Multidisciplinary Knowledge Production and Research Methods in Sub-Saharan Africa : Language, Literature and Religion

This book, Multidisciplinary Knowledge Production and Research Methods in Sub-Saharan Africa: Language, Literature and Religion, contributes to the polemical conversations about existing architectures of knowledge and research practices in postcolonial sub-Saharan Africa. It creates an academic platform for multi-interdisciplinary research that brings to the fore inspiring efforts to break away from long-standing disciplinary bordering thinking and practices in modern-day sub-Saharan Africa. This distinctive edited collection is a valuable resource for scholars, researchers and students of multi-interdisciplinary research across the globe. The volume also promotes wide-ranging research focused on how to address complexities which hamper the promise of multi-interdisciplinary research in contemporary sub-Saharan African contexts. It provides thought-provoking perspectives on academic conversations about the uniqueness of embracing multidisciplinary research. The traditional methods of interpretation are challenged by the radical emerging demand to shift from a mono-disciplinary thinking to a cross-disciplinary epistemic endeavour in order to successfully address unfolding problematic realities that demand the pursuit of novel heuristic terrains. Preface Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: New Methods and New Meanings Introduction New Methods and New Meanings Chapter Outline References Chapter 2: The Interface of Intertextuality and Cognitive Linguistics in Reading Literary Discourse: Interdisciplinary Sensibilities in Contemporary Zimbabwean Novel Introduction Intertextuality and Cognitive Linguistics: An Interdisciplinary Terrain NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory as a Case Study for Interdisciplinary Interpretive Site Poetic Intertextuality and a Maze of Creative Texts in the Novel, Glory Historical Wounds and the Scandals of Power in Contemporary Zimbabwe Intertextuality and the Polemics of Inter-religious Discourses in the Novel, Glory Gender Discourses: We Need New Names and the Philosophy of Mother Is Supreme Conclusion: Towards New Heuristic Flights and Diverse Epistemological Locations References Chapter 3: Rupturing the Traditional Thought in Search of Novel Heuristic Voyages in New Testament Studies: New Reflections on Narratological Methodology Introduction Theoretical Framework: Narrative Criticism Overturning Traditional Methodologies for New Pathways Tenets of Historical-Critical Method The Development of the Historical-Critical Method Heuristic Narratological Methodologies in the New Testament Studies Reflections Conclusion References Chapter 4: Postcolonial African Feminist Research Agenda: African Women Theologians’ Search for Liberating Paradigms in Oral and Written Religious and Cultural Texts Introduction The Essence of African Feminist Theology African Women’s Theology and Liberation: Case Studies Conclusion References Chapter 5: Discipline, Decolonisation and Agency Introduction Statement of the Problem Research Questions Research Method Conceptualising Agency Conceptualising Decolonisation Conceptualising Discipline Violent Crimes and Violent Students: Do We Teach Angels or Monsters? Conclusion References Chapter 6: (Re)thinking and (Re)theorising ‘Multi’ and Its Futures in Academic Discourse Studies Introduction Research Trends in Academia Data and Method ‘Multi’ in Academic Discourse Conclusion and Recommendations References Chapter 7: ‘Collective Intelligence’ a Precursor for Multidisciplinary Research in Africa: An Appreciative Inquiry Perspective Introduction Appreciative Inquiry Perspective Versus the Traditional System Knowledge Production Systems and Collective Intelligence in Africa Collective Intelligence as an Epistemological Methodology in Africa Considerations for Collective Methodology Frameworks Ethics Conclusion References Chapter 8: Shifting Methodological Pathways in New Testament Studies and Linguistics: A Stylistic Paradigm Introduction Stylistics and Its Relevance to New Testament Studies Stylisations and Semantic Reading of Acts 10:9–16 Semantic Dissonance and Sense-Making as a Troubled Terrain The Shift to Multi-disciplinarity and Multi-perspectivality in New Testament Studies In Closing References Chapter 9: Decentring Research in Universities in Africa Introduction Revisiting Ontological Research Assumptions Among Universities in Africa Epistemological Considerations in African Research Ethical Issues in African Higher Education Research Conclusion: Towards Authentic Research References Chapter 10: What Has Jerusalem to Do with Athens? Deflecting Traditional Disciplinary Boundaries in Biblical Studies Introduction Defining Key Terms History of Biblical Studies Deflecting Traditional Boundaries in Biblical Studies Conclusion and Recommendations References Chapter 11: Critiquing the Shona Novel in an Interdisciplinary Manner Through the Social Historical Approach Introduction The Shona Novel Literary Theory Critiquing the Shona Novel Through the Socio-historical Approach Conclusion References Chapter 12: Breaking Boundaries: Current Research Trends in Zimbabwean Linguistics—A Case of the University of Zimbabwe Introduction Research Methodology Research Methods Data Presentation and Analysis Discussion (The Inter-discipline Endeavour) Emergent Frontiers Conclusion References Chapter 13: Evolution of Multi-disciplinary Philosophies of Method: Colonial Antecedents and Post-colonial Paradigm Shifts Introduction Fundamental Disciplinary-Related Concepts Clarified Knowledge Production and the Emergency Epistemic Colonialism in Europe Positivism and the Emergency of Epistemological Authoritarianism Radical Empiricism and the Orthodox Consensus in the Social Sciences Positivism and the Inculcation of a Mono-perspective in Philosophy, Law and Economics David Hume and the Rejection of the Mono-disciplinary Perspectiviality of the Positivistic Natural Sciences Peter Winch and the Restoration of Multi-disciplinarity in the Social Sciences From Epistemological Colonialism to Territorial Imperialism Post-coloniality and the Restoration of Multi-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Epistemic Frameworks Post-colonial Gender Criticisms of Western Epistemic Imperialism Feminist Post-colonialism and the Bifurcation of the Colonial Project Decoloniality as a Precursor of Multi-disciplinary Research Paradigms in the Post-independent South Positivistic Authoritarianism and the Inculcation of Mono-perspectivsm in Post-independent African States Neo-liberal Epistemic Injustice and Methodological Epistemicide Against Africans Conclusion References Chapter 14: New Directions in Multidisciplinary Knowledge Production Introduction Multidisciplinary Knowledge Production References Correction to: Multidisciplinary Knowledge Production and Research Methods in Sub-Saharan Africa Correction to: Index