article
The negotiation of Songhay space: phenomenology in the heart of darkness
American ethnologist • 7 (3) • Published In 1980 • Pages: 419-431
By: Stoller, Paul.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is a study of the political use of space in Songhai society. It is also a commentary on how settlement patterns can be misinterpreted by Western scholars who see them as static reifications of existing social and political order. The author examines the distribution over time of family compounds and holdings of nobles, former slaves, merchants and foreigners in the town of Mehanna. Recognizing who holds the real power, merchants whose wealth and influence have eclipsed that of the traditional noble class do not compete for space alongside them in the center of town, but are content to occupy marginal areas, to which their clients also gravitate.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- External migration
- History
- Settlement patterns
- Mercantile business
- Ethnic stratification
- Classes
- Slavery
- Chief executive
- Sacred objects and places
- Magic
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Songhai
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2016
- 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
- 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; 2016
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1976-1977
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1898-1977
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mehanna, Tera department, Tillabéri, Niger
- NotesAdditional notes
- Paul Stoller
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 430-431)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74644326
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Songhai (African people)