The fetish in african culture

The use of the concept in the study of religion derives from studies of traditional West African religious beliefs, as well as from Voodoo , which in turn derives from those beliefs. Fetishism , the veneration of objects believed to have magical or supernatural potency, springs from the association of spirits with particular places or things and leads to idolatry, in which the image is viewed as the symbol of a spiritual being or deity. However, ethnography and anthropology would classify some artifacts of monotheistic religions as fetishes. Ask Question. My fetish has spoken! By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy , Privacy Policy , and our Terms of Service. It implies that Westerners are at one level of the scale of human progress and Africans are at the other end.

The old carvings in hard stone such as quartz and the old bronze castings are distinguished by an astonishing fidelity to nature, absolutely correct proportions and a lack of conventional features. Modern Yoruba art consists chiefly of wooden figures and masks. The cycle of the Mudjadji is therefore perpetual. The long cohabitation of Islam with traditional African religion has also had an effect at the cultural level. Book Category. There is a wooden African sculpture currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, for instance, comprising a horse and a rider. The African Muslims have always maintained quite close links with the Arab world, from which a number of reformers came.

To some people Benin bronze sculpture represents even finer work, but it would probably be wrong to consider these as purely African, because the technique of bronze casting is believed to have been introduced from abroad. There were comparatively few bronze heads known even in Ife until early in , when seven high-quality examples covered with green patina were unearthed during the digging of foundations for a house, and four more at another site. Pole Sculpture in Ivory It is obvious that cylindrical pole sculpture can develop from any long-shaped material, not necessarily from wood. Log in or create an account to add articles to your saved articles list. The actual islamisation has come later, confirming and assembling within a coherent structure these scattered modes of thought and expression that were from Islam in the first place.