Composing time and space in Yoruba art

Margaret Thompson Drewal, Henry John Drewal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

A survey of the verbal and visual arts ofYoruba peoples of West Africa suggests that there is an aesthetic preference for a certain form of composition and, further, that this form corresponds to Yoruba social organization. For scholars to identify corresponding forms in art and in social order is not new (Adams 1980: 92).1 Fernandez (1971: 357) in a discussion of Durkheim's theories, raises this important issue:.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)225-251
Number of pages27
JournalWord and Image
Volume3
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1987

Funding

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper was presented at the Conference on the Relations Between the Verbal and Visual Arts in Mrica, Philadelphia, PA, ID-I4 October Ig8o, organized by Dan Ben-Amos and sponsored by the Social Science Research Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Field research in I97D-7I, I973, I975. I977-78, and Ig82 was generously funded by The Institute of Mrican Studies, Columbia University; The Institute for Intercultural Studies; The Cleveland State University; and the National Endowment for the Humanities (F77-42 and R0-20072-8 I -2 I 84) and was facilitated by research affiliations with lbadan University, the University of Iff, and the Nigerian Department of Antiquities. We wish to thank Dan Ben-Amos for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Over the years we have benefited greatly from the insights of our research assistants and friends, Raimi Akaki Taiwo, Samuel Akinfenwa, and Kolawole 9,it9la, and our many associates in western Yorubaland. We wish to express our gratitude for all their kindness and generosity.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Visual Arts and Performing Arts
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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