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I’ve been researching terms translated as “human/people” – remetj, abantu, umuntu, batho, muntu, mmarima….and related concepts – umthetho, ubuntu… what I’ve found is that depending on the time and space these names could be “titles”, things that can be awarded or revoked based on behavior, rites of passage.
Meaning that being “human” or “people” in some Afrikan contexts is not a given, although it can change during space and time, the general idea is there has to be rites of passage and coherence with the group/nation’s established code.
First heard of this concept in “Muntu by Jahein Jahnz”, then again when researching terms like “remetj” and “xsy”.
From the perspective of some cultures, they treat themselves and those adhering to their agenda & customs as “remetj, omondo, abando, abantu” (ie real humans) and others as “non humans” or “non real people”. Objects. Hollow containers.
This was a survival mechanism to distinguish righteous beings from non righteous beings. In modern street slang “real N***s from fake N****s”.In Zulu this concept of “non real beings” can be written as “into” or “intho”. There is a lot of “non-humans” walking around.
VERY DEEP SUBJECT.
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Here is a link to the study of “UBUNTU and INTO”, there should be a link to the pdf on the right hand side.
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.487.9558 -
“Mmarima” as an earned status.
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