The Contours of African Identity: Culture, Diaspora, and Indigenous Knowledge | Chapter 2 | New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 3

Culture is a subject dear to my heart. Africa is not just an identity; it is also a destiny, a moral obligation. The culture of each ethnic group holds together the authentic social and metaphysical fabric of traditional practices, oral literature, music, art, and rites through which identities are built. African culture is varied and manifold, consisting of various ethnic groups, with each possessing unique characteristics. This paper explores some of the focal areas of ‘Africanness’ and my position as an “African’. This study aims to critically explore the essence of Africa and African culture by interrogating the historical and contemporary constructions of black identity within both the African continent and the African Diaspora. The study also seeks to examine how colonial domination, imaginative narratives, and interpretive frameworks have shaped political and theoretical understandings of race, culture, and identity. The study also investigates the ongoing relevance of African cultural expressions and identities within Africa itself, questioning how these concepts function, evolve, and resist in the face of internal and external influences. A contextual approach was employed in this study. The primary source for data collection was oral interviews. The participants were selected for interviews in relation to their informative qualities and their dedication, commitment and determination to Local Knowledge and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Thirteen participants were interviewed for this study, comprising seven (7) traditional music practitioners, two (2) traditional poets, two (2) creative practitioners and two (2) Anthropologists.  It has emerged from this study that in terms of African identity, establishing and fully owning identity is important for political, economic, and social progression. Oral accounts and literary evidence have also shown that oral tradition is very important in African culture, as it ensures the passage of cultural practices from one generation to another. African renaissance must begin from the smallest sociological unit. It was concluded that central to the idea of African essence is a particular idea of cultural identity associated with indigenous knowledge.

 

Author (s) Details

Morakeng Edward Kenneth Lebaka
Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, School of Humanities, College of Human Sciences, Muckleneuk Campus, Preller Street, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, City of Tshwane, Pretoria, South Africa.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nicass/v3/5275

Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis and Disease Correlation: The Factors Influencing the Gut Microbiota's Composition and Function along with Possible Mechanisms to Potential Therapeutic Strategies | Chapter 6 | Disease and Health Research: New Insights Vol. 11

 The human digestive system contains trillions of bacteria living in the gut microbiota, which is incredibly diverse. The gut microbiome begins to form and multiply from birth, and changes in its composition are primarily caused by a variety of genetic, dietary, and environmental variables. Dysbiosis is defined as a shift in the makeup and function of the gut microbiota or an unbalanced microbial community structure from the normal state. This can affect immunological responses, digestion, and metabolism as well as intestinal permeability. An imbalance in the gut microbiota can induce a pro-inflammatory state that can lead to a variety of diseases, including gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders, immunological disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, colorectal cancer (CRC), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), along with extra-intestinal conditions like Type 1 and 2 diabetes, obesity, etc. The current review addresses how nutrition and the environment impact the structure and function of gut microbes and elucidates the significance of gut microbiota in preserving human health. The numerous factors that affect the human microbiome are discussed in this overview along with their cause-and-effect relationships to current investigations that have looked at the connection between gut microbiome dysbiosis and disease development. A more effective treatment strategy and a potentially helpful tool in the dysbiosis gut microbiome restoration. Strategies have been studied to achieve this goal, including phages, extracellular vesicles, immunological regulation, microbial metabolites, dietary treatments, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), prebiotics and probiotics.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Renuka Ekka
Department of Pharmacy, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur (C.G), 495009, India.

 

Vaishali Tiwari
Department of Pharmacy, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur (C.G), 495009, India.

 

Shashikala Bhagat
Department of Pharmacy, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur (C.G), 495009, India.

 

Sumathi Poleboina
Department of Pharmacy, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur (C.G), 495009, India.

 

Bharti Ahirwar
Department of Pharmacy, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur (C.G), 495009, India.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/dhrni/v11/3343

Traditions and Cultural Heritage: Genesis, Reproduction, and Preservation | Book Publisher International

 

The contributions assembled in this volume are the products of an intensive graduate seminar with a strong and practical focus on writing. Methodologies discourses and advices, useful as they can be have limited practical impacts. One learns how to write by writing, over and over again. Accordingly, as the seminar name “Writing Anthropology” suggests was designed through weekly written and oral exercises to practice research writing based on current standard.  It is however, the teaching methodology set in place to achieve the formulated goal that set this experiment aside. The pedagogy set in place in this project empowers graduate students, through implementation of mechanisms of collective decision-making. The students are the one making decision about the research themes to be investigated during the whole semester. Each student anonymously suggests a theme. The suggested themes are then listed alphabetically with their frequency of iteration and returned to the students to craft a short list and narrow the range of choices.  The student body of that semester decided to focus on a combination of two themes addressed from China perspective:  traditions and cultural heritage in anthropological perspectives. Harnessing tools from archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology, the contributions examine the genesis, reproduction, and preservation of these fragile treasures of human mind.

 Author(s) Details:

Augustin F. C. Holl,
Africa Research Center, Belt and Road Research Institute, Department of Anthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University, China.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/TCHGRP/article/view/9519