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Adwenhoasem : an Akan theory of mind
Author(s) -
Dzokoto Vivian Afi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the royal anthropological institute
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1467-9655
pISSN - 1359-0987
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9655.13242
Subject(s) - feeling , ethnography , compendium , psychology , theory of mind , harmony (color) , mind–body problem , social psychology , action (physics) , sociology , linguistics , epistemology , cognition , anthropology , neuroscience , philosophy , art , physics , quantum mechanics , visual arts
This essay explores the way the domain of what English‐speakers call the mind – believing, thinking, feeling, and other mental acts – is represented and mapped by Ghana's Akan ethno‐linguistic group. It uses several sources of evidence: mind and mind‐related words in Fante (an Akan language); the largest Akan (Twi) proverb compendium; longsemi‐structured interviews with forty adult Christians and African traditional religion practitioners; and short‐term ethnographic fieldwork by a Ghanaian scholar. The work finds four dimensions of what we might call an Akan theory of mind that seem to be shaped by local language and culture. First, the central function of the mind is planning – not identity. Second, one of the most salient qualities of the mind is its moral valence. The ‘bad minds’ of others are an ever‐present potential threat to social harmony and personal well‐being. Third, the mind is understood to be porous in nature. The minds of all people are vulnerable to supernatural influences, and some spiritually powerful people can exert supernatural power through mental action. Fourth and finally, some elements which English‐speakers would imagine as part of the mind (like feeling) are instead identified with the body.