Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: Painful Irony of Indispensable Books on Africa Published Solely Outside Africa : Rowland Abiodun's Yoruba Art and Language and Suzanne Preston Blier's Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
From: Leye Ige ige....@yahoo.com [edo-nationality] <edo-nat...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 7:50 PM
ooduapathfinder.com
Yoruba Art and its Battle of Methodologies
REVIEW: (1) YORUBA ART AND LANGUAGE: SEEKING THE AFRICAN IN AFRICAN ART. By Rowland Abiodun. Cambridge 2014; 386 pages; Hardcover: $115.00.(2) ART AND RISK IN ANCIENT YORUBA: IFE HISTORY, POWER, AND IDENTITY, C. 1300. Suzanne Preston Blier, Cambridge 2015; 574 pages; Hardcover: $115.00.
In these two books, Rowland Abiodun, formerly, Professor of Art at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and currently Professor of Art and Black Studies at Amherst College and Suzanne P. Blier, Professor of Fine Arts and African and African-American Studies at Harvard University in the United States have given the world of Art and art scholarship in relation to Yoruba art two tomes of well researched books.
Surprisingly, these two books of deep reflection and many years of research by both authors have not been reviewed together in Nigeria: the postcolonial nation that houses Ife, whose artistic heritage has been examined with rigor in both books. It is the hope of this writer that this review will attract more joint reviews of the two works on a visual heritage that has become of immense interest to the rest of the world of art.
Abiodun in nine chapters and Blier in nine chapters (apart from each book’s introduction on the concepts that drive analyses and conclusions of each author) support their interpretations with numerous illustrations from a wide range of artistic works. For example, Abiodun has 135 illustrations, collected primarily from Ile-Ife and other parts of Yorubaland while Blier has 131 illustrations collected primarily from the ancient city-state of Ife and related communities. Each author uses his/her illustrations to support the interpretations derivable from the methodology employed to examine the data provided. What distinguishes one work from the other is largely hermeneutic tradition employed by each author.
The methodology of each author renews aspects of what W.J.T. Mitchell once recognized in The Language of Images, as “the language about images, the words we use to talk about pictures, sculptures, designs, and abstract spatial patterns in the world…and “images regarded as a language” or the semantic, syntactic, communicative power of images to encode messages, tell stories, express ideas and emotions, raise questions, and speak to us.” Abiodun does more of the first while Blier does more of the second form of language. Each author states with conviction the power of his/her preferred method of reading many visual objects that the two books have in common.
For example, Abiodun states boldly: “The urgent task before us is to ensure the survival and essential role of African artistic and aesthetic concepts in the study of art in Africa.” In his effort to apply a Yoruba perspective to the interpretation of African art, Abiodun draws attention to the interconnection of visual and verbal arts of the Yoruba. He does this by deploying cross-genre aesthetic concepts, such as iwa, ewa, oju-inu, oju-ona, iluti, asa, and newly created vocabularies such as Ife-naturalism, Ako-graphic, Ase-graphic Asa, and Epe-graphic as lenses for reading Yoruba visual culture and images. In short, Abiodun establishes a Siamese connection between Yoruba verbal and visual art forms, citing Oriki as the proto-form for both mimetic and stylized traditions of Yoruba verbal and visual arts. Oriki is used consistently in Abiodun’s book as a verbal or visual communicator’s representation and interpretation of any aspect of life in the Yoruba world in terms of reflection or refraction.
Blier, on the other hand, emphasizes that her goal “throughout this research was not only to gain a deeper understanding of the artworks in question but also to try to reposition these works within the specific geographic and temporal settings in which they were made, found, and used.” In what Blier calls ‘thinking anew about ancient Ife art,’ she pays special attention to physical attributes and symbolic properties of the works under study through a close reading of objects, their locations, ongoing ritual contexts and oral traditions, to unearth the theme of risk, power, and identity. Apart from the use of a few Yoruba proverbs and the reference to Aroko as a symbolic form of communication that is capable of both horizontal and subliminal meanings, she does not dwell on Yoruba oral traditions as much as Abiodun while Abiodun also does not give as much attention as Blier to speculations about how ancient Ife art tells the story of actual events in the history of the ancient city-state.
Each author’s methodology illuminates the field of Yoruba visual art. For instance, by rooting his interpretation in Yoruba language, worldview, and thought system, Abiodun brings insight to the influence of Yoruba metaphysics and values on creation of Yoruba visual art in all its manifestations: alloy, wood, beads, terracotta, stone, etc. Similarly, Abiodun’s privileging of oriki as the driving force behind Yoruba verbal and visual art further illuminates the form, style, and significance of specific art objects as well as the field of Yoruba art in general. For instance, Abiodun’s notion of the centrality of oriki to creative arts or even the creative industry in ancient Ife and contemporary Yoruba culture cuts across all forms of Yoruba semiotic system: verbal, spatial, and temporal. He further shows that oriki tradition of portrayal or memorialization of a subject allows for fidelity to the object, as well as for under-representation and over-representation of the object. This explains why ako can be as close to the subject being portrayed as is humanly possible why the representation of the human head can be outlandish as it is in conical heads or conical headgears ranging from the Are crown in Ife, Ondo, Owo, Ijebu, Ila, and many other Yoruba cities to contemporary tall hats, such as is seen today on the head of the current governor of Ogun State in the Yoruba region of Nigeria. The desire of the artist to illustrate the concept and power of Ori-inu (the inner head) may lead, according to Abiodun, to creation of oversize heads while an artist’s effort to reproduce in the fashion of ako may stimulate naturalist representation.
Blier’s book raises many important questions that should interest not only art scholars but also students and admirers of Yoruba art and culture. Blier’s reading of ancient Ife art and ritual shows a magisterial knowledge of Western hermeneutics. While Abiodun relies on Yoruba metaphysics, spirituality, and language to illuminate Yoruba visual culture, Blier applies Western interpretive techniques ranging from psychoanalytic and semiotic criticism to the rich texts at her disposal. She illustrates the theme of risk to the artist and the community in many works that include full-size memorialization of historical figures and design of crowns and other headgears. She also shows how specific sculptures repeat stories also simulated in rituals, with the aim of imaging the ancient city-state’s history of conflicts, already acknowledged in its myths of origin and legends of growth.
The focus of Blier’s book is on works she categorizes under Florescence and Post-Florescence eras. She ties the Florescence era to Obalufon II, an Ife king noted in Yoruba tradition as a major art patron and who Blier describes as the king and art patron that encouraged the marriage of old and new Ife, the period before and after the ‘emergence’ of Oduduwa. Drawing connections between Ife rituals such as Oramfe and Olojo in particular, Blier identifies the preoccupation of ancient Ife sculptures with the theme of conflict, change of political order, and reconciliation of both losers and winners of the struggles for power over the kingdom.
By relating the works of other cultures: Ugbo-Ukwu, Tada, Benin, and Igala, for example, Blier suggests that ancient Ife was undoubtedly a cosmopolitan center for a large section of precolonial West Africa. Similarities in artistic motifs and style, she affirms, must have affected the creative industry in a city-state that was in its own time a melting pot for several nationalities and their cultures. The suggestion that the art of ancient Ife was enriched by contact with neighboring cultures should not surprise observers of influence of other cultures on the Lagos of today.
Without doubt, readers will find these two books insightful for different reasons. Both of the books cover a wide range of visual objects, ranging from memorialization of monarchs to depiction of animals. In an ancient society that was characterized by animism, it is not surprising that totem of power, such as leopard, elephant, horse; totem of peace such as eja-aro (a sub-specie of cat-fish) and snail; as well as totem of alterability or change such as agemo or oga (chameleon) featured prominently in the samples examined by both Blier and Abiodun. Similarly, the Yoruba habit of elaborate dressing that includes layers of clothing and adornment of dress with elaborate embroidery acknowledged by Abiodun and Blier in ancient Ife art is also a major part of Yoruba fashion today.
On the surface, especially with reference to the introduction to both books, readers are likely to find the messages of the two books to be counter-signs, but the body of each of the two books makes the authors’ analyses act more like co-signs than counter-signs. Both books have substantial significance to the study of Yoruba culture, especially its aesthetics and iconography. Abiodun in his book combines old and new Yoruba aesthetic concepts and vocabularies to make Yoruba visual art—naturalist, stylized, and idealized—intelligible to both specialists and people with interest in understanding the relationship between Yoruba thought system and artistic production. He provides new analytical techniques that can provide models for art and culture scholars not only in the Yoruba world but also in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as for those in other parts of the world who need knowledge of indigenous perspectives to enrich their understanding of African visual culture. Abiodun popularizes an area of study of African cultural production that has been kept on the back burner for long; development of emic or indigenous perspectives and concepts that explain nuances (and sometimes the so-called mystery) of visual art in Africa produced by artists who practiced largely in the era before their contact with Western epistemology and hermeneutics. Abiodun does effectively with Yoruba art what Western art scholars do with theirs: art interpretation in relation to Western worldview: philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, values, and language. His work is in good stead to motivate others working in the field of African art and criticism.
Blier in her own book provides additional methods of reading ancient Ife art in a way that can be intelligible to the Anglophone world, which also includes Africans in diaspora and professional art critics on the African continent. She provides insights on the desire of ancient Ife artists to tell stories about the evolution of the kingdom by applying a multidisciplinary analysis to numerous samples of Ife visual art. While recognizing the politics of ancient Ife art, Blier provides insight on the connection between Ife art and desire of its ancient leaders to overcome the division that periodic struggles for power created or could create. She also uses her methodology to suggest a clue to issues that may puzzle the Yoruba world; the role of multiculturalism in ancient Ife and its influence on the flowering of sculpture in the ancient kingdom.
Each of these two books deserves whatever investment goes into its purchase. The books complement each other in many ways and will be of immense benefit to art and culture scholars who want to deepen their knowledge of an ancient artistic tradition that continues to excite art connoisseurs worldwide. Students of Yoruba art should read Abiodun’s book before reading Blier’s, as doing so will enhance appreciation of Blier’s book.
In addition, it will be a profitable investment in knowledge and culture, if Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, in collaboration with other knowledge centers, guardians of Yoruba culture such as: Ooni, Alaafin, Awujale, Olowo, Osemawe, Orangun, Ewi,etc., and rich collectors of Yoruba art such as Omooba Shyllon, can organize an international colloquium at Ife, to discuss the two books that seek to change for different reasons the study of Yoruba art.
Ropo Sekoni
--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 7/19/16, Oluwatoyin Adepoju oluwak...@gmail.com [edo-nationality] <edo-nat...@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Subject: [edo-nationality] Re: Painful Irony of Indispensable Books on Africa Published Solely Outside Africa : Rowland Abiodun's Yoruba Art and Language and Suzanne Preston Blier's Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba
To: "Edo-nationality" <edo-nat...@yahoogroups.com>, "Esan_community yahoogroup" <Esan_Co...@yahoogroups.com>, "Abdulwaab Momoh" <afe...@yahoogroups.com>, "Ra'ayi Riga" <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>, "Yan" <yana...@yahoogroups.com>, "Yoruba Affairs" <yoruba...@googlegroups.com>, "USAAfricaDialogue" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>, mb...@yahoogroups.com, "WoleSoyinkaSociety" <WoleSoyin...@yahoogroups.com>, jos...@yahoogroups.com, nigeria...@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, July 19, 2016, 1:11 PM
Some of the the
cheapest sources of the books I have seen are through the
book search site Bookfinder.com.
toyin
On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at
5:54 PM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <oluwak...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Painful Paradox of Indispensable Books on Africa Published
Solely Outside Africa
Rowland Abiodun's
Yoruba Art and Language and Suzanne Preston
Blier's Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
Compcros
Comparative Cognitive Processes and
Systems
"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search
of Knowledge"
A good number of the best books on
Africa I come across online are published exclusively
outside Africa, with the academic texts often being
expensive. How are most Africans in Africa going to read
these books with the existing currency differentials
particularly after the terrible experiences of currency
devaluations? Books written about Africans, by Africans and
by people who have lived for long periods among Africans.
Painful irony.
A method has
to be developed to make such books affordable in Africa,
perhaps through licensing their reprinting in Africa or
finding a way to enable cheap online access for people in
Africa.The quality of one's understanding often depends
on the kind of knowledge to which one has access. The
sources of the knowledge represented by these books are in
Africa but the cognitive strategies that enabled the
transformation of these cognitive sources into the
ideational condensations represented by these books as well
as the books themselves is very different from the raw
material represented by the knowledge sources. Magnificent
productions using indigenous knowledge sources such as
Akinsola Akiwowo's " Contributions
to the Sociology of Knowledge from an African Oral
Poetry" exist, this work
being facilitated by a superb research group Akiwowo and
his colleagues formed at Ife, but I am increasingly seeing
very powerful works on African art published no where else
but in the West which is producing some of the most
adventurous scholars in African art, as suggested by the
fact that the three PhD theses I know of on the awesome
Nsibidi symbolism of Nigeria's Cross-River and
South-West Cameroon are by the US scholars,Jordan Fenton,
Kevin Hales and Amanda Carlson, and one of them, Carlson, a
woman, in relation to what is conventionally known as a
male only secret society and therefore requiring initiation
to facilitate study which many Nigerians might be unwilling
to enter into but which the males among these US scholars
have done, with all three of them bringing out priceless
treasures. I dearly hope other such works exist in Nigerian
universities but if so they need to be made more visible on
the Internet, the universal information space.
My argument- I would love to see
greater visibility by Africans in Africa in the development
of knowledge about Africa, as enthusiasts from all parts
of the world troop to the great mother continent to drink of
her oceans of wisdom and share with the universe. Important
for enabling this is ease of access by people in Africa to
books and articles published on Africa outside
Africa.
Art and Language : Seeking the African in African Art by
Rowland Abiodun
Published by Cambridge University Press 13th November, 2014.
ISBN: 9781107047440
Available as hardback and as electronic
book
This book is
for me the equivalent of a
Bible. Reading it
is proving powerfully inspirational, leading to the
composition of this post and a forthcoming essay, along
with providing central integrative conceptions in other
emerging work. I am not aware of any
publication in Orisa cosmology and Yoruba philosophy
operating at this level of passion, fundamental scope in
mapping of ideas and absolute beauty of explication, its
choice of and exploration of Yoruba oral literature ,
magical, since Bolaji Idowu's Olodumare : God in Yoruba
Belief, although I am yet to read
a lot of the literature, particularly such recent works as
Esu: Yoruba God, Power, and
the Imaginative Frontiers
edited by Toyin Falola, Ifá Divination, Knowledge,
Power, and Performance edited
by Jacob Olupona and Rowland Abiodun and Ifá
in Yorùbá Thought
System
by Omotade Adegbindin,
although I wonder if its possible to achieve the kind of
synoptic vision represented by the Idowu and Abiodun books
in volumes with different contributors, the strengths of
such works being along different lines, although the Esu
book edited by Falola covers a vast range of the
significance of the Yoruba orisa or
deity.
The manner in which Abiodun is able
to reach to the foundations of Yoruba philosophy and Orisa
cosmology in Yoruba Art and Language is spellbinding.
Abiodun presents this book as an exploration of the
relevance of Yoruba philosophy and verbal art for Yoruba
art, which he achieves magnificently. Its significance goes
far beyond that for me. I see the book as providing a
fundamental link in the chain of global aesthetics, with
Yoruba philosophy providing vital framing strategies that
uniquely facilitate the crystallization, integration and
elaboration of related ideas from various
cultures.
and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power, and
Identity, c. 1300 by Suzanne Preston Blier
Published by Cambridge University Press on April 6, 2015.
ISBN: 9781107021662.
Available as hardback and as electronic book.
I
am just getting into this work but it is looking like a
superb
encyclopaedia on Ife art in its social context and
historical unfolding,
contextualised by its own philosophical self understanding
placed in
dialogue with disciplinary perspectives that have reached
their current
prominence in the global reach of the academy diffusing from
the West. A
sumptuous production. A treasure. No student of Yoruba art
can afford
to be without this book.
The
quality of production of both books is very high both at
the level of
content and the material form of the books,delivering the
potent
satisfaction that only a three dimensional precious object
can deliver
when held in one's hands, although digital
versions of the books also exist demonstrating their unique
satisfactions.
Also
published on
African
Hermeneutic Systems blog
#yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px
0;padding:0 10px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp hr {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp #yiv9381152612hd {
color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px
0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp #yiv9381152612ads {
margin-bottom:10px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp .yiv9381152612ad {
padding:0 0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp .yiv9381152612ad p {
margin:0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mkp .yiv9381152612ad a {
color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor
#yiv9381152612ygrp-lc {
font-family:Arial;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor
#yiv9381152612ygrp-lc #yiv9381152612hd {
margin:10px
0px;font-weight:700;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor
#yiv9381152612ygrp-lc .yiv9381152612ad {
margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612actions {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;padding:10px 0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity {
background-color:#e0ecee;float:left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;padding:10px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity span {
font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity span:first-child {
text-transform:uppercase;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity span a {
color:#5085b6;text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity span span {
color:#ff7900;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612activity span
.yiv9381152612underline {
text-decoration:underline;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612attach {
clear:both;display:table;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;padding:10px
0;width:400px;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612attach div a {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612attach img {
border:none;padding-right:5px;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612attach label {
display:block;margin-bottom:5px;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612attach label a {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 blockquote {
margin:0 0 0 4px;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612bold {
font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612bold a {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 dd.yiv9381152612last p a {
font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 dd.yiv9381152612last p span {
margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 dd.yiv9381152612last p
span.yiv9381152612yshortcuts {
margin-right:0;}
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612attach-table div div a {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612attach-table {
width:400px;}
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612file-title a, #yiv9381152612
div.yiv9381152612file-title a:active, #yiv9381152612
div.yiv9381152612file-title a:hover, #yiv9381152612
div.yiv9381152612file-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612photo-title a,
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612photo-title a:active,
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612photo-title a:hover,
#yiv9381152612 div.yiv9381152612photo-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 div#yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg
#yiv9381152612ygrp-msg p a span.yiv9381152612yshortcuts {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612green {
color:#628c2a;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612MsoNormal {
margin:0 0 0 0;}
#yiv9381152612 o {
font-size:0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612photos div {
float:left;width:72px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612photos div div {
border:1px solid
#666666;min-height:62px;overflow:hidden;width:62px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612photos div label {
color:#666666;font-size:10px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;width:64px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612reco-category {
font-size:77%;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612reco-desc {
font-size:77%;}
#yiv9381152612 .yiv9381152612replbq {
margin:4px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-actbar div a:first-child {
margin-right:2px;padding-right:5px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg {
font-size:13px;font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean,
sans-serif;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg table {
font-size:inherit;font:100%;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg select,
#yiv9381152612 input, #yiv9381152612 textarea {
font:99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg pre, #yiv9381152612
code {
font:115% monospace;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg * {
line-height:1.22em;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-mlmsg #yiv9381152612logo {
padding-bottom:10px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-msg p a {
font-family:Verdana;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-msg
p#yiv9381152612attach-count span {
color:#1E66AE;font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-reco
#yiv9381152612reco-head {
color:#ff7900;font-weight:700;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-reco {
margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor #yiv9381152612ov
li a {
font-size:130%;text-decoration:none;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor #yiv9381152612ov
li {
font-size:77%;list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-sponsor #yiv9381152612ov
ul {
margin:0;padding:0 0 0 8px;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-text {
font-family:Georgia;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-text p {
margin:0 0 1em 0;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-text tt {
font-size:120%;}
#yiv9381152612 #yiv9381152612ygrp-vital ul li:last-child {
border-right:none !important;
}
#yiv9381152612
| Reply via web post | • | Reply to sender | • | Reply to group | • | Start a New Topic | • | Messages in this topic (3) |
http://www.edo-nation.net
You can also get a free email service from http://www.edo-nation.net.
This is the first Nigerian website to offer free emails and the only still offering it free.
"Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it." - Frantz Fanon
Please visit our web site:-
www.edo-nation.net
