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| Title: | Moving with the face of the devil: art and politics in urban West Africa |
| Author: | Nunley, John W. |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Language: | English |
| City of publisher: | Urbana |
| Publisher: | University of Illinois Press |
| ISBN: | 0252010159 |
| Geographic term: | Sierra Leone |
| Subjects: | national culture urban society secret societies masquerades arts |
| Abstract: | This book illuminates the creative traditions of Yoruba art in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and shows how the city's secret societies have made these traditions an integral part of life in urban West Africa. In exploring the dramatic rise of the Ode-lay societies, the author introduces their art, lifestyle, organization, and social function. He demonstrates that Yoruba-based art forms were at the heart of black resistance to cultural changes promoted by missionaries and British colonial officials. The art of masquerading, religion, and sociocultural institutions gave the freed slaves a firm identity in the strange land. These traditions helped generations of rural migrants adapt to a tough urban environment. Today these same art forms have become a major factor in forging a national culture that is on the verge of developing into a powerful political force. |