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Journal articles on the topic 'Yoruba Proverbs'
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Khan, Lubna Akhlaq, Muhammad Safeer Awan, and Aadila Hussain. "Oral cultures and sexism: A comparative analysis of African and Punjabi folklore." Pakistan Journal of Women's Studies: Alam-e-Niswan 26, no. 2 (December 19, 2019): 105–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.46521/pjws.026.02.0010.
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The present study embarked with a supposition that there are similarities (traditional, under-developed, agri-based) between the Punjabi and African cultures, so the gender ideology might have similar patterns, which can be verified through the analysis of oral genres of the respective cultures. From Africa, Nigerian (Yoruba) proverbs are selected to be studied in comparison with Punjabi proverbs, while taking insights from Feminist CDA (Lazar 2005). The study has examined how Punjabi and Yoruba proverbs mirror, produce and conserve gendered ideology and patriarchism. Punjabi proverbs are selected through purposive sampling from ‘Our Proverbs’ (Shahbaz 2005) and Yoruba examples (with English translations and interpretations) are elicited from a dictionary of Yoruba proverbs (Owomoyela 2005), as well as articles written about gender by native Yoruba researchers. The investigation has uncovered through thematic content analysis that the portrayal of women in both communities is primarily biased, face-threatening and nullifying. Both languages have presented womenfolk mainly as unreliable, insensible, loquacious, insincere, ungrateful, opportunist, materialistic and troublemaking. Men have been depicted for the most part as aggressive, rational, prevailing, and anxious to take risks. This analysis infers that in asymmetrically organised Punjabi and African (Yoruba) communities, proverbs are deliberately sustaining inequality.
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AROWOSEGBE, Deborah Bamidele. "Depiction of Security Issues in Selected Yorùbá Proverbs." Linguistics and Literature Review 7, no. 2 (December 15, 2021): 67–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.32350/llr.72/05.
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Yorùbá proverbs are a part of the wisdom lore of the Yorùbá race. The Yorùbá people value proverbs highly. They try to look for solutions to their problems in their proverbs. The prevailing criminal in Nigeria create an atmosphere of insecurity in the country. The question this paper intends to answer is whether the use of Yoruba proverbs can bring insecurity in Yorùbá land under control? To answer this question, adopting the sociology of literature, this study examined thirty security related Yorùbá proverbs collected through personal observations and published texts on Yorùbá proverbs. Our findings showed that false assumptions, bad company, and lack of foresight can bring about insecurity, while having foresight and making joint efforts can strengthen the security of Yorùbá land. The paper concludes that Yorùbá proverbs relevant to security matters can reduce the problems of insecurity in Yorùbá land if their teachings are utilised to guide them appropriately.
Keywords: insecurity, proverbs, vigilance, wisdom
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RABIU, RIDWAN AKINKUNMI. "HANDSHAKE ACROSS THE NIGER: A STUDY OF LINGUISTIC OUTCOME IN YORÙBÁ-HAUSA CONTACT." Zamfara International Journal of Humanities 2, no. 01 (June 30, 2023): 209–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.36349/zamijoh.2023.v02i01.015.
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This paper examined the relationship between the Yoruba people of South-western Nigeria and the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria within the scope of linguistics. The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship that exists between these two tribes using linguistic evidence which include analysis of Yoruba borrowed words from Hausa language and Hausa related Yoruba proverbs and proverbial expressions. This work is descriptive in nature and data were gathered from existing literature and from ideal native speakers of Yoruba language with the aid of selected Hausa language helpers. The research findings revealed that Yoruba borrowed words from Hausa language can be classified into two classes which are Alternative borrowing and Non-alternative borrowing. It also discovered that Hausa related Yoruba proverbs and proverbial expressions can be classified to Derogatory Hausa related proverbs which show some form of hate speech and Non-derogatory Hausa related Yoruba proverbs.
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Asiyanbi, Adeniyi. "Exploring Yoruba Fire Cultures through Proverbs." Proverbium 40 (July 16, 2023): 25–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.29162/pv.40.1.358.
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This article argues that Yoruba proverbs are an essential source of popular wisdom on socio-environmental practices accessible through creative reconstruction and interpretation of their historical contexts. Learning from the everyday knowledge and accumulated wisdom of ordinary people holds significant promise at a time of unprecedented socio-environmental crisis and widespread calls for transformative change across scales. Drawing on the collection of Yoruba proverbs by Oyekan Owomoyela, broader Yoruba oral literature, Yoruba popular culture and a cross-disciplinary selection of academic literature, this article curates and reimagines nine Yoruba proverbs on the theme of fire, using these as an entry point to interrogate aspects of ecology and local understanding and practices of living with fires among the Yoruba people.
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Ogundokun, Sikiru Adeyemi. "Towards Functional Translation: Translation of some Yoruba Proverbs." Traduction et Langues 15, no. 1 (August 31, 2016): 20–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.52919/translang.v15i1.732.
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The case of culture, language and proverb is like the junction where three paths meet. Language is an integral part of a people’s culture in one hand, and proverb is an essential facet of any given language. In some cases, understanding a people’s perception on issues becomes a problem because of the inability to decode the cultural background of such people. Inadequacy in the comprehension of people’s cultural context is capable of bringing misinterpretation or misrepresentation. This study, therefore, examines thirty Yoruba proverbs; translated into English and French to demonstrate how proverbs can be used in conflict resolution, give instructions or warnings and encouragement in taking well-informed actions among other things. The study aimed at educating people about the Yoruba people’s world view as regards certain issues and actions. Field Study is the methodology adopted for the research while Functionalist theory of translation serves as the theoretical framework on which the study is premised. This theory investigates the nature of translation as a communicative action which should take into account cultural context. Findings revealed that proverbs permit people to communicate, learn as well as allowing them to express feelings for their material and non-material needs. It is equally established that some proverbs have the capacity to provide solutions to societal problems. The paper concludes that understanding people’s culture is important because it explains how culture defines and shapes their actions. The application of functionalist theory to translation will help to achieve a better translation which considers cultural and linguistic properties all together.
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Adéèkó, Adélékè. "Yoruba Proverbs, by Oyekan Owomoyela." Research in African Literatures 38, no. 3 (September 2007): 202–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/ral.2007.38.3.202.
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Ayinuola, Ojo Akinleye. "Linguistic Representations of Postproverbial Expressions among Selected Yoruba Speakers." Matatu 51, no. 2 (September 21, 2020): 311–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18757421-05102007.
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Abstract Extant studies have investigated postproverbial expressions from sociological, feminist, and philosophical perspectives with insufficient attention paid to the linguistic representations of social identity in such expressions. This study, therefore, examines how social identities are constructed through postproverbials among Yoruba youths with a view to exploring the social realities that conditioned the representations of new identities in such expressions. The study adopts Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics and Tajfel and Tuner’s Social Identity Theory as framework. Ten (10) postproverbial expressions, which are from anonymous and the written collections of Yoruba proverbs by Yoruba scholars form the data. Linguistic substitutions and code-mixings characterise such expressions. Postproverbials are a conveyor of rationalist, religious, hedonistic, and economic identities, which are conditioned by western influence and are transported by the generation of conscious Yoruba youths. The paper inferred that, though proverbs and postproverbials are context-dependent, postproverbials explicate a paradigm shift in the postmodernist discourse and refract Nigerian socio-cultural realities.
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Jumahalaso, S. Muhammad. "الائتلاف والاختلاف في الأمثال العربية واليوربوية: دراسة مقارنAL-I’TILAF WA AL-IKHTILAF FI AL-AMTSAL AL-ARABIYAH WA AL-YORUBIYYAH: DIRASAH MUQARANAH." El-HARAKAH (TERAKREDITASI) 22, no. 2 (November 5, 2020): 363–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.18860/eh.v22i2.9404.
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الأمثال مجموعة من أفكار الشعوب وعاداتها وعقائدها وتقاليدها المتوارثة جيلاً بعد جيل، وهي مرآة تعكس ثقافات الشعوب بصفة عامة، ومن أكثر أساليب التعبير الشعبية انتشارا وشيوعا، وأقدرها على مساعدة المتكلم للوصول إلى هدفه بأقل جهد وفي أقصر وقت. وقد حظيت الأمثال باهتمام كبير وعناية عظيمة لدى الأدباء العرب وحكمائها وشعرائها نظرا للأهمية التي تكتسبها في الثقافة العربية لما فيها من إيجاز اللفظ وإصابة المعنى وغيرها. وكما تهتم العرب بفن المثل وبحسن استعماله في كلامهم، كذا الشعب اليوربوي القاطنون في الجنوب الغربي لدولة نيجيريا يولون استخدام الأمثال في ثنايا حديثهم اهتماما أعظم وعناية كبرى لأن المثل عند حصان الكلام الذي يركبه المتكلم إلى هدفه. ولأهمية المثل لدى الشعبين جاءت هذه الدراسة لتتناول المثل من حيث مفهومه، وأنواعه، ومصادره، وكيفية استعماله في الكلام لدى الشعبين. وقد نسج الباحث في جمع مواد الدراسة وفحصها وتحليلها على منوال المنهج الوصفي مع الاستعانة بالمنهج التاريخي. ومما توصلت إليه الدراسة من النتائج أن المثل ظاهرة أدبية شعبية وعالية عرفتها شعوب العالم وبالأخص الشعب العربي واليوربوي، وأن مفهومه وأنواعه وخصائصه متقاربة جدا، وأن غالبية أمثال أمة أو شعب يتكرر بألفاظها وبمعنانيها في أمثال الشعوب الأخرى مع اختلاف عروقها ولغاتها وتباعد أماكنها. Proverbs are collection of peoples' customs, beliefs, and traditions inherited from one generation to another and one of the most popular methods of expression assisting the speaker effectively and efficiently. Proverbs have received great attention and concern among the Arabs. Similarly, the Yoruba people of Nigeria are interested in proverb and its good usage in every task, as according to them, it is as if a horse of speech which the speaker rides to his goal. By virtue of the importance of proverb among them, this study addresses proverb in terms of its concept, types, sources, and how it is used in their speech. In the collection, examination and analysis of data, the researcher makes use of the descriptive and historical methods. Among of the research findings are: (i) proverb is a literary phenomenon popularly known and used by peoples in the world, particularly in Arab and Yoruba. (ii) The concept, types, and characteristics of proverbs among the two nations are very close, and (iii) Most of their proverbs are repeated by others, despite the difference in their customs, languages and geographical area.
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Falola, Toyin, and Michael Oladejo Afolayan. "A Review of Isaac Oluwole Delano’s Pioneering Works on Yoruba Grammar, Orthography, Lexicography and Cultural Education." Yoruba Studies Review 4, no. 2 (December 21, 2021): 1–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v4i2.130045.
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Tis is a reproduction and an improved version of our opening chapter on Selected Works of Chief Isaac O. Delano on Yoruba Language. In it, we reintroduce the seminal works of the legendary writer and language educator, I. O. Delano. Many of these works have become obscure to the reading public due to an apparent lack of intentional publication. Delano, known for his prolific writings, wrote a few books relating to Yoruba language and grammar. Tis segment looks at four major non-fiction works of Chief Isaac O. Delano. For the most part, the segment deals with his efforts on Yoruba language, but to some extent, too, it looks at some additional non-language related writings often embedded in his works on language. For example, in Appendix I of his 1965 book, A Modern Yoruba Grammar, the author provides an array of proverbs and sayings in the language with their English equivalents. In Appendix II, Delano infused two old texts into the book, which comprise of a sermon and an essay on schooling. Clearly, Delano seems to have a penchant for dissemination of relevant cultural education in all his works. Indeed, one could say Yoruba Cultural education has always been apparently one of Delano’s passions as well as hidden agenda in writing his books, and he does so relentlessly. In what follows, we 216 Toyin Falola and Michael Oladejo Afolayan examine the four works in no particular order, although the Modern Grammar is given a relatively more detailed review and summarization. The four books are: A Modern Yoruba Grammar; Àgbékà Ọr̀ ọ̀ Yorùbá: Appropriate Words and Expressions in Yoruba; Conversation in Yoruba and English; and Atúmọ̀Èdè Yorùbá.
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Owomoyela, Oyekan. "Proverbs and African Modernity: Defining an Ethics of Becoming." Yoruba Studies Review 2, no. 2 (December 21, 2021): 1–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v2i2.130132.
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African proverbs have, for good reason, attracted considerable attention from scholars, both African and non-African. One notable testimony to such attention is the international conference in South Africa from which came a monumental collection of scholarly articles now available on CD and in print. Another evidence of the interest the subject has enjoyed among African scholars is the wealth of publications they have produced in recent years, for example, Adeleke Adeeko’s monograph Proverbs, Textuality, and Nativism in African Literature; Ambrose Adikamkwu Monye’s Proverbs in African Orature: The Aniocha-Igbo Experience; Kwesi Yankah’s The Proverb in the Context of Akan Rhetoric: A Theory of Proverb Praxis; and my Yoruba Proverbs. In addition, there have been influential articles by Ayo Bamgbose, Lawrence. A. Boadi, Romanus N. Egudu, Kwame Gyekye, Yisa Yusuf, and a host of others whose omission from this rather abbreviated list is not meant as a slight. In a recent conversation, the preeminent paremiologist, Wolfgang Mieder, called my attention to the lineup of articles in the most recent issue of Proverbium [23: 2006], in which four of the five lead articles are by Nigerian scholars (Abimbola Adesoji, Bode Agbaje, George Olusola Ajibade, and Akinola Akintunde Asinyanbola) and on African proverbs, an indication, he said of the present effervescence of, and future potential for, proverb studies and publications on them on African soil. Because of these efforts we now know a good deal about proverbs as a cultural resource, their functionality and the protocols for their usage, but also their artistry-structure, wordplay, imagery, and so forth, especially after calls such as Isidore Okpewho’s (1992) that scholars pay due attention to the aesthetic dimensions of traditional oral forms.
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Adékambi, Moïse Adéniran. "African Biblical Hermeneutics Considering Ifá Hermeneutic Principles." Religions 14, no. 11 (November 19, 2023): 1436. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel14111436.
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African contextual biblical hermeneutics, practiced mainly among those from the southern hemisphere, is framed by conflicting academic approaches, methods, epistemologies, rationalities, etc. The general challenge put before the Bible scholars in this part of the world mostly concerns methodologies. This paper focuses on the link between a biblical text and the context of its interpretation. To avoid any specific context or interpreter gaining hermeneutical hegemony over the text, in contextual biblical hermeneutics, the coherence should be first and foremost between the text and the context of its interpretation. The interpretation method of Ifá, the sacred orature of Yoruba and some non-Yoruba people in West Africa, helps to achieve that coherence. This paper is a theoretical presentation of what a contextual biblical hermeneutic can learn from this African Sacred literature reading in context. The hermeneutical rationale of Ifá stories is one of “speaking in proverbs”, considering both the stories and their interpretations as proverbs. In line with this rationale, the ideal link between a biblical text and its hermeneutical context is like the one between a “proverb story” and the many stories (contexts) of its harmonious utterances. The epistemological and hermeneutical functions of the context of interpretation are not to interpret the biblical text but to verify the validity of proposed interpretations.
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Ademola, Oyedokun-Alli, Wasiu. "A Jurilinguistic Analysis of Proverbs as a Concept of Justice Among the Yoruba." Journal of Language Teaching and Research 12, no. 5 (September 1, 2021): 829–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.23.
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Polemical surveys of the rich cultural heritage of the peoples of Africa, especially before their contact, and eventual subjugation to the western imperialists have continued to reverberate across Africa and beyond. The surveys bemoan the abysmal disconnect between the African societies and their indigenous socio-cultural and institutional values. It has been pointed out, more than three decades ago, by Nkosi (1981) that indigenous languages formed part of a living organism forever changing to accommodate concepts and ideas which, over time, became the common heritage of all those who speak the same language. This paper examines the jurisprudential concept of justice among the Yoruba of South West Nigeria, with examples drawn from Yoruba proverbs. What linguistic instruments were available to canonize the justice systems and how were they deployed? The plethora of examples, it is found, have become etched on people’s consciousness and sensibilities, such that they become canonized into unwritten laws in many of the societies. In strict consideration of jurisprudence as the science of law, the study investigates how Yoruba proverbs constitute a corpus of linguistic materials used in informal administration of law among the Yoruba. Although lacking established benchmarks, many of the proverbs have become the codes in the process of administration of justice, which in many cases is conciliatory and not adversarial. In effect, therefore, the study is a contribution to the growing research on African linguistics and jurisprudential analysis. This viewpoint is ensconced in a metaproverb: “a re ma ja kan o si”. (Disagreements are inevitable amongst folks).
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DADJO, Servais Dieu-Donné Yédia. "Exploring Pragmatic Transfers in Ayoade Okedokun’s Mopelola: The Tale of a Beauty Goddess: A Sociolinguistic Perspective." Education and Linguistics Research 8, no. 1 (January 9, 2022): 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/elr.v8i1.19258.
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This research work investigates pragmatic transfers in Okedokun’s Mopelola: The Tale of a Beauty Goddess. It aims at identifying, analyzing and interpreting pragmatic features through which specific meanings are conveyed in the selected play. In the attempt to reach this goal, the data are randomly collected from the whole play on the basis of a quantitative method. Then, the statistical results are qualitatively discussed and interpreted in terms of their frequency distribution. The findings show a predominance of pragmatic transfer of loan words representing 33.33% followed by proverbs 32.14% and loan-blends 16.16%. Transfers of greetings, insults and apology are low as they represent respectively 3.57%, 3.57%, and 2.38% whereas other transfers such as request, gratitude, offer, blaming/reproaching and advice are almost nonexistent. The high proportions of loan words as well as proverbs suggest the author’s determination to value Yoruba culture and tradition. The almost important proportion of loan-blends constitutes a strategy for the author to attract readers’ attention on the various authentic Yoruba expressions. The presence of transfer in greetings stresses the peculiarity of Yoruba culture characterized by the expression of profound respect to elderly people. On the other hand, the presence of insults indicates that though Yoruba culture is characterized by the expression of profound respect, some Yoruba people, as the black sheep, do develop arrogance in contradiction to their culture.
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Ade, Adeniji, and Nafiu Ige. "Textual Orientation to Cculture-Sansitive Proverbs Meanings in Selected Ahmed Yerima’s Yoruba Culture-Based Plays." International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research 11, no. 1 (January 15, 2023): 26–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.37745/ijellr.13/vol11n12641.
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Proverbs have attracted a lot of attention in linguistic scholarship. Specifically, scholars have addressed the thematic and figurative features of proverbs in the espousal of ethnic experiences of different communities from sociolinguistic, stylistic, semantic and pragmatic perspectives. Observation has shown that Pragmatic efforts have however ignored emphasis on the impact of textual parts, especially, common grounds in character’s interactions through shared situational knowledge (SSK) and shared cultural knowledge (SCK) of interlocutors in proverbial interpretations. With the application of Kecskes (2014) socio-cognitive principle of common grounds, this study examines purposively selected Yoruba proverbs in Ahmed Yerima's Yoruba-culture based plays Mojagbe and Ajagunmale with a view to determining their meanings relative to Yerima's pragmatic intentions. The study reveals that proverbs which mainly have linguistic roots in metaphor are interpretively aided by common ground items of shared situational knowledge (SSK) and shared cultural knowledge (SCK) in characters' utterances to pragmatically serve to warn/caution, emphasize, lament, accuse, and explain in the plays. This linguistic contribution to existing literature on Ahmed Yerima’s plays is significant for aiding the understanding of form-function nexus in context-sensitive proverbial interpretation in fictional discourse in linguistic scholarship in Nigeria.
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Omobowale, Ayokunle Olumuyiwa, Mofeyisara Oluwatoyin Omobowale, and Olugbenga Samuel Falase. "The context of children in Yoruba popular culture." Global Studies of Childhood 9, no. 1 (December 6, 2018): 18–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2043610618815381.
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The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria describes children as the heritage of the society because children occupy a special place in societal survival and continuity. Children are esteemed and appreciated. Thus, the embedded culture propagates the essentiality of children, the need for proper socialisation and internalisation to make a responsible being ( Omoluabi). Also, children are prioritised above material wealth, and the essentiality of child wellbeing and education is emphasised in aspects of popular culture such as oral poetry, proverbs, local songs and popular music among others. Using extant elements of Yoruba popular culture which have remained dominant, this article contextually examines the value of children among the Yoruba.
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Odetade, Tayo, and Fasinu Olusegun. "Indigenous Yoruba Popular Music As An Agent For Socio Re-Orientation: An Examination of Saheed Osupa’s Fuji Music." International Journal of English and Comparative Literary Studies 2, no. 4 (July 20, 2021): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.47631/ijecls.v2i4.260.
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This paper explores Fuji popular music as a tool for socialization within the current Yoruba cultural setting using the content exploration approach mode. Much of the traditional elements are embedded in the lyrics of Fuji musicians. Each Fuji musician digs experiments with the Yoruba culture to make the brand of Fuji music distinct from others. Saheed Osupa is a Fuji musician whose lyrics are laced with different sorts of Yoruba socio-cultural values. These values include proverbs, folktales, folklores, riddles, witty sayings, etc. The paper concludes that apart from being a vibrant art form in the popular literature sub-genre, the contents of the Fuji music can also serve pedagogical and other educational purposes in the present-day setup.
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Fadare, Nureni Oyewole. "Postproverbial and Postmodern Aesthetics in Ify Asia Chiemeziem’s New Media Proverbs." Matatu 51, no. 2 (September 21, 2020): 254–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18757421-05102003.
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Abstract Postproverbials are postmodern proverbs that deconstruct the structural and semantic aspects of the traditional proverbs. They are proverbs coined either from the existing proverbs as anti-proverbs or from those that are created newly as new proverbs. The focus of this paper is to examine the tenets of the postproverbials and postmodernism found in the new media proverbs of Ify Asia Chiemeziem’s. About twenty-three proverbs are carefully selected from Chiemeziem’s Facebook wall grouped, and critically analysed according to their contents. References are made to some Yoruba, Nupe and Hausa postproverbials subject to further research. It is observed that most of the proverbs are decorated with sexual imageries, which deconstruct the hitherto held sacrilegious nature of human sex organs featuring in African proverbs. The proverbs are created for their humouristic purposes and as a tool for creating traffics on Chiemeziem’s Facebook wall. The selected new proverbs have proved that postproverbials give room for innovation and creativity, which engenders the formation of new proverbs. Postproverbials are not ethnic-based, rather, a postmodern phenomenon culturing across cultures and traditions. The paper, thus, concludes that the emerging facts about postproverbials are indications that the theory is viable and will endure the test of time.
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Olajide, Makinde David. "Iconography of Yoruba Indigenous Proverbs for Sustainable art Practices." IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 21, no. 08 (August 2016): 22–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.9790/0837-2108062232.
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Lawal, Adebayo, Bade Ajayi, and Wumi Raji. "A pragmatic study of selected pairs of Yoruba proverbs." Journal of Pragmatics 27, no. 5 (May 1997): 635–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0378-2166(96)00056-2.
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Ayoola, Gabriel. "On Wale Ogunyemi’s Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart into Yoruba, Ìgbésí Ayé Okonkwo: A ‘within-to-within’ Approach of its Challenges." Yoruba Studies Review 4, no. 1 (December 21, 2021): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v4i1.130036.
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This essay examines the proverbs, and other wise-sayings as used in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart vis-à-vis the Ogunyemi’s Yoruba translations of the novel, Ìgbésí Ayé Okonkwo. The within-to-within approach is the lens through which the text and its Yoruba translation are explored. The approach establishes some level of similarities in the cultures and nuances of both languages (Igbo and Yoruba) due to their mutual intelligibility. The work encourages more translation of African novels written originally in English, French, or Portuguese into African languages. Doing so preserves the languages and cultures, the sustainability which Akinwumi Isola (2010) refers to as Literary Ecosystem. That is a way of giving back to the society from which the author got inspired. Further, there exists the idea of language retrieval, a process of translation which Isola viewed goes into translation when the novels involved are lexico-semantical and culturally close to each other.
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Tola, Abubakar Mubaraq. "Language And Culture: Veritable Tools For National Development." Tasambo Journal of Language, Literature, and Culture 1, no. 1 (December 20, 2022): 243–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.36349/tjllc.2022.v01i01.027.
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The use of language depends on the level of effectiveness and efficiency with which it is developed and utilised to determine the development of any individual or society. Every society strives to use its language to preserve its culture, shape its thought and worldviews. The paper aims at identifying how Yoruba oral tradition can be deployed to reflect our cultural heritage, shape our thoughts and conceptual beliefs. Ten Yoruba proverbs and five songs were collected and analysed. Twenty elders from various communities in Oka-Akoko kingdom of Ondo State who are custodians of Yoruba culture were randomly sampled and interviewed. Findings revealed that indigenous language users are influenced by cultural values that help to change their moral reorientation and reduce the menace of social vices in our society and foster national development. The paper concludes that language and culture are veritable tools for national development, especially because of their effectiveness in shaping the speaker's moral values and thus, promoting societal traditional values.
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Oyeleye, Olayinka. "Ìwà l’ẹwà: Towards a Yorùbá Feminist Ethics." Yoruba Studies Review 3, no. 1 (December 21, 2021): 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v3i1.129931.
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This paper explores a narrative path towards foregrounding what it calls a gender-relative morality as a core dimension of female subordination. It takes a feminist approach to ethics, which stresses specifically the political enterprise of eradicating systems and structures of male domination and female subordination in both the public and the private domains. The theoretical implications of Feminist narrative ethics is then applied to the philosophical imports of Yorùbá proverbs about women as a way to tease out how female subordination is grounded in Yorùbá ontology and ethics. Spe[1]cifically, the essay interrogates the ethical and aesthetical trajectory that leads from ìwà l’ẹwà (character is beauty), a Yoruba moral dictum, to ìwà l’ẹwà obìnrin ([good moral] character is a woman’s beauty). Within this transition, there is the possibility that the woman is excluded from the category of those properly referred to as ọmọlúwàbí.
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Olatunji, Samson Olusola. "Indigenous Language Endangerment as the Hearse of Democratic Culture among the Yoruba People of Nigeria." International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education 4 (December 26, 2023): 31–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.14434/ijlcle.v4i.31830.
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There is a proven intricate interconnectedness between language and culture. Most Yoruba political office holders demonstrate degrees of English language proficiency as evidence of English-medium Western education. It is thus logical to expect them to have become democratic in behavior. However, many that have held political posts in Nigeria have proved undemocratic. One then wonders how they successfully avoided being “infected” by the democratic values of Western cultures. One could logically conclude that a typical Yoruba politician is unable to learn democratic values from Western education because of the long history of the monarchical system of government. This paper, however, probed the existence of democratic values in Yoruba precolonial government. Data were obtained from 200 respondents through a mix of accidental and stratified sampling techniques. A four-item interview guide was administered to the respondents by the researcher. Among the findings is that the Yoruba language is replete with proverbs, aphorisms, and idioms capable of promoting democratic values. Comprehensive implementation of mother-tongue-based multilingual education up to the end of secondary school level is thus recommended for the preservation of the democratic values of their traditional cultures to facilitate adequate understanding of Western democratic literacy.
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Akewula, Adams Olufemi. "Al-Ghuluwu fi al-amsal al-arabiy." Matatu 51, no. 2 (September 21, 2020): 299–310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18757421-05102006.
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Abstract Al-Ghuluwu fi al-amsal al-arabiy (Postproverbial) is a new trend in modern Arabic studies. It is a way to gain the perceptions of learners of the language into Afro-Arabic and Yoruba cultures in contemporary times. Through the learning of the subject matter, University of Ibadan students of Arabic Language and Literature explore how much common philosophy is shared between postproverbial expressions in Arabic and Yoruba languages. Afro-Arabic postproverbial demonstrates the trends of modernity within the culture. It absorbs and transforms wisdom accumulated over the few years with the experience of students in their various localities. This paper investigates the exposure to postproverbiality in Arabic among the students of Arabic language and literature who are predominantly Yoruba in the University of Ibadan and how the practice of postproverbials transforms their perceptions and values of Yoruba and Afro-Arab cultural concepts. Thus, two questions are raised: to what extent does the use of postproverbials in the Arabic literature course in the University of Ibadan shed light on Yoruba cultural aspects not regularly covered in Arabic Proverbs? How does the use of postproverbials in the Arabic literature course promote a new understanding among the students and make them discover and reassess their values and preferences in the modern time? The theoretical framework of the paper is adopted from A. Raji-Oyelade’s “Postproverbials in Yoruba Culture: A Playful Blasphemy”. The result of this study indicates that students employed their basic knowledge of Arabic language, coupled with their Yoruba cultural background, to re-create a number of postproverbial texts within the context of Arabic culture. It also exhibits their level of consciousness in the modern times.
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Joseph Babasola, Osoba. "The Nature, Form and Functions of Yoruba Proverbs: A SocioPragmatic Perspective." IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 19, no. 2 (2014): 44–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.9790/0837-19244456.
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Bernard, April, and Adonis Diaz Fernandez. "Yoruba proverbs as cultural metaphor for understanding management in the Caribbean." International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 12, no. 3 (August 9, 2012): 329–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470595812440154.
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Adisa, Oluwadamilare. "Speaking of Animals: A Conceptual analysis of Animal Metaphors in Yoruba." Yoruba Studies Review 8, no. 2 (November 14, 2023): 115–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.8.2.134895.
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Figurative expressions, particularly metaphors, play a pivotal role in shaping our interpretation and comprehension of human discourse within a cultural system. In Yoruba culture, the metaphoric use of animal forms an indispensable component of daily life, manifesting in diverse forms, including proverbs, music, oral literature etc. To this end, previous studies have primarily concentrated on the stylistic use of animal-related metaphors in Yoruba language. This paper diverges by using a conceptual/cognitive approach to explore how specific animal terms and their associated concepts are metaphorically employed to represent various facets of human experiences, behaviors, and attributes. Data collection involved a one-week purposive observation and audio-recording of random discussions among Yoruba speakers in Ibadan, consultation with Yoruba language teachers and elderly family members. Audio-recordings were subsequently transcribed to extract all animal-related metaphoric expressions. These metaphors were then analyzed, organized and categorized according to Lakoff and Johnson’s Idealized Cultural or Cognitive Metaphor (ICM) framework. The study demonstrates the existence of conceptual connections between animal attributes and human traits in Yoruba culture as conveyed in twenty metaphorical expressions analyzed. The study also reveals that through the conceptual process of “mapping” across domains, animals in the source domain are used to depict various human experiences, behaviors, both semantically positive and derogatory to humans in the target domain through metaphorical means. This paper concludes that both domestic and non-domestic animals are employed to communicate intricate concepts and ideas via succinct and vivid imagery based on the sociocultural values, beliefs, and general worldview of the Yoruba people.
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Presbey, Gail. "Sophie Olúwọlé's Major Contributions to African Philosophy." Hypatia 35, no. 2 (2020): 231–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/hyp.2020.6.
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AbstractThis article provides an overview of the contributions to philosophy of Nigerian philosopher Sophie Bọ´sẹ`dé Olúwọlé (1935–2018). The first woman to earn a philosophy PhD in Nigeria, Olúwọlé headed the Department of Philosophy at the University of Lagos before retiring to found and run the Centre for African Culture and Development. She devoted her career to studying Yoruba philosophy, translating the ancient Yoruba Ifá canon, which embodies the teachings of Orunmila, a philosopher revered as an Óríṣá in the Ifá pantheon. Seeing his works as examples of secular reasoning and argument, she compared Orunmila's and Socrates' philosophies and methods and explored similarities and differences between African and European philosophies. A champion of African oral traditions, Olúwọlé argued that songs, proverbs, liturgies, and stories are important sources of African responses to perennial philosophical questions as well as to contemporary issues, including feminism. She argued that the complementarity that ran throughout Yoruba philosophy guaranteed women's rights and status, and preserved an important role for women, youths, and foreigners in politics.
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Oludare, Olupemi. "Street language in Dùndún Drum Language." African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music 11, no. 3 (February 28, 2022): 33–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.21504/amj.v12i1.2429.
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Dùndún drum language is a practice of speech surrogacy employed by dùndún drummers in Yoruba culture. The dùndún drummers play sequences of melo-rhythmic patterns; a form of communication that employs musical and linguistic elements, comprehensible to listeners knowledgeable in the Yoruba language. Although these sequenced patterns are sourced from Yoruba everyday sentences and oral genres (proverbs, poetry, praise-chants, and idiomatic phrases), the drummers also embrace other social narratives. These include the popular linguistic expressions in public spaces referred to as “street language.” This is because the streets serve as spaces for social life, musical and cultural imaginaries, musical and language expressions, and identity. This street language, referred to as “ohùn ìgboro” in Yoruba, include slang (saje), slurs (òtè), neologies (ènà), satire (èfè), dance-drum patterns (àlùjó), and socio-political slogans (àtúnlò-èdè). This article explores the influence of street language on dùndún music. This article follows an ethnographic model, with an analysis of the content of the dùndún music and its associated texts. The article’s findings include the extent to which the two cultures have overlapped, and the various socio-cultural benefits of adopting the language of each other’s cultural practices. In the process, the article contributes to the debate on authenticity and social structure in Yoruba culture. The article emphasises the need for an integrated research approach of music and language and their interrelationship to street cultures in Nigeria.
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Khan, Lubna Akhlaq. "“A woman’s tongue is a double-edged sword”: A Linguo-Cultural Analysis of Yoruba and Punjabi Proverbs." NUML journal of critical inquiry 19, no. II (March 14, 2022): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.52015/numljci.v19iii.199.
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This study focuses on Yoruba (African) and Punjabi proverbs by engaging with the themes of 'talk' and 'silence' regarding the gender of the speaker. Taking insights from Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (Lazar, 2007), data have been collected through purposive quota sampling from the collections of Punjabi and Yoruba proverbs. The thematic content analysis of the paremiological data from both languages reveals that women have been designated as loquacious in contemptuous terms as an indication of their ‘empty brains.’ Their argument is assumed to be meaningless as compared to the one offered by some male speakers. Silence in women is appreciated as a chief trait of a socially acceptable character. On the other hand, men's talk has been glorified as an essential trait of ‘merdangi’ (manliness), and they are encouraged to talk. In both languages, men are explicitly advised neither to act upon their wives’ suggestions nor to share their secrets with them. Feminine discourse has been showcased as an unproductive activity with a strong emphasis on the speakers' unreliability and insincerity. The speakers of these languages have to be aware of the adverse effects of such discourses on silencing the feminine voices for their rights and venting their creative talents. A conscious effort needs to be made by the media and academia to spread more positive discourses to make women an active and productive part of the social dialogue.
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Akanbi, Timothy Adeyemi. "Contradictions and Inconsistencies in Human Nature: Evidence from Yorùbá Proverbs." Journal of Language and Literature 20, no. 2 (October 5, 2020): 261. http://dx.doi.org/10.24071/joll.v20i2.2393.
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<p><em>Yorùbá proverbs, and by extension, proverbs in every culture and clime, show the beliefs, philosophy, traditions, and norms of every society. There is no community or society where proverbs are not in use. Proverb is a phenomenon that aligns with the wisdom of people livingwithin a community. The Yorùbá race holds proverbs in high esteem. They see it as a culture that cuts across all the strata of the society. For every deed, action or interaction, there is always a make-ready proverb that matches it. This paper examines Yorùbá proverbs but in a different perspective. It looks at the seeming contradictions observed in Yorùbá proverbs and brings to the fore the implications of such contradictions. The paper also examines the paradox of these contradictions and affirms that the nature of man calls for the different proverbs that match the behaviors of people. The paper also asserts that this phenomenon is to exemplify the dynamics, functions and usages of language in general and of the Yorùbá language in particular. The paper concludes that the seeming contradictions observed in Yorùbá proverbs portray the nature of inconsistencies and contradictions in man. The paper, therefore, opines that it is not that proverbs are contradictory on their own, but that the proverbs portray unpredictable behaviors that are found in human nature.</em></p>
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Ayeyemi, Ebenezer Oluwatoyin, and Olaoluwa Marvelous Ayokunmi. "Yoruba Folksong Philosophical Approach to Health Education: Curbing the Spread of COVID-19." SustainE 1, no. 1 (May 15, 2023): 94–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.55366/suse.v1i1.7.
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Throughout the world's history, there are cases of epidemics in nearly every country, state, and community at various times. During the dark ages in Africa, a number of diseases led to the premature deaths of young ones, adults, and even the elderly within clans and communities. Back then, people believed that outbreaks were caused by the wrathful gods of their communities, whereas it was the unsanitary living conditions and lack of hygiene that served as catalysts for these epidemics. Consequently, the people constantly remained at risk of incessant outbreaks. However, the Yorubas in Southwest Nigeria, among others, have a rich traditional culture that permeates their daily lives and surroundings. Music, as an integral part of their culture, accompanies all aspects of individual and communal existence. Education is deemed crucial for a good life and health. The Yoruba people have employed diverse methods to instil education in their growing citizens, dating back to the neo-colonial era. These methods include teaching folk songs, folk tales, poems, proverbs, and imitating societal values and norms.
The emergence of COVID-19 with its deadly implications has instilled fear worldwide. Everyone pondered preventive measures through education before considering treatment and cure. Preventing the virus spread became the responsibility of individuals and organizations all levels. This discussion examines the impact of an educational Yoruba folksong that promotes self-restraint to mitigate contact with this deadly disease and recommends their adoption at the local level of human habitation to enhance understanding and adaptation to disease prevention and control measures.
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S.B., Aliyu. "Oral Tradition and African Environmentalism in Wasiu Abimbola’s Yoruba Movie, Ikoko Ebora." International Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics 5, no. 2 (June 30, 2022): 26–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.52589/ijlll-dpgkpmlv.
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The oral tradition in African society has always served the purpose of transmitting the values of the African people across generations among other functions of entertaining and provoking critical thought. In the emerging global concern over environmental sustainability, understanding the perspective from which people view and interact with the environment around them would provide insights into the human-induced challenges facing it, and how these challenges can be overcome. This paper thus posited that the oral repertoires of African societies would provide insights into the people’s perspective of the environment around them. This paper, therefore, undertook an examination of the oral literary forms such as incantations, proverbs, myths, and songs in Wasiu Abimbola’s Yoruba film titled Ikoko Ebora for the deployment of environmental aesthetics which are peculiar to the Yoruba culture. The study concluded that the deployment of environmental agencies in oral literary forms reflects the African conception of the environment as a functional entity and a complementary agency for the use of man.
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Ohwovoriole. "Peacemaking and Proverbs in Urhobo and Yoruba Marital Conflicts: Part 1." African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 1, no. 2 (2011): 122. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.1.2.122.
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Phillips. "Peacemaking and Proverbs in Urhobo and Yoruba Marital Conflicts: Part 2." African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 1, no. 2 (2011): 136. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.1.2.136.
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M.O., Oyelami, R. F. Famutimi, and T. S. Fadare. "Development and Evaluation of an Android-based Yoruba Language Proverbs Preservatory and Repository System." International Journal of Computer Applications 183, no. 6 (June 21, 2021): 9–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.5120/ijca2021921228.
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Zartman. "Peacemaking and Proverbs in Urhobo and Yoruba Marital Conflicts: Guest Editor's Note." African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 1, no. 2 (2011): 120. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.1.2.120.
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Ehineni, Taiwo. "From Conceptual Metaphors to Cultural Metaphors: Metaphorical Language in Yoruba Proverbs and Praise Poems." Language Matters 48, no. 3 (September 2, 2017): 130–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2017.1406533.
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Arowosegbe, Jacob O. "Indigenous African Jurisprudential Thoughts on the Concept of Justice: A Reconstruction Through Yoruba Proverbs." Journal of African Law 61, no. 2 (June 2017): 155–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855317000183.
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AbstractThe absence of writing in pre-colonial Africa has often befuddled indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts about law and related concepts. This article attempts a reconstruction of indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts on the concept of justice through a prescriptive exploration of Yoruba proverbs. This attempt reveals inter alia the reconciliatory and metaphysical nature and character of justice, as well as the goals of punishment and the character and nature of a desirable judicial system in African thoughts. While noting the artificiality of the categorizations adopted for the reconstruction, the author cautions that, although it may be necessary to compare the indigenous African conceptions of justice with similar postulations in western jurisprudence, the true value of the former lies in their proper understanding and appreciation within the indigenous African setting, as doing otherwise might lead to contradictions and absurdities.
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Agwuele, Augustine. "‘Exertion is not connected to success’: everyday Yoruba discourse of work and success." Africa 91, no. 5 (November 2021): 810–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0001972021000590.
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AbstractWork hard, work smart, make the right connections, get the right education, invest wisely – yet after doing all the supposedly right things, success remains elusive to many. For a few, however, who may or may not have done exactly these things, success seems to come effortlessly. Some are very fortunate and others not so much. The lack of correspondence between exertion and success or work and good fortune is an issue that confronts lay persons and professionals alike. Focusing on Yoruba people, I discursively present lay Yoruba persons’ apprehension and common-sense view of this conundrum as reflected in their contextualized language use and supported by other ‘mundane’ information from day-to-day life. By looking at their everyday language, it is possible to deduce their reality as socially constructed in their discourses and gain insight into how they reconcile individual exertions with a view that asserts determinism. Further, I will suggest that the basis of the Yoruba conventional knowledge system informing their utterances and actions pertaining specifically to people's earthly fortunes lies in their origination narrative and original life quest, the essence of which remains inarguable even if temporarily pliable. The popular saying ‘iṣẹ́ o kan oríire’, exertion does not relate to success, is used as a point of departure and sense contained in their orature – situational utterances, pithy proverbs, aphorism and anecdotes – to tease out the Yoruba ordinary meaning of success/fortune and how it is acquired, relative to individuals’ earthly journey and preoccupation. Based on the sampled day-to-day utterances, individual life, it seems, unfolds as presumably scripted, despite apparent avowal and disavowal of ordination in people's pronouncements. Orí (head) retains its position at the summit, assenting – or not – to earthly endeavours.
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Agbaje, James Bode. "A Socio-Cultural Study Of Negative Portrayals Of Masculinity In The Yorùbá Oral Literature: Yorùbá Proverbs As A Case Study." Journal of Arts and Humanities 5, no. 10 (October 20, 2016): 01. http://dx.doi.org/10.18533/journal.v5i10.927.
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<p>The negative portrayal of masculinity has been thoroughly attempted in this paper. The Yoruba proverbs were selected for analysis because it cuts across the length and breadth of the Yorubaland. The genre is rendered by both men and women in the society. It is established in this paper that men are not left out of various social misconducts which are capable of disorganizing the love, peace and unity that are expected of normal socio-cultural setting, not only in the Yorubaland but also in the world at large. Therefore, this paper concludes that men are liable to social ills in the society like their female counterparts.</p>
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Timothy-Asobele, Jide. "Problèmes de l'adaptation et de la traduction française de Lanke Omu (Omuti) de Kola Ogunmola." Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 38, no. 2 (January 1, 1992): 101–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/babel.38.2.06tim.
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Omuti is a theatrical adaptation of Amos Tutuola's work titled: The Palmwine Drinkard and His Dead Palm-wine Tapster in the Dead's Town, published in London by Faber and Faber in 1952. A year after, in 1953, a French translator, Raymond Queneau translated it into French with the title LTvrogne dans la brousse. Many long essays, theses and articles in learned journals have been devoted to this work. In addition to all this literary fortune, Kola Ogunmola, adapted it for the stage in 1962. During the 1969 Pan-African Festival of Arts in Algiers, in Algeria, the adapted play won a Silver medal for theatre. This was one of the major reasons why we translated this work into French in 1982. We encountered many problems during the translation of Omuti, the least of which are, how to render the "Longish" title into a short one, the difficulty in establishing grammatical and semantic equivalents between the Yoruba original and the French translation. Certain linguistic habits that belong to the Oral tradition of the Yoruba people, such as the use of riddles, proverbs, talking drum register etc. made the French version difficult to work on. But there is communication in spite of all the above linguistic and cultural problems.
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Ariremako I. A and Badmus-Lawal K. "Translation as a Linguistics Process: A Case Study of the Concept of Equivalence in Translation TL----SL." Britain International of Linguistics Arts and Education (BIoLAE) Journal 3, no. 3 (December 11, 2021): 203–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.33258/biolae.v3i3.538.
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In this study, the linguistics processes guiding the concept of equivalence in translation of Source Language and Target Language are vividly discussed. When translating from one language to another, it's necessary to decode the source text and look for an acceptable translation in the target language. The main purpose of this paper is to explain the concept Equivalence in Translation to this end. The data used were drawn from some Yoruba lexical words, idioms, proverbs and figurative expressions as well as its English equivalents. According to the most authoritative research in the fields of grammar and sociolinguistics, grammatical analysis is insufficient to explain the nature of language. The results also show that knowledge of a language is a composite of knowledge of a language's structure and usage in a socio-cultural setting.
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Ebenso, Bassey, Gbenga Adeyemi, Adegboyega O. Adegoke, and Nick Emmel. "Using indigenous proverbs to understand social knowledge and attitudes to leprosy among the Yoruba of southwest Nigeria." Journal of African Cultural Studies 24, no. 2 (December 2012): 208–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2012.704263.
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Ajila, C. O. "Hope Fostering Among the Yoruba Speaking People of Nigeria: The Use of Proverbs, Cognomen, Prayers and Names." Anthropologist 6, no. 2 (April 2004): 141–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2004.11890841.
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Oriola, Titilope Oluwaseun. "Re-performing African Literature: A Review of Owonibi’s Translation of three Yoruba Literary works into English – Chief Gaa, Delusion of Grandeur and The Tight Game." Yoruba Studies Review 7, no. 1 (July 26, 2022): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v7i1.131455.
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Re-performance, the way works of arts are translated into another language with distinct rules and principles yet preserving the aesthetics and values of the original texts, is a major aesthetic resource used by writers to establish their perspectives on translation. Jacobson’s school of descriptive translation is the theoretical framework for this review essay. The dataset include Adébáyọ Fálétí’s Basọrun Gáà, Ọládẹjọ Òkédìjí’s Àjà Ló lerù, and Akínwùmí Ìsọlá’s Ó Le Kú. This is designed to investigate level of re-performance through linguistic equivalence and socio-cultural thematic preservation. The translation of these works from the indigenous Yoruba language to the English language, in no small measure increases its appeal yet preserving its contextual essence and values. It featured prominently the use of structural simple sentences, functional declarative and interrogative sentences. Proverbs, witty sayings, eulogy and figures of speech which were translated to have a contextual equivalence with the original texts.
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Ehineni, Taiwo Oluwaseun. "A Discourse -Structural Analysis of Yorùbá Proverbs in Interaction." Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal 18, no. 1 (May 11, 2016): 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.14483/calj.v18n1.9660.
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The subject of the proverb especially in the African context has been diversely explored by studies as Yankah (1989), Obeng (1996), Owomoyela (2005) and Fasiku (2006), this study however attempts a discourse and structural analysis of Yorùbá proverbs collected from oral interviews and native Yorùbá texts. First, based on a theory of the proverb as a discourse medium, the study reveals that proverbs are used to achieve different discourse acts and communicative goals by speakers. Native speakers use the proverb as a linguistic strategy of negotiating deep ideas and intentions. Second, the paper avers that Yorùbá proverb is structurally characterized by some lexical and grammatical devices which help to reinforce its communicative intelligibility and textuality. Thus, it examines the Yorùbá proverb both functionally and formally and underscores that it is a culturally and linguistically rich significant part of the Yorùbá speech community.
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Finley, Mackenzie. "Constructing Identities: Amos Tutuola and the Ibadan Literary Elite in the wake of Nigerian Independence." Yoruba Studies Review 2, no. 2 (December 21, 2021): 1–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/ysr.v2i2.129908.
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With Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola as primary subject, this paper at[1]tempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. Despite the international success of his literary publications, Tutuola was denied access to the most intimate discourses on the development of African literature by his Nigerian elite contemporaries, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, in the 1950s and early 1960s. Having completed only a few years of colonial schooling, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries in terms of education. Yet if education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, this paper will suggest that the resulting epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola’s worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between Tutuola and the elite. Furthermore, educational experiences and sociocultural identities informed the ways in which independent Nigeria was envisioned by both Tutuola and the elite writers. While the elites’ discourse on independence reflected their proximity to Nigeria’s political elite, Tutuola positioned himself as a distinctly Yoruba writer in the new Nigeria. He envisioned a state in which traditional knowledge remained central to the African identity. Ultimately, his life and work attest to the endurance of indigenous epistemology through years of European colonialism and into independence. 148 Mackenzie Finley During a lecture series at the University of Palermo, Italy, Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola presented himself, his work, and his Yoruba heritage to an audience of Italian students and professors of English and Anglophone literatures. During his first lecture, the Yoruba elder asked his audience, “Why are we people afraid to go to the burial ground at night?” An audience member ventured a guess: “Perhaps we are afraid to know what we cannot know.” Tutuola replied, “But, you remember, we Africans believe that death is not the end of life. We know that when one dies, that is not the end of his life [. . .] So why are all people afraid to go to the burial ground at night? They’re afraid to meet the ghosts from the dead” (emphasis in original).1 Amos Tutuola (1920–1997) was recognized globally for his perpetuation of Yoruba folklore tradition via novels and short stories written in unconventional English. His works, especially The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952) and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1954), were translated into numerous European languages, including Italian. Given the chance to speak directly with an Italian audience at Palermo, Tutuola elaborated on the elements of Yoruba culture that saturated his fiction. His lectures reflected the same sense of purpose that drove his writing. Tutuola explained, “As much as I could [in my novels], I tried my best to bring out for the people to see the secrets of my tribe—I mean, the Yoruba people—and of Nigerian people, and African people as a whole. I’m trying my best to bring out our traditional things for the people to know a little about us, about our beliefs, our character, and so on.”2 Tutuola’s didactics during the lecture at Palermo reflect his distinct intellectual and cultural commitment to a Yoruba cosmology, one that was not so much learned in his short years of schooling in the colonial education system as it was absorbed from his life of engagement with Yoruba oral tradition. With Tutuola as primary subject, this paper attempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. The educated elite writers, such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, during the same time period, will serve as a point of comparison. On October 1, 1960, when Nigeria gained independence from Britain, Tutuola occupied an unusual place relative to the university-educated elite, the semi-literate “average man,” the international 1 Alassandra di Maio, Tutuola at the University: The Italian Voice of a Yoruba Ancestor, with an Interview with the Author and an Afterword by Claudio Gorlier (Rome: Bulzoni, 2000), 38. The lecture’s transcriber utilized graphic devices (italicized and bolded words, brackets denoting pauses and movements) to preserve the dynamic oral experience of the lecture. However, so that the dialogue reads more easily in the context of this paper, I have removed the graphic devices but maintained what the transcriber presented as Tutuola’s emphasized words, simply italicizing what was originally in bold. 2 Di Maio, Tutuola at the University, 148. Constructing Identities 149 stage of literary criticism, and the emerging field of African literature. This position helped shape his sense of identity. Despite the success of his literary publications, Tutuola was not allowed to participate in the most intimate dis[1]courses on the development of African literature by his elite contemporaries. In addition to his lack of access to higher education, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries on epistemological grounds. If education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, an epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola’s worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between the elite and Tutuola. This paper draws largely on correspondence, conference reports, and the personal papers of Tutuola and his elite contemporaries housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as on interviews transcribed by the Transcription Centre in London, the periodical Africa Report (1960–1970), and Robert M. Wren and Claudio Gorlier, concentrating on primary sources produced during the years immediately prior to and shortly after Nigerian independence in 1960. Tutuola’s ideas generally did not fit into the sociocultural objectives of his elite counterparts. Though they would come in contact with one another via the world of English-language literature, Tutuola usually remained absent from or relegated to the margins of elite discussions on African creative writing. Accordingly, the historical record has less to say about his intellectual ruminations than about those of his elite contemporaries. Nonetheless, his hand-written drafts, interviews, and correspondences with European agents offer a glimpse at the epistemology and sense of identity of an “average” Nigerian in the aftermath of colonialism and independence.
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Onyejizu, Raphael Chukwuemeka, and Uchenna Frances Obi. "Ideological Commitment in Modern African Poetry: Redefining Cultural Aesthetics in Selected Poems of Niyi Osundare’s The Eye of the Earth and Village Voice." Journal of Language and Literature 20, no. 2 (October 5, 2020): 332. http://dx.doi.org/10.24071/joll.v20i2.2579.
Full textAbstract:
<p>In this study, ideological commitment to cultural norms is a standpoint that has led to the development of modern African poetry. The Modern African poet is seen as an advocate for cultural prowess and transformation and as such naturally adopts this African traditional antecedent in his poems. Several critical studies on the two collections have focused on the stylistic and literary values of Osundare’s craft without appropriate reviews on the poet's use of cultural forms to reflect his ideological stance on pertinent issues affecting the society. The descriptive qualitative content analysis method was used to show how the selected poems reflect Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial theory of hybridity as expressed through the shifting of cultural margins in the society, thus, illustrating the use of cultural art forms as a means of appreciating nature and exploring issues of exploitation and marginalization. The study also examines the influence of the traditional Yoruba African culture on the poet with an adequate focus on the content and devices of orature, proverbs, riddles, parables, humor, satire, and traditional forms of language. The study submits that the poet adequately incorporated the ideals of culture and its elements in his enduring craft showing his allegiance to his folk cultural patterns.</p>
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Borisova, Anna A., and Yulia N. Ebzeeva. "Gastronomic Vocabulary as a Feature of Nigerian English." Russian Journal of Linguistics 23, no. 3 (December 15, 2019): 820–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2019-23-3-820-836.
Full textAbstract:
The World Englishes Paradigm studies various aspects of the English language characterized by specific peculiarities and changing as a result of contacts with indigenous languages and cultures. The history of English in Nigeria embraces 500 years of an interaction between highly different cultural systems and civilizations. Language contacts between English and the indigenous languages of Nigeria have led to its linguistic, cultural and intrastructural diversity. The aim of this article is to analyse the gastronomic vocabulary of Nigerian English influenced by the Nigerian worldview and culture. The research is focused on borrowings from African languages (mainly Yoruba and Igbo) that play a vital role in forming the culturally important lexicon of Nigerian English. The sources of the research material are dictionaries, as well as books by Nigerian writers composed in English. The analysis carried out in the course of the research allowed us to discover secondary nominations that denote Nigerian flora and cuisine, to reveal their metaphorical usage and to study corresponding figurative comparisons, idioms, proverbs and sayings. The investigation of gastronomic symbols in Nigerian speech shows universal processes of employing common gastronomic lexical units from real-life discourse as a basis for symbolization. The results of the study show that the gastronomic vocabulary and the images it creates constitute one of the most impressive Nigerian cultural codes. The knowledge of this vocabulary is instrumental in understanding those codes.