Ikenna Nzimiro, Anthropologist, Sociologist and Iconoclast: On the Intellectual Legacies of a Radical Nationalist

Ikenna Nzimiro was politically and intellectually active from 1948 through the next 50 years in the most momentous phase of the African emergence, and from the mid 1960s on to the last burst of intellectual output in his declining years, very much engaged. Nzimiro’s three-phase series of works will come to be seen as a contribution to the intellectual history of post-colonial Africa from a non-Marxist standpoint. Along with Coser’s ‘Men of Ideas’, African radical Leftists in that peasant environment, were more like the ‘French Ideologues’ of the pre-Napoleonic (post-Voltaire) era, than the ?scientific Marxist-Leninists’ many knew they had to be, to claim the then self-avowed path. Interestingly was Nzimiro’s attack on the ‘Eurocentric notion of class’ – in the process blurring the distinction between class and status. He was much more than a distinguished analyst, taking his calling as a radical public sociologist and Marxist advocate seriously. Yet, shielded by his historic role as an anti colonialist freedom fighter, the power elite considered him, in ironic contradiction, as one of their own. In the end, he was a genuine nationalist in search of a radical, even if less than textbook-revolutionary, revamping of the moribund postcolonial nation his peers ran, and to which he was on principle, very much opposed.     

著名生物化学家刘思职的科学人生——纪念刘思职院士诞辰100周年

2004年5月4日,刘思职院士诞辰100周年及纪念铜像揭幕仪式在北京大学医学部举行。全国人大常委会副委员长、九三学社中央主席、北京大学副校长韩启德院士,中国科学院生物学部前主任、中国生物化学与分子生物学会前理事长、北京大学校友邹承鲁院士亲临,为座落在北京大学医学部生化楼中厅的刘思职铜像揭幕。     

Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Analyses and Phylogenetic Relationships Among Two Nigerian Goat Breeds and the South African Kalahari Red

The first hypervariable (HV1) region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of two popular Nigerian goat breeds: West African Dwarf (WAD) (n = 35) and Red Sokoto (RS) (n = 37) and one exotic breed: Kalahari Red (KR) (n = 38) imported from South Africa were sequenced to investigate sequence diversity, genetic structure, origin, and demographic history of the populations. A total of 68 polymorphic sites were found in 110 sequences that grouped into 68 haplotypes. Average haplotype and nucleotide diversities for all breeds were 0.982 ± 0.005 and 0.02350 ± 0.00213, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two mtDNA lineages (A and B). Lineage A was predominant and included all haplotypes from WAD and RS and 5 out of 11 haplotypes of KR goats. The remaining haplotypes (6 Amills M, Ramírez O, Tomàs A, et al. Mitochondrial DNA diversity and origins of South and Central American goats. Animal Genetics 2009; 40(3): 315–322.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) of KR belong to lineage B. The analysis of molecular variance revealed a high-within breed genetic variance of 82.4% and a low-between breed genetic variance of 17.6%. The three breeds clustered with Capra aegagrus as their wild ancestor. Mismatch distribution analysis showed that WAD, RS and haplogroup A have experienced population expansion events. The study has revealed very high diversity within the three breeds which are not strongly separated from each other based on mtDNA analysis. The information obtained on the genetic structure of the breeds will be useful in planning improvement and conservation programs for the local populations.     

Civilization,wilderness and secrecy: Making two Nigerian films

This paper draws on fieldwork and filmmaking experiences and explores the interpretive process shared between the object, filmmaker, and audience. Mammy Water: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria [1989] is the result of extensive field research and close collaboration between the local community, the researcher/filmmaker and team. Mammy Water priviledges local views on the subject over the academic discourse taking place elsewhere. This has evoked diverse reactions. Some miss the (Western) analytical level, others engage in the discourse itself, or assume the film's own position. The issue of cultural perspective is carried even further in cinematography. Both films discussed here were made not only in close collaboration with African communities but also photographed by an African cinematographer, Alhaji Yusufu Mohammed. His camera evokes diametrically opposed reactions from African and Western viewers. Where Westerners perceive “distance”, African audiences perceive “closeness”, where Westerners perceive a scene as “staged”, African audiences perceive it as “natural”. This contrast of perception is further highlighted in Owu: Chidi Joins the Okoroshi Secret Society [1991], mostly filmed by Alhaji, but complemented by two video inserts by my daughter, Saskia Jell, who produced additional behind‐the‐scenes footage in Coming to Nigeria.

Reviewers have raised another important topic. Owu points to three different levels of secrecy surrounding the masquerade and initiation into Oguta's Okoroshi society. This in turn raises questions on if and how to represent secrecy and the dichotomy between civilization and wilderness on film.

A discussion of post‐production at the IWF introduces a negative dimension and questions the undue impact of politics, German rigidity, and other impediments.

In conclusion, my films are strongly grounded in long‐term field research, and indebted to the people whose cultures I have researched, as well as to Alhaji Yusufu Mohammed's cinematic representation. Situated between Africa and the Western world, my films contain elements of both African and Western cultures, as they attempt to mediate between them. 1 am looking to the genre of ethnographic film primarily for its effort to create meaning in interpreting and representing cultures, for its position between the cultural worlds, and for its possibilities for transcultural communication. This goal could be served by a plurality of methods, different film styles, and varied authors within the same genre.