The 'True Nzema': A Layered Identity

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Periodical article

Title:	The 'True Nzema': A Layered Identity
Author:	Valsecchi, Pierluigi
Year:	2001
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	71
Issue:	3
Pages:	391-425
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ivory Coast - Côte d'Ivoire Ghana
Subjects:	Nzima ethnicity Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1161544
Abstract:	This article approaches the question of identity with reference to an important section of the Akan people located in southwestern Ghana and southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, namely the group of communities known as Nzema. Nzema has been used historically as a multiple term to describe different but interrelated social, political and territorial realities. Failure to understand the historical context fully has led to persistent ambiguity in writings about the area, especially in anthropological studies. The tendency is to isolate 'ethnic goups' as precise categories in a broad context which in reality is covered by a pervasive network of continua. This article puts forward a framework for analysing the question of identity in relation to local ideological and political processes. It attempts to identify some of the registers which inform the question and some of the criteria for the use of each specific register by individuals and communities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French.