Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms
This article is an African traditional religious and cultural analysis of human responsibility as expressed in proverbs and idioms that demand human agency and transcendence in chiShona, Zimbabwean isiNdebele, and isiZulu languages. The analysis is done in line with the common spiritual belief that...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Journal for the Study of Religion |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/3696 |
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| author | Collium Banda |
| author_facet | Collium Banda |
| author_sort | Collium Banda |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This article is an African traditional religious and cultural analysis of human responsibility as expressed in proverbs and idioms that demand human agency and transcendence in chiShona, Zimbabwean isiNdebele, and isiZulu languages. The analysis is done in line with the common spiritual belief that material wealth is a product of spiritual or magical power. The article analyzes selected proverbs and idioms from the three languages that demand or express agency and transcendence. This demand for agency and transcendence is juxtaposed with a religious belief of wealth as a product of spiritual and magical powers. Spiritualizing material wealth promotes a blame syndrome that is detrimental to human responsibility. A framework of human agency and transcendence that promotes human responsibility in African contexts of poverty is proposed. The article aims to contribute with an African response to poverty that promotes human responsibility and avoids a defeatist and escapist reliance on magic and spiritual solutions.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-387b0512d25044098847b9c8a08f8c61 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1011-7601 2413-3027 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal for the Study of Religion |
| spelling | doaj-art-387b0512d25044098847b9c8a08f8c612025-01-29T09:01:03ZengAssociation for the Study of Religion in Southern AfricaJournal for the Study of Religion1011-76012413-30272024-12-0137210.17159/2413-3027/2024/v37n2a4Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural IdiomsCollium Banda0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3355-001XNorth-West University This article is an African traditional religious and cultural analysis of human responsibility as expressed in proverbs and idioms that demand human agency and transcendence in chiShona, Zimbabwean isiNdebele, and isiZulu languages. The analysis is done in line with the common spiritual belief that material wealth is a product of spiritual or magical power. The article analyzes selected proverbs and idioms from the three languages that demand or express agency and transcendence. This demand for agency and transcendence is juxtaposed with a religious belief of wealth as a product of spiritual and magical powers. Spiritualizing material wealth promotes a blame syndrome that is detrimental to human responsibility. A framework of human agency and transcendence that promotes human responsibility in African contexts of poverty is proposed. The article aims to contribute with an African response to poverty that promotes human responsibility and avoids a defeatist and escapist reliance on magic and spiritual solutions. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/3696Africanagencyeconomymagicresponsibilitypoverty |
| spellingShingle | Collium Banda Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms Journal for the Study of Religion African agency economy magic responsibility poverty |
| title | Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms |
| title_full | Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms |
| title_fullStr | Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms |
| title_short | Stifling Human Responsibility? Human Agency and Transcendency in African Spirituality and Cultural Idioms |
| title_sort | stifling human responsibility human agency and transcendency in african spirituality and cultural idioms |
| topic | African agency economy magic responsibility poverty |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/3696 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT colliumbanda stiflinghumanresponsibilityhumanagencyandtranscendencyinafricanspiritualityandculturalidioms |