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Rank and class among the Asante and Fante in the nineteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Kwame Arhin
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Extract

The starting point of this article is what I see as the contrasting contemporary Asante and Fante views about the admirable man. The Asante say of such a man that ‘ose ohene’, lit. ‘he is like a chief’; the Fante say of him that ‘oye krache dodo’, lit. ‘he is extremely well educated’. For the Asante the ‘ohene’ remains the model of social achievement, while for the Fante it is the apparently well educated who lives and behaves like a ‘gentleman’ who is the model of social excellence.

These statements about what may be called the ‘ideal’ man among the two Akan sub-groups express the actual social position of traditional rulers and educated persons among them (Sarbah, 1897,1906; Casely-Hayfordj 1903; Manoukian, 1950: 9). The Asante respect a traditional ruler, known as nana, of any rank, more than an educated person, whatever his degree of education. For the Fante it is the reverse. An Asante, however well educated or rich, aims at some kind of chiefship as the supreme index of social achievement. The Fante aims at the acquisition of repute as a highly educated man.

Résumé

Rang et classe chez les Asante et les Fante au dix-neuvième siècle

Au dix-neuvième siècle, les Asante et les Fante, deux sous-groupes Akan du Ghana, offrent des systèmes de stratification sociale contestants. L'état Asante était militariste; il contrôlait la richesse et l'accession à la richesse, de telle sorte que l'acquisition du pouvoir et de l'autorité fournissait la base pour le rang social ou la distribution du prestige. Les deux catégories fondamentales de la société Asante étaient les groupes Nana et non-Nana qui pouvaient être distingués par leur accès différent à la richesse. La catégorie des non-Nana était vaguement divisée en groupes libres et non-libres. La société Fante était commerciale, vu la présence européenne; et la richesse résultant de transactions commerciales, de relation à la propriété, d'éducation et d'appartenance au christianisme fournissait la base d'un système de classe naissant qui laissait prévoir la situation sociale contemporaine au Ghana et ailleurs en Afrique de l'Ouest.

Type
Rank and wealth among the Akan
Information
Africa , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 1983 , pp. 2 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1983

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