Walter E A Van Beek
Biographic Data
| ID | 3590254 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Walter E A Van Beek |
| GIVEN NAMES | Walter E A |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Beek |
| SIGNATURE | VAN BEEK W E A |
| AFFILIATIONS | African Studies Centre |
| ORCID | 0009-0009-2155-5164 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 40 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 77 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Singing Prophet of the Dogon. A Nineteenth Century Voice on Dogon-Fulbe Relations and his Legacy
The Dogon in Mali cherish a tradition about a nineteeth-century poet/prophet called Abirè Goro. As a blind singer, he roamed the area of the Bandiagara cliff and composed poems that are still part of the funeral rituals. This string of songs, called baja ni , forms a treasure trove of historical information about the relation between Dogon and Fulbe at the time of the Macina realm. Also, Abirè issued prophecies about the demise of the Fulbe that …
The Cultural Senses of Homo Sapiens
Humans are a curious mix of biology and culture, and one interaction area between these two that has recently come into focus is located in the senses, our biological apparatus to connect with the world. In this essay, I address the variation in appreciation of the senses in various cultures, both historical and contemporaneous, in order to explore the extent to which culture steers not only our observations, but also our appreciation of the epis…
Rain: The Arena of Power and Religion in Africa
In many African religions, traditional authority figures such as chiefs or kings also serve as spiritual leaders. A key ritual they perform is rainmaking, since rain symbolizes power and is closely linked to the chiefdom. I explain how these rainmaking rituals vary among different ethnic groups, emphasizing a strong mental connection between the leader and the community's well-being. Both the discourses and ritual practices related to rainmaking …
Masks Versus Cattle: The Ecology of an African Art Form
Masquerades form an important part of indigenous African religions, and headpieces of masks are found all over the world as an iconic African art form. Contrary to expectation, however, the geographical distribution of masking is very restricted, occurring only in three areas of the continent, mainly situated in the forested zones. I explain this peculiar distribution by tracing the ecological and historical parameters of the societies that harbo…
Masquerades in African Society: Gender, Power and Identity
Explores the dynamics of African masquerades and mask performances on the continent, linking performative expressions to societal characteristics. What is the meaning of masks and masquerades in African traditions and how can we understand their role in rituals and performances? Why do we find masks in some African regions and not in others, and what does this 'mask habitat' say about the general dynamics of masquerades in Africa? Though masks ar…
Translating the Crown Jewel: The Book of Mormon in Dutch Between Conservatism and Modernism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as LDS or Mormon Church, translates its originally English scriptures worldwide, also in Dutch for its 10,000 members in the Low Lands. The focus in this article is on the Book of Mormon, written in an English biblical style of the 1600s, first translated in Dutch in 1890 and followed by several revisions and a retranslation. This article sketches how LDS translation is conducted in …
Masks and Masquerades
Matter in Motion: A Dogon Kanaga Mask
Dogon masks have been famous for a long time-and none more so than the kanaga mask, the so-called croix de Lorraine. A host of interpretations of this particular mask circulate in the literature, ranging from moderately exotic to extremely exotic. This contribution will focus on one particular mask situated within the whole mask troupe, and it will do so in the ritual setting to which it belongs: a second funeral, long after the burial. A descrip…
The Transmission of Kapsiki-Higi Folktales over Two Generations
This study on Kapsiki-Higi tales compares two corpuses of stories collected over two generations. In this oral setting, folktales appear much more dynamic than usually assumed, depending on genre, per
The Tales, Old and New
It is time now to take a look at the tales themselves. Given our fourfold division into genres, a selection of tales will pass muster in order to highlight the core of each genre with its characteristic actors, story lines, plots, and outcomes, be they etiological, moral or otherwise. In order to know about Kapsiki tales, we must get acquainted not only with the tricks of Squirrel, the dumb strength of Leopard, and the intrinsic beauty of Guinea …
Remembering Folktales
All in all, the shifts are not monumental, and the difference between the 1972 and 2008 sets is one of degree, not of kind. True, only half of the tales are the same, but the new stories are still folktales, recognizable either as identical tales or as tales that easily fit into the rhena heca, and they all fit well into the same culture. The relish about the Squirrel antics is still tangible, the young tellers still giggle at the house full of e…
The Transmission of Kapsiki-Higi Folktales over Two Generations: Tales That Come, Tales That Go
Transmission of Kapsiki-Higi Folktales over Two Generations: Tales That Come, Tales That Go
The Forge and the Funeral: The Smith in Kapsiki/Higi Culture
Throughout Africa one craft among many stands out: that of the blacksmith. In many African cultures, smiths occupy a significant position, not just as artisans engaging in a difficult craft but also as special people. Often they perform other crafts, as well, and make up a somewhat separate group inside society. The Forge and the Funeral describes the position of the smith in the culture of the Kapsiki/Higi of northern Cameroon and northeastern N…
Evil in Africa: Encounters with the Everyday
Evil in Africa: Encounters with the everyday
Introduction: African Notions of Evil: The Chimera of Justice Walter E.A. van Beek and William C. Olsen Part I. Evil and the State/War 1. Political Evil: Witchcraft from the Perspective of the Bewitched Sonia Silva 2. Untying Wrongs in Northern Uganda Susan Reynolds Whyte, Lotte Meinert, Julaina Obika 3. The Evil of Insecurity in South Sudan: Violence and Impunity in Africa's Newest State Jok Madut Jok 4. Genocide, Evil and Human Agency: The Conc…
Slaves, War, and the Wider World
This is the historical chapter, one about war and slavery, about death and the uncertainty of life. The Mandara Mountains are a remote area, first sighted by a European in 1823, second in 1850, and more extensively only at the turn of the century. The text describes the internal wars of the Kapsiki/Higi, within the framework of the slave raiding by Muslim emirates, the constant background threat for this society. Special focus is on one particula…
The Funeral of Zra Teri Kwada
Connecting “Ourselves”: A Dogon Ethnic Association and the Impact of Connectivity
Connectivity is a state of mind, also for Mamadou Togo, the president of Ginna Dogon (Big House of the Dogon), the ethnic association that represents the Dogon people of Mali. He happily receives me in his government office in Mali where he has a senior position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It could be said that there are at least three types of offices for Malian civil servants. One has an office with very sparse furniture, just dusty fil…
At Home in the Mountains
Starting with a ritual ordeal at one particular mountain, this chapter introduces the village and the compound as the main residential and religious units. The focus is on the basic ritual of the rites of belonging, the sacrifice inside a familial compound. From the start of a house to the ritual upkeep of a full-blown compound, the text follows in detail the procedures of sacrifice and the dynamics of this small-scale ritual. Remarkable are its …
The Song of the Bride
Marriage rituals are very elaborate in Kapsiki/Higi culture, with a major distinction between the first marriage of a girl and secondary marriages. The text opens with a description of a bridal skirt that forms a central symbol in marriage proceedings. The ritualized transfer of the bride to her husband’s home forms a major focus in the village feasts. The bride is followed on her journey to the new home and in the many festivities that surround …
The Other Side of the World
After setting out the basic rituals, the text moves into the realm of religious conceptions. Using the notion of “the other world” is more consonant with Kapsiki thinking than “the supernatural,” and the main focus is on the concept of shala, the personal god of the Kapsiki. This appears to be a flexible, fluid notion of one’s “personal other,” shifting easily from a familiar spirit to almost a high god. Its main characteristic is that it is full…
Dynamics of Kapsiki Ritual
Intensive Slave Raiding in the Colonial Interstice: Hamman Yaji and the Mandara Mountains (North Cameroon and North-Eastern Nigeria)
A rare document, the diary of a slave raider, offers a unique view into the sociopolitical situation at the turn of the nineteenth century in the colonial backwater of North Cameroon. The Fulbe chief in question, Hamman Yaji, not only kept a diary, but was by far the most notorious slave raider of the Mandara Mountains. This article supplements the data from his diary with oral histories and archival sources to follow the dynamics of the intense …
The Dancing Dead: Ritual and Religion among the Kapsiki/Higi of North Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria
The Kapsiki/Higi, one of the many groups living in the Mandara Mountains, straddle the border between North Cameroon and Northeast Nigeria. This book describes their religion, with a particular focus on ritual. Throughout, the Kapsiki/Higi history as a refuge area against slave raiding shines through in their dealings with “the other world” and with each other. This is a religion of long-time political insecurity. In contrast to many traditional …
The dirty smith: Smell as a social frontier among the Kapsiki/Higi of north Cameroon and north-eastern Nigeria
Among the Kapsiki/Higi of the Mandara mountains the division between black-smith and non-smith pervades society. Blacksmiths dominate technical and ritual specialisations-including the forge-and through their association with death are considered dirty. One way in which this opposition is expressed is through the definition of smell.Using ideophones, the Kapsiki distinguish fourteen types of smell, each associated with specific 'smelly' objects, …
Haunting Griaule: Experiences from the Restudy of the Dogon
It really was a chance occasion, just before Christmas 2003. On my way to the Dogon area I had greeted my friends in Sangha, and was speaking with a Dutch friend, when a French tourist lady suddenly barged into the hall of the hotel and asked me: "There should be a cavern with a mural depicting Sirius and the position of all the planets. I saw it in a book. Where is it?". My friend smiled wrily, amused by the irony of situation: by chance the lad…
African Tourist Encounters: Effects of Tourism on Two West African Societies
This article compares encounters with tourism in two African communities, the Dogon in Mali and the Kapsiki in north Cameroon. The societies are comparable in many respects, but the effects on them of the tourist presence quite different. The Dogon react to tourism by bolstering their cultural pride and self esteem, and they develop inventive ways of gearing their cultural performances to tourist demands without compromising the rituals to which …
Intensive Slave Raiding in the Colonial Interstice: Hamman Yaji and the Mandara Mountains (North Cameroon and North-Eastern Nigeria)
A rare document, the diary of a slave raider, offers a unique view into the sociopolitical situation at the turn of the nineteenth century in the colonial backwater of North Cameroon. The Fulbe chief in question, Hamman Yaji, not only kept a diary, but was by far the most notorious slave raider of the Mandara Mountains. This article supplements the data from his diary with oral histories and archival sources to follow the dynamics of the intense …
The Dancing Dead: Ritual and Religion among the Kapsiki/Higi of North Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria
The Kapsiki/Higi, one of the many groups living in the Mandara Mountains, straddle the border between North Cameroon and Northeast Nigeria. This book describes their religion, with a particular focus on ritual. Throughout, the Kapsiki/Higi history as a refuge area against slave raiding shines through in their dealings with “the other world” and with each other. This is a religion of long-time political insecurity. In contrast to many traditional …
Masquerades in African Society: Gender, Power and Identity
Explores the dynamics of African masquerades and mask performances on the continent, linking performative expressions to societal characteristics. What is the meaning of masks and masquerades in African traditions and how can we understand their role in rituals and performances? Why do we find masks in some African regions and not in others, and what does this 'mask habitat' say about the general dynamics of masquerades in Africa? Though masks ar…
La mission Griaule à Kangaba (Mali)
Le livre de Solange de Ganay est un document historique fascinant, non pas tant pour l'étude du Kamabolon, ni pour celle de la culture mandingue, mais important pour l'histoire de l'ethnographie griaulienne laquelle a marqué l'ancienne ethnographie du Mali. Cette ethnographie décrite par S. de Ganay reflète le projet ethnographique de Marcel Griaule, pour qui la recherche sur le terrain est vue comme une campagne « militaire » : l'ethnographie es…
Réponses à Jean Copans
Functions of Sculpture in Dogon Religion
Masks Versus Cattle: The Ecology of an African Art Form
Masquerades form an important part of indigenous African religions, and headpieces of masks are found all over the world as an iconic African art form. Contrary to expectation, however, the geographical distribution of masking is very restricted, occurring only in three areas of the continent, mainly situated in the forested zones. I explain this peculiar distribution by tracing the ecological and historical parameters of the societies that harbo…
Matter in Motion: A Dogon Kanaga Mask
Dogon masks have been famous for a long time-and none more so than the kanaga mask, the so-called croix de Lorraine. A host of interpretations of this particular mask circulate in the literature, ranging from moderately exotic to extremely exotic. This contribution will focus on one particular mask situated within the whole mask troupe, and it will do so in the ritual setting to which it belongs: a second funeral, long after the burial. A descrip…
The Quest for Purity: Dynamics of Puritan Movements
Purity and statecraft: The Fulani jihad and its empire
Functions of Sculpture in Dogon Religion
Le Mali
The Quest for Purity: Dynamics of Puritan Movements
The dirty smith: Smell as a social frontier among the Kapsiki/Higi of north Cameroon and north-eastern Nigeria
Among the Kapsiki/Higi of the Mandara mountains the division between black-smith and non-smith pervades society. Blacksmiths dominate technical and ritual specialisations-including the forge-and through their association with death are considered dirty. One way in which this opposition is expressed is through the definition of smell.Using ideophones, the Kapsiki distinguish fourteen types of smell, each associated with specific 'smelly' objects, …
Religion in Africa: Experience & Expression
This is the first major collection for over a decade on the subject of African religion. It is part of a continuous stock-taking solidly grounded in archival and field research in Africa and the African diaspora. This book provides the views of some of the most distinguished academics in the context of African history, anthropology, archaeology, politics, comparative religion, health and healing, languages and literatures, and the visual and perf…
Religion in Africa: Experience and Expression
Religion in Africa: Experience & Expression
Religion in Africa: Experience and Expression
Religion in Africa: Experience and Expression
La mission Griaule à Kangaba (Mali)
Le livre de Solange de Ganay est un document historique fascinant, non pas tant pour l'étude du Kamabolon, ni pour celle de la culture mandingue, mais important pour l'histoire de l'ethnographie griaulienne laquelle a marqué l'ancienne ethnographie du Mali. Cette ethnographie décrite par S. de Ganay reflète le projet ethnographique de Marcel Griaule, pour qui la recherche sur le terrain est vue comme une campagne « militaire » : l'ethnographie es…
Réponses à Jean Copans
Why a twin is not a child: Symbols in Kapsiki birth rituals
Africa is the continent of twins, both in number of twin births and in the attention bestowed on them. The Kapsiki exemplify this situation. Birth rites for normal births gradually incorporate the infant into the kinship group, protecting the mother and the child against evil influences. Twin rites are quite different. Other symbolic objects and a specific discourse are used. Twins form a special society within Kapsiki villages, due to the danger…
African Tourist Encounters: Effects of Tourism on Two West African Societies
This article compares encounters with tourism in two African communities, the Dogon in Mali and the Kapsiki in north Cameroon. The societies are comparable in many respects, but the effects on them of the tourist presence quite different. The Dogon react to tourism by bolstering their cultural pride and self esteem, and they develop inventive ways of gearing their cultural performances to tourist demands without compromising the rituals to which …
Haunting Griaule: Experiences from the Restudy of the Dogon
It really was a chance occasion, just before Christmas 2003. On my way to the Dogon area I had greeted my friends in Sangha, and was speaking with a Dutch friend, when a French tourist lady suddenly barged into the hall of the hotel and asked me: "There should be a cavern with a mural depicting Sirius and the position of all the planets. I saw it in a book. Where is it?". My friend smiled wrily, amused by the irony of situation: by chance the lad…
Slaves, War, and the Wider World
This is the historical chapter, one about war and slavery, about death and the uncertainty of life. The Mandara Mountains are a remote area, first sighted by a European in 1823, second in 1850, and more extensively only at the turn of the century. The text describes the internal wars of the Kapsiki/Higi, within the framework of the slave raiding by Muslim emirates, the constant background threat for this society. Special focus is on one particula…
The Funeral of Zra Teri Kwada
Connecting “Ourselves”: A Dogon Ethnic Association and the Impact of Connectivity
Connectivity is a state of mind, also for Mamadou Togo, the president of Ginna Dogon (Big House of the Dogon), the ethnic association that represents the Dogon people of Mali. He happily receives me in his government office in Mali where he has a senior position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It could be said that there are at least three types of offices for Malian civil servants. One has an office with very sparse furniture, just dusty fil…
At Home in the Mountains
Starting with a ritual ordeal at one particular mountain, this chapter introduces the village and the compound as the main residential and religious units. The focus is on the basic ritual of the rites of belonging, the sacrifice inside a familial compound. From the start of a house to the ritual upkeep of a full-blown compound, the text follows in detail the procedures of sacrifice and the dynamics of this small-scale ritual. Remarkable are its …
The Song of the Bride
Marriage rituals are very elaborate in Kapsiki/Higi culture, with a major distinction between the first marriage of a girl and secondary marriages. The text opens with a description of a bridal skirt that forms a central symbol in marriage proceedings. The ritualized transfer of the bride to her husband’s home forms a major focus in the village feasts. The bride is followed on her journey to the new home and in the many festivities that surround …
The Other Side of the World
After setting out the basic rituals, the text moves into the realm of religious conceptions. Using the notion of “the other world” is more consonant with Kapsiki thinking than “the supernatural,” and the main focus is on the concept of shala, the personal god of the Kapsiki. This appears to be a flexible, fluid notion of one’s “personal other,” shifting easily from a familiar spirit to almost a high god. Its main characteristic is that it is full…
Dynamics of Kapsiki Ritual
Intensive Slave Raiding in the Colonial Interstice: Hamman Yaji and the Mandara Mountains (North Cameroon and North-Eastern Nigeria)
A rare document, the diary of a slave raider, offers a unique view into the sociopolitical situation at the turn of the nineteenth century in the colonial backwater of North Cameroon. The Fulbe chief in question, Hamman Yaji, not only kept a diary, but was by far the most notorious slave raider of the Mandara Mountains. This article supplements the data from his diary with oral histories and archival sources to follow the dynamics of the intense …
The Dancing Dead: Ritual and Religion among the Kapsiki/Higi of North Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria
The Kapsiki/Higi, one of the many groups living in the Mandara Mountains, straddle the border between North Cameroon and Northeast Nigeria. This book describes their religion, with a particular focus on ritual. Throughout, the Kapsiki/Higi history as a refuge area against slave raiding shines through in their dealings with “the other world” and with each other. This is a religion of long-time political insecurity. In contrast to many traditional …
The Forge and the Funeral: The Smith in Kapsiki/Higi Culture
Throughout Africa one craft among many stands out: that of the blacksmith. In many African cultures, smiths occupy a significant position, not just as artisans engaging in a difficult craft but also as special people. Often they perform other crafts, as well, and make up a somewhat separate group inside society. The Forge and the Funeral describes the position of the smith in the culture of the Kapsiki/Higi of northern Cameroon and northeastern N…
History (17 works) · Art (16 works) · Political science (15 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (12 works) · African history and culture studies (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Anthropology (7 works) · Archaeology (7 works) · Geography (7 works)