article
The fighting Nuer: primary sources and the origins of a stereotype
Africa • 51 (1) • Published In 1981 • Pages: 508-527
By: Johnson, Douglas H. (Douglas Hamilton).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article the author questions another ethnographic myth about the Nuer (similar to Johnson 1982). According to the author, many traveler and government accounts depicted the Nuer as 'truculent and aggressive warriors.' The author uses archives to find the origin of this myth and found that Nuer aggressiveness was in response to initial hostile foreign (Egyptian) intrusion into Nuerland, which operated by shooting first and asking questions later. Also, Dinka interpreters and guides unfavorably influenced early travelers' opinions regarding the Nuer. Government officials further perpetuated the myth out of their frustration and inability to control the Nuer.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- History
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Territorial hierarchy
- Provinces
- External relations
- Prophets and ascetics
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Nuer
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2002
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1975-1991
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1839-1930
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Sobat Province, South Sudan; Jonglei Province, South Sudan
- NotesAdditional notes
- Douglas H. Johnson
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 524-527)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 29010790
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Nuer (African people)