Zambezia (1999), XXVI (ii).BOOK REVIEWSRites of Passage in Contemporary Africa: Interaction Between Christianand African Traditional Religions Edited by James L Cox. Cardiff AcademicPress, 1998, 246 pp.The contributions to this edited volume were first presented at aconference held in Harare in 1994, where the theme was the ritualinteraction between the Christian and indigenous African religions, witha particular emphasis given to rites of passage. A notable absence fromthis collection is the paper given by the keynote speaker who, doubtless,was among those who 'preferred to have their papers appear elsewhere'.It is mildly surprising therefore to find that, prior to their inclusion in thisvolume, virtually half of the >contributions had appeared in publishedform elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, in a compilation of this kind, the piecesvary greatly in quality and in coherence with the stated theme. Thegeographical spread of interest includes Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeriabut, corresponding to the regional thrust of the conference, the heaviestconcentration is on Malawi and Zimbabwe. Virtually all the pieces arewritten from the standpoint of a Christian concern with enculturation orAfricanisation.The editor arranges the papers in three sections: (1) Ritual interactionbetween Christian and traditional practices, (2) The High God, (3) Lifecycle rituals. For purposes of this review, I prefer to follow my owntripartite division of the papers into (1) those that do not deal with ritualtransition at all, (2) those that do, but fail to broach the issue of ritualadaptation or enculturation, (3) those that are concerned with theAfricanisation of Christianity through the purposive adoption of thetraditional rite of passage, either in whole or in part. This division doesnot imply a hierarchy of worth and is no reflection on the Intrinsic meritor otherwise of each of the papers. Thus, Daneel in the masterly style wehave come to expect from him and based in part on first-hand observationand experience, ably demonstrates the oracular support given by theMwari cult to three phases of 'liberation struggle' in Zimbabwe. Good asit is, the paper has no bearing on transition ritual. One hoped, ultimatelyin vain, for some insightful attempt to employ 'rite of passage' as ametaphor for 'liberation struggle'.The others in this category are marginally concerned with ritualtransition but are really interested in something else, Africanisation indifferent churches (Cruz E. Silva and Leforte), charismatic teaching aboutmarriage as a way of life and not as a ritual (Ojo), dialogue about thebeliefs behind funerary rites (Ongang'a).227228 BOOK REVIEWSIn the second category, Ntoi provides a substantial ethnographic andanalytical treatment of the rite of initiation for mediums of the Mwarlcult, but his claim that 'significant similarities' exist between this and thebaptismal rite in certain churches is taken no further. Thompson makesingenious use of rather thin historical data from the 19th century toindicate how Africans may have been substituting a Christian rite for thedefunct 'first-fruits' ceremony, but he can supply no evidence whatsoeverfor his further claim that the substitution provided new meaningful ritesof passage for Africans.Two papers (M'Passou, Chingota) skim rather lightly over thehistorical surface of early missionary rejection of indigenous initiationrites, followed by enforced acceptance or a bungled attempt to devise aChristian alternative. The best piece in this third category and possiblyin the whole book is by Fiedler who, arguing from personal experience asa missionary in Zaire/Congo, constructs a hard-hitting argument for theabolition of the Christian rite of marriage. Refreshingly, he confrontswhat is a serious real-life problem for millions of African Christians today.Paradoxically, in an enlightened move, early missionaries made Christianmarriage conditional upon the full transfer of bridewealth, which wasdefinitive of African marriage. But no further adaptation was made tochanging economic circumstances, that made the finalisation of suchpayments too burdensome and costly to fulfil. Secondly, the marriagereception began to assume such lavish proportions that it became astatus statement beyond the means of all but the very wealthy. Thirdly,since Christian marriage was a prerequisite for ordination and only theordained qualified to be marriage officers entitled to a fee, the result wasthe introduction of a class division among the clergy. In practice, 'the riteof marriage has become a status symbol for the laity and a major elementin ecclesiastical power structures' (p. 956). Strong stuff.A feminist perspective on female initiation is presented by Phiri(Malawi) and Hinga (Kenya), the first being stronger on rhetoric thanargument. Both decry the abuse of women in the traditional rite, nowadaysgreatly modified (though the larger issue of social repression remains),and advocate the introduction of a sanitised Christianised alternative orone compatible with morality and modernity. Neither one has anysuggestions about how to go about It, though Hinga rightly asserts thatthe work of reconstruction is for women themselves to do.The final brace of papers to be considered commonly address theefforts of the Catholic church to reach some accommodation with Africanrites of transition Š puberty rites in Malawi (Chakanza) and the rite oftransition to ancestral status among the Shona (Gundanl). Both aresubstantial well researched pieces. The Malawian case is a history ofseveral failed attempts at providing a Catholic rite of transition, eachBOOK REVIEWS 229abandoned because of alleged abuses, though Chakanza lists severalother sources of Catholic resistance. He takes a theological stand Infavour of renewed inculturation and, like Hinga and Phlri, takes liberationrather than oppression to be the high road to acceptability. Gundani alsotakes the historical approach, following good groundwork on the characterand meaning of the indigenous rite, which demonstrates its complexity.There are in fact multiple statuses in transition, not just that of thedeceased person, to be catered for. This may account for the cautiousand tortuous Catholic deliberations on the issue over a period of 18 yearsthat eventually produced a model rite, complete with a set of operatinginstructions, but with at least one contentious matter outstanding. Itappears however, that the majority of the laity are not sufficiently informedabout the new rite. In other words, they continue to make their owncompromises with tradition.This last observation strikes an ominous note for the volume as awhole. That theologians and academic specialists in religion should bewrestling with the problem of integrating two separate religious traditionsis to be expected and this effort is no better or worse than others of itskind. But there is a missing dimension, that of everyday life Š what liesbeyond the standard statements provided by informants, as Bourdillonpoints out in the epilogue. To what extent are the two religious systemsseparate, or rather, in whose mind(s) are they deemed to be divided fromone another? It tends to be a middle-class urban concern to lace themtogether in some formal way, precisely because their disjunction is largelyconceived by the urban middle class. Ordinary people on the groundhave little time for theological niceties and, in their everyday practiceand interaction, they readily integrate the two to form a single system. Itis this living conjunction, the articulation of a dynamic folk-religion, thatis largely absent from these pages and that bears further investigation.University of Natal J. P. KlF.RNANImages of Yesteryear: Film-making in Central Africa By Louis Nell. HarperCollins, 1998, ISBN 1-77904005-9, 206 pp.Louis Nell's book provides a first hand account of pioneering film-makingin Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland through theCentral African Film Unit (CAFU) over the fifteen-year period 1948-63. Inthat time 625 films were made. Initial support for the CAFU project camefrom the British government through the Colonial Development welfarefunds.