Sex and the Empire That is No More
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Sex and the Empire That is No More by J Lorand Matory
Amid the diverse ideological currents of colonial and post-colonial Nigerian national society, few personae seem more ironic than the priestesses and transvestite priests of the Oyo-Yoruba gods. This detailed ethnography penetrates the social order and internal logic behind these figures and their roles. Combining historical investigation with observations of contemporary religion and politics, this book brings to light changing conceptions of gender and agency among the Oyo Yoruba, and reveals their significance in the shifting constitution of local political hierarchies. In so doing, the book gives a view of Oyo Yoruba culture that challenges conventional definitions of gender, accepted ideas about the expressive nature of metaphor, assumptions about ideological consensus in African cultures, and de-historicized readings of both Yoruba ritual in particular and African ritual in general. This work is a theoretical contribution to the comparative literature on metaphor, transvestism, spirit possession, religions of the oppressed and marginalized, minority religions in the Islamic world, and the politics of writing ethnography.
Matory, J. Lorand: - J. Lorand Matory is the Lawrence Richardson Professor of Cultural Anthropology and director of the Center for African and American Research at Duke University. He is the author of two award-winning books, Sex and the Empire That Is No More and Black Atlantic Religion.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780816622276 |
| ISBN 10 | 0816622272 |
| Title | Sex and the Empire That is No More |
| Author | J Lorand Matory |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | University of Minnesota Press |
| Year published | 2000-08-14 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |