Queens, Queen Mothers, Priestesses, and Power: Case Studies in African Gender (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)

In Queens, Queen Mothers, Priestesses, and Power Flora E.S. Kaplan brings together a group of noted authorities to offer an in-depth look at women who belong to royal and elite groups in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on original research conducted mostly in Nigeria, the Cameroon, Ghana, and the Republic of Benin, these eighteen case studies offer a fascinating and multidisciplinary portrayal of African women who exercise power in both the temporal and spiritual arenas.Beginning with the sources of and routes to women's power, the authors examine avenues open to women in their society, focusing on the roles of queen, queen mother, and priestess as they are variously defined and applied among West Africans (i.e., Yoruba, Igbo, and the Benins, in Nigeria, in Dahomey [Republic of Benin] and the Asante, in Ghana). They then examine the acquisition and exercise of both political and ritual power, including the parameters imposed by marriage, slavery, concubinage, and tradition, as well as those created by customary and colonial courts. They discuss African notions of property, ownership, ascribed and achieved positions, and old and new offices. Finally, they explore women's daily lives as lived and as represented in art and craft, in oral tradition and text, in ideology and performance.Contributors: Wande Abimbola, Nigel Barley, Sandra T. Barnes, Edna G. Bay, Gracia Clark, Adesuwa C. Emovon, Thoko Ginindza, Helen Henderson, Sabine Jell-Bahlsen, Flora E. S. Kaplan, Alexander Lopasic, Beverly B. Mack, J. Lorand Matory, Flora Nwapa, Jacob K. Olupona, John Picton, and Beverly J. Stoeltje.