Pathos and Power - 9780821426425

Pathos and PowerInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Widowhood in Africa, Past and Present\nAuthor(s): Joanna Davidson, Benjamin N. Lawrance\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Ohio University Press, United States\nImprint: Ohio University Press\nISBN-13: 9780821426425, 978-0821426425\nSynopsis\nThe collected essays in Pathos and Power provide a critical exploration of widowhood in Africa through a series of historical and contemporary case studies. The book challenges a simplistic understanding of widowhood by highlighting how the experience varies according to age, class, race, religion, and geographic location. The contributors investigate how the category of widowhood can obscure or reveal various social dynamics while demonstrating the diversity of material, symbolic, and embodied circumstances faced by African widows.\n The volume considers the forces shaping the lives of widows by examining the structural and legal challenges they encounter, including discriminatory practices in socialn