On the Colonial History of the Ideas of God(s) in Africa: A Case of the Contradictions between Missionaries and an Explorer on the Cameroonian Coast
This contribution examines contested ideas of god(s) as held by Protestant missionaries and the German explorer Hugo Zöller in the early colonial period of Cameroon and in neighbouring West African countries in the 1880s. While many present studies on African Traditional Religion(s) tend to perpetua...
| Published in: | Journal of religion in Africa |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Journal of religion in Africa
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Cameroons
/ Traditionelle afrikanische Religion
/ Zöller, Hugo 1852-1933
/ Idea of God
/ Reception
/ Paul, Carl 1857-1927
/ Wurm, Paul 1829-1911
/ History 1884-1904
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| IxTheo Classification: | BS Traditional African religions CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBN Sub-Saharan Africa NBC Doctrine of God RJ Mission; missiology |
| Further subjects: | B
idea of god
B Cameroon B perspectives B Intertextuality B Colonialism |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This contribution examines contested ideas of god(s) as held by Protestant missionaries and the German explorer Hugo Zöller in the early colonial period of Cameroon and in neighbouring West African countries in the 1880s. While many present studies on African Traditional Religion(s) tend to perpetuate an understanding of religion around one supreme god, Zöller’s reports included discontinuities and open questions. An intertextual reading approach is used to question historical and translation barriers and analyse the ideas of god(s) in reception history, including through the report of a later mission director and a handbook of religion. It becomes apparent that all the analysed historical material assumed one supreme god or one origin of religion, albeit according to the different interests of each foreign writer’s point of view. A decolonising reading that focuses on the foreigner’s idea of god(s) in the local people’s view then offers interesting insights into the perception and interpretation of the exploitative trade with ‘products’ from Cameroon linked to the coloniser’s own religion. That shift in perspective animadverts on the entire colonising trade system. This contribution thus proposes a decolonial historiography of religion in Africa in order to extend the critical investigation of reception history and perspectives. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0666 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion in Africa
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700666-12340245 |