Simon Ottenberg Research Articles

Debating the Bascom controversy: revisiting the expropriation and repatriation of the Ifẹ̀ bronzes

AbstractIn 1937–38, the American doctoral candidate William R. Bascom conducted anthropological research in the sacred Yorùbá city of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria. Bascom’s visit was a decisive moment in the history of African art, as, in 1938, he observed the chance discovery of unique copper and copper alloy heads, two of which he acquired and exported to the USA. Bascom’s actions in 1938, and his subsequent conflicts with British officials who demanded the return of the heads in the 1940s, have become matters of controversy and scholarly debate. Historian Robert Tignor and anthropologist Simon Ottenberg have presented contrasting arguments regarding the affair. This article draws on material from several archives to shed further light on this discussion, resolve remaining areas of dispute, and explore what the study of this controversy tells us about the nature and practice of anthropology, the impacts of Western exhibitions of African art, and early cultural preservation and repatriation efforts of the late colonial period. At a time when colonial-era collecting practices are facing increased critical re-examination, and with intensified calls for the repatriation of Nigerian cultural patrimony in Western museums, this article reflects on how the study of this controversy contributes to present restitution efforts.

Touched and Changed: Self-Reflexivity and Reciprocity in Fieldwork

Touched and Changed: Self-Reflexivity and Reciprocity in Fieldwork

Problems and Prospects of Uli Art Idiom and the Igbo Heritage Crisis

Abstract In their various books on Igbo culture, Simon Ottenberg, Adiele Afigbo, P-J Ezeh, Herbert Cole and Chike Aniakor make references to ‘Igbo receptivity’, the ‘resurgence of Igbo arts’, and ‘Igbo cultural self-hate’, in an attempt to capture the wandering of Igbo cultural attitudes from one level of experience to another. While ‘receptivity’ and ‘resurgence’ are positive characterisations and paint a picture of resilience, ‘self-hate’ depicts a postcolonial nihilist tendency also at the heart of Igbo culture. If art is one major index for expressing and assessing the culture of a people, the Igbo uli art, arguably spanning three stages of historical-stylistic development, offers a basis on which Igbo culture and heritage can be appreciated and appraised in light of its receptivity, resurgence, as well as self-hate. Relying on the works of the uli women classicists, the Nsukka artists, and the outcomes of the Art Republic workshops, I argue that traditions never die in any finalistic sense, but rather degenerate and then regenerate new ideas, while nourishing and refreshing paradigms which extend the history and experience of the old.

African Art Studies: Are They No Longer Taking the Paths Less Traveled?

African Art Studies: Are They No Longer Taking the Paths Less Traveled?

Simon Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during colonial times (1905–1960). Ibadan: Spectrum Books (pb N3000, £24.95 – 978 029 533 X). 2005, xxi + 364 pp.

Simon Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during colonial times (1905–1960). Ibadan: Spectrum Books (pb N3000, £24.95 – 978 029 533 X). 2005, xxi + 364 pp. - Volume 77 Issue 3

Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during colonial times (1905–1960) (review)

Simon Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during colonial times (1905–1960). Ibadan: Spectrum Books (pb N3000, £24.95 – 978 029 533 X). 2005, xxi + 364 pp. - Volume 77 Issue 3

Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during Colonial Times. Simon Ottenberg

<i>Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during Colonial Times</i>. Simon Ottenberg

The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art by Simon Ottenberg

The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art by Simon Ottenberg

Simon Ottenberg, ed. The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2002. 380 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $40.00. Paper.

Simon Ottenberg, ed. The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2002. 380 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $40.00. Paper. - Volume 47 Issue 2

Seeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind Musicians (review)

This is a curious book unlikely to interest most readers or scholars. The author aims at offering an up-to-date anthropological study--with a self-conscious observer situating himself and his prejudices in the picture and indigenous voices who are individual agents and whose life stories are products of choice rather than being socially determined. To allow for dialogue between author and informants the book is structured to offer conclusions rather beginning with a theory to be proved. By now the reader will recognize the model. Its ways are the opposite of much recent literary criticism, but it shares a similar concern with deconstructing Western perspectives and narratives. In the hands of those who follow rather than are part of fashion, the results approach comedy. I am not interested in learning that Simon Ottenberg had an ordinary middle-class childhood and dislikes loud music, or that a song about a man with many lovers may refer to him.

Seeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind African Musicians

Seeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind African Musicians. Simon Ottenberg. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996. xv. 216 pp., illustrations, references, discography, index.

Agency, Creativity, and Biography in African Musical PerformanceSeeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind African Musicians. By Simon Ottenberg. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997. 230 pp.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBooksAgency, Creativity, and Biography in African Musical Performance Seeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind African Musicians. By Simon Ottenberg. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997. 230 pp.Veit ErlmannVeit ErlmannSchool of Music, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex. 78712, U.S.A. 10 III 98 Search for more articles by this author School of Music, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex. 78712, U.S.A. 10 III 98PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 39, Number 4August/October 1998 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/204779 Views: 12Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

African Borderland Sculpture

African Borderland Sculpture

African Religious Groups and Beliefs: Papers in Honor of William R. Bascom. SIMON OTTENBERG, ed

<i>African Religious Groups and Beliefs: Papers in Honor of William R. Bascom</i>. SIMON OTTENBERG, ed

Edward Evans-Pritchard. A history of anthropological thought, ed. André Singer, introduction by Ernest Gellner. New York: Basic Books, 1981. 218 pp. $15.00 (Reviewed by Simon Ottenberg)

Journal of the History of the Behavioral SciencesVolume 19, Issue 3 p. 256-259 Book Review Edward Evans-Pritchard. A history of anthropological thought, ed. André Singer, introduction by Ernest Gellner. New York: Basic Books, 1981. 218 pp. $15.00 (Reviewed by Simon Ottenberg) First published: July 1983 https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6696(198307)19:3<256::AID-JHBS2300190310>3.0.CO;2-4AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume19, Issue3Special Issue: Special Books Review IssueJuly 1983Pages 256-259 RelatedInformation

: West African Culture Dynamics: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives . B. K. Swartz, Raymond A. Dumett.

American AnthropologistVolume 85, Issue 1 p. 173-174 Free Access West African Culture Dynamics: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives. B. K. Swartz and Raymond A. Dumett, eds. Simon Ottenberg, Simon Ottenberg University of WashingtonSearch for more papers by this author Simon Ottenberg, Simon Ottenberg University of WashingtonSearch for more papers by this author First published: March 1983 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1983.85.1.02a00380AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume85, Issue1March 1983Pages 173-174 RelatedInformation

Decorated Gourds in North-Eastern Nigeria

form by an Igbo art historian (E. Okechukwu Odita, Universal Cults and Intra-Diffusion: Igbo Ikenga in Cultural Retrospection, African Studies Review 16, 1[1973]: 73-82), and the other an analysis by an art historian of ikenga collected for a museum exhibit (Susan Vogel, Gods of Fortune: The Cult of the Hand in Nigeria, Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1974, 15 pp.), perhaps because both papers deal with the question of the broader distribution of ikenga types. Nevertheless, Boston's book is the basic source for studies of this particular art form. Simon Ottenberg University of Washington

The Anthropology of Dance: Reflections on the CORD Conference

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Anthropology of Dance: Reflections on the CORD ConferenceJudith Lynne HannaJudith Lynne Hanna Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 16, Number 3Sep., 1975 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/201578 Views: 7Total views on this site Copyright 1975 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group. By Simon Ottenberg. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1971. Pp. xvii + 336; 11 plates, maps. $9.50, £4·50.

Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group. By Simon Ottenberg. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1971. Pp. xvii + 336; 11 plates, maps. $9.50, £4·50.

: Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group . Simon Ottenberg.

: Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group . Simon Ottenberg.