Education
Bascom completed his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and earned his Doctor of Philosophy in anthropology at Northwestern University under Melville J. Herskovits in 1939.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
book
Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World by William W. Bascom (1980-05-22)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3QJEE9/?tag=2022091-20
The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria by William Bascom (1984-01-03)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F7XLFT4/?tag=2022091-20
Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book)
( "The sacred texts of Ifa, repository of the accumulated...)
"The sacred texts of Ifa, repository of the accumulated wisdom of countless generations of Yoruba people, are an invaluable source not only for all students of African oral literature and Yoruba civilization, but also for future generations interested in the continuing vitality of Ifa divination and a Yoruba way of life and thought." ―Henry Drewal This landmark study of Ifa, the most important and elaborate system of divination of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, remains a monumental contribution to scholarship in anthropology, folklore, religion, philosophy, linguistics, and African and African-American studies.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253206383/?tag=2022091-20
Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World
( "... a landmark in research of African oral traditions....)
"... a landmark in research of African oral traditions."―African Arts "... a significant contribution to the understanding of Yoruba religious belief, magic, and art." ―Journal of Religion in Africa Yoruba texts and English translations of a divination system that originated in Nigeria and is widely practiced today by male and female diviners in the diaspora. A landmark edition.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253208475/?tag=2022091-20
Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa by William Russell Bascom (1969-12-03)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FGNWJWM/?tag=2022091-20
Ponape: A Pacific Economy in Transition.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PYN27O/?tag=2022091-20
Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book) by William W. Bascom (1991-03-11)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FIWJ492/?tag=2022091-20
African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction
(Describes the sculpture of many African regions in an att...)
Describes the sculpture of many African regions in an attempt to show correlations between cultural factors and artistic design.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393093751/?tag=2022091-20
The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria
(The Yoruba, with other West African groups, represent a h...)
The Yoruba, with other West African groups, represent a high level of cultural achievement in sub-Saharan Africa and are one of the most interesting and important peoples of the continent. The author offers detailed descriptions of the elaborate economic, political, and social structures of the Yoruba, their complex set of religious beliefs, and their world-famous art forms.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881330388/?tag=2022091-20
Sociological Role of the Yoruba Cult-Group (American Anthropologist New Seres, Vol. 46, No. 1, Part 2, January 1944)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8YTWIS/?tag=2022091-20
African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction by Bascom, William Russell (1973) Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01071C2MK/?tag=2022091-20
William R. Bascom
Edit ProfileCareer
He taught at Northwestern, Cambridge University, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he was also Director of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology. During World World War II, he joined the O.S.S. and together with Ralph Bunche co-authored an unsigned volume, A Pocket Guide to West Africa in 1943. Bascom was a specialist in the art and culture of West Africa and the African Diaspora, especially the Yoruba of Nigeria.
Several of his articles on folkloristics serve as texts in graduate courses in folklore.
In a major article published in 1954, Bascom argued that folklore can serve four primary functions in a culture:
Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society ex: tall tales
Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them. Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit. ex: scary stores/moral lessons
Folklore is a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control. ex: the boy who cried wolf.
Works
book
-
Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book)
( "The sacred texts of Ifa, repository of the accumulated...)
-
The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria
(The Yoruba, with other West African groups, represent a h...)
-
African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction
(Describes the sculpture of many African regions in an att...)
-
Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World
( "... a landmark in research of African oral traditions....)
- African art in cultural perspective : an introduction,
- Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World by William W. Bascom (1980-05-22)
- The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria by William Bascom (1984-01-03)
- Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa by William Russell Bascom (1969-12-03)
- Ponape: A Pacific Economy in Transition.
- Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book) by William W. Bascom (1991-03-11)
- Sociological Role of the Yoruba Cult-Group (American Anthropologist New Seres, Vol. 46, No. 1, Part 2, January 1944)
- African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction by Bascom, William Russell (1973) Paperback
-
Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book)
