GHANAIAN FOLK THOUGHT, AKAN RELIGION AND AN ETHIC OF CARE IN SHARON DODUA OTOO'S ADAS RAUM*

Abstract

In this article I will analyse how cosmological myths, proverbs and pictorial symbols from Ghanaian folk thought and religion are adapted in Sharon Dodua Otoo's novel Adas Raum. I will focus primarily on the idea of the transmigration of the soul, which comes from the religion of the Akan people, and on the Sankofa symbol, which stands for a certain attitude towards history. In the novel, Ghanaian wisdom poetry, which traditionally deals with the boundary between life and death and the development of the self within the community, is translated into German prose. I aim to explore the significance of Ghanaian religion and philosophy in shaping the overarching ethical idea underlying Adas Raum. At the heart of this ethical idea is learning from history, which is presented not only as a history of catastrophe but also as a history of mutual care between human beings who support each other in times of inhumanity.