Culture and Customs of the Congo

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Tshilemalema Mukenge

ISBN: 0-313-31485-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31485-8

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232 pages

Greenwood Press

Publication: 11/30/2001

List Price: $57.95 (UK Sterling Price: £39.95)

Discount Price: $28.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Also Available: Ebook

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Series Title: Culture and Customs of Africa

Description: The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, continues to struggle with socioeconomic and political development. Culture and Customs of the Congo provides the full context of traditional culture and modern practices against a backdrop of a turbulent history. The volume opens up a land and peoples little known in the United States. Written expressly to meet the needs of students and the general audience, the work will inform about the geography, economy, political history, and history from the slave trade to dictatorship; ancestral religions and inroads of western faiths; ancestral literary heritage and communication; art, architecture, and housing; diet and dress; marriage, family, and women; lifestyles and life events, and traditional and modern music and dance.

Congolese society comprises hundreds of ethnic groups, such as the Luba, the Kongo, and the Kuba. The countryside is largely based on the hunting and gathering, herding, and farming lifestyles. The city is marked by lifestyles reflecting the prevalence of small business activities and increasing cultural sycretism of customs from different parts of the Congo and Western imports. Mukenge's narrative gives the diverse perspectives of their cultures with their fascinating juxtapositions to our familiar western ways. Examples of this are found in the Religion and Worldview chapter, which discusses ancestral religions, the spirits of the land, and supernatural power practitioners. The Literature chapter covers verbal competition and game songs. Congolese cuisine is based on starches such as the cassava root, the corn, and the plantain; green vegetables, insects, fish and, to a lesser extent, meat. Other chapters cover topics from the distinct Congolese dress and symbolic adornments, all-important family lines, to ceremonial music and dance. A chronology and glossary are added value.

Table of Contents:

Series Foreword
Introduction
Chronology, Religion, and Worldview
Literature and Media
Art and Architecture
Cuisine and Dress
Marriage, Family, and Gender
Social Customs and Life Styles
Music and Dance
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index

About the Author: TSHILEMALEMA MUKENGE is Professor in the Department of African Studies at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia./e He has published a major study on religion and family of the Luba of the Congo and continues research and writing on control policies, small business enterprises, and survival strategies in Congolese cities. His ongoing research activities also include the study of African influences on Afro-Brazilian culture and history.

LCC Class: 967


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