Academic literature on the topic 'African proverbs'

Many hands, light work -- Chasing two antelopes, at the same time -- The boat, the leader and the water -- A child crawls, then stands -- The monkey, a jump and a tree -- A tree is cut down -- Moving the elephant in one day -- The tree, over the top and the earth -- an army, a sheep, and a lion -- Bundle of sticks are unbreakable. Children like it simple, powerful and compelling, don't they? The "spirit" of this book makes leadership lessons for kids simple, powerful yet compelling. This "treasure trove" of illustrated stories from African Proverbs is filled with compelling leadership lessons for children all over the world. This book is written for children in every nation whose little minds are curious, who love to explore new and different worlds and who love to listen to stories. "Inspiring Kidz Leadership Lessons from African Proverbs" contains the Proverb, the Story, the Lesson and the country. Proverbs and sayings are found in almost every culture in the world and so not only will children respond to its meaning but adults will find it enriching. In this children's leadership book, the sayings of African proverbs form the basis of the leadership lesson. Not only will you read it and hear it. Your child(ren) will glean life-long leadership nuggets and lessons from it. Stories are like magic, taking us everywhere: backwards, forwards or happening right in the present time, transporting us to many places and situations we might never go. There is a world of wisdom contained in each proverb and we can learn a lot about children's Leadership Lessons from them. So sit down with your toddler, infant, child or children and teach them these simple, profound and compelling leadership lessons through African Proverbs and storytelling. It is hoped that at the very least, proverbs can be a source of entertainment if not a learning tool to teach and entertain your child.<br>https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1082/thumbnail.jpg

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale Divinity School, Yale University, 1994.<br>Abstract. Appendix includes several proverbs from the Malozi tribe of Western Zambia in Silozi with English translation. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-110).

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2005<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate that a dialogue can be established between wisdom in Proverbs 1 - 9 and ubuntu. This dialogue becomes evident from a close reading of Proverbs 1 - 9 and from a study of the correspondence between the worldviews found in ancient Israel and Africa respectively. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu is a Zulu saying that has its equivalent in nearly every sub- Saharan culture. Briefly, it translates to: "A human being is a human being because of (other) human beings." This points to a uniquely African view of human beings. This communal emphasis is also found within the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. The sages of the Old Testament attach great importance to harmony in the community and strongly emphasise obedience to wisdom as a way of accomplishing this harmony. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu is especially challenging from an academic point of view. On the one hand, wisdom highlights valuable aspects of African ways of life, principles and ideas that are often overlooked or ignored. On the other hand, ubuntu holds the promise of a nonwestern tradition that has been misread and marginalised in history, but that is reclaiming its place. A close reading is used to interpret the particular words, images and organisation of the scenes or passages in Proverbs 1 - 9. The interaction between the worldviews of ancient Israel and Africa leads us to further conclusions, identifying gaps in our knowledge and pointing to directions that could be followed in hermeneutics of which scholars have been unaware up to now. It also helps to sharpen the focus on wisdom by suggesting new perspectives of interpretation. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu leads us to fresh, exciting insights and a deeper understanding of issues that are of central concern in the field of wisdom theology research. In Proverbs 1 - 9, wisdom theology is redefined from an ubuntu perspective. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu thus leads us to a new development within wisdom theology. It helps us appreciate the new emphasis on communality. This does not happen in isolation. i1Ji1' m~tl'is identified as the primal source of wisdom. It must be regarded, however, in combination with the emphasis on living in communion with others. The essence of the new understanding - an existential understanding of wisdom - leads us towards appreciating the interrelatedness between human beings. Creation theology can be understood as deed/consequence theology, where the intimate relationship between experiencing divine awe and living in communion with others becomes evident. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu redefines the deed/consequence or causality aspect of wisdom theology as the "goal" of the wise. It is not the aim of this dissertation to copy some previously developed theological approach from one context into another, but rather to stimulate creative hermeneutical thinking with regard to African views on Old Testament wisdom literature. In this study we come to the conclusion that Afrocentric hermeneutics has the potential to be more responsive to the context of the Old Testament wisdom literature than Western theological exegesis has been.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oogmerk van hierdie proefskrif is om aan te dui dat daar 'n dialoog bestaan tussen wysheid in Spreuke I - 9 in die Ou Testament en die Afrikakonsep ubuntu. Hierdie dialoog word duidelik wanneer 'n mens Spreuke 1 - 9 noukeurig lees en wanneer jy die ooreenkomste bestudeer tussen die verskillende wereldbeelde wat in antieke Israel en Afrika aangetrefword. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu is 'n Zoeloegesegde waarvoor gelyksoortige begrippe in feitlik elke Afrikakultuur suid van die Sahara bestaan. Dit kan vertaal word as: "'n Mens is 'n mens as gevolg van (ander) mense." Dit dui op 'n unieke Afrika-wereldbeeld. Hierdie klem op die lewe in gemeenskap vind ons ook in die wysheidsliteratuur van die Ou Testament. Die Ou-Testamentiese wysheidsleraars heg groot waarde aan harmonie binne die gemeenskap en rig 'n sterk appel tot gehoorsaamheid aan die wysheid om harmonie te bewerkstellig. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu bied 'n groot uitdaging veral vanuit 'n akademiese perspektief. Aan die een kant beklemtoon wysheid talle waardevolle aspekte van die Afrikaleefwyse, -beginsels en -idees wat dikwels misgekyk word. Aan die ander kant kry die konsep ubuntu sy regmatige plek binne die verstaan van 'n niewesterse tradisie wat dikwels in die verlede gemarginaliseer is. 'n Noukeurige lees van die teks van Spreuke 1 - 9 word gebruik om sekere begrippe en parafrases beter te verstaan. Die interaksie tussen die wereldbeelde van antieke Israel en Afrika lei daartoe dat nuwe denkrigtings in die hermeneutiek, wat tot op hede nog nie ontgin is nie, geidentifiseer word. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu bied dus aan navorsers 'n instrument om Spreuke 1 - 9 vanuit 'n nuwe hermeneutiese perspektief te lees. Die interaksie tussen die verskillende wereldbeelde van antieke Israel en Afrika lei tot verdere konklusies; leemtes in ons verstaan en vertolking word byvoorbeeld uitgewys. Verder bied dit nuwe perspektiewe op die veld van die interpretasie van wysheid. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu lei tot nuwe, opwindende insig en 'n beter verstaan van kwessies wat binne die navorsing oor wysheidsteologie van belang is. Die wysheidsteologie in Spreuke I - 9 word geherdefinieer vanuit 'n ubuntu-perspektief. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu lei dus tot 'n nuwe ontwikkeling binne die wysheidsteologie. Dit stel ons in staat om die k1em op gemeenskaplikheid beter te verstaan. Hierdie nuwe verstaan vind egter nie in isolasie plaas nie. i1VPn~rl' is steeds die vertrekpunt vir die verstaan van wysheid. Die bogenoemde dialoog kan beter verstaan word deur die klem wat gele word op die lewe in gemeenskap met andere. Die kern van hierdie nuwe verstaan - 'n eksistensiele verstaan van wysheid - bring in ons 'n groter bewuswording van die onderlinge verbondenheid tussen mense. Skeppingsteologie kan verstaan word as oorsaak/gevolg-teologie, waar die noue verhouding tussen ontsag vir God en lewe in verbondenheid met andere duidelik word. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu herdefinieer die oorsaaklgevolg- of kousaliteitsaspek van wysheidsteologie as die "doel" van die wysheidsleraar. Die doel van hierdie proefskrif is nie om 'n teologiese benadering vanuit een konteks op 'n ander een van toepassing te maak nie, maar eerder om kreatiewe hermeneutiese denke te stimuleer aangaande Afrikaperspektiewe op Ou-Testamentiese wysheidsliteratuur. Deur hierdie studie kom ons tot die gevolgtrekking dat Afrosentriese hermeneutiek die potensiaal het om 'n beter verstaan tot die konteks van Ou- Testamentiese wysheidsliteratuur te bied as wat Westerse teologiese eksegese kon.

<p>This study was envisioned to investigate and improve multicultural education in a visual communication design course. It aimed to explore the educational use of proverbs for the benefit of improving multicultural teaching and learning. Proverbs and metaphors are an essential source for the composition of visual narratives. Overall results of this study revealed that, even though proverbs are a significant part of the experience of black African students, the students seldom directly use narratives and proverbs as inspiration for their designs.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2012<br>The mini dissertation seeks to explore the positive and negative qualities of an indigenous African leader as presented in a variety of oral texts including folktales, proverbs and praise poems as well as in the African novels of Mhudi, Maru, Things Fall Apart and Petals of Blood in order to deduce an indigenous African concept of a leader. This research is motivated by the fact that although researchers and academics worldwide acknowledge that it is very difficult to objectively define and discuss the terms ‘leader’ and ‘indigenous leader’ yet many tend to dismiss offhand such indigenous concepts of leadership as ubuntu as primitive, barbaric and irrelevant to modern institutions without examining them in detail.

According to Domowitz (1992), the Agni women of Cote d'Ivoire assign proverbs and aphorisms as names to wax-dyed cloth. Women then use the imagery and associated proverbs behind cloth names to send non-verbal messages they would otherwise be unable to express publicly. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to investigate wax-dyed cloth names including their underlying meanings and uses given by women in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo; and second, to investigate how these names are acquired in French by women who have no formal education. Qualitative results revealed that women in these two countries are very motivated to learn cloth names. New undocumented names and their underlying meanings were also found. Some of these meanings were found to be educational; others are used to maintain status or to clarify power relationships. At the same time, quantitative results indicated that knowledge and use of cloth names in both communities studied is in decline.

Tonalität ist eines der herausragenden prosodischen Mittel, das traditionell in der Poesie afrikanischer Tonsprachen eingesetzt wird, und Sprachminiaturen (z.B. Sprichwörter und Rätsel) gehören nicht zuletzt ausweislich ihrer weit verbreiteten tonalen Reimcharakteristik viel eher zur afrikanischen Poesie als etwa zur Prosa, wie es bislang herrschende Meinung war.

This dissertation suggests that, while the book of Proverbs is sometimes difficult to interpret and its redaction history is clearly complex, it has much to say on the important area of leadership. To test this hypothesis, it applies four steps as its theoretical framework, and these later become part of the contributions of this study. First, its exploration of leadership in the Ancient Near East (ANE) shows that the ANE offers a good background to leadership in ancient Israel. Second, its survey of the scholarly debates on leadership in Proverbs reveals that the question of how Proverbs fosters leadership has been hugely neglected. The previous discussion has centred on the settings that produced the proverbs and the impact of ANE materials on Proverbs. Third, this enquiry maintains that poetics is an important tool for biblical exegesis and that it can help us to understand the possible meanings of the text. Its contribution lies with the use of exegetical analysis to demonstrate how Proverbs fosters aspects of leadership through the close analysis of poetic devices such as parallelisms, metaphors and imagery. The thesis conducts a detailed exploration of some verses that are judged to contain sayings that are relevant to the theme of leadership in Proverbs, demonstrating their complexity. It proposes a reading strategy of classifying the leadership texts in Proverbs into themes relating to the status, code of conduct, personality, skills and actions of leaders and the community’s response to leaders. Fourth, it critically summarises the results of my exegetical findings in Proverbs and their implications for the biblical scholars surveyed, as well as for contemporary leadership scholars. The thesis concludes with the application of my exegetical findings to one aspect of leadership in Proverbs to Christian leadership in Nigeria.

Cette thèse explore la notion de l’ethnotext comme stratégie de résistance à la domination linguistique. Cette notion sera étudiée en relation avec trois formes de domination linguistique: la colonisation française en Algérie (1830-1962) et le protectorat français et espagnole au Maroc (1912-1956) ; les politiques linguistiques post-indépendances appliquées par ces deux Etats nation ; l’installation européenne au Canada et aux Etats Unis D’Amérique et les conséquences de ses politiques linguistiques néocoloniales sur les langues amérindiennes telles que le M’ikmaq (au Canada) et le Choctaw (USA). L’étude sera menée en s’appuyant sur un corpus de quatre romans autobiographiques, représentatifs des cultures berbères (kabyle et rifain) ainsi qu’amérindiennes (M’ikmaq et Choctaw). L’ethnotext kabyle sera étudié dans le roman de Mouloud Feraoun Le fils du pauvre (1950) ; le Rifian sera étudié dans le roman de Mohamed Choukri Le pain nu (1973) ; le M’ikmaq sera étudié dans le roman de Rita Joe : Song of Rita Joe : Autobiography of a M’ikmaq Poet (1996) et leChoctaw sera étudié dans le roman de Rilla Askew The Mercy Seat (1997). Cette étude comparative a pour objectif de comparer ces quatre cas de résistance linguistique pour chercher leurs points communs, leur ressemblances stratégiques et culturelles afin d’établir la dimension transatlantique de l’ethnotext<br>This thesis explores the notion of the ethnotext, which is, in Chantal Zabus’ terms, composed of: ‘[…] discursive elements ranging from rules of address, riddles, praise names and dirges to the use of proverbs”. (Zabus, The African Palimpsest) as a way of resistance to linguistic domination. This notion will be studied in relation to three forms of linguistic domination: French colonialism in Algeria and Morocco; postcolonial linguistic policies applied by these two new nation states; European settlement in Canada and the United States of America and the neocolonial linguistic policies affecting Amerindian languages such as Mi’kmaq and Choctaw. The study will be illustrated with a corpus of four autobiographies: Mouloud Feraoun’s The Poor Man’s Son (1954) [Kabyle in Algeria]; Mohamed Choukri’s For Bread Alone (1982) [Rifian from Morocco]; Rilla Askew’s The Mercy Seat (1997), [Choctaw from the U.S.A] and Rita Joe’s Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi’kmaq Poet (1996) [in Canada]. This comparison aims at contrasting these four cases of linguistic resistance to seek their common points, resistance strategies and cultural resemblance in order to establish the ethnotext’s transatlantic dimension. Transatlanticism will in turn be contextualised against a broader canvas that of the possible extinction of endangered languages faced with globalised societies

Les cinq cents enonces proverbiaux des bwa du mali presentes dans cette these sont etudies en tant qu'evenements de l'interlocution afin a la fois de mieux cerner la place du proverbe dans la parole et dans la vie quotidienne de ces villageois qui en font grand usage et, par ailleurs, de mieux connaitre la societe boo (un boo, des bwa). Nous ne voulions pas nous contenter d'un recueil de textes commentes, mais souhaitions etudier les proverbes en situation, tels qu'ils apparaissent au coeur du discours et tels que nous les avions recueillis lors de nos enquetes. Il etait necessaire que nous presentions d'abord le contexte socio-culturel de leur enonciation : le pays, l'ethnie, la langue. Nous nous sommes ensuite efforcee de montrer en quoi les proverbes sont remarquables au sein d'une parole qui a elle-meme une place de premier choix dans la vie des bwa. Intervenant dans le cadre d'une maniere plus generale de parler en privilegiant l'image, le sous-entendu, l'allusion, le proverbe est au summum du "bien parler". Nous avons donc essaye de comprendre ce qu'est le proverbe, et l'avons ainsi aborde dans le cadre de l'interlocution, en tant qu'acte de parole ; puis nous avons vu comment il intervient dans le discours selon les differentes modalites qu'offre celuici. Enfin, nous avons termine notre reflexion en nous interrogeant sur le sens du proverbe et sur les rapports que l'emission, proverbiale entretien avec la "sagesse". Au-dela de son aspect mobilisateur, le proverbe nous est apparu, dans sa facon d'intervenir dans le discours, comme une veritable strategie de rhetorique qui ne peut qu'etre privilegiee par les bwa qui n'aiment jamais dire explicitement les choses importantes.