The rolling target (hoop-and-pole) game in Africa

Egyptian accession rite or multiple ritual symbolism

Bibliographic Data

ID2138259
AuthorsO F Raum (University of Fort Hare, corresponding author)
Year1953
Volume12
Issue4
Pages163-180
Publication date1953-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00020185308706920
OpenAlexW4211102468
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited26

SYNOPSIS A “primitive” game is a phenomenon in which are combined at least three factors: material articles, a social organization — the group of players — and rules of action. In addition a fourth factor may be present: a myth which describes the origin or “the idea” of the game. Since modem sociological schools of Social Anthropology are almost exclusively interested in “structural” analyses of social ways and relations, certain areas of “primitive” life — and among them games — have passed out of the focus of attention of anthropologists. This is to be regretted. This paper is an attempt to investigate the ethnological problems presented by the ubiquitous occurrence of the rolling target game in Africa. In the first section the “surface” features of the game are described: its distribution, the target and missiles, the rules of the game and its function. It soon becomes apparent that the elucidation of the present‐day function of the game does not take us very far. A brief discussion of the psy‐cological problems raised by the existence of one and the same game throughout most of Africa follows. The investigation into the world distribution of the game and its analogues reveals that the game is found in other continents and in a very elaborate form in.America. The very detailed descriptions existing for the American form of the game suggest certain lines of research into the ritual meaning of the African game. Evidence is submitted for considering the game a secularised version of an anticipatory hunting ritual, of the charismatic training for hunting in certain initiation rites, of success rites in accession ceremonies and of ancient weather magic. The frequency with which the game occurs is thus a function of the many interpretations to which a globular moving target and the missiles trained at it lend themselves. The rich symbolical possibilities of the game, rather than radial diffusion from one historical centre of invention, account for its world‐wide distribution

Action (physics · Ancient history · Charisma · Epistemology · Function (biology · Game theory · Geography · Mathematical economics · Meaning (existential · Metagaming · Mythology · Non-cooperative game · Political science · Simultaneous game · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Digital Games and Media · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Sports Analytics and Performance

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub