Zambian plants: their vernacular names and uses is a comprehensive list of vernacular names used by the millions of rural Zambians who rely on bush products in their everyday lives. It is also the most comprehensive review of the uses of Zambian plants ever published, listing some 8,181 examples of plant use. Even in this technological age, it is worth remembering that 65% of the drugs that we use in treating cancer are derived from plants. There may well be effective cures in this book that have not yet found wide use, and deserve to do so. This book will be of great value to a wide ranging audience, including = botanists, conservationists, foresters, agriculturalists, pharmacologists, economists, teachers and students.

Originally published in 1978, this volume is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 presents an overview of the linguistic situation in Zambia: who speaks which languages, where they are spoken, what these languages are like. Special emphasis is given to the extensive survey of the languages of the Kafue basin, where extensive changes and relocations have taken place. Part 2 is on language use: patterns of competence and of extension for certain languages in urban settings, configurations of comprehension across language boundaries, how selected groups of multilinguals employ each of their languages and for what purposes, what languages are used in radio and television broadcasting and how decisions to use or not use a language are made. Part 3 involves language and formal education: what languages, Zambian and foreign, are used at various levels int he schools, which are taught, with what curricula, methods, how teachers are trained, how issues such as adult literacy are approached and with what success.

"The giving of names is of great importance in Africa. People are named after events, happenings, great things, the days of the week, or the order in which they were born. For example, if a couple had long wanted a son, in Nigeria they may call him "Ayinde" (Yoruba), meaning the one we prayed for. In Ghana, if a boy is born on Saturday he is called "Kwame" (Akan). In Tanzania, the second born of twins will be called "Doto" (Zaramo). People have asked me whether names like James, Gary, or Francis could be translated into African form. There is no direct translation from English names to African, but if we go back to the original meaning of an English name, we can often find an African equivalent. For example, the English Theodore and the Ibo "Okechuku" both mean "God's gift."--From preface.

This is the first book on the history of the Tumbuka that traces their origin from the Luba Kingdom in the present Democratic Republic of Congo to where they are settled today. It details their leaders, the routes they used, the kingdom they formed, and the many cultural practices they have followed, and how from the eighteenth century, their kingdom was invaded and ruled by many non-Tumbuka ethnic groups that were eventually absorbed in their culture. The study was overdue. Fortunately, the delay has been rewarded because the duty of doing this important work fell in good hands . . . The book improves our understanding of the Tumbuka in the twentieth century and beyond . . . Probably the strongest strength of the book is that the general reader and the specialist will find it easy to read.Professor Ackson Kanduza, History Department, University of Swaziland.

A culturally rich nation, Zambia has a history back to the twelfth century. Vivid storytellers, Zambians are known for passing on tradition and culture through word of mouth. This book contains vivid images, detailed sidebars, and informative references to engage and inform young readers.

Storytelling plays an important part in the vibrant cultural life of Zambia and in many other communities across Africa. This innovative book provides a collection and analysis of oral narrative traditions as practiced by five Bemba-speaking ethnic groups in Zambia. The integration of newly digitalised audio and video recordings into the text enables the reader to encounter the storytellers themselves and hear their narratives. Robert Cancel's thorough critical interpretation, combined with these newly digitalised audio and video materials, makes Storytelling in Northern Zambia a much needed addition to the slender corpus of African folklore studies that deal with storytelling performance. Cancel threads his way between the complex demands of African fieldwork studies, folklore theory, narrative modes, reflexive description and simple documentation and succeeds in bringing to the reader a set of performers and their performances that are vivid, varied and instructive. He illustrates this living narrative tradition with a wide range of examples, and highlights the social status of narrators and the complex local identities that are at play. Cancel's study tells us not only about storytelling but sheds light on the study of oral literatures throughout Africa and beyond. Its innovative format, meanwhile, explores new directions in the integration of primary source material into scholarly texts. This book is the third volume in the World Oral Literature Series, developed in conjunction with the World Oral Literature Project.

From an author who adopted an African name as an adult comes the most inclusive book of African names. Obama, Iman, Kanye, Laila—authentic African names are appearing more often in nurseries, classrooms, and boardrooms. The African Book of Names offers readers more than 5,000 common and uncommon names organized by theme from 37 countries and at least 70 different ethnolinguistic groups. Destined to become a classic keepsake, The African Book of Names shares in-depth insight about the spiritual, social, and political importance of names from Angola to Zimbabwe. As the most far-reaching book on the subject, this timely and informative resource guide vibrates with the culture of Africa and encourages Blacks across the globe to affirm their African origins by selecting African names. In addition to thousands of names from north, south, east, central and west Africa, the book shares: A checklist of dos and don'ts to consider when choosing a name—from sound and rhythm to origin and meaning A guide to conducting your own African-centered naming ceremony A 200-year naming calendar

Audrey Richards (1899-1984) was a leading British anthropologist of the twentieth century and the first woman president of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Based on fieldwork conducted at a time when the discipline was dominated by male anthropologists, Chisungu: A Girl’s Initiation Ceremony Among the Bemba of Zambia is widely hailed as a classic of anthropology and African and gender studies. Underpinned by painstaking research carried out by Richards among the Bemba people in northern Zambia in the 1930s, Chisungu focuses on the initiation ceremonies for young Bemba girls. Pioneering the study of women’s rituals and challenging the prevailing theory that rites of passage served merely to transfer individuals from one status to another, Richards writes about the incredibly rich and diverse aspects of ritual that characterised Chisungu: its concern with matriliny; deference to elders; sex and reproduction; the birth of children; ideas about the continuity between past, present and future; and the centrality of emotional conflict. On a deeper level, Chisungu is a crucial work for the role it accords to the meaning of symbolism in explaining the structure of society, paving the way for much subsequent understanding of the role of symbolic meaning and kinship. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Jessica Johnson and an introduction by Jean La Fontaine.

The Southern African country of Zambia with 72 tribes has experienced tremendous social turmoil during the last 48 years. The 13 million citizens migrated into the cities and professionals immigrated and scattered abroad in a growing Diaspora. The diversity of the Zambian society and globalization has created a cultural crisis. Satisfying Zambian Hunger for Culture discusses social and political history, gender rites of passage, food, religion, witchcraft, and recommendations for contemporary life in the 21st century. The17 chapter book puts the diverse Zambian African tribal customs, culture and technology into the modern digital age.