Thank you, Chris Lowe, for your very relevant remarks. I realize I must have
taken the term "tribe" for granted, or as you pointed it out quite right
that I was using a shorthand for saying "the indigenous term which often
gets translatedas "tribe" in English. Given the fact that many Africanists feel
uncomfortable with the term "tribe", its use is not adequate for the
understanding of the process of self-identification of ethnic groups.
In fact, the term "tribe" evokes less than what people of a certain ethnic
group perceive themselves to be. I believe the term "tribe" on the one hand,
and the components of ethnicity, peoplehood, on the other hand, refer to
different aspects of identification. Only the totalizing tendencies inherent
in European conceptualizations brought them together. The consequential
confusion of both concepts has led to some misunderstandings.
The use of the concept "tribe" to identify an ethnic group or a people
and their "natural-appearing collective identities" (Chris' words) was in
fact the result of a misleading attempt to bring together various elements
characterizing a group of people. For instance, administrative, political,
geographic aspects were associated with linguistic and cultural elements, in
the sense that a certain language was spoken in a spoken in a particular
region. Or a specific ethnic group that spoke a particular language,
different from another one, was located and concentrated in a particular
geographic region and had its own organization of life. In an attempt to be
an encompassing concept, the European word "tribe" did nothing else than
creating reductionist visions which underlied negative attitudes toward
African languages and ethnic groups. Many in this discussion have pointed out
that "tribe" was the way Europeans viewed African socio-political and
geographic, ethnic and linguistic differentiating organizations. It is not
the way African people perceive themselves.
I agree that the term "ethnic group" could be a better translation than
tribe, provided that any reduction to a single aspect of identification be
avoided.Am I speculating ? What do you think ?
Guy-Maurille