In a compelling mix of literary narrative and ethnography,
anthropologist Alma Gottlieb and writer Philip Graham continue the long
journey of cultural engagement with the Beng people of Côte d'Ivoire
that they first recounted in their award-winning memoir Parallel
Worlds. Their commitment over the span of several decades has lent them
a rare insight. Braiding their own stories with those of the villagers
of Asagbé and Kosangbé, Gottlieb and Graham take turns recounting a host
of unexpected dramas with these West African villages, prompting serious
questions about the fraught nature of cultural contact. Through events
such as a religious leader's declaration that the authors' six-year-old
son, Nathaniel, is the reincarnation of a revered ancestor, or Graham's
late father being accepted into the Beng afterlife, or the increasing,
sometimes dangerous madness of a villager, the authors are forced to
reconcile their anthropological and literary gaze with the deepest parts
of their personal lives. Along with these intimate dramas, they follow
the Beng from times of peace through the times of tragedy that led to
Côte d'Ivoire's recent civil conflicts. From these and many other
interweaving narratives--and with the combined strengths of an
anthropologist and a literary writer--Braided Worlds examines the
impact of postcolonialism, race, and global inequity at the same time
that it chronicles a living, breathing village community where two very
different worlds meet.
