Of Alien Kings and Perpetual Kin: Contradiction and Ambiguity in Ruwund (Lunda) Symbolic Thought (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780954557270)

Of Alien Kings and Perpetual Kin presents a detailed understanding and analysis of the ideology of kingship among the Aruwund (Lunda) of southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. In doing so the text is drawn into addressing a range of important regional themes: the debate on the concept of the 'culture hero' in central African traditions of state formation; the system of 'perpetual kinship'; issues of hierarchy; and the symbolic use of space in royal ritual. All these lead to an analysis that stresses the fluidity and ambiguity of symbolic thought. In this, this innovative work questions the heuristic and theoretical validity of the concept of 'opposition' as used in theoretical models applied to the study of symbolism in which terms are self-contained and mutually exclusive.

Author: Manuela Palmeirim
ISBN-10: 0954557271
ISBN-13: 9780954557270
Publisher: Sean Kingston Publishing
Language: English
Published: 03/06/2006
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.50d