Overview
- Considers how common archetypes in fairy tales and cultural mythology influence and reflect social roles
- Examines the aspects of the calabash as symbolic of the woman, the womb, and power
- Combines description of African fairy tales and those of other cultures to find common themes and messages
Part of the book series: Pan-African Psychologies (PAAFPS)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (8 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book explores feminine archetypes and mythological figures in African and European traditions with an underlying goal of describing the foundations of social status for women. The author provides a rich corpus of mythology and tales to illustrate aspects of female and mother-daughter relationships. Diop analyzes the symbolic aspects of maternity and femininity, describing the social meaning of the matrix, breasts, and breastfeeding. A retrospective of female characters in African literature brings an interesting approach to explore the figures of femininity and maternity in society. After an extensive analysis of African mythology and tales, the author proposes a way to integrate them in the clinical psychotherapy as a projective material. The analysis of clinical cases offers an example of how this material can be used in therapy with women from African descent.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, PhD, is a teacher-researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University. She has worked and written on the topic of women, femininity, and maternity. Her research and practice are focused on the integration of tales in psychotherapy.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: African Mythology, Femininity, and Maternity
Authors: Ismahan Soukeyna Diop
Series Title: Pan-African Psychologies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24662-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and Psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-24661-7Published: 02 September 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-24664-8Published: 02 September 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-24662-4Published: 24 August 2019
Series ISSN: 2523-8264
Series E-ISSN: 2523-8272
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 162
Topics: Cross Cultural Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Gender Studies, African Culture, Non-Western Philosophy