Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The aim of my research project is to give a theological reflection on the practice of initiation rites within Masasi district, in south-east Tanzania. While initiation remains a very significant tradition among the Yao, Makonde and Makua tribes in Masasi, the ancestral cult and the content of sex related education in these rites have presented challenges to the Christian communities. Some Christians do not feel comfortable with the inclusion of the ancestor cult since this does not immediately seem to agree with Christian doctrine. There is also a general acknowledgment that the rites could be partly responsible for the premature involvement in sexual activity by young people. In the past theological attempts were made to Christianise Masasi initiation rites with the hope of addressing these two issues highlighted above. This approach had its difficulties and limitations since not all communities in Masasi villages are Christian and since religious diversity has to be respected. Furthermore, in areas where Christianisation has been put into effect, not much change has been recorded with regards to the two main problems noted above. Christianisation simply touched on the form but did not influence the content of rites. Other theologies, especially in missionary circles, viewed initiation as an antithesis of Christianity, a view which undoubtedly discouraged constructive Christian dialogue with the practice. African theologians on the other hand seem not to have produced much systematised treatments on the subject of rites which otherwise would have been useful materials to various African Christian communities. As a result of these and other inadequacies we have a problem as far as what should be done to have the Christian faith inform the processes within the rites of passage. What kind of theology will respect the culture and yet uphold teachings of the biblical tradition in addressing cultural initiation? In this project I am proposing a theology of ‘inculturation and transformation’ to address the impasse described above. Inculturation “describes the process of integration of the faith and life of the church in a given culture” (Pobee 1992:35). The aim of inculturation is to express the Christian faith in a culturally relevant manner so as to transform the culture. Initiation rites will be made to engage with the Christian theology in such a way that the precepts of biblical theology will be applied to rites with a view to moulding those aspects of rites that are not consistent with the teachings of the Bible. The good elements already found in these rites will be maintained. The goal of inculturation is not to destroy the rites but to present the rites “in a far more perfect way on an essentially different and infinitely higher level” (Nyamiti 1971:6). Through inculturation the underlying cultural worldview behind rites is taken into account. Inculturationtransformation theology aims at addressing the inner levels of culture. For this to happen the Gospel has to go in-culture and mould it from within.September 2009

Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge en förståelse för hur tonårstjejer på landsbygden i Tamil Nadu i södra Indien upplever menstruation. Aspekter som tillgång på information, hygien och traditionella sedvänjor diskuteras. Initiationsriterna som hålls för alla flickor kopplas till ritualteori av Turner, Bell, Rappaport, Staal med flera. En genomgång från det antropologiska fältet ges genom Buckley och Gottlieb. Centralt för uppsatsen är uppfattningar om orenhet och symbolisk förorening som finns inom hinduismen. Detta diskuteras med hjälp av Mary Douglas. Den till huvuddel kvalitativa studien består av intervjuer med fem fokusgrupper, bestående av tjejer i åldrarna 12-25 år, och kompletterande intervjuer med personal på NGO:s och andra med kopplingar till området. En enkkätstudie genomfördes samt en observation. Resultatet visar att tonårstjejer är i stort behov av mer reproduktiv kunskap och att det finns fördelar med att uppmärksamma och samtala kring de traditionella sedvänjorna, eftersom delar av dem upplevs som negativt av tjejerna. Det är tydligt att det finns ett behov för bekväma, hygieniska och hållbara alternativ för kvinnors mensskydd. I uppsatsen presenteras också olika projekt som syftar till att sprida information om menstruation och mensskydd. / The purpose of this thesis is to give an understanding about how adolescent girls in rural Tamil Nadu experience menstruation. Aspects on access to information, hygiene and traditional menstrual customs are discussed. The initiation rite that all girls go through is connected to ritual theory by Turner, Bell, Rappaport and Staal et al. An understanding from the anthropological field is given through the work of Buckley and Gottlieb. Central for the thesis is notions about impurity and pollution, which are discussed with the theories of Mary Douglas. The mainly qualitative research consists of focus groups interviews with girls in the age of 12-25 years and complementary interviews with NGO workers and others connected to the field. A questionnaire study was conducted as well as an observation. The results from the study show that adolescent girls are in great need of more reproductive knowledge and that there could be benefits to further bring up the traditional customs to discussion, since part of them make girls feel uncomfortable. It is seen that there is a need for comfortable, hygienic and sustainable solutions for women´s sanitary protection. Presented in the thesis are also different examples of projects that aim to spread information about menstruation and the use of sanitary pads.

La prise en charge des adolescents auteurs d’actes transgressifs consiste à assurer la relance du processus de subjectivation entravé par le processus adolescent et les traumas infantiles. Les transformations liées à l’adolescence laissent les jeunes sujets aux prises avec une excitation désorganisatrice ou absente et une souffrance non reconnue, qui se manifestent dans des somatisations et des agirs répétitifs. Ces modalités d’expression de la souffrance sur la scène institutionnelle sont en attente d’une réponse de l’environnement. L’organisation du dispositif de prise en charge permet la relance des processus adolescent et de subjectivation et apporte une réponse à la souffrance des adolescents :- s’il prend les caractéristiques du rite d’initiation (contention dans un espace en vue d’une réinsertion dans la société après avoir subi des transformations).- s’il permet un emboîtement d’enveloppes (intrainstitutionnelles ou interinstitutionnelles) contenantes et pare-excitantes, utilisées par les adolescents pour suppléer aux défaillances de certaines fonctions de leur appareil psychique (espace psychique élargi).- s’il propose un accompagnement caractérisé par le « vivre avec » et le « faire avec ». Ces modalités d’intervention favorisent les processus de transformations psychiques grâce aux réponses apportées par les professionnels, et, autorisent les adolescents à trouver-créer ce dispositif pour construire leur avenir (notion de contenir). Dans ce cadre, l’enfermement sert de médiation éducative et thérapeutique. La place du psychologue, dans le « vivre avec », favorise la mise en sens des projections des adolescents et une restitution auprès d’eux de leurs vécus internes matérialisant une continuité psychique entre la réalité externe et la réalité interne. Dans sa fonction de réceptivité et de présence, il assure la réappropriation des vécus projetés et de la groupalité interne. / The care of teenage authors of transgressive acts consists in ensuring the revival of the subjectivation process hampered by the adolescent process and the infantile traumas. The transformations that adolescence involves let the young people in the grip of a disorganising or inexistant excitation and a denied distress they express through somatizations and repetitive passages to the act. These means of suffering expression on the institutional scene are expecting an environment answer. The organisation of the care plan reactivates both the adolescent and subjectivation processes and responds to the suffering of the young:- if it has the features of the initiation rite (the contention aims at a reinsertion into society after transformations occurred).- if it allows a stacking of the envelopes (intrainstitutional or interinstitutional) which have containing and counter-excitation functions, and that adolescents employ for filling the deficiences of some of their psyche functions (enlarged psychic space).- if it provides a support made with the « vivre avec » and the « faire avec ». These terms of intervention facilitate the psychic transformations processes thanks to the support professionnals provide and permit the adolescents to find-create this mechanism for building their future (notion of contain). In this context, the contention means educative and therapeutic mediation. The function of the psychologue, in the « vivre avec », helps in giving a meaning to the projections of the adolescents and a restitution to them of their internal experiences materializing a psychic continuity between external reality and internal reality. As part of his receptivity and presence functions, he ensures reappropriation of the projected experiences as well as the internal groupality.

A cent jours du baccalauréat, les élèves des classes de terminale fêtent le Père cent. Déguisés, ils vont par petits groupes, telle une parade carnavalesque, faire la quête sur les ronds-points et se retrouvent tous en soirée pour danser. C’est une sorte de rite de passage, commémorant les années passées ensemble avant de se séparer. L’institution scolaire ne voit pas toujours d’un bon œil ces pratiques assimilées à du « bizutage ». Le Conseiller Principal d’Éducation, par ses fonctions, est responsable de l’animation éducative de l’établissement. Il doit accompagner les élèves dans toutes leurs initiatives, sans pour autant, dans le cas du Père cent, cautionner institutionnellement l’événement. Comment une pratique interdite peut-t-elle se dérouler ? Quelle fonction remplit-elle auprès de ces jeunes qui transgressent les règles ? Quelle peut être la posture du C. P. E. dans l’exercice de son autorité face à un rituel lycéen subversif ? L’historiographie de cette fête (1880-2010) et la lecture d’images photographiques sur plus d’un siècle nous a permis d’en relever les éléments fondamentaux et les origines militaires et normaliennes. Une lecture herméneutique a dégagé les invariants et fait émerger la forme archétypale du Père cent. Convoquant les concepts de fête, de rites de passage et de transgression de l’autorité, la méthodologie employée a montré comment la fête, par son émergence ouvre un espace propice aux rites de passage et aux transgressions. Elle offre à ces jeunes l’occasion opportune de témoigner de leur maturité. Par voie de conséquence, la fonction de C. P. E. apparaît au cœur des multiples tensions et des contradictions que catalyse la fête du Père cent. Le support théorique de cette recherche est amplement nourri par les travaux d’A. v. Gennep et de V. W. Turner sur les rites de passage, de R. Caillois, J. Heers, M. Maffesoli sur la fête, de P. Meirieu, J. Housaye, P. Bourdieu, F. Lerbet-Séréni, sur l’éducation, P. Audi, B. Robbes, A. Kojève pour l’autorité et X. Pommereau, J-J. Rassial pour l’adolescence. Dépassant le cadre de cette fête, l’étude montre l’intérêt et le profit, pour le C. P. E., d’investir les moindres espaces éducatifs afin de faire advenir l’auctor en chaque élève. / One hundred days prior to the baccalaureate exam, the 12th graders (US) / upper sixth pupils (GB) celebrate the Père cent. They wear disguises like people do in carnival parades and go begging for small change at roundabouts (crossroads). Eventually, they organize parties and dance (all night long). It is a kind of rite of passage to celebrate the good time spent together before everyone makes the parting of the ways. Most school officials look unfavourably on this custom / tradition as they consider it as hazing (US) / fresher initiation (GB). The CPE is in charge of the educational animation at school. He is supposed to guide the pupils' initiatives, without actually backing a celebration such as the Père Cent. How can a prohibited event take place each year ? What is the aim of breaking the rules for the youth ? How can the CPE react when confronted with this subversive ritual ? The historiography of this feast (1880-2010) and the analysis of pictures spanning one century made it possible to reveal the basic elements and the military origins of the celebration. (Ecole normale d’instituteurs) The unchanging factors of the celebration have emerged thanks to an hermeneutic analysis, the archetypal structure of the Père cent was thus outlined. Carrying the concepts of festival, rites of passage and rebellion against authority, the methodology used showed how the celebration is the perfect way for pupils to experience rites of passage and rebellion. Students get the opportunity to show evidence of their maturity. As a consequence, the duty of the CPE is at the heart of the tension and contradictions triggered up by the Père cent celebration. The theoritical support of this research largely stem from the work of A.Gennep and V.W. Turner about the rites of passage, R. Callois, J.Heers, M.Maffesoli about celebrations, P.Meirieu, J.Housaye, F.Lerbet-Séréni about education, P.Audi, B.Robbes, A. Kojève about authority and X. Pommereau, J-J. Rassial about adolescence. Beyond the celebration, this study shows how interesting and profitable it is for the CPE to commit himself in any educative field and rouse the pupils' auctor.

Au début du XIXe siècle, le paysage socio-politique européen est dominé par les bouleversements en provenance de France. Réagissant à ceux-ci, l’empereur Franz I restreint les libertés individuelles des sujets du Saint Empire Romain, tandis qu’au sein de l’aristocratie se trouvent au contraire des adeptes de l’Aufklärung, défenseurs de liberté et de tolérance. C’est dans ce contexte que Beethoven compose sa troisième symphonie en 1803-1804. Solomon (2004) a démontré que le compositeur a fréquenté sa vie durant des adhérents aux principes de l’Aufklärung, dont plusieurs francs-maçons. Des symboles maçonniques de sa main ornent d’ailleurs une page d’esquisses pour l’Eroica (Lockwood, 2013). Il semble donc naturel d’explorer cette œuvre sous cet angle. Une analyse formelle de l’Allegro con brio, la première selon la méthode de Caplin (1998), permet de faire ressortir une récurrence marquée du chiffre 3 à travers plusieurs paramètres (tonalité, métrique, rythme, forme, instrumentation). De plus, les trois étapes du rite initiatique (mort, enterrement et résurrection) sont représentées dans les trois premiers mouvements, tandis qu’on retrouve dans les trois derniers mouvements des évocations de la devise française Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité Cette relecture sous l’angle d’une interprétation maçonnique d’une œuvre fondamentale du canon symphonique apporte une contribution inédite à l’historiographie sur Beethoven ainsi qu’à l’histoire de la pensée et des sociétés. / At the beginning of the 19th century, the changes coming from France dominate the European sociopolitical landscape. In reaction to these, Franz I restricts individual freedom of the subjects of the Holy Roman Empire, while within the aristocracy, the numbers of adepts of the Aufklärung movement and believers in freedom and tolerance are growing. It is in this context that Beethoven composes his Third Symphony in 1803-104. Solomon (2004) has demonstrated that his whole life, the composer was surrounded with members of the Aufklärung, many of them also freemasons. Masonic symbols in Beethoven’s hand are even to be found on a page of his sketchbook for the Eroica (Lockwood, 2013). Therefore, it only seems logical to analyse the symphony from the angle of a masonic interpretation. A formal analysis of the first movement according to Caplin’s method (1998), the first of its kind to be applied to a whole movement from a Beethoven symphony, brings to the fore a marked recurrence of the number three throughout numerous parameters (tonality, measure, rhythm, form, instrumentation). Furthermore, all three steps of the masonic initiation rite (death, burial and resurrection) are represented in the first three movements, whereas one also finds references to the French motto of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité in the last three. This new reading of a fundamental work of the symphonic canon represents a novel contribution to the historiography of Beethoven.

The central argument that underpins this thesis is that the Bataung, Bafokeng and the Bakuena lineages are found across all the Basotho groups of Basotho (Southern Sotho), Batswana and Bapedi. The thesis concerns itself with the similarity of the Sotho groups, a topic that has seldom received a sustained scholarly attention. Scholars have devoted much attention in discussing Sotho groups of Batswana, Basotho (Southern Sotho) and Bapedi, but their concern has mostly been to describe one group at the time discussing their cultural, social and political dimensions.The thesis aim investigates the oneness of Sotho by discussing the cultural, social and political similarities of the Batswana, Basotho (Southern Sotho) and Bapedi. The thesis drew on a range of semi-structured interviews with academics, senior people with knowledge of Sotho culture and literature to crystallise the information from the narrative analysis of documents, media and secondary literature. The thesis maintains that Basotho (Southern Sotho), Batswana and Bapedi are similar people. Their cultural dimension shows they have similar languages that share the same collection of words (langue) that indicates the same same origin. They also share the name ‘Basotho’ ~ Abeshundu that emanates from their similar way of dressing. The Sotho groups’ social dimension shows that they have similar practices of birth, raising children, lebollo (initiation school) and handling of death. They share similar games, folktales and taboos that reflect the aforementioned four cycles of human experiences in similar narratives across the groups. The thesis finds that Sotho groups have similar way of governance. They come together in the hierarchy of similar clans (e.g. Bafokeng, Bataung and Bakuena), chiefdoms and a group. These subdivisions in a group help with the allocation of resources for each individual and maintaining status quo in governance. The Sotho groups have similar proverbs and idioms to counsel proper leadership. The thesis discusses Sotho groups together as they come from the same origin although they have gone their separate ways. The thesis uses Gellner and Smith theories of ethnicity to explain the similarity of the Sothogroups. Gellner’s view is that one chooses to belong to a particular culture and associates oneself with people who practice this culture. Ethnicity is socially constructed due to experiences and people’s circumstances. Smith complements the description of the Sotho in forming different groups by saying that in these groups, there are memories of shared historical past. There is a continuum of the original culture where the groups have resemblance in their ways of life and symbolical elements, although adapted to their new environments and time. The variations of the groups’s practices are not their differences but they are changes caused by a quest to adapt to the new environment. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Entre Sociologie politique et Anthropologie religieuse, cette thèse tente de comprendre l’interaction entre « Religion locale et pouvoir politique» dans la perspective de consolidation du pouvoir en Afrique, plus précisément au Gabon. Elle met l’accent sur la gestion du pouvoir politique en Afrique et analyse les rapports du rite initiatique Ndjobi avec le pouvoir politique dans la communauté Mbede. Ce champ thématique est déconstruit jusqu’à la nation gabonaise à travers l’initiation et l’implication des politiques locaux aux religions locales. Le rite Ndjobi serait une contre-offensive locale visant à réparer l’univers social et à protéger les Mbede. C’est un élément fondamental au maintien de l’ordre à travers le symbolisme de l’Okèlè é Ndjobi qui est l’affirmation par laquelle un initié prend à témoin le sacré et la vérité de la déclaration qu’il profère devant le panier contenant les reliques du Ndjobi. Pour un chef traditionnel, ce rite serait un moyen de compenser une déficience constitutionnelle de son pouvoir politique afin d’entretenir chez ses sujets initiés respect et surtout crainte. Le serment du Ndjobi serait un contrat politique de confiance à un chef de village, à un responsable politique initié à ce rite. A travers cette déconstruction, cette religion locale pourrait être appréhendée comme un support du pouvoir politique gabonais à l’échelle nationale. Les serments se font avec des paroles ; mais en Afrique noire, ces paroles ne sont pas légères. Elles permettent d’agir sur soi, sur les autres et sur le monde concerné comme une contrainte comparable à une épée de Damoclès. Cette contrainte s’exerce d’une manière subtile et imposée avec quelques négociations intra-politiques liées à la « politique du ventre » pour que l’initiation ne s’apparente pas à un acte subi et sorcellaire aux yeux de la population. La sorcellerie comme une sanction du rite Ndjobi est vécue par l’ensemble des Mbede et des initiés politiques, comme une menace permanente d’agression visant leurs corps, leurs biens et leurs familles. En effet, certains chefs traditionnels dit « Nga Mpugu» choisissent la ruse, la fraude, les crimes rituels, la possession matérielle comme moyen politique afin non seulement de contrôler la population, mais aussi de manipuler les envies de pouvoir de leurs adeptes et de leurs proches collaborateurs. En Afrique, « gouverner c’est prévoir » et prévoir, c’est mettre en place un mécanisme permettant d’éviter d’être surpris par l’ennemi qui peut être un proche. Ce serait, en fait, la mise en fonction d’une « Démocratie traditionnelle ». C’est dans ce sens que cette thèse peut s’inscrire dans la perspective de compréhension et d’analyse du politique en Afrique noire à travers les religions locales comme fondement du pouvoir politique malgré l’arrivée actuelle des obédiences religieuses modernes et des parrainages / On horseback between political Sociology and political Anthropology, this thesis try to understand the interaction enter "local Religion and political Power» with the prospect of consolidation of the power Africa, more exactly in the Gabon. It underlines the management (direction) of the power politics and analyzes the relationship enter the initiation rite Ndjobi and the political power in the community Mbede. This thematic field is deconstructed up to the Gabonese nation through the initiation and the implication of the politics premises within this religion. The rite Ndjobi would be a local counter-offensive to repair the universe social and to protect Mbede. It is a fundamental element in the maintenance of law and order through the symbolism of Okèlè é Ndjobi that is the assertion by which an initiated calls in to witness the sacred and the truth of the statement which he utters in front of the basket containing the relics of Ndjobi. For a traditional leader, this rite would be a way to compensate for a constitutional deficiency of its political power to maintain at its introduced subjects respect and especially been afraid, fault of whom its power could widely be imaginary. The oath of Ndjobi would be a political reliable contract to a village headman, to a politician introduced to this rite. Through this demolition, this local religion appears as a support of the Gabonese political power on a national scale and even money regional. Even if the oaths are made with words; but in Black Africa, these words are not light. They allow to act on one, on the others and on the world concerned as a constraint comparable to a sword of Damocles. The constraint practiced in a way subtle and imposed with some intra-political negotiations bound to the «politics of the stomach " So that the initiation undergone is not similar to an act of the witchcraft in the eyes of the population. The witchcraft as a penalty of the rite Ndjobi is lived by all the Mbede and the political initiated, as a threat perms of aggression aiming their bodies, at their goods and at their families. Indeed, every traditional leader says "Nga Mpuhu" always chooses the guile, the fraud, the ritual crimes, the material ownership as political way to make not only control the population, but also to manipulate the desires for power of her followers and for her close collaborators. In Africa, "you saddle today and ride out tomorrow" and plan, it is to set up a mechanism allowing to avoid being was a surprise by the enemy who, generally, is always a close relation. It would be, in fact, the putting according to a "traditional Democracy ". It is in this direction that this thesis can serve of complementary element with the prospect of understanding and analysis of politics in Black Africa through the religions local as foundation of the political power in spite of the current arrival of the modern religious obedience and the sponsoring