Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ga gä [key], black African ethnic group, SE Ghana. The Ga speak a Kwa language and, together with the closely related Adangme, number over 1 million. Inheritance and succession to public office are d...

(Encyclopedia) Hani, Chris 1942–1993, anti-apartheid activist, politician, and soldier. A legendary figure in South African history and a key participant in the ...

(Encyclopedia) Swahili language, member of the Bantu group of African languages (see African languages and Bantu languages). Swahili is spoken by 30 million people, chiefly in Tanzania, Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Buru...

(Encyclopedia) Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), organization established in 1975 to increase economic cooperation and development in West Africa. Members include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, C...

(Encyclopedia) realism, in literature, an approach that attempts to describe life without idealization or romantic subjectivity. Although realism is not limited to any one century or group of writers, it is most oft...

(Encyclopedia) ethnic studies, in American education, programs offering courses in the history and culture of minority groups. Ethnic studies arose as a result of the black protest movement of the 1960s, which, amon...

(Encyclopedia) Simmons, Ruth, 1945–, American educator and college president, b. Grapeland, Tex., grad. Dillard Univ. (B.A., 1967) and Harvard (A.M., 1970; Ph.D., 1973). As a scholar she was primarily concerned wi...

(Encyclopedia) Sembene, Ousmane o͝osmäˈnĕ səmbĕˈnĕ [key], 1923–2007, Senegalese author and film director who wrote and made films in French and Wolof, often regarded as the father of sub-Saharan African ci...

(Encyclopedia) saga, in Old Norse literature, especially Icelandic and Norwegian, narrative in prose or verse, centering on a legendary or historical figure or family. Sagas may be divided into sagas of the kings, m...

(Encyclopedia) John III (John the Fortunate), 1502–57, king of Portugal (1521–57), son of Manuel I. His reign saw the Portuguese empire at its apogee. The great Asian possessions were extended by further conques...