African Traditional Religion in African and African Diaspora Scholarship
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan Cham.
Abstract
Scholars of African Traditional Religion (ATR) have addressed some challenges which are
associated with the study of religion such as ATR, which is dynamic, multi-cultural, multi-
lingual, has varieties, and entertains secret-sacred. These challenges include the non- availability of written sacred scripture, the issue of appropriate name for the belief system of the Africans due to the varieties of African traditions, how to straighten out the faulty notions of the colonia l
scholars’ of ATR, and the felicitous methods to be adopted in the study of the religion amongst
others. Scholars of ATR in African and African diaspora have carried out studies to discuss and
reveal the original state, content and nature of ATR, but the extent of their scholarly activities on
ATR had not been considerably appraised by scholars. Consequently, this chapter was predicated
on the dearth of studies that consider the activities and efforts of African scholars on ATR within
and outside the border of Africa. The study, therefore, aims at examining the views of African
scholars on ATR. Historical and descriptive methods were used for this study to gather and
present data through existing literature of African scholars. It was discovered that there are some
areas of study that need to be addressed by African scholars on ATR, and need for constant study
due to the dynamic nature of the religion was identified. The study recommended that journal of
ATR and association of the study or scholars of ATR should be created for research visibility
and inter-connectivity or networking in Africa and the Diaspora.
Description
Keywords
African Traditions, African and African Diaspora, African Diaspora scholarship, African Traditions
Citation
Ogunade, R and Dada, O. (2022), “African Traditional Religion in African and African Diaspora Scholarship” in Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion; Ibigbolade .S. Aderibigbe and Toyin Falola (eds.) 547-557. Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan Cham. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-89500-6?page=3#toc