Emergent Masculinities: Gendered Power and Social Change in the Biafran Atlantic Age

329 Pages·2019·11.854 MB·English

by  Ndubueze L. Mbah

S EMERGENT
E
RI
O
T
S
HI MASCULINITIES

N
A
C
RI
F
A Gendered Power and Social Change in

W
E the Biafran Atlantic Age
N
N D U B U E Z E L . M B A H
Emergent Masculinities
NEW AFRICAN HISTORIES
SERIES EDITORS: JEAN ALLMAN, ALLEN ISAACMAN,
AND DEREK R. PETERSON
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Africa
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Stephanie Newell, The Power to Name Ndubueze L. Mbah, Emergent Masculinities
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Emergent Masculinities
Gendered Power and Social Change in the
Biafran Atlantic Age
w
Ndubueze L. Mbah
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATHENS
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
ohioswallow.com
© 2019 by Ohio University Press
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mbah, Ndubueze L., 1985- author.
Title: Emergent masculinities : gendered power and social change in the
Biafran Atlantic age / Ndubueze L. Mbah.
Description: Athens : Ohio University Press, 2019. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019028629 | ISBN 9780821423882 (hardcover) | ISBN
9780821423899 (paperback) | ISBN 9780821446850 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Sex role--Nigeria, Eastern--History. | Slave trade--Social
aspects--Nigeria, Eastern. | Slave trade--Political aspects--Nigeria,
Eastern. | Masculinity--Social aspects--Nigeria, Eastern. | Igbo
(African people)--Africa, Eastern--Social life and customs.
Classification: LCC HQ1075.5.N6 M33 2019 | DDC 305.3096694--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028629
To Janet, Menna, and Adannaya;
And in memory of Ndubueze C. Mbah.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Gendered Kinship, ca. 1480–1850 31
Political and Economic Backgrounds of a
Slaving Society
Chapter 2 Military Slaving, ca. 1650–1890 61
The Making of Warrior Masculinities
Chapter 3 Gendered Slavery in the Bight of Biafra, ca. 1750–1890 94
A Transatlantic Perspective
Chapter 4 Gendered Emancipation, ca. 1860–1940 130
New Ogaranya Masculinities
Chapter 5 Revolutionary Masculinities, ca. 1850–1940 158
Female Dissident Sexualities
Conclusion 182
Appendix: Lineage Charts 192
Glossary 197
Notes 201
Bibliography 263
Index 305
vii

Illustrations
MAP
I.1 The Bight of Biafra xvii
FIGURES
I.1 Ohafia war dance 19
1.1 Ikpirikpe drum 44
2.1 Ohafia war dancer 77
4.1 Missionary residence of Rev. Robert Collins, built ca. 1911 146
4.2 Home of Kalu Uwaoma, built ca. 1916 147
A.1 Chiasara matrilineage 192
A.2 Slave lineage integration I 193
A.3 Slave lineage integration II 193
A.4 Slave lineage integration III 194
A.5 Integration of resident strangers 195
A.6 Unyang Uka 196
ix