLOBALIZATION: Realistically speaking, ambivalence about trade and globalization occurred in decade of 1990s and 2000s. Even though in this period there was a buzz of protests and opposition about free trade theories and going global, this was the time when remarkable movements of freer trade occurred. Trade Liberalization was at its peak in 1980s. Major success of some of the countries that had outward-economies like South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ linked with the countries which were having inward-economies such as Latin America, Africa, India, and elsewhere led to a resurgence of support for trade. Future of trade liberalization is in the hands of time for now, it seems like if this crises is to be ended soon then we might see trade liberalization going to its peak again, but if it continued for a longer period of time, then countries might adopt protectionism in order to raise work for domestic worker which would be a killer for trade liberalization for some time to come. Economic crises have led in favor of protectionism in the past but that protectionism didnt bolster the economies, it rather did little good and worst the effect of depression as can be understood by the period of Great Depression. Current scenario may have little hopes for trade liberalization as history is opting to repeat itself. DISCUSSION: The Great Depression, Smoot-Hawley, and the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA): The greatest historical motivator for trade liberalization since the World War II was the period of Great Depression. The disaster apparently began with crash of US Stock Market in late 1929. It imminently pulled the world economy in an extremely rapid pace. By 1930, the US economy had shrink by 8.6 percent and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.9 percent. With this contraction, came an alarming call for protectionism for domestic goods against the internationally bought imported goods. In May 1930, almost 1028 economists signed a petition against the rising tariff and marched a campaign towards President Hoover of that time. Despite of this petition signed by so many economists, in June 1930 came the Smooth-Hawley Act (tariff Act of 1930) which almost rose up to 60 percent of import duties. Due to the fact that not only US was suffering from the economic crises, international exporters who were doing business with US were also suffering from economic crises chose to introduced their own increase in tariffs to save their own domestic economy in retaliation. It effected in a dramatic drop in trade among the countries and added even worst effect to the ongoing depression. In following years, economic crises grew even worst. The US economy continued to contract at double digits and by the year 1933 the unemployment rate raised up to 24.9 percent. In 1932, Franklyn Roosevelt ran for the President and spoke against the high tariffs. By the year 1934 a new scheme accepting the advantages of trade liberalization was introduced. It was Congress that passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Acts (RTAA) which allowed the president to negotiate bilateral tariff reduction agreements over different products. It worked as President of US would send his agents to say Mexico and introduce a reduced tariff rates to the products brought in US and in place ask them to reduce tariffs on different set of products that could be taken from US. Once the agreement is done by the government trade could get started. Thats exactly what happened, and it pushed the wheel for trade again. Over 60 bilateral deals were placed and accepted among different countries under RTAA which set the platform for trade liberalization for decades to come. SIGNIFICANCE OF RTAA: RTAA is considered significant for two reasons. First one has to be that it was the first time US Congress granted access of Trade Authorities directly to the President for the Trade Policymaking. Secondly it served as the basis for the foundation of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Under GATT countries would also discuss about getting concession in tariffs rather than only doing bilateral trade among the members of GATT. That was the main difference in GATT and RTAA that RTAA only worked in a bilateral Trade form while GATT worked in a multilateral trade form. GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT): What is GATT? General Agreement for Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provided the basic trade rules and solution in dispute over trades among the members from 1948 to 1994. It was one of the three Breton Woods Organizations came into existence after the World War II. Its goal was to promote trade liberalization by reducing high tariffs. In reality, General Agreement for Tariffs and Trade (GATT) wasnt meant to be organized as a standalone body. It was a part of a much wider agreement to establish International Trade Organization (ITO). Intentions of ITO were to assign trade rules and supportive guidelines that would help member countries to do trade. The ITO was conceived during the Breton Woods conference attended by the main allied countries in New Hampshire in 1944 and was seen as complementary to two other organizations also conceived there: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The IMF would monitor and regulate the international fixed exchange rate system, the World Bank would assist with loans for reconstruction and development, and the ITO would regulate international trade. What was the Goal of GATT? General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as the name suggests consists of the clauses which makes members agree on a similar set of trade policies that suits the trading parties. Basic goal was to introduce some set of rules for trade, that would be helpful in bringing up trade liberalization and thus end up in reducing trade barriers. Countries that make these commitments and sign on to the agreement are called signatory countries. All the discussions that take place before the agreement are referred to as rounds. Each round is given a name according to the location it takes place or to a prominent figure taking place in that round. There were eight rounds of negotiation under the GATT: Geneva Round (1948), Annecy Round (1950), Torque Round (1951), Geneva II Round (1956), Dillon Round (1962), Kennedy Round (1967), Tokyo Round (1979), and Uruguay Round (1994) The most important note was that agreements were made by mutual consent. A round finishes only when every negotiating country is satisfied with the promises it and all of its negotiating partners are making. The slogan sometimes used is Nothing Is Agreed until Everything Is Agreed. WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO): World Trade Organization (WTO) was established to Liberalize International Trade and supervises some set rules. It actually replaced the work done by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). WTO was established in January 1 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement. Its goals are exactly the same as of (GATT) to promote trade liberalization. It is relatively a small body based in Geneva having a director general and a small staff of economists, lawyers and others. WTO is sometimes taken as a Trade Law making body, and that is wrong, because it doesnt make any trade laws. It follows the set of rules described in Uruguay Round and each country has to decide their own trade rules. What it does is, it settles down the negotiations between the member countries and solves the disputes as it may require. Besides monitoring each member countrys trade policies, which the WTO fulfils by conducting periodic trade policy reviews of the member countries, the WTO club was also created to deal with disputes. This is surely the most important power of the WTO. CONCLUSION: Since the WTO began in 1995 there have been over four hundred disputes brought to the DSB. Large number countries have been complainants and defendants although the two countries most often on one side or the other are the United States and the EU. Some of the most well-known disputes have involved bananas, steel, hormone-treated beef, and commercial aircraft. Lesser-known cases have involved narrow product groups such as Circular Welded Carbon Quality Line Pipe, Canned Tuna with Soybean Oil, Combed Cotton Yarn, and Retreaded Tires. Traders know better what to expect from their trading partners because their partners have committed themselves to particular trade policies and to a resolution mechanism in the event of noncompliance. In a sense, then, it is true that the WTO agreements restrict the freedom of a country to set whatever trade policy it deems appropriate for the moment. That loss of sovereignty, though, is designed to prevent countries from choosing more destructive protectionist policiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ policies that are very seductive to voters, especially in an economic crisis. If successful, the WTO could prevent a reoccurrence of Smoot-Hawley and its aftermath both now and in the future.

Montessori Practical Life Essay

In this essay I will be discussing the importance and different aspects of the practical life area in a Montessori classroom. Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed, therefore Doctor Maria Montessori began using what she called â€Å"practical life exercises† to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt themselves in their society. Doctor Maria Montessori developed her philosophy of education based upon actual observations of children; she observed that children prefer work rather than play. It is through work that children obtain independence, order, concentration and normalization. Practical life exercises are recognized to be the heart of Montessori education. In the first six years a child becomes a full member of his or her particular culture and family group absorbing language, attitudes, manners and values of those in which he or she comes into daily contact with. Children feel comfortable and safe when they find a s ecure and lovable environment, a child develops best if they are in an environment full of affection, love, caring and support. Doctor Maria Montessori in the Absorbent Mind writes â€Å"the hands are instruments of man’s intelligence†. It is only through the practice of movement that a child can learn and develop, for this reason Doctor Maria Montessori decided to incorporate the area of practical life into her classroom as this is where the practice begins (mymontessorimoments). Through the exercises of practical life the child learns to adapt to his or her environment, learns self-control, sees themselves as part of a society and most importantly grow intellectually  through working with his or her hands and master the skills needed for his or her future. â€Å"Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements† (Montessori, 1995). There are many links between the home and the school in the area of practical life. It is the first area introduced to the child in the classroom. Maria Montessori stated â€Å"Children feel a special interest for those things already rendered to them in the earlier period† (Montessori, 1995). The activities in the classroom are familiar to the child as many of them are done at home. The child can therefore settle in easily and master the skills with confidence while learning co-ordination of movement and relate back to past experiences at home (www.montmet.co.za). In an ideal situation practical life would be located near the entrance to the classroom, as a link between home and school as well as a foundation for the curriculum. The area should be attractive containing flowers, paintings, vases etc to draw the child to the practical life area. The area of practical life assists in the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking (www.sevencounties.org). Practical life sparks respect and love for any work, helps the child to perform the activities of daily life with joy, skill, and grace through which he or she is aiming for perfection. Exercises in practical life are just that, they are exercises so the child can learn how to do living activities in a purposeful way. The purpose and aim of practical life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his or her movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his or her surroundings. It is therefore important to â€Å"Teach teaching, not correcting† (quotes/Maria_Montessori) â€Å"No one can be free unless he is independent. Therefore, the first active manifestation of the child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through the activity he may arrive at independence† (quotes/Maria_Montessori). Practical life helps the child gain control of his or her movement particularly the development of the hand`s coordination. The fine muscles coordination is linked to the child`s conceptual development. As Doctor Maria Montessori quoted †The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself (quotes/Maria_Montessori). Practical life activities help the child to gain independence and enable the child to associate his or  her own physical, psychic, and moral needs. The practical life area contains an orderly arrangement of exercises involving familiar objects and the activities of daily life. These will be things that the children have already seen their parents or family members doing that the child wishes to imitate. For example: pouring, spooning, various cleaning exercises and others. The exercises are ordered, with earlier exercises providing a foundation and all the skills needed for the more advanced activities to follow. The organisation of the area helps children feel secure, familiarize themselves in the classroom, and develop the inner order necessary for clear and rational thought. Practical life exercises fall under four basic categories: care of the person, care of the environment, analysis of movement and grace and courtesy. Grace and courtesy provides the child with the absolute basics such as rolling out a mat, sitting on a chair, and how to ask the directress for assistance while busy with another child. This foundation provides the skills in order for the child to participate in classroom life and complete each activity. Analysis of movement promotes a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem through activities that are real, precise, and practical such as spooning or pouring which encourages motor skills. Care of the person includes skills necessary for dressing independently such as zipping, buttoning, and tying. The dressing frames in the classroom provide the child the opportunity to practice these skills, the children are also encouraged to try zip, button or tie their own coats shoes etc. Care of the environment includes teaching responsibility of the world around them. The children scrub chairs, wash dishes, care for plants and help feed the animals if there are any in their environment. â€Å"Therefore, the first active manifestations of the child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through this activity he may arrive at independence† (Montessori, The advanced Montessori Method, 2010).Montessori learning environments are prepared to allow children to be socially and intellectually independent. Montessori learning materials are designed to capture the child’s interest and attention and to encourage independent use. When children work with the Montessori materials, they perfect their movements as well prepare themselves for learning educational knowledge. All exercises reflect the environment in which the child lives, all activities  use real tools and are physically proportioned in order to help the children develop their motor skills and perfect precise movements. All Montessori equipment is attractive as experiencing beauty lays the foundation of self-appreciation. All children want to be independent, as adults we become used to doing everything for them, it is hard to let go of control. But, we need to feed their desire for independence. Children learn important life skills as they handle materials in practical life. Even more important is the confidence that the child gains when he or she achieves a new goal. â€Å"Help me to do it by myself† (Montessori, Secret ofChildhood, 1996). Maria Montessori believed in educating the whole being and not just the intelligence of a child. Before the start of western education and the school system as we know it today, all children actually learnt from birth to adulthood were these same practical life activities, and this was more or less all they needed to function well in their society. The responsibility of the parent is to help the child learn about the environment, community and society they live in so that the child can grow up into a fully functional member of the community (MontessoriStudents). It is therefore important that children learn how to not only dress themselves but also how to keep their surroundings clean, how to cook and how to behave and interact with others around them. So often today you find young parents are too busy to spend adequate time with their children in order to teach them basic life skills, instead you find young parents more concerned on their child’s academic performance. The Montessori curriculum can make up for this shortfall that unfortunately occurs due to our busy lifestyles. Montessori education can ensure that the child is given the right aids to life through the practical life exercises. Bibliography (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.montmet.co.za: http://www.montmet.co.za/ (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.sevencounties.org: http://sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7923&cn=28 DevelopmentalStages/Cognitive-Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 05, 2014, from www.aboutkidshealth.ca: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/HealthAZ/DevelopmentalStages/SchoolAgeChildren/Pages/Cognitive-Development.aspx DevelopmentalStages/Social-and-Emotional-Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 04, 2014, from http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/HealthAZ/DevelopmentalStages/SchoolAgeChildren/Pages/Social-and-Emotional-Development.aspx maria_montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.brainyquote.com: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_montessori.html (1995). Montessori. (1995). In M. Montessori. (1995). Absorbent mind. In M. Montessori, Absorbent mind. Henry Holt and company. (1995). The absorbent mind. In M. Montessori, The absorbent mind. Henry Holt and company. (1996). Secret ofChildhood. In M. Montessori, Secret of childhood. New York: Ballantine Books. (2010). The advanced Montessori Method. In M. Montessori, Spontaneous activity in education (p. 118). Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson publishing company. MontessoriStudents. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.static.squarespace.com: http://static.squarespace.com/MontessoriStudents.jpg mymontessorimoments. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.mymontessorimoments.files.wordpress.com: http://mymontessorimoments.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_7100_2.jpg quotes/Maria_Montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/34106.Maria_Montessori

Feminist and Womanist Criticism of African Literature: a Bibliography

Feminist and Womanist Criticism of African Literature: A Bibliography By Sharon Verba July 20, 1997 Those women who struggle without giving up hope, herald the impending change†¦ : change in attitude for both men and women as they evaluate and re-evaluate their social roles†¦. -Rosemary Moyana, â€Å"Men & Women† Rereading, willful misreading, and de- and re-coding are tools used in African literature and womanist or feminist discourse to challenge â€Å"canonized ‘literature'† that tends to black out Black and blanch out Woman. -Kofi Owusu, â€Å"Canons Under Siege† T]he collective effort has to emerge from the ranks of those whose life is theorized. -Sisi Maqagi, â€Å"Who Theorizes† Feminist criticism of African literatures is a steadily growing field. The following bibliography includes articles and essays in English and French which examine African literatures (fiction, poetry, drama and oral literature) from a feminist or womanist per spective. It does not include, unfortunately, criticism in other languages — such as Wolof, Xhosa, Zulu, Portuguese, German, or Arabic — due to my own inability to read those languages.Also, authors whose works are originally written in languages other than French or English, such as Ngugi wa Thiongo's plays and the novel, Devil on the Cross, and Nawal al Sa'dawi's works, may be under-represented in this bibliography, as criticism often tends to be written in the language of the work being addressed. The first sections of this essay will present overviews on two key issues for those interested in both feminism and African literatures: the current ebate over the role of feminist criticisms in addressing African literatures, and an examination of the changes which have developed over the past decade in the ways feminist criticism approaches African literatures. This examination will trace these changes from 1985-1996 by considering articles which represent the ongoing ev olution of feminist criticism in this field. Finally, this essay also includes a section which explains my methodology and sources in compiling the bibliography, and a section offering hints for future searches, especially of online indexes. Feminist Criticism and African LiteratureMany issues of concern to feminist/womanist thought are raised and addressed in these articles. (1) Among the issues taken up in the state of feminist theory and criticism are the importance of feminism as a literary critical method; the representation and mis-representation of women in literary texts; the education of women; the access of women to the economic means of survival; motherhood; women in the domestic sphere; women as part of their communities; women's role in politics and revolution; sexuality; and the direct treatment of women by men, and men by women.Underlying this array of specific interests are questions of gender in representation and of the reality or realities of life for women in Afr ica–past, present, and future. The arguments found in the articles in this bibliography present a multiplicity of views, a few of which may even be anti-feminist, but all of which make gender a basis of discussion, and all of which offer much for the consideration of feminist thought with respect to African literatures.The state of feminist literary criticism/thought in Africa â€Å"now† is the direct focus of several of the articles, although all of the articles could be said in some degree or another to be a part of this particular debate. I put â€Å"now† in quotations, because these articles cover a broad range of time–1980-1996– and those which focus on this particular topic present an evolving discourse. Two collections of essays in particular are noteworthy for their presentation of a range of ideas on feminism and literary criticism in Africa: Ngambika: Studies of Women in African Literature (1986) and South African Feminisms: Writing, Theo ry and Criticism 990-1994 (1995). Ngambika includes twenty articles which focus on the representation of women in African literature. Taken together the articles provide an invaluable overview of the types of feminist criticism being applied to African literatures in the mid 1980s, although most do not focus on the issue of feminism as a critical method. One essay in this collection proves a notable exception. In the collection's introductory essay Carole Boyce Davies(2) does write of the tension found in the works of many critics of African literatures, especially female critics.These critics, she says, work out of a growing awareness of the requirement to balance both â€Å"the need to liberate African peoples from neo-colonialism and other forms of race and class oppression, coupled with a respect for certain features of traditional African cultures,† and â€Å"the recognition that a feminist consciousness is necessary in examining the position of women in African societi es† (1).Davies then outlines the issues of women writers in Africa (including the relatively small number of women writers) and the presentation of women in fiction written by African men, as well as the development of an African feminist criticism. In her treatment of the latter concern, she lists four major areas which African feminist critics tend to address: the development of the canon of African women writers, the examination of stereotyped images of women in African literature, the study of African women writers and the development of an African female aesthetic, and the examination of women and the oral tradition (13-14).While Davies acknowledges the objections African women writers and critics have to the term â€Å"feminist† and discusses womanist theory, she focuses on the idea of a developing African feminist theory which will not only perform the balancing act mentioned at the beginning, but continue to address the major issues she has outlined. Seven years later, in the 1993 publication A History of Twentieth-Century African Literatures, Davies and Elaine Savory Fido contributed a chapter entitled â€Å"African Women Writers: A Literary History. In it, they examine African women writers and their writings, focusing especially on the styles and genres used by these writers. Included is a brief segment on â€Å"Feminism and African Women Writers† as well as a separate section on â€Å"Criticism and African Women's Writing. † In the section on feminism, they note the continued reluctance of many African women writers and critics to be labeled as feminists because of the overtones of westernization the term carries, but they also point out that most African women writers are committed, in the words of Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, â€Å"as a writer, as a woman and as a third world person† (339).This triple commitment encompasses much of the politics of African feminism, as well as womanism, whether the labels are accepte d or not. Fido and Davies conclude: â€Å"The role and history of feminist politics or activism on women's rights in Africa is a discourse which African women are studying and clarifying for themselves† (339). One of the places in which this discourse can be seen is South African Feminisms: Writing, Theory and Criticism 1990-1994.South African Feminisms presents a collection of articles on feminist literature and criticism, including and expanding the debate on feminist criticism of African literatures which was part of the special issue Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa 2 (1990). M. J. Daymond's introduction gives a good overview of the issues raised in the collection, including the debate over feminist criticism and the development of an African feminist theory.The section â€Å"Theory and Context† includes eight articles originally published from 1990-1993. Taken together, these articles constitute an excellent sampling of some of the issues and trends in African feminist criticism, including Sisi Maqagi's â€Å"Who Theorizes? † in which she questions the ability of white critics, African or non-African, female or male, to develop a theory which will adequately address the issues of black African women, rather than appropriating those issues, and the voices which raise them.Jill Arnott, in an article entitled â€Å"French Feminism in a South Africa? Gayatri Spivak and the Problem of Representation in South African Feminism,† contends that difference, which can often lead to misrepresentation, can also at times lead to accurate and insightful work: â€Å"to power a genuinely dialectical interaction between two vigilantly foregrounded subject-positions,† but only with an awareness of the position of ifference and a consciousness of the act of representation (87). Desiree Lewis, in â€Å"The Politics of Feminism in South Africa,† counters that such a conscious and effective use of difference may we ll be impossible, as long as there is a political climate in which white female academics are attempting to hold on to their power within the academy, at the expense of black women.In the same article she also points out that unless black working class women can make their statements about the current â€Å"oppressive orthodoxies† and do so without creating, as she argues Western feminism has, another oppressive orthodoxy, there may be no way out of the current impasse. Changes in Feminist Criticism of African Literature Although some of the articles included in this bibliography, like those above, examine feminist literary criticism as a topic, most focus on literary concerns: texts, authors, or issues.In the seventeen years this bibliography spans there are shifts in the coverage these concerns are given. Critical analyses of individual authors naturally both broaden and deepen over the years, especially as an individual author's body of work grows or is reclaimed from obsc urity. In general, in the 1990s there are fewer works of criticism that examine several authors and more which focus on individuals and their work than there were in the 1980s. Also, the topics focused upon subtly shift over the years. Images of women in the works of†¦. † could be the subtitle for many of the articles written in the 1980s as feminist critics examined representations, or misrepresentations, of African women in literary texts. At the same time these critics raised the question of the role of African authors, male and female, in expanding and/or correcting such representations. These concerns are still addressed; indeed, the feminist criticism on these topics is, like the criticism of specific authors, expanding and deepening.To highlight these changes, I shall examine here some of the collections and representative individual articles which have been produced over the years, beginning with the landmark collection Ngambika, which was published in 1986, follo wed by Women in African Literature Today in 1987, articles by Kofi Owusu and Elleke Boehmer in 1990, the 1990 issue of Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, Essays on African Writing 2: Contemporary Literature published in 1995 and The Marabout and the Muse: New Approaches to Islam in African Literature in 1996.All of the articles in the first section of Ngambika overtly tackle the issue of the representations of women in the works of African authors. Carole Boyce Davies writes one of these articles: â€Å"Maidens, Mistresses, and Matrons: Feminine Images in Selected Soyinka Works. † In it, she argues that Soyinka often offers only stereotyped images of women which fall into one of three categories: the foolish virgin in rural settings, the femme fatale in urban settings, and the masculinized matron.Those characters which fall in the latter category, in Davies' opinion, come closest to being non-stereotypes, but even they are drawn with â€Å"no depth† (81). The â€Å"foolish virgins† and the â€Å"femme fatales,† Davies argues, fill only the roles of stereotypes and symbols, possessions or trophies to be won away from Western influences by African traditions, or, more threateningly, these women are seen as dangers which can distract and destroy.Davies acknowledges that Soyinka sometimes shows women briefly in a positive light but notes that â€Å"throughout Soyinka's works one finds the kernel of positive portrayal of the female image which is never fully realized† (85). Davies concludes with the argument â€Å"that the artist has the power to create new realities;†¦ women as neither victors nor victims but partners in struggle† (86). Davies' article is representative of the criticism which examines the image of women in African literatures. That is, she carefully addresses the concerns of the author (i. e. he need for recognizable symbols) as she argues against the relegation of women solely to symbolic roles, asking for characterizations which do not â€Å"[reinforce] a negative perception of self to the female viewer/reader and, concomitantly, a condescension in the appraisal of women on the part of the male† (78). In the years following the publishing of Ngambika, several journals and monograph series devoted to African literatures published issues on women as authors of or characters in African literatures. One of the first was the Women in African Literature Today issue of African Literature Today (Vol. 5). Like Ngambika, this issue contains many excellent articles, almost all of which are written from a feminist perspective. I would like to discuss two of these articles as representative not merely of this particular collection, but of the feminist criticism on African literatures being published at this time. In â€Å"Feminist Issues in the Fiction of Kenya's Women Writers† Jean F. O'Barr list three main categories of feminist concerns in the fiction of Kenyan woman writers: â€Å"how female children become women; †¦ what marriage means for women;†¦ here women's work fits into their lives† (57). O'Barr notes that the women authors she analyzes â€Å"all write from the woman's point of view, sharply underscoring the idea that the female perspective †¦. may be different from the male perspective on the same topic† (58). O'Barr analyzes the works of Kenya's female authors from a sociological approach, hoping to establish a stronger image of the social lives of Kenya's women than is possible from the works of male authors. She concludes that Kenya's women find themselves in a quadruple bind: â€Å"they see themselves performing traditional roles†¦ ithout traditional resources†¦ while at the same time they are undertaking modern activities†¦ while being denied access to modern support systems† (69). While O'Barr looks at the fiction of Kenyan women in order to locate the reality of w omen's lives, Katherine Frank attempts in the controversial article â€Å"Women without Men: The Feminist Novel in Africa† to find a radically feminist future for African women. Frank endeavors to place African women writers into the Western feminist mold by speaking of their work as a more radical extension of the Western feminist tradition.In speaking of â€Å"the contemporary British or American novel† she claims â€Å"our heroine slams the door on her domestic prison, journeys out into the great world, slays the dragon of her patriarchal society, and triumphantly discovers the grail of feminism by ‘finding herself,'† (14). She argues that in comparison African novels by women go far beyond their Western counterparts, refusing to â€Å"dabble in daydreaming about enlightened heroes or reformed, non-sexist societies,† (15). Frank finds that the â€Å"feminist† writers of Africa portray women not only as taking on active and shared roles wit h men, but as finding â€Å"a destiny of their own. †¦ destiny with a vengeance,† (15). Frank contends that Mariama Ba, Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta and Ama Ata Aidoo's novels are, in their feminisms, â€Å"more radical, even more militant, than [their] Western counterpart[s]† (15). But Frank's interpretations place African heroines on a path which is not different, but rather the same, if more intense, than the one taken by the British and American heroines she notes above. Frank stresses that in these novels women find only pain and degradation in their relationships with men, but on their own and in their relationships with other women they find â€Å"female solidarity, power, independence† (33).In her interpretation, Barr neglects to note examples in which the future is shared by men and women. For example, when she speaks of Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter, she focuses on Ramatoulaye and Aissatou's friendship and the â€Å"world they create apart from me n,† (20). While this in itself glosses over the complex (and by no means completely negative) relationships these women have with the men in their lives, she also does not speak of Ramatoulaye's daughter and son-in-law, and the hope Ramatoulaye finds in their relationship.In this article, Frank does not acknowledge a difference between demonstrating that a woman's worth is not inextricable from her relationship with men, that a woman can take care of herself, as Ramatoulaye discovers, and an actual desire to live a life without men. However, controversial as some of her interpretations are, her essay effectively outlines the some of the subtle feminisms of African women novelists.Katherine Frank's stance is one which falls into the category of â€Å"radical, feminist-separatist ideology† which Kofi Owusu defines and rejects in his article in Callaloo entitled â€Å"Canons Under Siege: Blackness, Femaleness, and Ama Ata Aidoo's Our Sister Killjoy†(1990). While Fra nk sees Aidoo's character Sissie as moving towards an autonomous, self-determining life without men (Frank 32), Owusu finds Aidoo to be â€Å"in tune with the ‘old' (Achebe's ‘vast corpus of African traditional stories') and the ‘new' (‘modern feminist theory') (357).Owusu sees Aidoo, and other female writers, not as bridging a gap between Western and African thought but creating something new out of both and challenging the canons that would ignore either black or female concerns. Much of Owusu's article analyzes â€Å"the discontinuities as well as continuities between womanist-feminist perspectives, on the one hand, and African literature, on the other† (342), allowing Owusu to regard Aidoo's work as one which â€Å"give[s] a sense of structural and linguistic irony which is functional. †¦ signify[ing] a couple of things: the need for, and very process of, revamping† (361).Here, the canons need to be reformed in recognition of both race and gender, not one or the other, or one without the other. While Kofi Owusu focused on Aidoo's linguistic and textual manipulations, the question of the image of women in African literature continues to be a highly examined topic. Elleke Boehmer explores the construction of women as mothers, whores, representations of national pride, or finally, as spiritual advisors and supporters, but not as individuals actively and crucially involved in political activity.In â€Å"Of Goddesses and Stories: Gender and a New Politics in Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah,† Boehmer analyzes Chinua Achebe's efforts to include women in his re-vision of the future and questions whether women remain a â€Å"vehicle† of transformation rather than actual women with an active role in the future of the country, that is, whether â€Å"woman is the ground of change or discursive displacement but not the subject of transformation† (102).She concludes that Achebe has still idealized women but that his creation of a female character with an important yet undefined role for the future has opened up space for women to have active and involved roles, side by side with men, in the building of the future. Like Davies' article on Soyinka from Ngambika discussed earlier, Boehmer's work recognizes Achebe's literary prowess and commends his willingness to make women positive symbols, but in the end laments the lack of depth in his female characters.Although South African Feminisms was published in 1996, many of the articles in it come from the 1990 issue of Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, which was dedicated to â€Å"Feminism and Writing. † This issue continued the trend of publishing articles debating not only the appropriateness of feminism in an African context but also the challenges of applying it to African literatures, as well as articles focusing on women writers or women's images in literature.In â€Å"A Correspondence Without Theory: T sitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions,† Brenda Bosman addresses the psychological dislocation forced upon the women of the heroine's family by â€Å"Englishness,† the term used by her mother to describe the process of assimilation which various members of the family undergo. However, one of the most interesting aspects of the article is Bosman's explicit attempt to find a position from which to speak, as a white South African woman, to –not for, or of– Dangarembga.She writes her article in the form of a letter to Dangarembga, and acknowledges that she might not have succeeded in finding a legitimate position: â€Å"you may find†¦ despite all my conscious efforts, I have nonetheless submitted to the voice of my education†(311). Considering the problematics of education in Nervous Conditions, this could be seen as a double entendre, but her article shows a conscious attempt to find a place from which to speak comfortably, an increasingly difficu lt matter for some African feminists.The last two articles I will discuss reveal change in the field of feminist criticism of Africa on two levels: both are located in collections of essays on African literature which can be considered â€Å"general,† and both are examples of the further increase in variety in the forms of feminist criticism of African literature. Although very good collections of critical essays focusing exclusively on women and African literature are published, it is important to note that few, if any â€Å"general† collections are now being published without the inclusion of at least one, if not several essays which address feminist concerns.In Essays on African Writing 2: Contemporary Literature (1995), there are three articles which are written from a feminist perspective. One of these is Belinda Jack's â€Å"Strategies of Transgression in the Writings of Assia Djebar. † In it she explores the means by which Djebar writes for Arabic women o f Algeria in the language of the colonizer.Jack distinguishes Djebar's writings by arguing that her â€Å"texts are not written in the French language but a French language† a language which no longer belongs to the colonizers because of the deliberate shifts Djebar makes (23). Jack also notes that Djebar also transgresses against Islam in her choices of subject matter, especially sexuality, again firm in the knowledge that while such speech may be a transgression, it is only a transgression because with speech (or writing) comes power.The last article I wish to discuss also focuses on Assia Djebar and her concerns with Islam. The Marabout and the Muse: New Approaches to Islam in African Literature (1996) contains four articles which approach literature from a distinctly feminist perspective: one on Somali women's Sittaat (songs sung for and to notable women in Islamic history), one on the tradition of female Islamic writers in Nigeria, and two which examine Djebar's Loin de Medine.In â€Å"Daughters of Hagar: Daughters of Muhammad† Sonia Lee argues that through her early fictional exploration of women in Islam, Djebar is attempting to make a space for Islamic women â€Å"to reclaim the true law of God† (60). Lee finds that Djebar's historical training combined with her literary skills allow her to â€Å"[oscillate] between the actual and the probable, thus underlying the real subject matter of the novel, †¦. the problematic of Islamic collective memory with regard to women† (51). The above articles typify the growing expansion of feminist approaches to African literatures.While feminist criticisms continue to broaden the literary canon by bringing literature by African women to critical attention and continue to address the representation of African women in literatures, the methods used by such criticism in relation to African literatures continue to evolve. As feminist critics, both African and non-African, use sociological, linguistic, psychoanalytic, historical and other approaches to broaden the examination of African literatures, at least some Western feminist critics are also trying to incorporate a heightened awareness of their own positions with regards to the authors and literatures they discuss.Methodology This bibliography is, in every sense of the word, selective. African authors were included if an article (in English or French) could be located which discussed him or her from the angle of feminism, womanism, or the treatment of gender. Authors were not excluded or included on any other basis, including race and gender. Interviews were included for many of the female writers because such interviews often are a main source of feminist thought (their own) on their works.The sources I used to find these articles were the bibliographies of African literature located in the journal Callaloo (1987-89 and 1990-93), the MLA Bibliography, the African studies bibliographies for the years 1995-96, the CD-Rom resource Women's Resources International, 1972-August 1996, as well as various library catalogs for monographs, whether collections or single-authored. In addition, I scanned the bibliographies of articles and books to find other relevant citations.There are several good bibliographies which focus, at least in part, on feminist criticism of African literatures from the 1970s through the mid 1980s. Brenda Berrian's Bibliography of African Women Writers and Journalists, Carole Boyce Davies' â€Å"A Bibliography of Criticism and Related Works† in Ngambika, and Barbara Fister's bibliography on criticism in Third World Women's Literature in combination cover this earlier period very thoroughly.I did not use these bibliographies to compile this one; to avoid excess duplication, I have focused on criticism published from 1980 on and simply cite these earlier bibliographies at the end of this one, although I am sure some duplication has occurred. This bibliography is organize d by authors and also includes a section on general works, which is organized first by those which cover African literatures without focusing on a specific country, region or author, then by region, and then individual countries.Works of criticism are placed in this section if they refer to several authors/works from the continent, a particular region, or country. If an article focuses on four or fewer authors, it is included under the name of each author. The bibliography includes articles on eighty-seven individual authors, as well as general articles on Africa, East Africa, North Africa, West Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Somali, South Africa, and Zimbabwe; it cites more than four hundred articles and monographs.It is interesting to compare the authors found in this bibliography with the ninety-five authors found in the biography section of Hans Zell's A New Reader's Guide to African Fiction (1st ed. , 1971; 2nd rev. ed. ,1983). The authors in Zell's work are o ften considered the early canon of African literatures. Only twenty-five authors appear in both the current bibliography and Hans Zell's Guide. There may be several reasons for this difference. Many of the authors included in my bibliography were not then considered a part of the canon of African literature; and a few had not even published at the time Zell's work appeared.Carole Boyce Davies also offers an insight which may explain the lack of overlap. She notes in her introduction to Ngambika that one of the priorities of African feminist literary criticism is â€Å"the development of a canon of African women writers and a parallel canon of critical works with the final aim of expanding the African literary canon† (14). The Guides were compiled in the early years of this expansion, and it is quite possible that today the lists would be more reflective of each other.At the same time, many African women writers actively rebuke attempts to place African men on the defensive, a rguing that a critical approach to literature (as well as other social, political, and cultural expressions) must explore the strengths of both African women and African men. While feminist criticism does focus on male authors, it more often strives to bring to the forefront of literary discussions the works of female African authors and the strong, individualistic portrayals of women they offer.Future Search Hints The issues discussed above make feminist criticism of African fiction an exciting and dynamic field. They also make it a very complex field to research. There are several issues to keep in mind when beginning research in this area. One of the most difficult to overcome is the lack of coverage of this area in mainstream indexing sources, such as the MLA, especially when one looks for early works, which were often carried in journals not then indexed by the MLA.Other sources which do cover these journals, such as the excellent bibliographies periodically offered by Callaloo on studies of African literature, do not offer separate sections for feminist criticism, and it is necessary to assess which ones are relevant by the titles or, at times, the authors, of the articles. For my own part it should be noted that it is entirely possible that I have missed articles which should appear in this bibliography.Many of the best sources are only available in print, such as International African Bibliography, Current Bibliography of African Affairs, and Cahiers d'etudes africaines, which are more time-consuming to search, but well worth the effort. As the discussion above indicates, the term â€Å"feminism† can be extremely limiting when it is being used as a descriptor in either online or print indexes. For this reason, it is advisable to keep other terms in mind when searching for articles, whether in print or electronic resources, such as the keywords/descriptors â€Å"Gender† and â€Å"Womanism/Womanist†.It is important, as well, not to l imit searches to the term â€Å"African. † While some articles are indexed with this descriptor, those articles which deal with a specific author may be listed under that author's country instead, as of course are those which deal with the literatures of a specific region or country. Finally, especially when searching for articles in online indexes, it is useful to keep in mind specific topics, such as â€Å"sexuality,† â€Å"motherhood,† and â€Å"politics† combined with â€Å"women† or â€Å"female. â€Å"

Jean Piaget s Theory And Theory - 1424 Words

Jean Piaget studied processes, and how children change with age. Piaget’s ideas are what serve as our guide to cognitive theory because of his extensive studies, and thoroughness of his work. He became the foremost expert on development of knowledge from birth to adulthood. Being that he was an expert on such a wide variety of ages shows how much studying he did in his lifetime. He studied children, and became fascinated with children’s incorrect responses. That really shows me that Piaget thought differently, because normally, we would focus on children giving the right answers, and being pleased or excited with that. Focusing on the children’s wrong answers, he noticed that the children gave similar kinds of wrong answers at certain ages. Because of this, Piaget launched a lifelong study of intelligence, and he believed that children think in fundamentally different ways from adults. Piaget’s theory relies on both maturational (the rate at which th e child matures) and environmental (the surroundings of the child, which would include where they are growing up, and who they interact with) factors. Piaget also believed that all species inherit a basic tendency to organize their lives and adapt to the world around them. Children actively construct knowledge on an ongoing basis, and that process is known as a constructivist theory. Under Piaget’s beliefs, children are constantly developing and revising their knowledge based off from their experiences.Show MoreRelatedJean Piaget s Theory And Theory1673 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is a theory? A theory is an organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development. These are essential for developing predictions about behaviors and predictions result in research that helps to support or clarify the theory. The theorist I am choosing to talk about is Jean Piaget who discovered the cognitive development theory and who broke it down into different stages. The differe nt stages are the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational thoughtRead MoreJean Piaget s Cognitive Theory Essay1750 Words   |  7 Pages Jean Piaget is a well-renowned twentieth century scholar responsible for the development of the Cognitive Theory, focusing on how people think over time, which, in turn, reflects in how how attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are shaped. Jean Piaget observed and divided the Cognitive Theory into four periods of cognitive development, which occur in the following order: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Of the four stages, each has it’s own characteristicsRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Children1465 Words   |  6 Pagesbasis with your child will help them with their cognitive thinking. Jean PiagetÅ› developmental theory is children develop in 4 different stages from the ages birth to adulthood. Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland and was the oldest child. He was born on August 9th, 1896 and died on September 16th, 1980. Jean Piaget was a swiss psychologist who started off by becoming a well known malacologist after he finished high school. Piaget left Switzerland and moved to France because he had an interest inRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Knowing921 Words   |  4 PagesJean Piaget was a developmental psychologist and philosopher from Switzerland. He is known for his epistemological studies with children. He was the first to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Piaget was also the Director of the International Bureau of Education. He was â€Å"the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing.† He was known as the second best psychologist after Skinner by the end of the 20th century. Throughout his career, Jean Piaget declared that â€Å"only educationRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Psychology744 Words   |  3 PagesJustin Waite The Study of Jean Piaget 11/16/2015  Born on August 9, 1986 in Neuchatel, Switzerland, Jean Piaget was one of the most influential theorist in the field of early childhood development and psychology that ever existed. His input towards human intelligence is second to none. Piaget learned the value of hard work from his father who was a medieval history writer. His mother was also very intelligent. Although she was a very bright and energetic individual, she was also mentallyRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Psychology956 Words   |  4 PagesJean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology during the 20th century. Piaget originally trained in the areas of biology and philosophy and considered himself a genetic epistemologist. He was mainly interested in the biological influences on how we come to know. He believed that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is our ability to do abstract symbolic reasoning. Piaget s views are often compared with those of LevRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Psychology1125 Words   |  5 PagesDecember 2014 Jean Piaget Throughout history, many people have made contributions to the school of psychology. One of those most noted, was Jean Piaget, and his theories on the cognitive development stages. Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Here he studied at the university and received a doctorate in biology at the age of 22. Following his schooling he became increasingly interested in psychology and began his research and studying of the subject. From this research Piaget created aRead MoreErik Erikson And Jean Piaget s Theories Essay1291 Words   |  6 PagesErik Erikson and Jean Piaget are quite similar in their theories. Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory is only slightly different than Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Both theorists use the idea of developmental stages. Although the stages vary in what they entail, the carry the same idea of progressive development. Jean Piaget was born September 16, 1980, in Switzerland. His research found â€Å"that the growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding oneRead MoreJean Piaget s Theories Of Cognitive Development1360 Words   |  6 Pages Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist. He worked in the fields of Developmental Psychology and Epistemology. He’s known for his works and theories in the field of child development. His theories of cognitive development and epistemological views are called, â€Å"genetic epistemology†. Piaget placed the education of children as most important. His works and theories still play a huge role and influence the study of child psychology today. Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896 in Neuchatel, SwitzerlandRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Cognitive Development1607 Words   |  7 PagesShaquille Ross Professor Morris Piaget Theory Jean Piaget s theory of cognitive development gives a broader way of explaining the way of how the process of thinking is developed, based off of different age groups. He became interested in how organisms adapt and conform to its environment. He believe that it was labelled as intelligence. He observed these behaviors by controlling them through schema or schemes. In other words, Piaget organized experiments that are based off of intellectual