Bishimi and Social Studies: The Production of Knowledge in a Zambian Village

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Bishimi and Social Studies: The Production of Knowledge in a Zambian Village
Author:	Crehan, Kate
Year:	1985
Periodical:	African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:	84
Issue:	334
Period:	January
Pages:	89-110
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zambia
Subjects:	ethics Luba folk tales (form) Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Education and Oral Traditions
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/722524
Abstract:	In his discussion of the nature and role of intellectuals Gramsci notes that '..the mass of the peasantry does not elaborate its own 'organic' intellectuals'. Taking this observation as a starting point, the author looks at some of the ways in which knowledge, in its widest sense, is produced by, or imported into, a Kaonde village community of some fifty villages and hamlets in north-western Zambia. Notably, she looks at the role of bishimi (folktales that tell of the doings of anthropomorphized animals) in learning the moral rules of Kaonde social environment. Bishimi play an important role in foregoing the own personal desires in the interest of others. - Notes.