Supernaturalism: The African Literary Writers' Viewpoint (original) (raw)
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Supernaturalism in African Literature a Study of Laye’s the African Child and Amadi’s the Concubine
International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review, 2018
This article x-rays the existence of the supernatural and their influence on mankind which has become a pre-dominant factor that has gained prominence and importance from time immemorial, and how writers have tried to project this concept in their literary engagements. In an attempt to establish this argument, the researcher explored Elechi Amadi's The Concubine and Camara Laye's The African Child. These novels depict and explore the idea of the supernatural in various manifestations and they are rich in supernatural and are rooted in the mythology and traditional African belief of supernaturalism. Supernaturalism is the belief that there are beings, forces, and phenomena such as God, angels or miracles which interact with the physical universe in remarkable and unique ways. The African man had begun to have some conceptions about the spiritual or mysterious essence of some natural phenomena and had begun to interpret his life in tandem with the "unknown". Opponent...
African traditional religion is one of the starting points of the West African literature, and in most of the first generation of West African writers' novels, the topic is largely developed. These novelists have observed many of the qualities and roles ascribed to traditional religion in the expression of the African cultural identity. Any West African critic who neglects religion in his writings is also neglecting an important, even indispensable literary movement of the past, which has played a crucial role in the African's quest to the present, and a direction for the future. The African past was decapitated by the slave trade and the white domination, and the writers reconstruct the West African pre-colonial era, through its religious and cultural practices. African traditional religion is one of the starting points of the West African literature, and in most of the first generation of West African writers' novels, the topic is largely developed. These novelists have observed many of the qualities and roles ascribed to traditional religion in the expression of the African cultural identity. Any West African critic who neglects religion in his writings is also neglecting an important, even indispensable literary movement of the past, which has played a crucial role in the African's quest to the present, and a direction for the future.
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION: A CONCEPTUAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
Lumina Vol 22 No 2, 2011
There has been a divergent view regarding the concept and philosophy of African Traditional Religion. Some have seen Africans as not having the capacity to reason on the concept or the philosophy of God. This led them into giving all forms of derogatory names to African Traditional Religion. This paper examines the concept and philosophy of African Traditional Religion from the viewpoint of Africans. It presents the worldview, philosophical nature and foundation of African Traditional Religion. It also shows that the worship of God in African Traditional Religion is through sacrifices, offerings, singing, dancing and prayers. The paper also considers the concept of evil, ethics, justice and time in African Traditional Religion. It concludes that Africans knew God before the coming of the missionaries to Africa.
Foreign influences on the idea of God in African religion: some remarks on a great problem
Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 1969
The study of primitive peoples has often neglected influences from the environments. The sociologists and the anthropologists regard the influence as a concrete fact that is taken in account with regard to the behaviour. They have—as a rule—no interest in studying the historical development. They take facts as they meet them in life. Studying African religions we must bear in mind that the influences of missions, for example Christian and Muslim, are clear among many of the African peoples. Therefore a study of foreign influences upon African religions is necessary in order to provide an analysis and an understanding of the contemporary religious situation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of foreign religions on the God-idea in order to see if the Christian or Muslim ideas of God are reflected in the indigenous religions of Africa.
The concept of God, divinities and spirits in African traditional religious ontology has been so misunderstood by many scholars to the point of seeing Africans as people who did not know the Supreme Being nor worship Him. This paper seeks to examine how Africans conceive of the Supreme Being, divinities and spirits. The paper shows that the concept of God is not strange to Africans but in traditional Africa there is no atheist. It sees the divinities as beings who receive authority from the Supreme Being to serve in the unitary theocratic system of government. The paper sees the spirits as strangers, foreigners and outsiders in the category of things that should be defeated using spiritual powers.
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF GOD: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Oneness of God joined its moral vision with the traditional activities, which have opened the way to the triumph of the African traditional religious followers in their expectations of life and spiritual satisfactions. Monotheism's insistence on the concept of One God directs their lives in every dimension and point towards dignity, gratefulness, values, achievements, hopes, etc. It is important to note that within their traditional culture and religiosity, there is a potential spectrum of possible perspectives on the inner significances of the spiritual tradition, including how they associate with their feelings, social behavior and actions. This paper introduces varieties of prayer, types of offering, devotion toward God and routine works broadly found in different traditions and vary significantly among various tribes or societies. The critical analysis indicates various tribal aspects and identifies the diversity of African society and concept of One God in same vein. Diversity of Supreme God is quite common in various monotheistic religions. But the way of God's true appreciation and acceptance in African traditional culture can be really commendable and interesting as well.
The Conception of "God" in African Philosophy and African Traditional Religion
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022
The conception of "God" is universal albeit categorized in different expressions because of the uniqueness of every culture. This paper focuses on the conception of God in African Philosophy and in the cultural-religious worldview of African Traditional Religion. The paper makes a philosophical attempt to bring out the necessary richness in the African view of God. At the same time, it attempts to harmonize the African view with the Western conception of divinity. The beauty that lies in the way the African lives and relates to "God," and the beauty that lies in the Greco-Roman conception of God ignites the need to operate a respect for cultures, highlighting the principle of intercultural exchange. God remains for all times: Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Love, Merciful etc. and an African worthy of the name can ascent to these categories through the worldview of African traditional religion, except when influenced negatively from the west. 1 We have decided to avoid the long debate about whether there exists a genuine "African Philosophy" and what precisely "African" imports to the formulation. 2 Cf.
AFRICAN_TRADITIONAL_CONCEPT_OF_GOD.pdf
Oneness of God joined its moral vision with the traditional activities, which have opened the way to the triumph of the African traditional religious followers in their expectations of life and spiritual satisfactions. Monotheism’s insistence on the concept of One God directs their lives in every dimension and point towards dignity, gratefulness, values, achievements, hopes, etc. It is important to note that within their traditional culture and religiosity, there is a potential spectrum of possible perspectives on the inner significances of the spiritual tradition, including how they associate with their feelings, social behavior and actions. This paper introduces varieties of prayer, types of offering, devotion toward God and routine works broadly found in different traditions and vary significantly among various tribes or societies. The critical analysis indicates various tribal aspects and identifies the diversity of African society and concept of One God in same vein. Diversity of Supreme God is quite common in various monotheistic religions. But the way of God’s true appreciation and acceptance in African traditional culture can be really commendable and interesting as well.
The African Worldview and Belief in the Demonic
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies
The African continent displays rich diversity in geography, culture, history, and language. In spite of this heterogeneity in several respects it still has many similarities. These similarities are to a great extent evident in its rich cultures, but especially in its religious worldview. For that reason, the debate still rages whether the religion appertaining to the region should be referred to as African Traditional Religion (ATR), or African Traditional Religions. The arguments on both sides are compelling. A close examination of the worldviews held by a large portion of Africans however reveals amazing similarities. The African worldview associated with the religious beliefs of the people is one that contributes greatly to belief in the reality, power, and working of demons in the daily lives of its people. To better understand how a worldview contributes to belief in the demonic the religion and corresponding aspects of the African worldview will be examined.