Full Dissertation V3

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Full Dissertation V3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Utilitarian Pleasures: Print Culture and the Development of a Reading Public in Southwestern Nigeria A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Regan Buck Bardeen 2013 © Copyright by Regan Buck Bardeen 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Utilitarian Pleasures: The Production of Literature and the Development of a Reading Public in Southwestern Nigeria by Regan Buck Bardeen Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Edward Alpers, Co-chair Professor Andrew Apter, Co-chair Beginning with Christian missionary efforts to create a standardized Yoruba print language in the mid-nineteenth century, the Yoruba-speaking region of southwestern Nigeria was rapidly integrated into a network of print production that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. The emergence of a local reading public engendered the desire of administrative and religious stakeholder agencies to dictate the development of a print culture in southwestern Nigeria. These agencies saw their work on the production and dissemination of literature as a political and moral investment in the region, one that would pay dividends with the development of a Yoruba reading public whose worldview aligned with their own. This dissertation examines the strategies used by missionaries, philanthropists and government administrators to control how and what Nigerians read, ii from the colonial period through independent rule and up to the economic collapse of the 1980s. It argues that independent Nigerian governments echoed the desires of earlier agencies that literature be used to teach moral lessons or practical skills, with the aim being the education of a nationalized citizenry. Utilizing missionary and government archives, along with publisher interviews and library records, I show the extensive human and monetary resources invested in influencing a Nigerian reading public under both colonial and independent rule. The dissertation concludes that the readers of English and Yoruba literature who composed this localized public accepted the instructional agenda being disseminated through print and ultimately embraced the utilitarian pleasures of their books. iii The dissertation of Regan Buck Bardeen is approved. Steven Nelson Edward Alpers, Committee Co-chair Andrew Apter, Committee Co-chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv To the memory of my mom Karen Jeffrey Buck, who remains a source of strength v Table of Contents ________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT ii ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF FIGURES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x VITA xii INTRODUCTION 1 HISTORIOGRAPHY 4 SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY 10 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 11 1 THE GOOD BOOK: RELIGION AND LITERACY IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA, 1840-1910 16 THE MISSION TO CIVILIZE 19 THE CREATION OF WRITTEN YORUBA 26 THE MAKING OF A NEW ELITE 39 LITERACY AND PRINT CULTURE 49 2 COMPOSITION BY COMMITTEE: LITERATURE AND BOOK PROVISION BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS 55 LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND TEXTBOOK PROVISION 58 THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE IN NIGERIA 71 MISSION EFFORTS EXPANDED 83 3 BOOKS FROM ABROAD: THE PROVISION OF KNOWLEDGE IN COLONIAL NIGERIA 104 BOOK PROVISION AS CULTURAL MISSION 105 GOVERNMENT READING ROOMS IN THE WESTERN REGION 113 COLONIAL LITERACY EFFORTS IN THE POST-WAR ERA 123 MISSIONS AND THE ECONOMY OF BOOKSELLING 138 4 BOOKS FOR THE MASSES: NIGERIAN READERS UNDER COLONIAL RULE 159 MASS EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN BOOK PROVISION 161 TASTES OF THE READING PUBLIC 178 THE EXPANSION OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY 190 BRITISH PROPAGANDA AND GOVERNMENT BOOK SUBSIDIES 198 5 PRINT CULTURE IN INDEPENDENT NIGERIA: “BOOKS ARE YOUR BEST COMPANION” 213 “TORRENTS OF BOOKS” 216 GOVERNMENT HESITANCY IN LITERATURE DEVELOPMENT 222 MULTINATIONAL PUBLISHERS 227 vi NIGERIAN PUBLISHERS 234 THE NATIONAL AND STATE LIBRARY SYSTEM 241 CONCLUSION: NIGERIAN READERS IN THE STERILE SEASON 248 BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 vii Abbreviations ________________________________________________________________________ CMS Church Missionary Society DLMS Dike Library Manuscripts Section, University of Ibadan GCA Girton College Archive, University of Cambridge LSE London School of Economics Library Special Collections NAI National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan NAUK National Archives of the United Kingdom OA Ogunsheye Archive, Ibadan RCS Royal Commonwealth Society Library, University of Cambridge SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies Library Archives and Special Collections, University of London URSC University of Reading, Special Collections viii List of Figures ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Map of Nigeria, Western Region xiii 2. CMS Bookshop, Abeokuta 38 3. British Council Centre, Lagos 128 4. Locally Owned Bookshop, Ibadan 187 ix Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________________________ When I first entered graduate school, I read that it takes an average of 8.3 years to complete a Ph.D. in African History. Exactly 8.3 years later, I wish to thank my dissertation committee co-chairs, Edward Alpers and Andrew Apter, for guiding me with great patience and perspicacity to this endpoint. Their questions and comments challenged me to become a better historian. Committee members Ghislaine Lydon and Steven Nelson have also been invaluable in providing insightful feedback on my work and encouraging new ways of thinking about Africa and the world. Even if these scholars have tried and failed to dampen my enthusiasm for the comma and use of the passive voice, my research and this dissertation are immeasurably improved by their input. There are many other professors and staff members at UCLA whom I wish to thank. Caroline Ford served as my minor field representative on my examination committee and oversaw my first publication. I learned a great deal from Christopher Ehret about historical methods and Africa’s not so recent past. Ruby Bell-Gam provided me with useful research advice. Sheila Breeding and the UCLA African Studies Center allowed me to be part of their wonderful activities and activism. Eboni Shaw and Hadley Porter kept me from getting lost in a large department and constantly encouraged me during this long process. I am grateful for the generous financial support that I have received throughout the course of my studies. UCLA’s Department of History and International Institute provided tuition and research funding. I participated in the Fulbright-Hays Yoruba intensive language program and appreciate the work done by Tunde Akinyemi to coordinate it. The University of London’s Institute for Historical Research awarded a Mellon pre-dissertation research grant that allowed me to consult a number of vitally important archives in and around London. A Fulbright U.S. Student Research Grant from the United States Department of State gave me the gift of time – nearly a year spent in archives in Ibadan, Nigeria and traveling throughout the region. I was able to produce this dissertation using the documents I collected along the way, the interviews so graciously given and the insights gleaned from living daily with the capricious NEPA. For their assistance while I was in Nigeria, I would like to thank the University of Ibadan’s Department of History and its former Head of Department Christopher Ogbogbo, Olisa Muojama, Joseph Abiola and Jean-Luc Martineau of IFRA-Nigeria. Dr. F.A. Ogunsheye gave me access to her personal (and immaculately organized) archive and talked with me on a number of occasions about librarianship and reading books in Nigeria. Sarah Gabbert Brown was a kind friend and a quick study in the archives. Finally, I am grateful to Abigail Iheanacho and her family who welcomed me easily into their lives and gave me a home away from home. The friends who have supported me, made me laugh, listened to my endless worries and read draft after draft of my writing deserve more than a note of thanks here. But this dissertation is the most monumental thing I have accomplished, so I hope that they are happy (or more likely, relieved) to be here with me. Thanks to Dahlia Setiyawan, who made me finish this, Brad Benton, Neely Benton, Laura Foster, Lauren Acker, x Tiffany Gleason, Kierra Crago-Schneider, Diana Raesner, Naomi Taback, Heidi Hyun, John Compton and Rebecca Blue. I want to end by thanking my Buck and Bardeen families and especially my sister Ashlyn for being there, always, and expecting me to succeed. Above all, I owe my eternal gratitude to James Buck Bardeen, who sits next to me even now, checking over my bibliography at 3 a.m. He has spent much of his life watching me read, write or fly off for another around of research, but he is always willing to support me with joy and humor. These qualities have been much in demand in our small apartment ever since our twin boys, Luke and Simeon, joined us just as I was settling in to write this dissertation. I am decidedly not thanking them for assistance in finishing it … but they gave me the joy of being Mama Ibeji and they became my reason to write. My deepest appreciation to you all. xi Vita ________________________________________________________________________ 2003 B.A., History with Honors and Women’s Studies University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 2004-2005 Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship University of Ghana Legon, Ghana 2007-2009 Executive Board Member History Graduate Student Association University of California, Los Angeles 2008 M.A., History University
Recommended publications
  • Yoruba Art & Culture
    Yoruba Art & Culture Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Yoruba Art and Culture PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY Written and Designed by Nicole Mullen Editors Liberty Marie Winn Ira Jacknis Special thanks to Tokunbo Adeniji Aare, Oduduwa Heritage Organization. COPYRIGHT © 2004 PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY ◆ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY BERKELEY, CA 94720-3712 ◆ 510-642-3682 ◆ HTTP://HEARSTMUSEUM.BERKELEY.EDU Table of Contents Vocabulary....................4 Western Spellings and Pronunciation of Yoruba Words....................5 Africa....................6 Nigeria....................7 Political Structure and Economy....................8 The Yoruba....................9, 10 Yoruba Kingdoms....................11 The Story of How the Yoruba Kingdoms Were Created....................12 The Colonization and Independence of Nigeria....................13 Food, Agriculture and Trade....................14 Sculpture....................15 Pottery....................16 Leather and Beadwork....................17 Blacksmiths and Calabash Carvers....................18 Woodcarving....................19 Textiles....................20 Religious Beliefs....................21, 23 Creation Myth....................22 Ifa Divination....................24, 25 Music and Dance....................26 Gelede Festivals and Egugun Ceremonies....................27 Yoruba Diaspora....................28
    [Show full text]
  • Oja Representational Objects in Yewaland, Ogun State, Nigeria Ayedun Matthew Kolawole Ab
    African Scholar VOL. 18 NO. 6 Publications & ISSN: 2110-2086 Research SEPTEMBER, 2020 International African Scholar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (JHSS-6) Study of Forms and Functions of Esu – Oja Representational Objects in Yewaland, Ogun State, Nigeria Ayedun Matthew Kolawole Fine and Applied Arts Department, School of Vocational and Technical Education, Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu – Ijebu Abstract The representational images such as pots, rattles, bracelets, stones, cutlasses, wooden combs, staffs, mortals, brooms, etc. are religious and its significance for the worshippers were that they had faith in it. The denominator in the worship of all gods and spirits everywhere is faith. The power of an image was believed to be more real than that of a living being. The Yoruba appear to be satisfied with the gods with whom they are in immediate touch because they believe that when the Orisa have been worshipped, they will transmit what is necessary to Olodumare. This paper examines the traditional practices of the people of Yewa and discovers why Esu is market appellate. It focuses on the classifications of the forms and functions of Esu-Oja representational objects in selected towns in Yewaland. Keywords: appellate, classifications, divinities, fragment, forms, images, libations, mystical powers, Olodumare, representational, sacred, sacrifices, shrine, spirit archetype, transmission and transformation. Introduction Yewa which was formally called there are issues of intra-regional “Egbado” is located on Nigeria’s border conflicts that call for urgent attention. with the Republic of Benin. Yewa claim The popular decision to change the common origin from Ile-Ife, Oyo, ketu, Egbado name according to Asiwaju and Benin.
    [Show full text]
  • Land Accessibility Characteristics Among Migrants in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria
    Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences 2(1): 1-12, 2017; Article no.ARJASS.30086 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org Land Accessibility Characteristics among Migrants in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria Gbenga John Oladehinde 1* , Kehinde Popoola 1, Afolabi Fatusin 2 and Gideon Adeyeni 1 1Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State Nigeria. 2Department of Geography and Planning Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out collaboratively by all authors. Author GJO designed the study and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors KP and AF supervised the preparation of the first draft of the manuscript and managed the literature searches while author GA led and managed the data analyses. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/ARJASS/2017/30086 Editor(s): (1) Raffaela Giovagnoli, Pontifical Lateran University, Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano 4, Rome, Italy. (2) Sheying Chen, Social Policy and Administration, Pace University, New York, USA. Reviewers: (1) F. Famuyiwa, University of Lagos, Nigeria. (2) Lusugga Kironde, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/17570 Received 16 th October 2016 Accepted 14 th January 2017 Original Research Article st Published 21 January 2017 ABSTRACT Aim: The study investigated challenges of land accessibility among migrants in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Methodology: Data were obtained through questionnaire administration on a Migrant household head. Multistage sampling technique was used for selection of 161 respondents for the study.
    [Show full text]
  • African Concepts of Energy and Their Manifestations Through Art
    AFRICAN CONCEPTS OF ENERGY AND THEIR MANIFESTATIONS THROUGH ART A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Renée B. Waite August, 2016 Thesis written by Renée B. Waite B.A., Ohio University, 2012 M.A., Kent State University, 2016 Approved by ____________________________________________________ Fred Smith, Ph.D., Advisor ____________________________________________________ Michael Loderstedt, M.F.A., Interim Director, School of Art ____________________________________________________ John R. Crawford-Spinelli, D.Ed., Dean, College of the Arts TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………….. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………… vi CHAPTERS I. Introduction ………………………………………………… 1 II. Terms and Art ……………………………………………... 4 III. Myths of Origin …………………………………………. 11 IV. Social Structure …………………………………………. 20 V. Divination Arts …………………………………………... 30 VI. Women as Vessels of Energy …………………………… 42 VII. Conclusion ……………………………………….…...... 56 VIII. Images ………………………………………………… 60 IX. Bibliography …………………………………………….. 84 X. Further Reading ………………………………………….. 86 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Porogun Quarter, Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, 1992, Photograph by John Pemberton III http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/cosmos/models.html. ……………………………………… 60 Figure 2: Yoruba Ifa Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifa) Nigeria; Ivory. 12in, Baltimore Museum of Art http://www.artbma.org/. ……………………………………………… 61 Figure 3.; Yoruba Opon Ifa (Divination Tray), Nigerian; carved wood 3/4 x 12 7/8 x 16 in. Smith College Museum of Art, http://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/. ………………….. 62 Figure 4. Ifa Divination Vessel; Female Caryatid (Agere Ifa); Ivory, wood or coconut shell inlay. Nigeria, Guinea Coast The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org. ……………………… 63 Figure 5. Beaded Crown of a Yoruba King. Nigerian; L.15 (crown), L.15 (fringe) in.
    [Show full text]
  • Orisha Journeys: the Role of Travel in the Birth of Yorùbá-Atlantic Religions 1
    Arch. de Sc. soc. des Rel., 2002, 117 (janvier-mars) 17-36 Peter F. COHEN ORISHA JOURNEYS: THE ROLE OF TRAVEL IN THE BIRTH OF YORÙBÁ-ATLANTIC RELIGIONS 1 Introduction 2 In recent years the array of Orisha 3 traditions associated withtheYorùbá- speaking peoples of West Africa has largely broken free of the category of “Afri- can traditional religion” and begun to gain recognition as a nascent world religion in its own right. While Orisha religions are today both trans-national and pan-eth- nic, they are nonetheless the historical precipitate of the actions and interactions of particular individuals. At their human epicenter are the hundreds of thousands of Yorùbá-speaking people who left their country during the first half of the 19th cen- tury in one of the most brutal processes of insertion into the world economy under- gone by any people anywhere; the Atlantic slave trade. While the journey of the Middle Passage is well known, other journeys under- taken freely by Africans during the period of the slave trade – in a variety of direc- tions, for a multiplicity of reasons, often at great expense, and sometimes at great personal risk – are less so. These voyages culminated in a veritable transmigration involving thousands of Yorùbá-speaking people and several points on both sides of 1 Paper presented at the 1999 meeting of the Société Internationale de la Sociologie des Religions. This article was originally prepared in 1999. Since then, an impressive amount of literature has been published on the subject, which only serves to strengthen our case. A great deal of new of theoretical work on the African Diaspora in terms of trans-national networks and mutual exchanges has not so much challenged our arguments as diminished their novelty.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Performance of Ìrègún Music in Yagbaland, Kogi State, Nigeria: an Overview
    ORAL PERFORMANCE OF ÌRÈGÚN MUSIC IN YAGBALAND, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA: AN OVERVIEW Stephen Olusegun Titus, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. Abstract Performance is one of the major arts in most African countries. Among the Yoruba in Nigeria several genre of oral performance has been researched and documented. These include the ijala, iwi, oriki ekun iyawo, Iyere Ifa, iwure, among others. However, very little attention and studies have been committed to oral performance of Ìrègún chants and songs in Yagbaland. This paper, therefore, focuses on the evaluation of oral performance of Ìrègún chants and songs among Yagba people in Kogi State, located in North central of Nigeria. Primary data were collected through 3 In-depth and 3 Key Informant interviews of leaders and members of Ìrègún musical groups. In addition to 3 Participant Observation and 3 Non-Participant Observation meth- ods from Yagba-West, Yagba-East and Mopamuro Local Government Areas of Kogi State, music recordings, photographs of Ìrègún performances, and 6 chants were purposefully sampled. Secondary data were collected through library, archival and Internet sources. Although closely interwoven, Ìrègún performance is structured into preparation, actual and post-performance activities. While chanting, singing, playing of musical instruments and dancing forms the performance dimensions. Ire- gun music serves as veritable mirror and cultural preserver in Yagba communities. Keywords: Iregun Music; Performance; Yagbaland; Chants and Songs Epiphany: Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, (2015) © Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 9 S.O. Titus Introduction Performance of oral genre varies in Yoruba culture as varied as contexts for per- formance. In essence, oral performance can only be realized when it is actually performed.
    [Show full text]
  • Rereading Beier
    The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article. g Beier Wole Ogundele The name Ullwais well-knowBeien in the rEnglish-speaking and German-speak- ing worlds from the 1950s to the 1970s. Especially in the 1950s and'60s. It was invariably linked with that of Susanne Wenger, the Austrian artist who was his first wife. So famous was this man who had been working and residing in one West African corner of the British empire that when he left Nigeria in 1966 December for Papua New Guinea, no less a magazine than the TLS announced it. Among the Yoruba of western Nigeria, his name and Susanne's have entered folklore while he himself has been transformed into a fictional character in at least two African novels in English. Indeed, so much was he on everybody's lips in Nigeria in those days that his second wife, Georgina, heard about him long before she met him. Living in the far-away northern Nigerian town in Zaria in the early 1960s, she had heard so much about him and had made it a point of duty to meet this man whose name was on everybody's lips whenever she went down south. In due course, she and her first husband took a trip to Lagos. Their car broke down in one of the obscure streets and as they were standing around notknowing what to do, two white gentlemen saw them and stopped to offer help.
    [Show full text]
  • The Untold Stories of the Esie Stone Figurines
    December 2008 Newsletter Exploring Frontiers of Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management: Untold Stories of the Esie Stone Figurines B y J. O. Aleru and K. Adekola* Abstract The north central Yorubaland homeland of the Igbomina Yoruba, in the modern Kwara State of Nigeria, is endowed with abundant natural and cultural resources. The cultural landscape of the area is indeed very rich. However, the vast majority of these significant elements of cultural heritage remain unexamined. In fact, most of these resources are hardly known. For about seven decades since the first and best known elements of cultural heritage in the area were unearthed in the town of Esie, we have yet to substantially expand the repertoire of knowledge concerning the cultural history of the region. For several decades, a number of scholars have decried the inadequacy of information on the ancient political, social, economic and religious structures that existed in this region (Aremu 1991, 2006; Folorunso, 2006; Obayemi, 1982; Onabajo, 1988, 1994; Pogoson, 1990; Aribidesi et al. 2005; Aleru, 2006). Yet, little research has been conducted to improve the situation. This article reports on the potential elements of natural and cultural heritage in the homeland of the Igbomina people, and of recent archaeological work undertaken by the authors within the region. Introduction Among the most prominent of known elements of cultural heritage in the homeland region of the Igbomina are 800 representational statues carved in steatite (or “soapstone”) found in the landscape surrounding the town of Esie in the modern Kwara State of Nigeria (Figs. 1-3). These figurines, ranging in size from 14 centimeters to over one meter in height, represent both men and women, often in positions seated on stools, kneeling, playing musical instruments, holding machetes, or with their hands placed upon their knees.
    [Show full text]
  • Theatrical Visual Languages in Duro Ladipo's Three Yoruba Plays
    1 CHAPTER ONE THE ORIGINS OF DURO LADIPO’S THEATRE Introduction There is no doubt that traditional Yoruba travelling theatre occupies a significant position in the sociocultural, political and religious milieu of the Yoruba people. This is because in most cases their ways of life, their world views and their being as a whole are commonly expressed through performance. This work seeks to investigate an aspect of Yoruba traditional theatre; this being the theatrical visual languages in the plays of Duro Ladipo - one of the most prominent of the 20th century Yoruba playwrights and actors. The need to embark on this work is motivated by the need to bring to light the intrinsic values contained in the visual theatrics of Duro Ladipo’s three Yoruba plays, namely Oba Koso,1 Oba Waja2 and Oba Moro3. The visual component of his plays takes one on a journey into understanding the aesthetics and expressions found in all aspects of Yoruba culture. It also explores the social, political and spiritual dynamics of Yoruba from an historical context and provides an extraordinary link into the life history of the avatars of Yoruba cosmology. The Eegun Alare (Alarinjo)4 theatre which is directly responsible for the birth of the Yoruba professional theatre, came out of the re-enactment of Yoruba legendary stories 1 Oba Koso means ‘the king did not hang’ in the Yoruba language, a term which refers to Sango, the legendary fourth king of Oyo and the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. 2 Oba Waja is a term used for describing a deceased king in Yorubaland.
    [Show full text]
  • Yoruba Culture of Nigeria: Creating Space for an Endangered Specie
    ISSN 1712-8358[Print] Cross-Cultural Communication ISSN 1923-6700[Online] Vol. 9, No. 4, 2013, pp. 23-29 www.cscanada.net DOI:10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020130904.2598 www.cscanada.org Yoruba Culture of Nigeria: Creating Space for an Endangered Specie Adepeju Oti[a],*; Oyebola Ayeni[b] [a]Ph.D, Née Aderogba. Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. [b] INTRODUCTION Ph.D. Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, Received 16 March 2013; accepted 11 July 2013 hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects Abstract and possessions acquired by a group of people in the The history of colonisation dates back to the 19th course of generations through individual and group Century. Africa and indeed Nigeria could not exercise striving (Hofstede, 1997). It is a collective programming her sovereignty during this period. In fact, the experience of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group of colonisation was a bitter sweet experience for the or category of people from another. The position that continent of Africa and indeed Nigeria, this is because the ideas, meanings, beliefs and values people learn as the same colonialist and explorers who exploited the members of society determines human nature. People are African and Nigerian economy; using it to develop theirs, what they learn, therefore, culture ultimately determine the quality in a person or society that arises from a were the same people who brought western education, concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, modern health care, writing and recently technology.
    [Show full text]
  • Bilingualism and Language Maintenance in Small Language Communities in Nigeria: Case of Gungbe and Ò̟ Ko̟ 1
    19th ICL papers Christine OFULUE National Open University of Nigeria [email protected] Bilingualism and Language maintenance in small language communities in Nigeria: the case of Gungbe and Oko oral presentation in session: 8 Sociolinguistics and multi- lingualism (Edgar Schneider) Published and distributed by: Département de Linguistique de l’Université de Genève, Rue de Candolle 2, CH-1205 Genève, Switzerland Editor: Département de Linguistique de l’Université de Genève, Switzerland ISBN:978-2-8399-1580-9 Travaux du 19ème CIL | Travaux 20-27 Juillet 2013 Genève des Linguistes, International Congrès 20-27 July 2013 Geneva of Linguists, Congress International Bilingualism and Language maintenance in small language communities in Nigeria: case of Gungbe and Ò̟ ko̟ 1 Christine I. Ofulue Abstract The fate of small languages has engaged the attention of linguists over the last few decades in view of global threats of language endangerment and loss. Bilingualism is often identified as the culprit responsible for language shift and ultimately language loss particularly where the other language is a dominant language. However, although bilingualism can and does lead to language endangerment and ultimately language loss, it may either be mitigated or may take much longer than predicted in linguistic situations where bilingualism is stable. This study examines language use among two small language groups, Gungbe and Ò̟ ko̟ within their socio-cultural and historical contexts with the view to investigate the impact of bilingualism on their maintenance. Both language groups share certain features in common that predispose them to endangerment: first, they are comparatively small language groups located in border communities; second they share close proximity with Yorùbá, a dominant regional language; and third, their speakers show a high degree of bilingualism in the use of Yorùbá and their mother tongue in various domains.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics
    ISSN: 0252-8169 JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND AESTHETICS Vol. XXVI: Nos. 1-2: 2003 A VISHVANATHA KAVIRAJA INSTITUTE PUBLICATION Editor: A.C. SUKLA B-8, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Orissa India-768019. Fax-0663+2431915, Fax:0663+2431915 E.Mail: [email protected] Editorial Advisor Milton H. Snoeyenbos Department of Philosophy Georgia State University Atlanta: Georgia 30303, U.S.A. Editorial Board John Hospers University of Southern California W.J.T. Mitchel University of Chicago Ralph Chohen University of Virgina Susan Feagin Temple University Peter Lamarque University of York Denis Dutton University of Canterbury Michael H. Mitias Millsaps College Grazia Marchiano University of Siena V.K. Chari Carleton University S.K. Saxena University of Delhi Goran Hermeren University of Lund Patric Thomas City University of New York George E. Rowe University of Oregon E.S. Shaffer University of London Managing Editor Sanjay Sarangi Computer Typography D. Lokanath Dora All subscriptions/books for review/papers/reviews/ notes for publication are to be sent to the Editor Professor – S.S.Mishra 1934-2000 JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND AESTHETICS Volume: XXVI: Nos. 1-2: 2003 In the memory of Late Professor Satyaswarupa Mishra Benaras Hindu University Founder Member, Editorial Board, JCLA A VISHVANATHA KAVIRAJA INSTITUTE PUBLICATION CONTENTS Zia Hasan 1-7 A Castle of Sand: The Theme Inncest in ' Tis Pity She s a Whore and The Alexandria Quartet A.Everette James, Jr. 9-13 Outsiders, Isolates, Environmentalists, Visionaries: the Spectrum of Descriptors in Contemporary American Folk Art, Are the Valid? P. Emeka Nwabueze 15-24 Ibsen's Marriage Of Art And Life: A Lucid Examination Sam.
    [Show full text]