Book
Open Access
The Noise Silence Makes
Secularity and Ghana's Drum Wars
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Mariam Goshadze
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Funded by:
Leipzig University
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
Mariam Goshadze traces the history of noise regulation in Accra, Ghana, showing how the 1990s and 2000s conflicts between the Ga people and Pentecostal/Charismatic churches during the annual city-wide ban on drumming illuminates the innerworkings of Ghanaian secularity and the importance of “traditional religions” to African urbanity.
Author / Editor information
Mariam Goshadze is Assistant Professor in the Study of Religion at Leipzig University.
Reviews
“Re-sounding tensions about ‘noisemaking’ arising between Ga ‘traditionalists’ and Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians in Accra, Mariam Goshadze offers a fresh take on interreligious entanglements from a sonic angle. This amazing book breaks new ground for understanding the precarious position of ‘traditional religion’ vis-à-vis Christianity by situating it in the Ghanaian secular regime in which religion, culture, and heritage are defined and managed. A trailblazing contribution to the study of religion and secularity in Africa.”
-- Birgit Meyer, Professor of Religious Studies, Utrecht University
-- Birgit Meyer, Professor of Religious Studies, Utrecht University
“This fascinating, innovative, and theoretically and ethnographically rich study questions the fixity in Ghana of the categories by which most political analysts define contemporary democratic nation-states. Mariam Goshadze’s argument for recognizing Ghanaian secularity as a unique formation is compelling and convincing. The Noise Silence Makes represents what is best about religious studies: its ability to analyze apparently nonreligious dynamics in productive ways through the accumulated tools of ritual analysis. A tour de force.”
-- Joseph Hellweg, author of Hunting the Ethical State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d’Ivoire
-- Joseph Hellweg, author of Hunting the Ethical State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d’Ivoire
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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A Note on Orthography
ix -
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A Note on Pronunciation
xi -
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Introduction
1 -
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1. Jumping on the Anti-Noise Bandwagon
25 -
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2. Winds of Change
46 -
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3. The Power of Sound
69 -
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4. When the Deities Visit
87 -
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5. Sacred Acoustic Inspectors
108 -
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6. Let Us Offer Thanks for the Nation of Ghana
133 -
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Conclusion
153 -
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Acknowledgments
159 -
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Glossary
161 -
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Notes
163 -
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References
177 -
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Index
193
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 30, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781478094296
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
212
eBook ISBN:
9781478094296
Audience(s) for this book
Professional and scholarly;
Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 4.0
