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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $44.99

Format:
Paperback
272 pp.
208 mm x 140 mm

ISBN-13:
9780199764235

Copyright Year:
2012

Imprint: OUP US


Listen, Here is a Story

Ethnographic Life Narratives from Aka and Ngandu Women of the Congo Basin

Bonnie L. Hewlett

Series : Issues of Globalization:Case Studies in Contemporary Anthropology

Based on author Bonnie L. Hewlett's ten years of field experience in the Central African Republic, Listen, Here Is a Story: Ethnographic Life Narratives from Aka and Ngandu Women of the Congo Basin offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of contemporary African women in their own words.

Rendered here are the experiences of four women who Hewlett depicts in their homes, fields, and the forest. The women vividly recall memories, childhood games, dances, folk tales, songs, and drawings from throughout their lives and provide insights and anecdotes from their experiences as children, adolescents, mothers, wives, and providers.

A vital contribution to literature on foraging and farming societies, Listen, Here Is a Story presents a new viewpoint on small-scale communities from a non-Western perspective.

Each chapter ends with "Notes from the Field" and "Questions for Reflection."
Preface
Acknowledgements
Map of Central African Republic
Introdcution: Women's Lives at the Crossroads
Into the Field:
Anthropological Methods: Collecting the Data
The Women:
Blondine, a Ngandu Woman
Therese, a Ngandu Woman
Nali, an Aka Woman
Konga, an Aka Woman
1. The Forest and Village Worlds
Socio-Economic and Historic Context of Central Africa Republic
The Impact of Colonialism on Nambélé, Central African Republic
Overview of the Aka and Ngandu Peoples:
The Aka
The Ngandu
The Nature of Relations Between the Aka and Ngandu
In Their Words: Relations Among the Women:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
2. Children of the Forest and Village
The Work of Childhood:
Ngandu Children
Aka Children
Earliest Memories and Childhood:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Lessons of Respect and Learning to Share:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
When the Moon Is Full and the Night Is Clear:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Therese's Story
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Developmental and Cross-Cultural Perspectives
3. The Components of a Good Life
On Becoming a Woman:
Ngandu Adolescents
Aka Adolescents
Menstruation, First Marriage, and Love:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Therese's Marriage Story
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
The Work and Pleasure of Sex:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Nali's Story
Aka Women: Konga
Sex, Love, and Attachment: The Interactive Nature of Culture, Ecology, and Biology
4. The Harsh and Delightful Realities of Marriage and Motherhood
The Work of the Night
Learning to Love and Learning to Mourn: Child Birth and Child Loss:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
The Adaptive Design of Grief:
Woodburn's Model
Explaining Diversity and Unity
Ngandu
Aka
5. The Consequences of Being a Woman
Egalitarianism, Hierarchy, and Gendered Relations
Differing Faces of Gendered Realities, or, the Life of a Woman
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Voices of Pain and Passion:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Blondine's Story
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Confronting the Challenge: Jealousy, Anger, and Divorce
6. Generations and Grandmothers
From Mothers to Grandmothers
Reflections from a Woman's Life:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Louise, friend and (ex)sister-in-law of Blondine's
Gaspard, 58-year-old brother of Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Basil, 50-year-old son of Therese
Chantal, 39-year-old daughter of Therese
Mbengui, 20-year-old grandson of Therese
Vanessa, 24-year-old granddaughter of Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Elaka, daughter of Nali
Kokote, husband of Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Mokandja, son of Konga
Moboubou, daughter of Konga
Lessons from the Grandmothers:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Therese's story
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Social Continuity and Change: An Intergenerational View:
Ngandu Women: Blondine
Ngandu Women: Therese
Aka Women: Nali
Aka Women: Konga
Lives at the Intersection of the Global and Local Worlds
Grandmothers, Kinship, and Health
7. Conclusion: Globalization and Forces of Change
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

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Bonnie L. Hewlett has conducted research with several ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa. She is a Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University, Vancouver and was a Fulbright scholar 2010-2011 at Hawassa University, Ethiopia.

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