Papers by francis m. ganyi
Listening to nicknames performed in Bakor community arouses a lot of curiosity about their meanin... more Listening to nicknames performed in Bakor community arouses a lot of curiosity about their meaning and usage. At first glance, the nickname sounds like an ephemeral composition that serves an immediate need and is discarded or relegated to the background. On a closer look and curious contact with the composers and performers of nicknames, particularly in traditional context however, one discovered the intricate reflection of culture that the nickname embodies. This writer’s curiosity was allayed by Elders who told him emphatically that linguistically, nicknames serve as a veritable tool for the verification of the several levels of paradigmatic and syntagmatic manipulation of linguistic resources in a given language. Culturally, they are veritable reflections of the cultural norms and practices that authenticate and give credence and uniqueness to a particular culture; while ecologically, the nicknames serve as a means for the verification of landscape and ecological regions of an e...
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2015
Orality is primordial, transcends all races and permeates all facets of life from birth to maturi... more Orality is primordial, transcends all races and permeates all facets of life from birth to maturity and death. Each of these stages of human life and endeavor is prone to composition and delivery of Oral material as well as linguistic manipulation either in celebration of life or in adoration and thankfulness to a deity who superintends over human affairs. Language, in the form of ordinary verbal utterances, signs or gestures, has often lent itself to diverse uses at different levels of interaction or communication in the articulation of messages either in social parlance or in sacrificial and ritual circumstances. The complexity of Oral communication becomes evident when language is viewed in every day social interaction-sociolinguistics- then in stylized forms-ethnopoetics, and in ritual enactments-incantations. This can perhaps explain why Orality or language operates at different levels of complexity. Ekajuk new yam festival provides opportunities in social as well as ritual cir...
This paper examines the nature of the difficulties of oral literature taxonomy. It reviews the ef... more This paper examines the nature of the difficulties of oral literature taxonomy. It reviews the efforts made by scholars over the years to resolve those difficulties in order to arrive at a generally acceptable taxonomy of the art. The study holds the view that the enduring classificatory challenge of African oral literature is partly a consequence of a misconception of the art, arising from an approximation of its essential meaning (to its owners), to its nearest equivalent in alien cultures. The further subjection of the approximated but inaccurate meaning to canons derived from the alien cultures compounds the difficulties. The nature of oral literature itself, especially its compositeness and fluidity; dependence on performance as an essential ingredient of existence; performance contextual relevance; ease of adaptability to new techniques and technology, is particularly challenging to its taxonomists. This scholarship concludes that a generally acceptable taxonomy of oral litera...
Studies in Sociology of Science, Sep 1, 2012
The practice of medicine or herbal cures in traditional societies particularly in Africa has ofte... more The practice of medicine or herbal cures in traditional societies particularly in Africa has often been viewed with mixed feelings and sometimes with outright disdain yet it has its own history of achievements particularly in the areas of bone setting and therapeutic cures or exorcism. This notwithstanding, today in Nigeria however, one notices that modern technological innovations and education have greatly impacted on traditional medical practice and medicine men are encouraged to improve upon their practices, particularly their environments. The efficacy of traditional herbal cures in most of our societies encouraged this writer to examine some of the methods employed by the medicine men. The result of this was the interesting discovery that traditional medicine men place high priority on the power of the word as evidenced in their incantations, invocations and chants. The "word" in the healing process is seen as an appeal to a supernatural being who is summoned to the aid of the patient. That supernatural force could be the supreme God or the traditional deities believed to be in control of human existence. In the end, the writer discovered that the traditional medicine men possessed the best stock of poetical expressions and dramatic dialogue which they employ to establish a relationship or rapport between man and nature or the supernatural in the process of healing.
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2012
The concept of the heroic personality has undergone drastic changes over the ages. From the ancie... more The concept of the heroic personality has undergone drastic changes over the ages. From the ancient mythological concept of the hero as a divine creature or the god according to the transformations the hero has boundaries. Yesterday's hero is most likely not today's hero since environmental circumstances dictate the changing face of the hero and what constitutes heroism. These considerations have spurred this writer into an examination of the heroic personality and the concept of heroism in Bakor society with the view to understanding what the people conceive of the hero and heroism. The method was to examine few folktales which constitute the oper society. The conclusion is that the hero depending on the society's philosophical outlook which moulds the personality and actions of t Moreover, the hero-protagonist's actions also largely depend on the perception of the artist of the ethical values of moral stand point of the community within which the hero performance is therefore a common phenomenon in the attempt to reflect different facets of cultural life while at the same time, enhancing the metamorphic complexity of the hero Keywords: metamorphic complexity, hero The development of the heroic personality has been one of controversy through the ages. The perception of what the heroic and heroism should be has never been fully resolved in all ages. of the hero and hero-worship in the 19 priestly, literary and lastly monarchical. Each of these ages had its own attributes or perceptions of the individual as a hero. These expectations have differed being, through the prophetic age of Mahomet in Islam; the poetic ages of Dante and Shakespeare; the Priestly puritanist or reformatory movements of Luther e.t.c. to the modernist monarchical age of t however, the concept of the hero or heroism can be applied to anyone or the ordinary person in society. In the past, heroes were leaders of men; great men who worked and lived and were conceived of as the modelers of society. They were seen as creators of whatever the generality of society contrived to be or to attain. They were seen as accomplishers of all things we see standing in the outer world. These things were seen as the material result, the practical realization and embodiments of the thoughts of these great heroes in the world. Man, created in the image and likeness of God, was the rarest emblem of nature, the overall hero argues that societies of the world are founded on hero meaning government of heroes. Society revered and paid allegiance to men who were wise and great and thus heroes. These great dignitaries are, therefore, compared faked or adulterated and banknotes are easily forged. The hero is worshipped as an epitome of ethical excellence because he possesses unfathomable qualities but like fake gold or a forged bank Anything inexplicable is held in awe and in most instances worshipped. But in Bakor society the position of the hero is shrouded in ambivalence. His complex personality is open to both admiration changes with changing circumstances. We have observed that in ancient times, the concept of the hero was divine or semi heroism is determined by the hero's relationship with his society or the group to which he belongs. The society or group creates the hero to reflect their norms or cultural background. Here the hero either helps to define society or to condemn social conventions acceptable to society but at variance with the hero's vision. According to C.M. Bowra, (1969), heroes arouse not only interest in that "Heroic poetry [and literature] comes into existence when popular attention concentrates, not only on a man's magical powers, but on his specifically human virtues"… (p. 22) Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 2863 (Online) 149
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2015
Literary landscaping refers to the imaginative representation of nature and the physical environm... more Literary landscaping refers to the imaginative representation of nature and the physical environment in the fictional writings of authors who display profound love and attachment to nature and the environment. It emphasizes the presentation of characters and events in a part romanticized and part mythical connection with the soil. Landscape or seascape is as such the natural habitat, the total environment of plant and animal and their ecology as presented in fictional creations. It also emphasizes a mythical as well as practical or realistic attachment to the soil resulting from personal experiences utilized for commentary on human existential problems. Early American writers, therefore, derived inspiration from the land and the experiences of early settlers which were ingrained in their fictional writings. The idea of land and seascape or the wilderness and the unknown world seems to have featured more prominently although not restricted to American Literature because of the vast expanse of land and sea available to the early settlers and which land and seascapes had a mythic or even religious significance on the imagination of not just the ordinary inhabitants but also writers. The significance of land and seascapes to the people results in a highly romanticized vision of the environment in the American Literary imagination. The vision of perfection and idealism appears in the works of early writers who present a picture of frontier life, the wilderness and its potential for human development. This paper attempts to portray the appeal of landscape and seascape and their effect on three American writers as they utilize same in their imaginative constructs that afford them an opportunity to articulate the American dream and the problems of attainment of that dream in a land that promised unlimited possibilities of actualization. The paper also attempts to show how this imagination has actuated a new genre of American Literature in The Midwestern Pastoral.
One of the disciplines that, for long, eluded proper perception and analysis due to the lack of a... more One of the disciplines that, for long, eluded proper perception and analysis due to the lack of an effective theoretical approach that would elucidate the intricacies involved in its creation or realization is African oral literature, which, incidentally, provides a base for its written counterpart. In contemporary times, however, consistent scholastic investigation has led to the eventual shifting of emphasis from content to context thus emphasizing the centrality of the performance context to the clarification of the interaction between artist, audience and the environment. The emergence of performance studies, as well, aided renewed interest in the relevance of Orality or orature in the cultural lives of communities, particularly African communities who depend primarily on it for the enhancement and maintenance of interaction in socio-cultural life and projection of values. Since Walter Ong's (1982) seminal work on Orality and literacy, many societies have come to a realization of the importance of Orality, not only in traditional societies but also in the highly technologized world. This paper therefore examines how Orality or orature, as some people prefer to call it, can be utilized to form the center-piece of the aesthetics of African literary creation and criticism to enhance a unique identity for that literature in today's literacy dominated and globalized power play polity that seems to threaten the Africanness of the literature.
The perceived shift of emphasis on performance studies to the contextual imperative necessitates ... more The perceived shift of emphasis on performance studies to the contextual imperative necessitates a corresponding examination of approaches that have the potential to yield better results on contextual analysis of performances and society,(Magoulick:2014, Van der Aa and Blommaert: 2015). The ethnography on performance studies has therefore emphasized either the ethnography of performance or performance ethnography, two approaches that require in-depth immersion of the researcher in the target community's life and practices to enhance " interactive " and " insider " views of performance contexts in relation to cultural practices. These two approaches, however, still have limitations as D.S. Farrer (2007) observes. The possibilities and limitations of these approaches call for a deeper understanding of cultural praxis within target communities as means for the furtherance and explication of the intricacies of performance contexts. They also raise pertinent questions as to which of these approaches best explicates a society's culture. Through an appraisal of the Bakor oral narrative repertoire, this paper attempts an examination of the tenets of both approaches and posits that an integrative and/or collaborative selection of aspects of each approach, taking into cognizance the cultural landscape of the target community, will yield more positive results on how ethno-historical antecedents affect performance contexts and how performance techniques or styles and art-based research aid the construction of culture and identity.
Religious and Secular powers have for centuries been contentious issues that affect the lives of ... more Religious and Secular powers have for centuries been contentious issues that affect the lives of human beings either positively or negatively depending on human responses to them. Literature abounds with characters who have responded in various ways to the dictates of religious and secular institutions. While some characters have learnt from and achieved a better understanding of human existence in their religious and secular interactions, others have been destroyed by such adherence. Of particular interest are fanatics, religious or traditional, and what happens to them and the societies to which they belong. The interest in the consequences of fanaticism or wrong emphasis have spurred this writer into an analysis of Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus and Mariama Ba's So long a Letter, from the perspective of the impact that religious and traditional values have on the individual psyche. One discovers that the two writers proffer a warning that excessive adherence, rather than enhance progress can bring about chaos and the destruction of individual psyche and societal harmony. INTRODUCTION In our layman's understanding, a hero is a man of exceptional qualities who wins our admiration through noble and selfless deeds, especially of courage. In Literature, a hero or heroine is conceived of as the male or female character of a play or a novel around whom the action revolves and in whose fate we the audience or reader's get sympathetically involved and/or identify with.
From an interdisciplinary perspective, the field of oral literature depends for its explication o... more From an interdisciplinary perspective, the field of oral literature depends for its explication on sociology, anthropology, linguistics and even history. To understand the importance of an oral narrative, recourse has often been made to these various disciplines. Ironically, the anthropologists interested in cultures of the races of the world dominated studies of oral literature, from the late 19 th century. The result was that narratives were often subjected to functional analysis for aesthetic content. The paper therefore, is a collaborative endeavor, which utilizes insights from literary, sociological or anthropological and historical perspectives to analyze oral narratives. This, it is hoped, will enhance a better understanding of the narratives, not only from their cultural background but also from their artistic and aesthetic background.
The concepts of transculturalism and globalization have, of late, occupied the front burner in di... more The concepts of transculturalism and globalization have, of late, occupied the front burner in discourses of many disciplines the world over as peoples and institutions examine, not just the potency but also the relevance of the concepts to their existence and well-being. In many educational institutions, the concepts have formed the basis or themes for conferences aimed at examining their effect on the progress and development of human society. African states and educational institutions have also joined in these discourses, and rightly so, since they cannot isolate themselves from the world polity within which they live and operate, except that the focus and concern of Africans seems for now, to be misplaced. It appears that Africa's focus on the gains of these concepts, without the high level of technological advancement required to effectively and gainfully key-in to the envisaged or resultant new world order, should be on how it can meaningfully impact on the technologically advanced cultures of the world rather than struggling to accept concepts to which they have nothing to offer or even gain from now. It is from this perspective that this paper examines the meaning of transculturalism and its impact on the concept of Oral literature and the African philosophy of " Ubuntugogy " as educational paradigms for African liberation and development in the 21 st. century, to enable Africans reassess their educational curricula and refocus same on Oral literature for positive advancement in the envisaged new world order propelled by these concepts.
The continuous existence of matriliny in several communities particularly in Africa has triggere... more The continuous existence of matriliny in several communities particularly in Africa has triggered this investigation into the Bakor matrilineal society the aim of which is to discover the reasons for the people’s continuous reliance on the system in modern society and the parameters for its sustenance. It was discovered that the Bakor language particularly and the ecology of the environment as well as the occupational mainstay of the Bakor people are the major props that sustain the system which is ingrained in Bakor culture and serves as an identity index of the people within the several patriarchal communities surrounding them.
Keywords: Bakor, Matrilineage, Ethno-linguistics, Inheritance, Ecological Environment, and Empowerment.
Advancement in life requires knowledge and understanding of the environment, knowledge systems an... more Advancement in life requires knowledge and understanding of the environment, knowledge systems and ethno-historical antecedents of one’s culture. Education and knowledge acquisition is therefore concerned with the study of being or ontology. Africans and those interested in African studies therefore need knowledge of African world view and cosmology which is encapsulated in the Oral narratives of African peoples. There is, as such, a need to educate African children at an early age to recognize the importance of African culture and to maintain and propagate it. This paper therefore focuses on an examination of the relevance of Paulo Freire’s popular education pedagogical model with a view to determine how it can aid or enhance acquisition of knowledge about Africa and Africans. It argues that the pedagogical model emphasizes liberation which will ensure the freedom of the African psyche from dependency on Eurocentric paradigms for interpreting reality to enable Africans acquire and emphasize knowledge about African languages, environment and culture. The paper therefore concludes that integrating African Oral literature into the school system, the Kenyan style, as a core curriculum will go a long way in enhancing the teaching of African knowledge systems which will not only ensure the liberation of our enslaved mentalities but will, as well, invigorate studies in African culture and environment necessary for the sustenance of African identity and personality.
Key Words: Integration, pedagogy, Oral literature, popular education, liberation, cultural education, African knowledge systems and African languages.
In traditional African society, behavioral coherence and control are achieved through the utiliza... more In traditional African society, behavioral coherence and control are achieved through the utilization of several means inclusive of adjudication by the elders which sometimes culminates in the imposition of sanctions on erring individuals as deterrents to others. Adjudication and sanctions are, however, seen as extreme measures employed as a last resort because they are indicative of the breakdown of law and order thus necessitating sanctions which are oftentimes unpalatable. To avoid these and prevent the necessitation of extreme measures, Bakor society has built-in traditional methods for the control of deviant behavior evident in the moral messages drawn from folk narratives. Folk narratives of all kinds become the prime media for education and societal control as well as address to the citizenry. However, folktales and other such narratives do not exercise monopoly of moral rectification. Along with these folktales, maiden songs are found to be very efficacious as traditional means of ethical prescription as is exemplified in their content and thematic thrust which has motivated this research into their symbolic and ethical relevance in Bakor community which seems to recognize and lay much emphasis on their utilization. It is discovered that the artistry and aesthetics, the subtlety of message delivery and the pungency of the songs bear them out as vibrant and dynamic forms of social and ethical rejuvenation in Bakor community. They remain as the artist’s acute observation of human life and interactions.
KEY WORDS: Maiden songs, Performance Imperative, Artistry, Societal control, communal cohesion, and ethical rejuvenation.
Judgment of human actions and choices is usually predicated on situational or circumstantial evid... more Judgment of human actions and choices is usually predicated on situational or circumstantial evidence available to us that necessitated such actions and choices. Human physiological make-up naturally allows for mental growth and development in relation to age. Man is as such expected to desist from certain actions and choices deemed not to be in consonance with his age and development or to stop making certain kinds of mistakes. However, despite age, intellectual capacity and even man’s level of existence on earth, he sometimes makes mistakes or acts in ways that are ridiculous and inexplicable. In such contexts, man is said to have been foolish even when he initially is convinced about his reasons for the actions he has taken. Furthermore, human intellect, compared to the belief in God’s omniscience, is limited and his attempt to find answers to universal cosmic phenomena a futile venture thus, necessitating scientific explorations. In all these situations, man is either described as displaying his folly or is limited in his knowledge. The ultimate answer to man’s limitations and inability to prevent mistakes in his life is God who is believed to be omniscient and has answers to all questions. Thus, from a religious perspective, man puts the burden of his sinfulness and folly on the devil but the questions still remain as to who the devil is and why man succumbs to the devil’s wiles even when man is created in the “image and likeness of God” and with all his scientific intelligence.
Given the prevalent deistic world of medievalism from which the English society was not yet fully weaned and the gradually emerging tenets of the Renaissance that had not yet taken root but which Faustus championed to extreme in his choice, can Faustus’s choice be said to be intelligent or should it be seen as sheer human folly? To attempt to answer this, let us look at Faustus’s challenge in relation to the demands of Renaissance society.
Keywords: God, Devil, Folly, Knowledge, Intellect, Humanity, Renaissance and Medievalism.
Despite the volume and diversity of scholarship on proverbial lore, no single uniform definition ... more Despite the volume and diversity of scholarship on proverbial lore, no single uniform definition of proverbs has been reached as
acceptable in all disciplines and cultures (Madumulla 1998: 258), which portray the extent of malleability to which proverbs are
prone in terms of contextual relevance and variability. It also shows that, as society progresses, the changes in structure and
function of societal segments determine proverb metamorphosis as these changes get reflected in proverbs since the creative
impulse of artists reworks the proverbs to reflect contemporary culture and landscape of the society where the proverb is created
and realized. Proverbs are thus sustained by contemporary contextual experiences which debunk earlier or past suppositions
concerning the obsoleteness of oral compositions. Each society, therefore, boasts of proverbs that reflect the level and extent of
development to which that society has been prone as reflected in proverbs and other oral narratives. Proverbs are therefore
generally accepted as veritable tools for knowledge impartation and mnemonic purposes for the improvement of reasoning
abilities. They have also been described as metaphors to guide moral choices and self - examination, while serving as pedagogic
devices that provide experiential case material on which reflection is based (Ngalim 2014: p.58). From this perspective we have
focused on Bakor proverbs with the aim of realizing their distinctiveness as products of a particular cultural milieu. It is
discovered that the proverbs are products of and reflect contemporary experience aesthetically realized within contextual
situations that serve pedagogical purposes in Bakor society. Each proverb therefore has a context of use that enhances
clarification of experience and vivification of concrete behavior in society.
Folk material delivery, particularly storytelling and other folk arts like folk dance and drama, ... more Folk material delivery, particularly storytelling and other folk arts like folk dance and drama, in the past suffered proper perception and in-depth analysis because they were difficult to comprehend or deliver textually or even reduce to printed text and still maintain their efficacy. For this reason, they suffered from lack of proper analysis. However, today’s technological world now subjects them to rigorous scrutiny due to the sophistication of electronic media like video tapes and cameras which are employed in the recording of performances. This development has largely helped to highlight the intricacies of contextually centered performances which properly aggregate to the artist his central role in the perception of oral narratives. With the development of these electronic machines, contextual performance studies are now gaining grounds while contextual theories are enunciated and emphasized in the study of folklore all within the collaborative fields of Sociology, Anthropology and Literature. However, the usefulness of these technological developments notwithstanding, their impact on the effective delivery of folk narratives within the actual context of production i.e. within performance, still leaves much to be desired. This is obvious from the fact that the exposure of the artist or performer to the glare of klieg lights or even the presence of the camera in a performance session changes the entire atmosphere of the performance. Of course, it can be argued that all of these reactions constitute the totality of the performers’ perception of his milieu or the changing circumstances in society which impacts on the delivery of folk material. The vital questions that still remain are, does the artist respond to technological development or to traditional societal demands of shaping the consciousness of the growing youthful population and Is this technology impacting positively or negatively? These are pertinent questions because despite the fast developing cosmopolitan status of African countries, the bulk of the population still reside in traditional societies that lay emphasis on traditional values, norms and practices in the education of their youths. The artists’ role should therefore be to propagate and portray these cherished values rather than allow for the bastardization of culture through profuse responses to technological demands that impact negatively on the perception of youths. Watch, for instance, the impact of television viewing on children in the metropolis and their responses to elders or parental attempts to control their perception of life. Using the Bakor society as an example therefore, this paper stresses the need for an emphasis on contextual delivery of folk materials that root for tradition rather than those that emphasize blind modernization which kills respect for traditional values.
Keywords: Traditional values, Performance Context, Folklore, Technology.
Listening to nicknames performed in Bakor community arouses a lot of curiosity about their meanin... more Listening to nicknames performed in Bakor community arouses a lot of curiosity about their meaning and usage. At first glance, the nickname sounds like an ephemeral composition that serves an immediate need and is discarded or relegated to the background. On a closer look and curious contact with the composers and performers of nicknames, particularly in traditional context however, one discovered the intricate reflection of culture that the nickname embodies. This writer’s curiosity was allayed by Elders who told him emphatically that linguistically, nicknames serve as a veritable tool for the verification of the several levels of paradigmatic and syntagmatic manipulation of linguistic resources in a given language. Culturally, they are veritable reflections of the cultural norms and practices that authenticate and give credence and uniqueness to a particular culture; while ecologically, the nicknames serve as a means for the verification of landscape and ecological regions of an ethnic entity where they are used because the nickname conjures up images of the environment. The nickname, therefore, has symbolic and/or connotative implications in every culture where it is used. For this reason, traditional societies, more than all else, value the import of the nickname. This value is however not restricted to traditional cultures alone. Modern cultures have also come to imbibe the importance of the nickname particularly in computer technology and political or social life. The realization of the importance of the nickname has prompted this write-up on a survey of Bakor nicknames in an attempt to place them side by side with other Bakor literary artifacts and to determine how much value the Bakor attach to nicknames. The findings are that as linguistic and literary models, nicknames occupy the same place of importance in Bakor cultural lives as the famous monoliths since they also serve as vehicles for linguistic and cultural transmission as well as the depiction of Bakor geographical environment. The nickname thus becomes an invaluable facet of Bakor life.
Keywords:Nicknames, Symbolism, Functional relevance, Culturalauthentication, Linguistic models, Ethnic identity
Identity formation is desirous among human beings and can come in different forms or through diff... more Identity formation is desirous among human beings and can come in different forms or through different actions or activities. Social or cultural identity however, is achieved through behaviour and most importantly through linguistic behaviour of groups or ethnicities that speak a common language and so express their culture and ethical values through their unique language. Language on the other hand is pervasive and dynamic in the sense that it is prone, not only to extinction, but also to growth and development. We therefore, find that while some languages that once served as identity markers for some ethnic groups have gone into extinction, others are flourishing and absorbing other cultural groups. The English language is one such dynamic language that has been prone to metamorphosis thus, producing several other variants in addition to Standard English. It is this potential for dynamism and eligibility for change and adaptation to situations that has prompted this survey into coinages that approximate to English but with adaptations to Local Social needs and situational variables in University campuses. The aim is to decipher how these coinages serve not only social functions of identity formation but also literary functions like the creation of a unique literary language for the expression of an aesthetic principle for a Nation.
Keywords: Socio-linguistics, Oral Literature, Social Identity, Literary Identity, Nigerian Undergraduates, Student Language, Social Dialects, Speech bunds, Unical, Crutech
Since the introduction of such terms as “intra-textuality” and “Poeclectics” by Mario Petrucci in... more Since the introduction of such terms as “intra-textuality” and “Poeclectics” by Mario Petrucci in 2000/2001 respectively, which terms seem to operate in contrast to “inter-textuality” in creative or performance contexts ,perspectives on performance have become rather complex particularly as these terms are operational in several disciplines of Folklore, Sociology, Communication, linguistics, Literature etc; each discipline seemingly laying a tenuous emphasis on a specific mode of application and desired goals. The application of these terms in the interpretation of performance contexts seems to mark shifts in the perception or progress towards a better or more rewarding understanding of how language operates in social contexts particularly in creative performances and their attendant enhancement techniques in Oral Literature. However, the diversity and plurality of application of the terms in different fields has sometimes tended to obscure or create complex meanings in the respective fields and instances of application rather than enhance further explication of the discipline. As a result of this diversity, We have chosen to examine the interplay of the terms ‘inter-textuality” and “ethno-aesthetics” in the interpretation of performance contexts in an attempt to observe how these terms can explicate the criticism of oral literature particularly within the background of Bakor oral performance models. The result is this paper which tries to posit that in Bakor as in most other African performance contexts,” inter-textuality” and “ethno-aesthetics” seem to be major determinants of the creative impulse among artists in different communities.
KEY WORDS: Performance context, Inter-textuality, inter-discourse, Ethno-aesthetics, intra-textuality, Creativity, Communal Experience, Bakor Society, Socio-linguistics.
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Papers by francis m. ganyi
Keywords: Bakor, Matrilineage, Ethno-linguistics, Inheritance, Ecological Environment, and Empowerment.
Key Words: Integration, pedagogy, Oral literature, popular education, liberation, cultural education, African knowledge systems and African languages.
KEY WORDS: Maiden songs, Performance Imperative, Artistry, Societal control, communal cohesion, and ethical rejuvenation.
Given the prevalent deistic world of medievalism from which the English society was not yet fully weaned and the gradually emerging tenets of the Renaissance that had not yet taken root but which Faustus championed to extreme in his choice, can Faustus’s choice be said to be intelligent or should it be seen as sheer human folly? To attempt to answer this, let us look at Faustus’s challenge in relation to the demands of Renaissance society.
Keywords: God, Devil, Folly, Knowledge, Intellect, Humanity, Renaissance and Medievalism.
acceptable in all disciplines and cultures (Madumulla 1998: 258), which portray the extent of malleability to which proverbs are
prone in terms of contextual relevance and variability. It also shows that, as society progresses, the changes in structure and
function of societal segments determine proverb metamorphosis as these changes get reflected in proverbs since the creative
impulse of artists reworks the proverbs to reflect contemporary culture and landscape of the society where the proverb is created
and realized. Proverbs are thus sustained by contemporary contextual experiences which debunk earlier or past suppositions
concerning the obsoleteness of oral compositions. Each society, therefore, boasts of proverbs that reflect the level and extent of
development to which that society has been prone as reflected in proverbs and other oral narratives. Proverbs are therefore
generally accepted as veritable tools for knowledge impartation and mnemonic purposes for the improvement of reasoning
abilities. They have also been described as metaphors to guide moral choices and self - examination, while serving as pedagogic
devices that provide experiential case material on which reflection is based (Ngalim 2014: p.58). From this perspective we have
focused on Bakor proverbs with the aim of realizing their distinctiveness as products of a particular cultural milieu. It is
discovered that the proverbs are products of and reflect contemporary experience aesthetically realized within contextual
situations that serve pedagogical purposes in Bakor society. Each proverb therefore has a context of use that enhances
clarification of experience and vivification of concrete behavior in society.
Keywords: Traditional values, Performance Context, Folklore, Technology.
Keywords:Nicknames, Symbolism, Functional relevance, Culturalauthentication, Linguistic models, Ethnic identity
Keywords: Socio-linguistics, Oral Literature, Social Identity, Literary Identity, Nigerian Undergraduates, Student Language, Social Dialects, Speech bunds, Unical, Crutech
KEY WORDS: Performance context, Inter-textuality, inter-discourse, Ethno-aesthetics, intra-textuality, Creativity, Communal Experience, Bakor Society, Socio-linguistics.
Keywords: Bakor, Matrilineage, Ethno-linguistics, Inheritance, Ecological Environment, and Empowerment.
Key Words: Integration, pedagogy, Oral literature, popular education, liberation, cultural education, African knowledge systems and African languages.
KEY WORDS: Maiden songs, Performance Imperative, Artistry, Societal control, communal cohesion, and ethical rejuvenation.
Given the prevalent deistic world of medievalism from which the English society was not yet fully weaned and the gradually emerging tenets of the Renaissance that had not yet taken root but which Faustus championed to extreme in his choice, can Faustus’s choice be said to be intelligent or should it be seen as sheer human folly? To attempt to answer this, let us look at Faustus’s challenge in relation to the demands of Renaissance society.
Keywords: God, Devil, Folly, Knowledge, Intellect, Humanity, Renaissance and Medievalism.
acceptable in all disciplines and cultures (Madumulla 1998: 258), which portray the extent of malleability to which proverbs are
prone in terms of contextual relevance and variability. It also shows that, as society progresses, the changes in structure and
function of societal segments determine proverb metamorphosis as these changes get reflected in proverbs since the creative
impulse of artists reworks the proverbs to reflect contemporary culture and landscape of the society where the proverb is created
and realized. Proverbs are thus sustained by contemporary contextual experiences which debunk earlier or past suppositions
concerning the obsoleteness of oral compositions. Each society, therefore, boasts of proverbs that reflect the level and extent of
development to which that society has been prone as reflected in proverbs and other oral narratives. Proverbs are therefore
generally accepted as veritable tools for knowledge impartation and mnemonic purposes for the improvement of reasoning
abilities. They have also been described as metaphors to guide moral choices and self - examination, while serving as pedagogic
devices that provide experiential case material on which reflection is based (Ngalim 2014: p.58). From this perspective we have
focused on Bakor proverbs with the aim of realizing their distinctiveness as products of a particular cultural milieu. It is
discovered that the proverbs are products of and reflect contemporary experience aesthetically realized within contextual
situations that serve pedagogical purposes in Bakor society. Each proverb therefore has a context of use that enhances
clarification of experience and vivification of concrete behavior in society.
Keywords: Traditional values, Performance Context, Folklore, Technology.
Keywords:Nicknames, Symbolism, Functional relevance, Culturalauthentication, Linguistic models, Ethnic identity
Keywords: Socio-linguistics, Oral Literature, Social Identity, Literary Identity, Nigerian Undergraduates, Student Language, Social Dialects, Speech bunds, Unical, Crutech
KEY WORDS: Performance context, Inter-textuality, inter-discourse, Ethno-aesthetics, intra-textuality, Creativity, Communal Experience, Bakor Society, Socio-linguistics.