Naserian - Maasai woman of beauty and peace

Naserian was the wife of a neighbour in the Maasai village of Ngoile, where I lived in 1978. Naserian means 'the peaceful one' in OlMaa (the language of the Maasai) and is given as a name to girls who are characterised by very harmonious traits.

In quite a few African cultures, not staring into the eyes of a respectable person is traditionally considered to be an expression of respect.
I recently finished an article that deals with the metaphorical meaning of body parts in the Bambara language. The eye (ɲɛ in the Bambara language) is seen, among other things, as an insight into the soul, allowing access to one's innermost being, how you really are. For example, if you want to express that you know something particularly well, you then say that you 'know the eye of something', like I know the eye of cars = I know cars really well, I know how they work.

At the same time, knowing the inside of people also involves potential risks, because knowing one's inside can also give you control over the other person. kà X ɲɛ-ɲini (lit. to search the eye of X) means 'to bewitch X, trying to gain power over X'. With the verb ɲini one usually expresses that one is looking for something you want to get, like for example with n bɛ ji ɲini 'I am looking for water, I want water'. Similarly, if you want to know how someone 'is functioning', you want to gain power over him (like a hypnotist) and bewitch him according to local concepts. Therefore, it is traditionally considered disrespectful to stare too long into the eyes of a well-respected person.

Traditionally, therefore, when talking to a person of respect, one usually keeps one's eyes down and only looks at the other person again from time to time, but never continuously as is required in our portraits.

Showing respect to people who are considered at a higher status, i.e. by not staring into their eyes, is often misinterpreted in the West as dishonesty (they don't look you in the eye), which can be very disadvantageous for Africans coming to Western countries, especially in contacts with the police and other authorities.

The picture was taken in 1978 with Nikon F3 and digitised in 2021 with Reflecta 10t.
See stories www.afrika-wien.at

Taken in: Kenya / Kajiado / Kajiado (show map)

Taken on: April 29, 2021

Tags:

Maasai

woman

Kenya

iceboxcool

CHALLENGEGAMEWINNER. « less

Sets appears in: • African impressions

Groups appears in: • WEEKLY • The Challenge Group Game more » • The Fridge: The best of The Icebox • You are woman, you are beautiful, let the world see you « less

Camera: Reflecta ProScan 10T (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Reflecta ProScan 10T
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Luminar AI
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