Weaving a biblical text: ewe cloth and christianity
This essay looks at the different threads that led to the weaving and use of kente stoles with specific Christian connotations at the turn of the twenty-first century: the weaving of biblical texts into single strips. The development of weaving letters into a cloth started in the Ewe-speaking area o...
| Published in: | Material religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2009]
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| In: |
Material religion
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| Further subjects: | B
Ewe
B Missionaries B cultural politics B kente B Ghana B Textiles |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This essay looks at the different threads that led to the weaving and use of kente stoles with specific Christian connotations at the turn of the twenty-first century: the weaving of biblical texts into single strips. The development of weaving letters into a cloth started in the Ewe-speaking area of Ghana, a region where conversion to Christianity took place mainly through the Pietist Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft. Although this mission society had an ambivalent stance towards the use of kente in Christian worship, it is argued that they were nonetheless indirectly instrumental in the development of these stoles. Their emphasis on education in both English and Ewe made it possible, together with specific weaving techniques in the two main Ewe weaving centers, to develop woven words in a cloth. Decades later, the cultural politics of several Christian churches in Ghana and the Unites States and their strategies to retain members led to the incorporation of kente and other supposed "authentic" forms of African culture in church services. This, in turn, embedded the incorporation of these stoles, developed in first instance for a foreign market, within existing Ghanaian religious practices. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/175183409X418739 |