Votre ressource mondiale sur le patrimoine
EN
ES
FR
Réf.
41851
Type
conference item
Titre
The installation of a Benin Monarch: Rite de passage in the expression of ethnic identity in Nigeria
Langues
English
Auteurs
Eboreime, Joseph
Date
2003
Pagination de section
1-4
Titre de conférence
14th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Place, memory, meaning: preserving intangible values in monuments and sites’
Lieu de conférence
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Date de conférence
27 – 31 oct 2003
Mots-clés
intangible heritage / rituals / cultural identity / ethnic minorities / ethnography
Pays mentionnés
Nigeria
Résumé en anglais
The Benin Kingdom in Nigeria is one of the most ancient kingdoms in Africa, dating back to the 9th Century AD. It reached its height in the 15th and 16th Centuries.However, it was humiliated in 1897 by the British Army of occupation, which saw to the massive looting of Benin antiquities as well as the burning of the extensive palace.
Benin City is now the capital of Edo State, one of such 36 territorial-administrative regions, which were progressively created by successive military administrations. Oftentimes these states were created
along existing broad ethnic configurations.Within the context of competition for the so-called "National Cake" of Nigeria, ethnic solidarity has become strategic for the expression of identity and elite rivalry in the competition for centrally-controlled resources (i.e. oil). The installation of a Benin Monarch provides an arena for the consolidation of Benin ethnic identity. It entails rituals and rites of passage, involving important shrines, deities, and pilgrimage routes where the heroic deeds ofmonarchical ancestors are re-enacted and their powers incorporated into the "ethnic ethos". This paper builds on the field material collected by the author in the course of the coronation of the present monarch in 1979 in order to elucidate the relationship between place-memory and meaning in the continuity of Benin Kingship, the transformation of tradition and the manufacture of ethnic identity.
Benin City is now the capital of Edo State, one of such 36 territorial-administrative regions, which were progressively created by successive military administrations. Oftentimes these states were created
along existing broad ethnic configurations.Within the context of competition for the so-called "National Cake" of Nigeria, ethnic solidarity has become strategic for the expression of identity and elite rivalry in the competition for centrally-controlled resources (i.e. oil). The installation of a Benin Monarch provides an arena for the consolidation of Benin ethnic identity. It entails rituals and rites of passage, involving important shrines, deities, and pilgrimage routes where the heroic deeds ofmonarchical ancestors are re-enacted and their powers incorporated into the "ethnic ethos". This paper builds on the field material collected by the author in the course of the coronation of the present monarch in 1979 in order to elucidate the relationship between place-memory and meaning in the continuity of Benin Kingship, the transformation of tradition and the manufacture of ethnic identity.
Document joint
B3-1_-_Eboreime.pdfLicence
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND)
ICOMOS International Secretariat - 11 rue du Séminaire de Conflans
94220 Charenton-le-Pont, France
Tel. +33 (0) 1 41 94 17 59
E-mail : secretariat@icomos.org
Pour toute demande presse & média, contacter : communication@icomos.org
