Spatial Literacy: Contemporary Asante Women’s Place-Making

185 Pages·2013·1.705 MB·English

by  Epifania Akosua Amoo-Adare (auth.)

SPATIAL LITERACY
GENDER AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN
AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA
Series Editor: Oyeronke Oyewumi , Stony Brook University
Series Advisers:
Adeleke Adeeko , Ohio State University
N’Dri Assié-Lumumba , Cornell University
Ayo Coly , Dartmouth College
Carolyn Cooper , University of Western Indies, Mona
Godwin Murunga , University of Nairobi
Filomina Steady , Wellesley College
This book series spotlights the experiences of Africans on the continent and in
its multiple and multilayered diasporas. Its objective is to make available publica-
tions that focus on people of African descent wherever they are located, targeting
innovative research that derives questions, concepts, and theories from historical
and contemporary experiences. The broad scope of the series includes gender
scholarship as well as studies that engage with culture in all its complexities.
From a variety of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary orienta-
tions, these studies engage current debates, address urgent questions, and open
up new perspectives in African knowledge production.
Spatial Literacy: Contemporary Asante Women’s Place-making
by Epifania Akosua Amoo-Adare
Narratives of AIDS and Gender: Folklore and Public Health in Malawi (forthcoming)
by Anika Wilson
SPATIAL LITERACY
CONTEMPORARY ASANTE WOMEN’S
PLACE-MAKING
Epifania Akosua Amoo-Adare
ISBN 978-1-349-44801-2 ISBN 978-1-137-28107-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-28107-4
SPATIAL LITERACY
Copyright © Epifania Akosua Amoo-Adare, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-28106-7
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–1–137–28106–7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Amoo-Adare, Epifania Akosua, 1967–
Spatial literacy : contemporary Asante women’s place-making /
Epifania Akosua Amoo-Adare.
p. cm.—(Gender and cultural studies in Africa and the diaspora)
Revised version of the author’s thesis (PhD)—UCLA, 2006.
ISBN 978–1–137–28106–7 (alk. paper)
1. Spatial behavior—Ghana—Accra. 2. Women, Ashanti—Social
conditions. 3. Feminist geography—Ghana—Accra. 4. Women,
Ashanti—Ghana—Accra—Social conditions. 5. Accra (Ghana)—Social
conditions. I. Title. II. Series: Gender and cultural studies in Africa and
the diaspora.
BF469.A46 2013
304.2308209667—dc23 2012031271
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: February 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my mother,
Afua Biraa (Mrs. Amoo-Adare),
and all other formidable Asante women
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CONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables ix
Glossary of Twi Terms x i
Acknowledgments xiii
Prologue xvii
1. I ntroduction: Critical Spatial Literacy is Urgent Political Praxis 1
2. Feminist Positionality: Renegade Architecture in a Certain
Ambiguity 7
3. Politics of (Post)Modern Space: Asante Women’s Place in
a Capitalist Spatiality 29
Vignette 1 Auntie Pauline Sampene (Mobility) 53
4. Akwantu : Travel and the Making of New Roads 59
Vignette 2 Auntie Evelina Amoakohene (Education) 7 5
5. A nibuei : Civilization and the Opening of Eyes 81
Vignette 3 Akosua Serwa Opoku-Bonsu (Economics) 9 7
6. S ikasεm : Money Matters and the Love of Gold 101
Vignette 4 Nana Sarpoma (Asante Identity) 113
7. P rocess Not State, Becoming Not Being 119
8. Conclusion: Toward a Pedagogy of Critical Spatial Literacy 125
Notes 129
Bibliography 149
Index 165
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FIGURES AND TABLES
Figures
2.1 Birthing center sketch (façade, plan, and cross section) 1 1
2.2 Birthing center sketch (reception and cafeteria) 12
2.3 Birthing center sketch (mother and child room) 13
2.4 Birthing center sketch (details) 14
2.5 Birthing center sketch (exterior landscape) 16
3.1 CSL theoretical framework 30
3.2 Network view of the themes ( akwantu , anibuei
ne sikasεm ) 51
Table
3.1 Overview of 15 Asante women (demographic information) 4 9