Book
The Kanuri of Bornu
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. • New York • Published In 1967 • Pages: x, 115
By: Cohen, Ronald.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this monograph Cohen focuses upon the several selected aspects of Kanuri society which reveal a distinctive and patterned set of social relationships underlying and integrating the prime institutional areas of Kanuri life. The Kanuri household is shown as the basic social structure in which the pattern of superior/subordinate relationships is established. Cohen's analysis of the economic, as well as the Kanuri political structure, emphasizes the interrelation of these areas with the household. The interpersonal relationships characterizing family life and the household also permeate these other areas. The study is enhanced by the frequent description of individual cases. Separate chapters are devoted to the family and the household, the life cycle, economic life, and the political organization. Cohen's limitation of the study to these few areas is discussed in the concluding section. Important areas which are omitted, or merely mentioned in passing, include: religion and Islamic ceremonial life, the belief system of the Kanuri and modal personality traits. Cohen, an American anthropologist, conducted field work in Bornu for twenty-six months. He used participant observation, interviewing, questionnaires, and historical archives. Cohen spoke the Kanuri language and was aided in the field work by his wife and by trained Kanuri assistants. The first chapter contains a brief but useful description of his field experience and his own orientation in ethnographic theory. One chapter is devoted to the many centuries of Bornu history and provides the background for cultural traits which persist to the present day. The persistence of some traditional modes despite modern trends and political change is discussed.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- History
- Retail marketing
- Occupational specialization
- Districts
- External relations
- Family
- Socialization
- Adolescence, adulthood, and old age
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kanuri
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- 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
- Irving Rosenthal ; 1970
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1956-1965
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1956-1965
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Maugmeri Borno State, Nigeria
- NotesAdditional notes
- By Ronald Cohen
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-115)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 67011751
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kanuri (African people)