Doing African Philosophy

Beyond Textuality and Individual Authorship

AvElvis Imafidon,Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

Del i serien Bloomsbury Introductions to World Philosophies

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Beskrivning

What defines a philosophical tradition? The primacy of the written text and individual authorship are two major defining and interwoven credentials that have been used to deny African philosophical thought prior to the postcolonial phase. In this significant contribution to the search for identity and authenticity of African philosophy, Elvis Imafidon questions the relevance of authorship and textuality in the production, storage and transmission of knowledge. Drawing from the rich and robust philosophical heritages of sub-Saharan African traditions, he showcases the many non-textual and textual ways philosophy is collaboratively and intersubjectively done and critiqued.His focus is on two major repositories of philosophical knowledges: orality and symbolism. Storytelling, adages, names and naming, folklores, proverbs and forms of symbolically encoded knowledges found in artefacts, symbols, textile patterns, motifs and corporeal and performative arts contest dominant narratives. They ask us to rethink the logic of binaries between literacy and illiteracy, text and non-text, and speech and writing.Paying close attention to the Binis and Esans in Southern Nigeria, the Akans and Gas in Ghana, the Shonas in Zimbabwe, and the Zulu people in South Africa, Imafidon affirms the place of orality, symbolic art and different indigenous methods for philosophising. Exploring the concept of street philosophy in Nigeria, we see how oral and symbolic forms of philosophizing persist in modern African societies.This much-needed book reclaims the voices, agency and narratives of African thought across history revealing the deeply embedded intersubjective and ecocentric Intellegence, and enigmatics of African philosophy. It challenges our understanding of the discipline of Philosophy and argues for an inclusive definition of philosophy in our trans-human, trans-textual age.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-02-19
Mått:146 x 218 x 18 mm
Vikt:420 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Bloomsbury Introductions to World Philosophies
Antal sidor:240
Förlag:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:9781350464278

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Elvis Imafidon is a Reader in African Philosophy and Head of the School of History Religions and Philosophies at SOAS University of London, UK. He is Research Associate at the African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, University of Johannesburg.

Recensioner i media

'Take this book’s title seriously. Imafidon rethinks central questions in African philosophy with skill and insight, and leads us to a way of doing African philosophy that is as useful in the streets as in the classroom. This is a real achievement in philosophically engaged and socially relevant thinking.'

Innehållsförteckning

AcknowledgementsSeries Editors PrefaceForeword by Michael Onyebuchi EzePreliminaries: Doing African PhilosophyDoing PhilosophyThe African WayReimagining Identity1. Redefining a Philosophical TraditionThe Dominant Understanding of a Philosophical TraditionContesting Individual AuthorshipContesting TextualityContesting the Politics of Naming and Transgenerational CoherencyContesting Whiteness and LiteracyWhat is a Philosophical Tradition?2. The Orality of African PhilosophyOral Repositories of PhilosophyOrality, Transgenerationality and Epistemic ReliabilityLanguage, Orality and TruthNames and the Philosophy of Human ExistenceOralising Relationality3.Symbolism and African PhilosophyProblematising the Aesthetic Hermeneutical EncounterCreating, Performing and Curating PhilosophySymbolising Ontological CommitmentsSymbolising Individuality in RelationalitySymbolising Knowing and Learning4.The Textuality of African PhilosophyLegaciesResistanceDefenceMirroringDoing5.Trans-textuality and Collaborative StrategiesTrans-textuality and the Crisis of RelevanceAfro-communitarianism as Method toward Ecocentric IntellectualityRelationality, Fluidity and DifferenceCollaborative Research and PedagogiesOn Polemics and Enigmatics6.Contemporaneities and Futures: On Street PhilosophyAcknowledging Contemporaneity: Philosophy in the StreetsJapa, Sapa and the Philosophy of Migration“School na Scam”: Critiquing EducationReimagining FuturesReferencesIndex