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Contexts and Functions of Proverbs in Selected Plays of Ola Rotimi

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Contexts and Functions of Proverbs in Selected Plays of Ola Rotimi CONTEXTS AND FUNCTIONS OF PROVERBS IN SELECTED PLAYS OF OLA ROTIMI BY SIMEON OLUFUNSO SONDE B.A. (ED) (Ilorin), M.A. (Lagos) A Dissertation in the Department of English, Submitted to the Faculty of Arts, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN JANUARY, 2013 CERTIFICATION I certify that this study was carried out by Mr. Simeon Olufunso SONDE in the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, under my supervision. ……………….………………………….. Supervisor Ayo Ogunsiji (Ph.D.) Reader, Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. ii DEDICATION This study is dedicated to the Almighty God, for His favour and blessing over me; and to my parents – Late Chief Nathaniel O. Sonde and Late Mrs Olutayo Sonde -- through whose initial nurture and enabling environment the ‗ladders‘ of my life and career were set. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first expression of gratitude goes to the Almighty God, the Alpha, the Omega and the fourth Person in the burning furnace. By His grace, I was able to surmount all the discouraging obstacles on my way in the course of writing this dissertation. All the glory for this work, therefore, belongs to the Almighty God. I appreciate my supervisor, Dr. Ayo Ogunsiji, for his scrupulous examination of my drafts. His criticisms and incisive comments were a source of assistance to me. His painstaking supervision of the work has made possible the completion of the work. I cannot adequately thank some people from whom I have received helps and words of encouragement. Professor Yisa Yusuf actually initiated me into the scholarship of proverbs. I got to know him through my supervisor and he made available most of the initial literature reviewed for this study. I pray that the Almighty God will continue to guide him and members of his family. Also, I thank Prof. Lekan Oyeleye, Prof. Demola Dasylva, Prof. Remi Raji- Oyelade, Dr. Obododima Oha, Dr. D. S Adeyanju, Dr. Akin Odebunmi, Dr. Tayo Lamidi, Prof. Ayo Kehinde, Dr. E.B. Omobowale, Dr. Jegede, and Dr. Sunday, all of the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, for their contributions to this work. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Akin Odebunmi, Dr. E.B. Omobowale and Dr. Tayo Lamidi for the concern they always showed for the progress of the work. The fatherly assistance of Dr D. S Adeyanju is appreciated. Mrs Williams cannot be forgotten for her words of encouragement and moral support. I am grateful to Prof. Sola Adebajo, Dr. Jimi Ogunnaike, Dr. C.B. Egwuogwu, Dr. Yomi Okunowo, Dr. J.O. Akinbode, Mr. K.P. Amore and Mr. M.J. Oloko, for their moral support. Special thanks to Dr. Sony Okpeadua and Dr. Sunday, for proof reading the first and final drafts of the work respectively. I gratefully acknowledge the material support I received from Dr. Akinwunmi, without whose selfless encouragement I could have incurred a lot of frustration. I am thankful of the constant moral and material support afforded me by my wife, Elizabeth Omolara Sonde. I quite appreciate her tolerance and perseverance during my periods of absence from home. Lastly, I am grateful to my children: James Oluyemi, Emmanuel Oluwatimileyin and Deborah Olufunke, for their endurance and tolerance whenever I was away to attend to my academic work. God bless you all. iv ABSTRACT Proverbs describe, classify and judge a given situation with emphasis on moral/ethical 1 recommendations. They also point to the life patterns of the society from which they are derived. Many 2 studies have been undertaken on classification and definition of proverbs from various cultures and 4 disciplines. Much attention has also been drawn to Ola Rotimi‘s proverbs from the point of view of 5 pragmatics and sociolinguistics, but enough scholarly attention has not been given to the contexts in 6 which the proverbs have been used to develop characters. Therefore, this study investigates the contexts 7 in which proverbs have been used and how they have helped to develop dramatic characters in selected 8 plays of Ola Rotimi. 9 Aspects of Troike‘s Ethnography of Communication served as the theoretical framework. Three plays of 10 Ola Rotimi which have abundant proverbs and which exhibit thematic and stylistic similarities were 11 purposively selected. These are The Gods Are Not to Blame, Kurunmi, and Our Husband Has Gone Mad 12 Again. One hundred and fifty-six proverbs were identified and selected from the three texts. The 13 proverbs were subjected to content analysis and percentages. 14 Proverbs in the selected plays of Ola Rotimi are used in psychological and socio-cultural contexts. The 15 psychological contexts are characterised by philosophical, religious and crisis-induced proverbs while 16 the socio-cultural contexts are marked by political, moral/ethical and ideological proverbs. Philosophical 17 proverbs are peculiar to major characters in the three texts while minor characters use more of 18 moral/ethical proverbs. Philosophical and crisis-induced proverbs point out the major characters‘ 19 submission to fate in the face of grave socio-political challenges. Ideological proverbs point to 20 predestination and asymmetrical relations reflected in the Yoruba social structure and gender 21 perspectives. Moral/ethical proverbs describe minor characters‘ submission to the influence and 22 manipulation of major characters over social, physical and psychosomatic conditions. In all the three 23 texts, the major characters employ more proverbs than any of the other characters. Traditional title 24 holders, warlords, and political leaders (major characters) employ more proverbs than women, servants 25 and ordinary citizens (minor characters). Out of the 67 proverbs in The Gods Are not to Blame, 38 26 (56.7%) are cited by Odewale, the king of Kutuje land. Kurunmi cites 36 (53.7%) out of the 67 proverbs 27 used in Kurunmi, while Lejoka Brown alone cites 10 (45.5%) out of the 22 proverbs used in Our 28 Husband Has Gone Mad Again. The predominant speech acts of proverbs include promising, 29 acknowledging (in socio-cultural contexts); denying, criticising and advising (in psychological 30 contexts), respectively performed by major characters and minor characters. 31 Proverbs, used in psychological and socio-cultural contexts, serve to delineate characters in the selected 32 plays of Ola Rotimi. They, thus, add profound meanings to the texts and define their socio-cultural 33 settings. Future studies could compare the character-development potential of proverbs as demonstrated 34 in this study with that of other major Nigerian playwrights in their major plays. 35 Key Key words: Proverbs, Ola Rotimi, Literary characterisation, Speech acts, Sociolinguistics. Word count: 467 41 42 42 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page i Certification ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv Abstract v Table of contents vi List of tables x List of abbreviations xi CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1 1.2 Language and culture 3 1.3 Statement of the problem 7 1.4 Research questions 8 1.5 Aims and objective of the study 8 1.6 Significance of the study 9 1.7 The choice of the texts 9 1.8 Methodology 10 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE 2.1 Introduction 10 2.2 Meaning, origin, classification, function and characteristics of proverbs 10 2.2.1 Meaning 10 2.2.2 Origin of proverbs 12 2.2.3 Classification of proverbs 14 2.2.4 Functions 16 2.2.5 Characteristics 20 2.3 Proverb lore and its use in literature 23 2.4 Language in African drama 28 2.5 The development of modern Nigerian drama 35 2.6 Proverbs and context 39 vi 2.7 Characterisation in literary works 41 2.7.1 Classification of characters 44 2.8 Scholars‘ perspectives on the use of language in the plays of Ola Rotimi 46 2.9 Theoretical framework 50 2.9.1 The ethnography of communication 50 2.9.1.1 Setting (genre, topic, purpose, function and setting) 53 2.9.1.2 Participants 54 2.9.1.3 Message form 54 2.9.1.4 Message content 55 2.9.1.5 Act sequence 56 2.9.1.6 Rules for interaction 56 2.9.1.7 Norms of interpretation 56 2.10 Justification for the choice of the theoretical framework 57 CHAPTER THREE: CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE SELECTED TEXTS 3.1 Introduction 58 3.2 The plot of The gods 59 3.3 Thematic preoccupations in The gods 61 3.4 The Plot of Ola Rotimi‘s Kurunmi 65 3.5 Thematic preoccupations in Kurunmi 67 3.6 The plot of Our husband 71 3.7 Major themes in Our husband 73 CHAPTER FOUR: CONTEXTS OF PROVERBS IN THE SELECTED PLAYS OF OLA ROTIMI 78 4.1 Introduction 78 4.2 Socio-cultural contexts of proverbs in the selected plays 79 4.2.1 Ideological proverbs 79 4.2.2 Proverbs about politics 87 4.2.3 Moral/ ethical proverbs 92 4.2.4 Proverbs about tradition and change 94 4.3 Psychological contexts of the proverbs in the selected plays 99 vii 4.3.1 Philosophical proverbs 99 4.3.2 Crisis-induced proverbs 107 4.3.3 Religion-related proverbs 117 4.3.3.1 Proverbs about fate and predestination 122 4.3.4 Proverbs relating to matrimony, gender struggle and human rights 127 CHAPTER FIVE: PROVERBS FUNCTIONS AND PROVERBS AS A CHARACTERIZATION DEVICE IN THE SELECTED PLAYS 5.1 Functions of proverbs 135 5.1.1 Communicative functions of proverbs 135 5.1.1.1 Emotive functions 135 5.1.1.2 Supportive functions of proverbs 136 5.1.1.3 Directive functions of proverbs 137 5.1.1.4 Reflective function of proverbs 138 5.1.2 Speech acts functions performed by selected proverbs 139 5.1.3 Socio-political functions 144 5.1.4 Innovative/Linguistic functions of proverbs 146 5.1.4.1 Coinages
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