BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNOTATIONS

001.     Ebin, Victoria. The Body Decorated. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1979.

The book contains a brief look at body ornamentation, involving symbol status and ceremonial decoration, from people around the world through text and photographs. The Fulani and the Ekoi of Nigeria are included. (ILG)

002.     Fisher, Angela. Africa Adorned. London: Collins, 1984.

The author depicts her travels through Africa in order to document the many rituals and traditions of African people from 6 different regions. The book covers body markings, piercings, clothing, jewelry and other forms of ornamentation. The ethnic groups of Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Ibibio, Tiv, Nupe, Fulani and Kanuri or Nigeria are all included in this book in some degree of body alteration. (ILG)

003.     Goffman, Erving. “On Face-Work.” Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company, 1967. 5-45.

This essay is a comparative study on the importance of a person’s face in their society. (ASR)

004.     Groning, Karl. Body Decoration: A World Survey of Body Art. New York, NY: the Vendome Press, 1998.

This book had many contributing writers and covers many areas of the world. The information sections tend to be short sections but the images are really good. The ethnic groups mentioned with short sections about their practices are: the Ga’anda, Ife, Kaleri, and Yoruba. (IB)

005.     Gunn, Harold D. Pagan Peoples of the Central Area of Northern Nigeria. Western Africa: Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Part XII. Ed. Daryll Forde, London, England: International African Institute, 1956.

Customs and other general history are noted in this volume on different groups of people in Northern Nigeria. (ARP)

006.     Gunn, Harold D. Peoples of the Plateau Area of Northern Nigeria. Western Africa: Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Part VII. Ed. Daryll Forde, London, England: International African Institute, 1953.

Dress, ritual customs as well as other general information can be found on ethnic groups in this region of Nigeria. (ARP)

007.     Iwuagwu, Augustine O. African Traditional Religion: Students’ Handbook. Imo State, Nigeria: Ager Publishers, 1998.

Rites of passage and other rituals involving the body are emphasized in this book. The Igbo, among there Nigerian groups, are highlighted in the text. (ILG)

008.     Mbiti, John S. African Religions and Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford, England; Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1991.

Each chapter emphasizes on a topic, such as “initiation and puberty rites” and then gives specific examples from different ethnic groups from around Africa. (ILG)

009.    Meek, C. K. The Northern Tribes of Nigeria. Vol. 1. London, England: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1925.

This text looks at many different ethnic groups of Nigeria and includes a section in chapter 2 about “Clothing and ornaments—Tribal marks.” (ILG)

010.    Meek, C. K. Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria. Vol. 1. London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1931.

Many ethnic groups are focused on in this text with descriptions and photographs of “tribal marks.” The groups or regions included are: Bachama and Mbula, the Adamawa Emirate, the Bura and Pabir tribes, the Kilba and Margi, Mandated tribes, the Chamba, Verre, Mumye and the Mambila. (ILG)

011.     Meek, C. K. Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria. Vol. 2. London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1931.

Many ethnic groups are focused on in this text with descriptions and photographs of “tribal marks.” The groups or regions included are: Katab people, Zaria province, Bornu province, Adamawa province, Yungur-speaking peoples, tribes of the Cameroons. (ILG)

012.     Negri, Eve de. Nigerian Body Adornment. Lagos, Nigeria: Nigeria Magazine, 1976.

Text and photographs of different forms of Nigerian body adornment can be found in this book. This text is apart of the Nigerian Magazine special publications series. (ILG)

013.    Peek, Phillip M. and Kwesi Yankah, Eds. African Folklore: an Encyclopedia. New York, New York; London, England: Routledge, 2004.

This encyclopedia has an extensive index that carries entries on body art, body painting, scarification and cictration. There is also an appendix of filmography and references to most of the entries. This source is very interdisciplinary.

014.     Reischer, Erica and Kathryn S. Koo. “The body beautiful: symbolism and agency in the social world.” Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (2004): 297-317.

This article looks at the symbols of beauty that different cultures hold important. The article starts in Africa and then moves to the rest of the world to compare different forms of beauty. (K)

015.     Riesman, Paul. “The person and the life cycle in African social life and thought.” African Studies Review 29.2 (1986): 71-138.

The topics of rituals, symbols and African power of speech is the interest of this article. (AA)

016.    Rosevear, D. R. “Fifty volumes ago: excerpts from “a method of ornamenting the skin.’” Nigerian Field 55.1-2 (1990): 87.

The process of burning black lines on the skin is a semi-permanent form of body art in done by women in the eastern provinces of Nigeria, near the Cross River area. (EI)

017.     Rovine, Victoria and Sarah Adams. “The cultural body.” African Arts 35.4 (2002): 1+.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~obermann/humsym/AfricaFashion.html

An international conference, hosted by the University of Iowa, called “The cultured body: African Fashion and body arts”, was held in October 2002. This article describes the presentations and the scholars involved and give references for further information. Through the web site, there is a link to the schedule of events section, where you can access a summary of what each talk and posters presentation entails. There is contact information to reach the event committee members where, if any of the talks/papers are of interested, a copy may be able to be sent to you. (K & WS)

018.    Rubin, Arnold, ed. Marks of Civilization: Artistic Transformations of the Human Body. Los Angeles, California: University of California, 1988.

Many ethnic groups from around the world are found in this book. Of the African groups, the Ga’anda, Tiv, and Yoruba represent Nigeria. (ILG)

019.    Schildkrout, Enid. “Inscribing the body.” Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (2004): 319-344.

This article takes a deep look at different forms of body markings in all parts of the world. It is an anthropologic study into using body art in the society and both describes and compares different societies practices. (K)

020.     Segy, Ladislas. “African sculptures and initiation ceremony.” American Imago; a Psychoanalytic Journal for the Arts and Sciences 19 (1953): 52-82.

The explanation of the different forms of initiation customs is very general, but many cultures in Africa are mentioned. (PCI)

021.    Singh, Devendra and P. Mathew Bronstad. “Sex differences in the anatomical locations of human body scarification and tattooing as a function of pathogen prevalence.” Evolution and Human Behavior 18.6 (1997): 403-416.

This is a study into body adornment across both culture and gender. The Nuba, Yoruba and Tiv of Nigeria are mentioned in the ‘results’ section. (K & AP)

022.    Vlahos, Olivia. Body: the Ultimate Symbol. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1979.

The work looks at the use of the body for expression through changing the skin’s surface, using masks, the meaning of hair, and consumption/starvations rites. Many ethnic groups are included like the Tiv and the Yoruba, although the text does not focus on any one group. (ILG)