This dissertation examines the legacy of secrecy, silences, and the unspoken in twentieth century African American literary texts. Using a range of texts representing various eras within the genre of African American literature, this dissertation contends that secrecy is a trope and may be attributed to inherited, maintained traditional practices from West and West Central Africa. Having read a number of African American texts and connecting my personal experiences with these works, I noticed a pattern of withheld discourse throughout. Most notably, Leslie Lewis’s Telling Narratives posits a reason for this trope by examining earlier narratives, specifically nineteenth-century African American texts. She argues the master/slave relationship as the prevailing reason for the secretive motif. Yet, traditional and cultural practices noted in early African publications demonstrate that Africans were keeping secrets prior to their diasporic scatterings. By examining early West African-derived works, as well as nineteenth-century African American texts, I ground my position that secrecy as we see it evolves from or relates to early signifying and language manipulations, particular to African-derived people. Thus, the early works connect sustained homeland ties to the literature that follows, providing an explanation for the secrecy reflected in African American literature. This study highlights three types of secrets: identity, family, and sexual, all of which are interrelated and, out of one, the other type may result. The texts that best demonstrate these silences are James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Nella Larsen’s Passing; James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple; and Gayl Jones’s Corregidora and Lalita Tademy’s Cane River. Each text group corresponds with a secret type. Overall, this dissertation challenges the notion that secrecy as a trope in African American literature limits itself to the master/slave relationship in the United States. The previously mentioned texts highlight a direct link to West and West Central African traditions maintained after the Middle Passage. Hence, these preserved homeland customs, including secrecy, are reflected in twentieth-century African American literature.

This dissertation examines the legacy of secrecy, silences, and the unspoken in twentieth century African American literary texts. Using a range of texts representing various eras within the genre of African American literature, this dissertation contends that secrecy is a trope and may be attributed to inherited, maintained traditional practices from West and West Central Africa. Having read a number of African American texts and connecting my personal experiences with these works, I noticed a pattern of withheld discourse throughout. Most notably, Leslie Lewis’s Telling Narratives posits a reason for this trope by examining earlier narratives, specifically nineteenth-century African American texts. She argues the master/slave relationship as the prevailing reason for the secretive motif. Yet, traditional and cultural practices noted in early African publications demonstrate that Africans were keeping secrets prior to their diasporic scatterings. By examining early West African-derived works, as well as nineteenth-century African American texts, I ground my position that secrecy as we see it evolves from or relates to early signifying and language manipulations, particular to African-derived people. Thus, the early works connect sustained homeland ties to the literature that follows, providing an explanation for the secrecy reflected in African American literature. This study highlights three types of secrets: identity, family, and sexual, all of which are interrelated and, out of one, the other type may result. The texts that best demonstrate these silences are James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Nella Larsen’s Passing; James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple; and Gayl Jones’s Corregidora and Lalita Tademy’s Cane River. Each text group corresponds with a secret type. Overall, this dissertation challenges the notion that secrecy as a trope in African American literature limits itself to the master/slave relationship in the United States. The previously mentioned texts highlight a direct link to West and West Central African traditions maintained after the Middle Passage. Hence, these preserved homeland customs, including secrecy, are reflected in twentieth-century African American literature.

This study explores two ancient approaches to spirituality, together with the cultural contexts in which they developed. Spirituality is a popular concept today among people of widely differing religious traditions, and among those who espouse no religious tradition. Spirituality defines the way in which people relate to what concerns them ultimately, and ways in which this concern is manifested in their daily lives. This popular interest has resulted in the rise of spirituality as an academic discipline. An in-depth study of Celtic and African Spirituality is presented in this study. Celtic Spirituality dates from the fifth century CE onwards, whereas African Spirituality predates written history. Few examples of African Spirituality are recorded in writing before the twentieth century, although some have existed for centuries in oral form. Many Celtic poems, and other examples of traditional oral literature were collected and recorded in writing by medieval monks, and thus preserved for later generations in writing. Both Celtic and African Spiritualities have a healthy, integrated approach to the material world and to the spiritual world. They acknowledge a constant interaction between the two realms, and do not dismiss or devalue either the physical or the spiritual. Art and oral literature also play an important role in enabling communication and expression of ideas. Power and powerlessness emerges as a dominant theme in African thought and spirituality, especially where African peoples perceive themselves to be powerless politically or economically. Areas of relevance of Celtic and African Spiritualities to the life of the church today are identified and discussed, such as ecological spirituality; oral and symbolic communication; the role of women in church and society; and the theme of power. These are areas from which the world-wide church has much to learn from both Celtic and African Spiritualities. The findings of this study are then discussed in terms of their relevance and helpfulness to church and society. Insights from Celtic and African spiritualities should be used in the future to deepen devotional life of individual Christians and of congregations, and ideas such as ecological responsibility and recognition of the value and gifts of women should permeate the teaching and practice of the church in the future. / Religious Studies & Arabic Studies / D. Th.(Religious Studies & Arabic Studies)

This study explores two ancient approaches to spirituality, together with the cultural contexts in which they developed. Spirituality is a popular concept today among people of widely differing religious traditions, and among those who espouse no religious tradition. Spirituality defines the way in which people relate to what concerns them ultimately, and ways in which this concern is manifested in their daily lives. This popular interest has resulted in the rise of spirituality as an academic discipline. An in-depth study of Celtic and African Spirituality is presented in this study. Celtic Spirituality dates from the fifth century CE onwards, whereas African Spirituality predates written history. Few examples of African Spirituality are recorded in writing before the twentieth century, although some have existed for centuries in oral form. Many Celtic poems, and other examples of traditional oral literature were collected and recorded in writing by medieval monks, and thus preserved for later generations in writing. Both Celtic and African Spiritualities have a healthy, integrated approach to the material world and to the spiritual world. They acknowledge a constant interaction between the two realms, and do not dismiss or devalue either the physical or the spiritual. Art and oral literature also play an important role in enabling communication and expression of ideas. Power and powerlessness emerges as a dominant theme in African thought and spirituality, especially where African peoples perceive themselves to be powerless politically or economically. Areas of relevance of Celtic and African Spiritualities to the life of the church today are identified and discussed, such as ecological spirituality; oral and symbolic communication; the role of women in church and society; and the theme of power. These are areas from which the world-wide church has much to learn from both Celtic and African Spiritualities. The findings of this study are then discussed in terms of their relevance and helpfulness to church and society. Insights from Celtic and African spiritualities should be used in the future to deepen devotional life of individual Christians and of congregations, and ideas such as ecological responsibility and recognition of the value and gifts of women should permeate the teaching and practice of the church in the future. / Religious Studies and Arabic Studies / D. Th.(Religious Studies & Arabic Studies)

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In transmitting the Gospel, Western missionaries passed on their portrayal of Christ as a European. Conversion to Christianity was aimed more at promoting Western cultural, moral and spiritual issues. Western culture has thus been an obstacle or hindrance to effective cross-cultural communication of the Christian message. Batswana believers are challenged to peel the Western cultural layers off Christianity, in order to reclaim Christ. Batswana Christians will have to dress Christianity in the Tswana cultural heritage if it is to be of any lasting significance to them. Christian spirituality is centred on Jesus Christ, in the worldview of all Christians. Jesus joins faith and culture together. If Christianity is truly universal, then every culture should surrender to Jesus Christ and not to any other culture. Jesus’ question “who do you say that I am?” (Mk 8: 29), challenges Batswana Christians to write their own fifth Gospel. / Christian Spirituality Church History & Missiology / Thesis (M. Th. (Christian Spirituality))

In transmitting the Gospel, Western missionaries passed on their portrayal of Christ as a European. Conversion to Christianity was aimed more at promoting Western cultural, moral and spiritual issues. Western culture has thus been an obstacle or hindrance to effective cross-cultural communication of the Christian message. Batswana believers are challenged to peel the Western cultural layers off Christianity, in order to reclaim Christ. Batswana Christians will have to dress Christianity in the Tswana cultural heritage if it is to be of any lasting significance to them. Christian spirituality is centred on Jesus Christ, in the worldview of all Christians. Jesus joins faith and culture together. If Christianity is truly universal, then every culture should surrender to Jesus Christ and not to any other culture. Jesus’ question “who do you say that I am?” (Mk 8: 29), challenges Batswana Christians to write their own fifth Gospel. / Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology / Thesis (M. Th. (Christian Spirituality))

The thesis consists of seven chapters with each chapter focusing on a particular aspect of the research topic. Chapter One deals with conventional preliminaries such as aim of study, method of approach, literature overview and other introductory material. Chapter Two is an an overview of the foundations of Bishop Dwane's spirituality and his church's struggle for autonomy. It also covers the origins, the nature and the purpose of Ethiopianism as the central thread in Dwane's theologizing and family history. Chapter Three reflects the attitude of the Anglican Church to African traditional culture as reflected in three historical phases - the era of total onslaught on African culture and religion, the period of accommodation, and the phase of turning a blind eye to these matters for as long as Anglicanism remains intact. Chapter Four contains Dwane's views on various cultural issues culminating in his decision to indigenize his Ethiopian Episcopal Church's liturgy and other forms of worship by incorporating traditional healers into the church and invoking the presence of Qamata and the ancestors in worship. Chapter Five analyses Dwane's prophetic spirituality as evidenced by his advocacy role in fighting for justice and human rights in this country. He relentlessly fought for the rights of those who were victimized by the government of the day, and those who were willfully discriminated against. Chapter Six is on the evolution of an authentic Xhosa spirituality, in particular, and African spirituality in general, in the Ethiopian Episcopal Church. While the main focus of the study is the evolution of Xhosa spirituality, it should be emphasized that the thrust of Dwane's theologizing extended to the evolution of other African spiritualities in the broader church. Chapter Seven is a general conclusion that highlights the main elements of Dwane's spirituality and the heritage he left behind in this regard. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

The thesis examined the roles and contributions of Black women during the African ancient civilization by analyzing the lives, roles and contributions of Queen Hatshepsut and Nefertiti as case studies and interrogates how Black women positioned themselves as political, military and spiritual leaders during the age of antiquity. The argument is that African women were more involved as leaders in the affairs of their communities as compared to the contemporary times. By using African centered paradigms, Afrocentricity and juxtaposing robust anti-colonial and Black feminist thoughts, the thesis investigates and recreates systematic narratives of the past roles of African women at the very height of African civilization, discussed the changes in sex-gender roles and explained why contemporary women continue to experience difficulties in assessing position of leadership and resources. The study reproduces measured facts to confront the blurred roles and contributions of African women and situates it at the centre of education.

The thesis examined the roles and contributions of Black women during the African ancient civilization by analyzing the lives, roles and contributions of Queen Hatshepsut and Nefertiti as case studies and interrogates how Black women positioned themselves as political, military and spiritual leaders during the age of antiquity. The argument is that African women were more involved as leaders in the affairs of their communities as compared to the contemporary times. By using African centered paradigms, Afrocentricity and juxtaposing robust anti-colonial and Black feminist thoughts, the thesis investigates and recreates systematic narratives of the past roles of African women at the very height of African civilization, discussed the changes in sex-gender roles and explained why contemporary women continue to experience difficulties in assessing position of leadership and resources. The study reproduces measured facts to confront the blurred roles and contributions of African women and situates it at the centre of education.