Body Talk and Cultural Identity in the African World

Augustine Agwuele is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University.

• Introduction: Body Talks, Non-verbal communication in some African Societies and Institutions Augustine Agwuele Part One: Body Talk in Arts and Literature 1. What Traditional Dances Tell Us about African Cultural Identity in Puerto Rico and Trinidad" Ann Albuyeh, University of Puerto Rico 2. Fela's Clenched Fists: The Double Black Power Salute and Political Ideology from Afrobeat to Occupy Nigeria" Dotun Oyebade, University of Texas (PhD candidate) 3. Dressed-to-Kill: Don Mattera's Sophiatown Michael Sharp, University of Puerto Rico 4. Body Arts, Body Decoration, and Identity in Yorubaland Bukola Adeyemi Oyeniyi, Missouri State University 5. Bodies in Motion: Gestures and Performance of Identity in Tess Onwueme's Shakara Dance Hall Queen Maureen N. Eke, Central Michigan University Part 2: Non-Verbal communication and Cultural Diversity 6. The convergence of language and culture in Malawian gestures: Handedness in Everyday Rituals Karen W. Sanders, Tulane University 7. Nonverbal communication codes among the Hamar: structures and functions Moges Yigezu, Addis Ababa University 8. So That We Might Find Ourselves: Refashioning Embodied Beauty and Collective Identity in Yoruba Culture Abimbola A. Adelakun, Independent scholar 9. Nonverbal Message: Yoruba view of 'deviant' male hairstyles Augustine Agwuele 10. "Embodying Holiness: Gender, Sex and Bodies in a Neo-Pentecostal Church in Kenya" Damaris Seleina Parsitau, Egerton University