Genealogies of Vital Force: 'Ntu’, ‘Àsẹ’ and Conceptual Lines of Descent

Angela Roothaan, Saheed Adesumbo Bello

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Abstract

This paper relates the philosophical concept ‘vital force’, translated and globalized from the book Bantu Philosophy by Belgian missionary Placide Tempels (Tempels 1959, Dutch original 1946), to the Bantu and Yoruba concepts of ntu and àsẹ as conceptual ancestors, arguing that: (i) although Tempels in his book did not claim anything other than to understand the philosophy of Bantu peoples; (ii) still intercultural connections/crossovers with the philosophy of other African peoples can be made. Thus we respond to debates around the concept’s generalizing potential and its colonial burden, showing lines of conceptual descent in which living structures of meaning become interconnected with abstracted translations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)63-74
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics
Volume47
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Keywords

  • Àsẹ, Bantu, Decolonization, Ntu, vital force, Yoruba

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  • The Bantu Philosophy Project

    Roothaan, A., Mosima, P., Schalbroeck, E. & Meeuwis, M.

    19/12/1931/08/27

    Project: Research

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