REPRÉSENTATIONS INITIATIQUES: DES VALEURS ET DE L’AUTHENTICITÉ À TRAVERS LES RITUELS EN AFRIQUE
Initiatic representations: about values and authenticity in African rituals

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the problem of African authenticity, between tradition and modernity, bydescribing the specific initiate rituals in Western Africa, more precisely, the former Dahomey, inpresent Benin. The problem of authenticity lays in the centre of the true and veritable identity of theAfrican. His life is built from a succession of initiations, from a series of learning and passing ritesfrom one level to another: from birth, to teenage, to maturity and death.Rites, rituals, believes, and cultures – they all co-exist, bringing authenticity to the African identity,in a space of absolute religiosity where the whole universe is considered to be sacred.Our purpose in this article is to describe several initiate rituals and their significance.

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