Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nollywood Films
By
Of
English Department
Faculty of Arts
University of Ibadan
Nigeria
September, 2010
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1 Background to the Study
In the beginning was language, Rhetoric was part of language and proverb
was a pillar in Rhetoric. This echoes the fact that the study of proverb started
when language scholarship started. Proverbs scholarship therefore did not
emerge from the blues. This is underscored by the energy expended on this
oral art by such great minds as Aristotle and Plato. These erudite and even the
early Greek linguists wrestled with the question of what constitutes the
proverb. Also, attempts were made by them to distinguish proverb from other
gnomic devices such as apothegms, maxims, aphorisms, quotations, truisms,
witticisms, wellerisms est.
In 1932, Bartlett Jere Whiting came up with his ground-breaking essay on
“The Nature of the proverb”. This momentous essay by Whiting engendered
scholarly articles, monographs, and even books on this unique verbal art. But
it is surprising to note that what all these write ups and books were out to do
was to define the concept “Proverb” and funnily they could not agree. The
failure of the earlier scholars to define proverb is heightened in the
submission of Archer Taylor who unequivocally declared that proverb is
indefinable. The recent works of Mieder on the proverb still do not solve the
definitional problem of proverb. They rather underscore the claim of Archer
Taylor
This did not deter the experts pursuing the gnomic device. The activity
continued even up till now only with meaningful advance. Still looking for
the definition of proverb, some of the most recent attempts in the English
language are those by Shirley Arora, Nigel Barley, Otto Blehr, Margaret
Bryant, David cram, Alan Dundes, Galit, Hasan-Rokem, George Milner,
Peter Seitel e.t.c. despite their newly insightful definitions based on
structural, semiotic or linguistics insights, all agree with contention of the old
master proverb scholar Archer Taylor.
It is however a different game now, the study of proverb has gone beyond
definition or should we say the proverb scholars have allowed the sleeping
dog to lie on the matter of definition but not on the other issues about the
proverb. In Tokyo conference in 1996 on proverb, Mielder, a professor of
proverb said;
Any attempt to describe the present state of proverb scholarship and its
desiderata for the future must by necessity look back upon past
accomplishments. There is indeed an impressive history of the two major
aspects of proverb scholarship, i.e., the collection of proverbs
(paremiography) and the study of proverbs (paremiology). Naturally these
two branches are merely two sides of the same coin, and some of the very
best research on proverbs combines the two in perfect harmony.
This shows us that proverb has now had divisions; paremiography and
paremiology, despite lack of generally acceptable definition of this verbal
phenomenon. The proverb scholar was however quick to add that
comprehensive analysis of proverb is done when both approaches are used at
once.
One may wonder loud what use proverb has that makes it deserve such
scholarly attention. The importance of proverb is best appreciated in a speech
that is meant to achieve immediate or sometime later objectives. Persuasive
or political speeches fall within this precincts. But then one might wonder if
proverb is meant for these alone. Proverb is not an exclusive property of a
personal conversational genre. Anywhere communication takes place,
proverb is welcome. This accounts for our location of proverbs in Nollywood
film. It is a known fact that dialogue is a crucial aspect of movies. Hence, the
tendency of using proverb is high.
Proverb has also been partitioned into four in terms of its function: speech
act situation, formal performance (story telly), virtual chants and verbal
contest. All these partitions are found in the current research. The film, no
matter its origin, will have speech act situation, it is needless to say that the
film is more often than not a story telling of sort. In the same veins, we
seldom stump on lineage praises that use proverbial materials extensively.We
cannot deny verbal acrobatics encroached in proverbs in the film as well.
1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research is to investigate the use of proverbs in some Yoruba (a
South Western part of Nigeria) films. In doing this, the study has four specific objectives;
To assert the use of proverbs in Yoruba-mediated Nollywood films
To find out the frequency of the use of proverbs in the films
To find out if the original context of the proverb changes when used in
films; and
To examine the pragmatic functions of the used proverbs as they
contribute to the beauty and message of the selected movies.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study is purely linguistic one and our analysis will focus on
Yoruba-mediated Nollywood movies. Specifically ,Ori(a movie by
Muyiwa Ademola), Ohun Okosomida(a film by Shola Sobowale) and
Baba Super(a film by Bolaji Amusan a.k.a Latin),, .The films are
representative of Tragic-comedy, Tragedy and Comedy representative.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Specifically, this study will attempt to answer the following questions:
a. What is the frequency of proverbs used in Yoruba-mediated
Nollywood movies?
b. Do proverbs used contribute to the story line of the movies?
c. What other value do proverbs have apart from meaning in the movies?
Cultural export is one of the ways of generating revenue for a country. One of the
easiest ways of exporting culture is through the movie. Hence, Nollywood-the concept to
be fully explained immediately after this heading-is a good means of cultural transport
for Nigeria.
Nollywod is one of the fastest-growing film industries in the world, and one of the
largest, too, in terms of output, alongside Bollywood-india film industry, based on
UNESCO’s survey conducted a few years ago. Nigeria produces a staggering 2,500 films
a year. Not less than too full length documentaries have been done on Nollywood. This
alone justifies this research work.
GRAMMATICAL MODEL
Ideational Function has to do with use of language for thinking and expression of
thoughts and experiences both in the physical and in the imaginative realm. By means of
this function, a person can refer to people, things, objects, places, actions, events, states,
qualities and circumstances. For instance, a person who says: I am hungry, has used the
ideational function of language to express his experience. Ideational function is
grammatical.
INTERPERSONAL FUNCTION
TEXTUAL FUNCTION
Although the name caused a protest in the earlier days as critics felt it was
imported and derived from Hollywood and Bollywood. There was also an argument on
issue of the name being coined by a foreigner. Some didn't like it, but the good thing is
that Nollywood as a name has moved far beyond these earlier hiccups. No-one actually
bothers about the origin of the name today. It has become accepted that Nollywood
applies to the Nigerian Movie Industry.
Today, Nollywood ranks third in the movie industry after Hollywood (USA) and
Bollywood(India). It has been able to stay despite so many deterrents, which to name a
few include, expensive technical tools of the trade, inconsistent supply of electricity
(which is taken for granted in almost every other country in the world), the horrible
traffic-jam conditions which can lead to extreme lateness in production times (but the
"show must go on"!), and little on no governmental aid, not to talk of piracy.
What makes the industry so unique is that it is a video driven industry; the movies
in the early days were produced and put straight on VHS cassettes and then released/
distributed for sale to the public. Now with the new technological advancement in place
they are usually on VCD's, the Nigerian refer to the movies as "home video".
WHAT IS STYLISTICS
Many linguists do not like the term ‘stylistics’. The word ‘style’, itself, has
several connotations that make it difficult for the term to be defined accurately. However,
in Linguistic Criticism, Roger Fowler makes the point that, in non-theoretical usage, the
word stylistics makes sense and is useful in referring to an enormous range of literary
contexts, such as John Milton’s ‘grand style’, the ‘prose style’ of Henry James, the ‘epic’
and ‘ballad style’ of classical Greek literature, etc. (Fowler. 1996, 185).
In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the
connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language.
Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic
associations are that the style of language reveals
WHAT IS PRAGMATICS
The lack of a clear consensus appears in the way that no two published accounts
list the same categories of pragmatics in quite the same order. But among the things
popular in the fields are: Speech act theory, Felicity conditions, Conversational
implicature, the cooperative principle, Conversational maxims, Relevance, Politeness,
Phatic tokens, Deixis among others
The pragmaticians did not tarry to defend pragmatics with the following points:
LITERATURE REVIEW
Even the scriptures are not silent on proverbs. Proverbs 1:1-7 (The Holy Bible,
New International Version, 1984), explains that proverbs help the wise in increasing his
wisdom, while enabling the discerning to get guidance. Proverbs in different languages
and cultures form part of the codes of behaviour and exemplify their use for the
transmission of tribal wisdom and rules of conduct (The New Encyclopedia Britannica,
1992:749).
Lawal and Raji (1997:635), opine that proverbs “represent the quintessence of a
people’s collective wisdom sustained and transmitted from generation to generation”.
And, according to Noah in Iwara (1996:95) “a proverb is a laconic declaration, generally
invariable in its structure, whose intervention in a context of verbal representation
condenses and radiates experience, ideas and admonitions through its terse, pithy
statement of a truism
Proverbs are the distilled genius of oral cultures, perhaps even an encapsulation of
the whole. They identify and dignify a culture, bringing life into wisdom and wisdom into
life. Unfortunately their potential value for modern thought and life is little recognized.
Even in Africa itself, proverbs are a vanishing heritage associated mostly with the
barefoot, rural world. They seem never to have found a home in the modern world,
especially in the imported system of education. The central intellectual problem of Africa
today is how to integrate those two worlds rather than leave the next generation spread-
eagled between them.
The required integration of proverbs with modern life is not simply a matter of
learning to quote a few proverbs now and then. Careful study is needed at many levels
and from various disciplines so that the themes and patterns of proverbs can be
recognized, appreciated and evaluated. The complexity and depth of proverbs is one of
the reasons they are neglected--researchers know that one cannot base a sound argument
on any single proverb without a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the whole proverbial
store of a given language.
This Alabi’s study stresses style in its analysis, though she mentions function and
identifies few functions of proverb but the bulk of the work favours style which is Form
as evidenced in her grouping of the proverb. In addition, this work is text-based calling
into question the dialectical variety of the proverb used. No doubt, it is more from Olu
Obafemi’s, representation of the proverb.
Wonderful as Fashina’s work is, its bias for a group of proverbs shows that the
researcher just bit what he could chew. Writing on gender-related proverbs alone makes
one to ask if proverbs do not exist for Commerce, Education, Law, Sport, etc. What this
means is that Fashina did only what he found important to him in the field.It is important
to note that Fashina’s work is guilty of Alabi’s sin;too text-based analysis
Adeleke Adeeko (1992, 1998) examines the context and functions of proverbs in
African discourse and posits that ‘proverbs are commonly used to mark thematic shifts,
indigenous high rhetoric, self-conscious speech, and the intellectual sharpness of
characters.
Furthermore, there are two types of context; macro and micro context. The macro
situational context refers to the wider environment in which the discourse is taking place.
It codes such macro-sociolinguistic features as the socio-cultural beliefs of the speech
community, their psychological perspectives, as well as their cosmological views, among
others. The micro situational context is therefore subsumed in the macro situational
context. Both of them are comparable to what has been variously referred to as text-
external world (Lambrecht, 1998), mutual contextual beliefs (MCBs) (Bach and Harnish,
1979), principles of local interpretation and analogy (Brown and Yule, 1983) and
background structure (Lawal, !j1y8 and R2j8, 1997). Lawal et al. (1997:635-652)
describe the illocutionary acts performed through the use of twelve Yoruba proverbs.
They analyze the linguistic, situational, psychological, social, sociological and
cosmological contexts which listeners or readers have to competently deploy to interpret
the proverbs. They dissect the frontiers of meanings inherent in the proverbs through the
pragmatic theory, which is a theory of meaning. Pragmatics is mainly concerned with the
different meanings which words, phrases and sentences can have in different contexts of
use (Lawal, 1997:19).
Following Lawal’s (1992) thesis that proverbs seem to contain the richest
pool of pragmatic or semantic factors, the meaning mappings provided by proverbs are
therefore significant for attention especially in the second language context, where the L1
ideas are transposed on the L2 codes. Though, due to the universality of human
experience, proverbs exist in all languages with similarities in terms of their reliance on
vivid images, domestic allusions and word play, yet they are scantily encountered in
many European languages (Crystal, 1997:53). On the contrary, proverbs feature
prominently in interpersonal, transactional and ideational language use in Africa. And
since African writers articulate African ethos that “enable a compelling realization of
African aesthetics”, Nigerian writers are wont to suffuse their committed literary
enterprises with abundant proverbs as a way of underscoring cultural consciousness and
evoking penetrating meanings.
This scholar takes a step further by bringing two authors text together for
proverb analysis but he is still not less culpable in the area of text-based
analysis.
Fayemi A.K (2010) examines the question of logic in African philosophy through a
systematic exploration of Yoruba proverbs as a useful cultural resource. Its basis is to
strengthen the defence of logicality of traditional unlettered Yoruba-Africans. It argues,
with illustrative examples, that proverbs are the axiomatic regimentation of formal logic
in African philosophy. He establishes a close nexus between logic and language. Using
the Yoruba language as an example, he shows that there are some elements of formal
logical inferential rules and principles embedded in Yoruba proverbial thought. As a
matter of universal application, these logical principles are conventionally used in Yoruba
cultural milieu to evaluate discourse, reasoning and thoughts. In addition, he identifies
the critical challenges and difficulties that are confronted in the course of exploring the
logic in Yoruba proverbs.
The collection of this oral literary genre also worthy of review from the production of
Òwe Yorùbá (1947)
Àkójopo Àwon Òwe Yorùbá (1962), Egbòkànlá Lé Ogóòrin Òwe Yorùbá (1955), and
Ìwé
Òwe ní Èdé Yorùbá (1955). One of the things that helped the transmission of Yoruba
culture to scholars from other parts of the world then was that most documentations
made on proverbs had English translations. The tools deployed for documentation by
these scholars then were basically oral interview and the print media. The outcome of
Collections done through interviews were published texts, which later became resource
materials for early scholars in Yorùbá oral literature. For instance, Beier and Gbadamosi
(1959) examine the ideas contained in Yoruba proverbs. They conclude that Yorùbá
World views are reflected in their proverbs. The classification of Yorùbá proverbs done
by Sobande (1967) and Bamgbose (1968) also relied heavily on the collection done by
the early scholars.
Fasiku(2004) attempts to situate Yorùbá proverbs, names, role-expectations,
aspirations and consciousness towards building and contributing to the development of a
national consciousness. He proceeds with a critical exposition of the general nature of
Yorùbá proverbs, an exploration of the dialectical relationship between Yorùbá proverbs
and names, and argues that this relationship instantiates a descriptivist theory of reference
of names in the philosophy of language, with concluding particulars that critically
espouses the values and virtues embedded in selected Yorùbá proverbs and names
It is thus certain that proverb scholarship is a well researched area which ensures that
the prospective researchers in proverbs get a compass for direction. One may then
wonder of what use is venturing into what has been claimed to be well researched
already. The answer is found in the fact that all researches so far, at least to the best of
my knowledge, are text-oriented and those that are not text-based employ abstract context
for their analysis. As a matter of specificity, no proverb research has probed proverbs in
movies known to me, if any has done it, then none has done it on Yoruba movies, if any
makes claim of this, then none has chosen the exact movies this research shall use. The
last argument is based on the currency of the selected movies and its cutting across the
genral divisions of films; tragic-comedy, comedy and tragedy.
1.2 PROVERBS ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Thus, the study of proverb is no doubt a fascinating aspect of language study. This
is well understood when we realize that apart from message-explicating nature of the
proverb, it does perform aesthetic function as well either looked at from organist or
ornatist view. Little wonder that the study of this spectacular aspect of language now has
two approaches to it; paremiography and paremiology. Paremiography deals with
collection of proverbs of different regions and cultures while paremiology is the study of
the collected proverbs.
That the scholarship of this linguistic phenomenon has two braches attests to how far
scholars have treaded this path. However, the University of Vermont don claimed that the
best and accomplishing way of studying proverbs is to be a collector and analyst of them
as well.
The position accorded the proverb among the Yoruba-the part of the world we
want to analyze its proverb-is sacrosanct. Among these people proverbs taste sweetest in
the mouths of very old people. This is not, however, implying that younger ones cannot
use proverbs in their speeches, but they have to defer to, and seek permission from the
elders present, saying: "I bow to you elders; it wants to go the way of proverbs ...” And
the elders will grant him permission, blessing him: "May you live long to use more
proverbs". Proverbs are thus employed to reinforce and sustain the traditional respect for
elders. In this regard, it also serves as a potent means of social control. In settling quarrels
and disputes, a proverb comes in handy: "It is only he who is knowledgeable in words
and proverbs that can settle quarrels'". Again, the traditional deference to elders is here
underscored.
The aesthetic qualities and functions of proverbs can be gleaned from their different
poetic techniques. There are certain stylistic devices such as the foregrounding of sound,
imagery and diction which are not common in ordinary usages. This explains the
intellectual, emotional and imaginative appeals of several Yoruba proverbs. Hence,
another proverb claims that "the agidigbo drum is sounded like proverbs; it is only the
wise that can dance to its rhythm, and the knowledgeable (in words) that can interpret its
message".
Yoruba proverbs also serve didactic functions, especially for the younger generation.
This is why level-headed youths crave the company of elders so that they can glean
linguistic, cultural and historical information usually conveyed in elders' speeches which,
as indicated earlier on are full of appropriate proverbs. As the proverbs go, "it is the old
mouth that knows the ripeness of kola" and "any youth that washes its hands clean shall
dine with elders".
A cursory examination of the contents of even a small number of Yoruba proverbs
would reveal an eclectic socio-cultural origin. The sources are as varied as the historical,
social and cultural experiences of the Yoruba people. The significance of historicity, for
instance, can be seen in this proverb: "Greeting is something but taunting another thing;
we do not greet a man by calling him an Ijaye man passing through the frontage of
Ogunmola's house". This proverb contains a historical allusion to the Ijaye war of the
early 1860's and the historic role of Ogunmola in the war.
Perhaps the greatest number of Yoruba proverbs is minted from the socio-cultural
realities of traditional Yoruba experience. Hence, "as soon as the suitor wins the consent
of his woman, the match-maker must withdraw his services", and "inheritors cannot be
likened to true heirs". In addition, "the slave dies without the knowledge of the mother,
but pandemonium greets the death of the freeborn". This last one would seem to be
equivalent in pragmatic function to the Shakespearean coinage; "When beggars die there
are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes" (Calpurnia
in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act III, Sc. ii.).
Within the realm of socio-cultural experience, the Yoruba religious and moral ethos is
perhaps the richest sub-source. Some of the proverbs derived from this area include: "If
my deity cannot support me, he should leave me as he met me"; "Our character is deity,
the more positive it is, the more supportive"; and "No deity .supports the indolent; it is
our arms that support us". These last two proverbs would seem to echo the English
equivalent which claims that "character is fate".
There are a handful of Yoruba proverbs that manifest deep psychological penetration
and an understanding of animal behaviour. Two examples of these are "Human beings
never assist in licking your hands when they are smeared with blood, except when they
are shimmering with palm-oil"; and "a sheep that keeps the company of dogs must eat
faeces", in other words, "show me your friends and I will know whom you are".
Certain lines of divinatory and incantatory poetry have come to stay as widely
accepted proverbs among the Yoruba. Due essentially to their poetic origin, this category
of proverbs displays philosophical profundity and a keen sensitivity to the environment.
For instance, "when the wood-insect gathers sticks, on its own head it carries them, in the
same way as "the ash must trail whoever blows it", and "the earth shall consume those
who betray it”. This set of proverbs is closely associated with figurative or literary
expression. More often the proverbs are figurative in one way or another. Direct similes
occur fairly often. The Hausa, for example, say that ‘A chief is like a dust-heap where
everyone comes with his rubbish (complaint) and deposits. Among the Southern Bantu
the likening of something to dew melting away in the sun appears in many forms: the
Zulu suggest that something is caly a passing phase by asserting that ‘This thing is dew’
or Ndebele kingship is dew ‘wealth’ is another stock comparison, as in the Swahili ‘wits
(are) wealth; or the vivid saying of the Thonga and others that ‘To bear children is
wealth to dress oneself is (nothing but) colours. Many other examples of these direct
comparisons could be cited: the Southern Bantu To look at a men as at a snake’ (i,e. with
deadly hatred), or To marry is to put a snake in one’s hand bag ; the Ashanti proverbs
Family names are like a blanket; when you cover yourself with it, it irritates you, and yet
if you cast it aside you feel cold and the Xhosa. He is ripe inside, like a watermelon;
describing a man who has come to a resolution without yet expressing it publicly.All
these underscore the claim that proverbs are literary in a sense.
Importantly, many have observed that proverbs overlap with many other verbal
arts but when we consider certain specialized forms in which proverbs appear, we shall
see it as a verbal art of their own kinds. Their use in the form of proverb names is one.
Among the Ovimobundu, to give one example, the woman’s mark Simbovla is a
shortened form of the proverb ‘while you mark out a field, Death marks you out in life’ –
in life you are in the midst of death’ Another connection is with bird lore, a form
particularly among the Southern Bantu. The cries attributed to certain birds can be
expressed as a proverb or a song. The hammerkop, for instance, can be referred to as a
symbol of vanity either in a brief proverb or in the full song in which he is represented as
praising himself at length; the songs here are thus in- extricably linked with the proverbs.
Proverbs are also sometimes connected with other artistic media: they can be
drummed (a characteristic form in some West African society,Yoruba Community
inclusive), sung, as with Legal judicial proverbs, or can appear on the flags of military
companies, as among the Fante,; Most striking of all is the way the Ashanti associate a
certain proverb with one or other of their many ‘gold weight’- small brass figures and
images originally used to weight gold dust and worked with great skill and humour. Thus
a snake catching a bird represents the proverb. The snake lies upon the ground, but God
has given him the hornbill’ (that flies in the sky). Another weight depicts two crocodiles
with only a single stomach between them, representing ‘Bellies mixed up, crocodiles
mixed up we get anything to eat it passes down our respectively gullets’- a famous
proverb often cited when one individual in a family tries to seize fro himself rather than
sharing.
Certain direct associations between proverbs and other artistic forms such as
metal work or drumming or song may be peculiar to certain African societies, but the
general association of proverbs and other forms of literature is not after all very
surprising. Close connections are perhaps particularly characteristics of an oral literature
without a clear- cut distinction between written and unwritten forms, but the sort of way
in which proverbial expression and other types of literacy art (including the art of
conversation) mutually enrich and act upon each other is something which is presumably
a quality of most cultures. In this, then proverbs in African are not so very different from
those in any literate culture, in both of which their main impact seems, in fact, to be in an
oral rather than a written form. In neither case should they be regarded as isolated sayings
to be collected in hundreds or thousands on their own, but rather as just one aspects of
artistic expression within a whole social and literary context. The close connection of
proverbs with other literary forms raises a difficulty. How, particularly in an oral culture,
can we distinguish proverbs from other forms of oral art? Or indeed from ordinary clichés
and idioms, and from such related but different forms as maxims and apothegms?
Most of the published collections ignore this point of definition and by merely entitling
their works ‘proverbs’ often give the misleading impression that these sayings are clearly
differentiated from other expression or that they are in all way equivalent to our idea of
proverbs. Some of the best collections, such as those of Hulstaert, Nyembezi, Doke, or
chatelain, specifically point out this difficulty, but most have little or no discussion of this
point.
As earlier said, the exact definition of proverb is no easy matter. There is,
however, some general agreement as to what constitutes a proverb. It is a saying in more
or less fixed from marked by shortness sense, and salt’ and distinguish by the popular
acceptance of the truth tersely expressed in it. Even so general a picture as this contains
some useful pointers for the analysis of African proverbs.
First, their form, they are picked out first and most obliviously as being short; and
secondly by the fact that even where the wording itself is not absolutely fixed, at least the
main structural pattern is accepted in the society concerned. In addition to terseness and
relatively fixity, most saying classed as proverbs are also marked by some kind of poetic
quality in style or sense, and are in this way set in form from more straight forward
maxims.
The question of ‘popular acceptance’ is however, a more difficult one. If one of the
marks of a true proverb is its general acceptance as the popular expression of some truth,
we are seldom given the data to decide how far this is indeed a characteristic of the
sayings included in collections of ‘proverbs’. In many cases presumably the sayings
included are proverbs in this full sense. But we have in fact no way of telling whether
some of the ‘proverbs’ included are not just the sententious utterances of a single
individual on a single occasion which happened to appeal to the investigator.
The sort of terminology involved can sometimes provide a clue to the local
attitude to ‘proverbs’. As we have seen, there is sometimes a specialized term, sometimes
not. This is not always made clear by collectors. Even more serious is the frequent failure
to consider when, how, and by or among whom common proverbs are used. Even where
something about the general context is given, we are practically never told in detail how a
given single proverb was actually. Yet, as will emerge, this may in fact determine its
significance, the way in which it is appreciated locally, even its meaning. This aspect is
often crucial, if whether or not some attractive saying is really a ‘proverb’ depends on the
local evaluation of it. This question is made more difficult because proverbs often have
no specialized occasions for their use. Unlike forms as riddles and stories they are not
normally set apart as suitable for relaxation after, say the end of the day’s work, but are
closely involved with speech and action on every sort of occasions (including general
conservation). Therefore to differentiate those saying which are merely idiomatic from
those which the people concerned consider to have that special flavour which makes it
correct to call them proverbs, we need more precise information about context and
attitude than we are usually given.
In the Yoruba language, appropriate use of proverbs is part of the competence that
a speaker is expected to exhibit. No wonder then that the language is full of proverbs
which cut across all facets of the Yoruba people’s cosmology. Actually, when proverbs
are used in (Yoruba) discourse, they implicate several aspects of the sociolinguistic
variables of discourse. For example, sociolinguistics parameters like the age, sex, social
class, psychological states of interlocutors, as well as other situational contexts of
discourse, become very relevant in a Yoruba speaker’s use of proverbs in discourse. In
the Yoruba culture for instance, the elders are believed to be the custodians of proverbs,
as it is only in their mouths that proverbs, like kola-nut become ripe.
Chapter Three
METHODOLOGY
In the words of Mey (2001: 221), the pragmatic act theory focuses on "the
environment in which both speaker and hearer find their affordances, such that the entire
situation is brought to bear on what can be said in the situation, as well as what is actually
being said". This perspective is captured as a pragmeme, a generalized pragmatic act
regarded as the only force associated with making utterances.
Furthermore,
should the researcher here ask the infor-
mants to converse and use proverbs? If so,
what topic of conversation should be raised?
abviously the use of proverbs cannot be pre-
determined . The user does not anticipate
his use of proverbs; he cannot predict
what topic or specific situation will inspire
him to use a proverb. Proverbs are the
result of an instant impulse, and a prolific
user may speak continuously for several
hours without using one proverb. What
couId the researcher then conclude about
the speakers' use of proverbs? Or is he
going to ask his informants to compete in
uttering proverbs out of linguistic context?
We shall use both primary and secondary source of data collection in our
analysis.We shall use at least three classical Yoruba movies Ori(Destiny),Agogo
Eewo,Saworo ide.
In these films,we shall fish out the proverbs in them, offer their English glosses
and analyse them using merged models of pragmem-a new pragmatic theory by Mey
2001- ,a cognitive theory of proverb of Larkoff and Turner and stylistics approaches
Using pragmeme theory, the analysis requires modifications of the theory to suit our
data .Hence we adopt the modified model below;
Proverbs
S SCP NCP H
Macro Micro
Dialogue acts Context
Indirect speech acts REF, MPH,
INF, SSK, SCK
REL
Practs;
CHAPTER FOUR
This chapter takes up analysis part of the work. Inventories of the proverbs are
taken and systematically analyzed. In order to have a good grasp of the proverbs in each
movie, thematic pre-occupation of each is briefly delved into
Ori (FATE) is the first movie on focus. This film is produced by a popular young
Nigerian actor,Muyiwa Ademola. The film, in theme, is primarily concerned with pre-
destination which is a well-held belief in Yoruba mythology.
This proverb falls under SCP. This is indirect speech act, when looked within the
micro-context of the movie is understood as no evil doer goes unpunished. Saidi Balogun
who lured his friend –Muyiwa- into marriage of convenience with his (Saidis’s) pregnant
wife is the reference here. The proverb is figurative. Hence, his meaning lies in
indirectness. The pragmatic function of the proverb, that is its pract within the context it
is used is stating.
This SCP proverb has its meaning fully realized within the micro-context of the
film.Eda,the user of this proverb in the movie uses this indirect speech act referring to
Fathia who has been agood girl before the issue of her pregnancy which her father
considers caree-destroying.The proverb draws from metaphor,sharedl cultural knowledge
of the proverb and social situation.
This SCP is explainable at micro and macro-contextual level of the movie. At the
micro level, the meaning is realized on how Eda,the user of the proverb advises his
listener in that particular scene. At macro level, the meaning is realized when we raise
our mind a bit literary and perceive the proverb as ‘what will be, will be’ which of course
is eligible to be another title for the movie. Despite the struggle of Bello, his daugter’s
fate came upon her. Despite the madness of Muyiwa, his good luck still smiled on him.
Despite the absence of the Babalawo when Muyiwa got healed, the prediction of Ifa still
came to pass. The proverb uses Metaphor.It appeals to the shared knowledge of the
interlocutor as well as the Shared Cultural Knowledge of the audience. The proverb
practs advising as used in this scene.
This SCP is used by Eda to verbally scold Fatiah for her untimely pregnancy.The
proverb has its meaning only within the micro-context of the movie. It does not employ
Metaphor but societal knowledge and culture that only bastards do not take after their
parents. The proverb practs scolding in the context in which it is used.
This SCP is micro-context explainable and its full meaning is realized within this
scene. Eda used this proverb to deride the act of teenager marriage as he pleads on behalf
of Fatia that she should be forgiven by her father as her case is better than some
teenagers’. The proverb taps from Metaphor extensively as words such as Emo,Afe and
Aago are metaphorically used. All the names of rats mentioned are not different in all
features. All are small, pointing out the message of the speaker ,Eda The proverb as used
in the context practs deriding and referring.
The SCP is used by Eda displaying his elderly relationship with his younger
brother,Bello, Fathia;s father. He used the proverb while promising with conviction that
Bello will take Fatiah’s appeal if he intervenes. The proverb is metaphorically
couched.The proverb rides on the shared knowledge in Yoruba land that water-yam
cannot withstand fire for long.Bello is the water-yam here as the situational context
betrays and Eda is the fire. The proverb practs self-praising within the context used.
This SCP is used by Eda and its meaning is realized fully at the micro-context
level.The proverb partially draws from Metaphor but fully from shared knowledge.The
proverb practs condemnation in the context used.
Awodi gbe omo agbebo,agbebo mura ija,iran baba nla adie,ki lo fe fi asa se ?
This SCP used by Eda is dialogue speech act. The proverb is both micro and
macro-context explainable. For the former, it is understood within the scene used as Eda
faces his interlocutor aggressively beating his chest as to his strength to do and undo for
his listner. As for the latter, the proverb re-enforces the concept of Destiny as humans are
helpless in its grip. The proverb rides on Metaphor,SCK and SSC.The proverb practs
questioning and warning.
This SCP is a speech act. It has its meaning realizable fully at micro-context level
of the movie. The proverb does not employ Metaphor; it is purely literal.In the context of
the movie. The proverb practs stating.
?
Ani eeyan orewa,eni ojo lopa,se ojo pa ewa ara re danu ni
We say a person looks ugly, you say rain beat him, does rain wash away beauty?
This SCP is dialogue speech act. Its elicitation of a response stresses this.The
proverb does not use Metaphor.It relies on the the shared knowledge of the listners.The
proverb practs questiong.
This SCP is a speech act.The proverb is purely linguistic and literal.It appeals to
knowledge of the listners for understanding.The proverb,within the context it is
used,practs warning
Orisa boo ba gbemi,semi bi ose bami
Deity,if you cannot favour me,let me be as you met me
This SCP has its full meaning achieved within micro-context of the movie.The
proverb draws from Metaphor as Orisa is metaphorical as used in the proverbial
context.The proverb appeals to cultural knowledge of Africa on the fact that gods are
meant to aid their worshippers.The proverb,as used in the context,practs warning.
Ani kappa owo po ba ole wi,eni ibi olohun fihun si kobo si kolofin
We say we should condemn a thief, you say the owner does not keep property
well
This SCP is a speech act. It is a speech act. It does not employ Metaphor. The
proverb, however, relies on shared knowledge that stealing is forbidden. The proverb, as
used in the context, practs condemning.
The SCP is a speech act. The proverb is best understood in the scene in which it is
used. Hence, it has micro-contextual meaning. The proverb does not employ Metaphor.
The proverb, as used in the context, practs stating.
This SCP is a speech act. The proverb has micro-contextual meaning. The proverb
does not employ Metaphor. The proverb appeals to common sense of give and take which
of course is shared knowledge. The proverb, as used in the context practs advising
This SCP is a speech act. Its full meaning is located in micro-context level of the
movie. The proverb does not use Metaphor. It however relies on the shared knowledge of
the listeners. The proverb, as used in the context, practs stating
Sango n bugo ‘opolo to lohun o se ogun ara kurukuru fun ijapa,ko se fiwo rara
na
The frog that wants to give the tortoise remedy for its rough body should first use
it
This SCP is a speech act. The meaning of the proverb is primarily achieved at the
micro-context level. The proverb is heavily Metaphor dependent. The proverb appeals to
the audience knowledge of world objects and animals. The proverb, as used in the
context,practs stating.
Ki jesu to de,o risa kan lawon eeyan nsin,ni gba tode o gba koso
Before the arrival of Jesus, people had the deity they worshiped, his arrival
changed everything.
This SCP is a micro-context dependent in full meaning realization. It is a speech
act.It does not employ Metaphor. It draws from shared knowledge of the listener the
concept of foreing religion.The proverb practs informing.Sobowale is being informed by
the second wife of her necessary coming
Eni ti o sin oku egbon re ni hoho ni soju aburo re,ki ohun naa ma jafara
The person that buries his elder brother/sister without a shroud in the presence of
his younger one should prepare for the same shame.
This SCP is micro-context dependent in meaning realization.It is a speech act.It is
not Metaphor reliant.It draws from the shared knowledge of child-upbringing.The
proverb practs warning/advising.
A ni eeyan kusoko,ani ko kuu re,se awa naa tun gbodo ru oku naa koja ile
We detest the fact that someone dies on the farm,must we carry the same corpse
passing house front,wont we become overbaerer
This SCP is micro-context dependent.It is dialogic.It does not employ Metaphor.
It relies on the Yoruba culture of respect for the dead and the living during the burial. The
proverb practs re-emphasising fact.
Igi taa titori gbodi,oye ko le suna funi ya
The tree that we suffer for should be able to make good fire for one’s warmth
This SCP is a micro-context dependent. It is a speech act. It employs Metaphor. It
relies on the shared knowledge of the listeners. The proverb practs stating.
This SCP is located within the micro-context of the movie. The proverb is more
of the scene-concerned. Baba Super, the protagonist in the movie used it to win
his concubine to bed after giving her some money she needed. The proverb does
not employ metaphor. What Baba Supper practs here is demanding this becomes
imperative as he just payed the woman?
This SCP is micro-contextual in relation to the movie. The proverb does not use
metaphor the context in terms of shared knowledge has to do with fumy
negotiation between Baba Super and Tunji. The proverb refers to the agreement to
be reached. The proverb practs stating
This SCP is used by Baba Super. It does not make use of metaphor. It is dialogic
more so, the proverb rides on the context of shared knowledge so situation that is
immediate. The proverb practs condemning.
This SCP is used by Tunji. The proverb is devoid of metaphor. It is not dialogic it
rides on the situation of braying that is going on between Baba Super and Tunji.
The proverb practs stating.
Igba iponjyu…
Trial period…
This ellipted SCP is used by Baba super. It is not metaphor . It rides on the
context of situation particularly that of embarassmt that Baba Super suddenly
finds himself. This uncompleted proverb practs stating.
This SCP is micro-contextual. The proverb uses metaphor as shown in the images
of “corpse” and “grave” that have meaning that are more than their meaning. The
proverb rides on situation context of deception between Baba Super and Tunji.
The proverb employs cultural knowledge on the use of the proverb practs
doubting.
This SCP is micro-contextual. It does not use metaphor. It uses indirect speech
act. It rides on the context of situation on misbehavior of Baba Super and his
ewemy-: The proverb practs stating
CHAPTER FIVE
The analysis above reveals more potentials about proverb. The analysis has shown us that
proverb study is a mine that can be explored from different angles and as a matter of fact
many results will emerge
The analyzers done in this work does not only confirm that proverbs used in films
(Nollywood) demarcate characters. The use of proverb, as the films (Nollywood) has made
us see, is an exclusive property of the elder, the wise and the intelligent. Taking a look at
the analysis so far; one will agree with this assertion.
In the first film “Ori”, the person that used proverb mostly is “Eda Onile Ola”.
Concentrating on this man, in both the fictional world he is seen and out side this film, he is
an elderly man. He has had many experiences. He is wise. He is intelligent.
The next in rank that used proverb very well is the Ifa-priest. He is also old as presented in
the film. He is intelligent. He is wise.
Critically speaking, one night query the fact that the Ifa-priest is older than Eda
and yet he did not use many proverbs in the film like Eda. The answer is in the frequent
appearance of Eda in many scenes.This gave him that edge on the Ifa-priest. Given the
same appearance, the Ifa-priest might have used more proverbs than Eda.
This now justifies the reason why young Muyiwa and Saidi Bologna also use
proverb. The reason is in the fact that they are prominent figures in the film. We must
however add that despite this, then youngster employ proverb when the issue at hard is
critical. Also, they do not use proverb freely like the elder ones. They always add pre-
proverbial elements such as “Our elders say; “I want to go in the way of proverb...” e.t.c.
The assertion above about proverbs distinguishing important characters from the
less important and serious issue from unserious one is also visible in “Ohun Oko Somida”
What Husband Has Trued me into” This films use of proverb stresses serious matter more
than the issue of important characters. Hence, virtually all the sceness are serious. As a
result all the characters employ serious language use. Hence, the use of proverb. This
culminates into many of the characters (If not all) using proverb.
Another angle to proverb is displayed in this film. Proverb is shown as a veritable
tool for conflict settlement. In the court scenes presented in the film, both the prosecutor
and defendant’s counsels employ proverb. In fact, even the judge is not exempted.
The comedy film introduces another angle to the analysis or should we say, it
stresses what we have highlighted above. This film shows that proverb is also a good tool
for comedy. There, we learn that there exists serious proverb and less serious proverb. In
this film (Baba Super) we are aware of how proverb can perform utilitarian value more
than aesthetic value. Proverb here is humorous.
Having said this above, we can still see that proverbs used in the film
(Nollywood) could be either scene-related or title related. The analysis shows that we have
more scene-related than title-related proverbs. Hence, we generalize to say that proverbs
use in films (Nollywood) often favour scene at hand. It is important to say that this does not
mean scene-related proverbs are out of the purview of the whole film. Since all the scenes
work towards completing the story, the proverbs in the scene are indirectly contributing to
the whole film. It is just for analysis sake that we improvise the dichotomy of scene-related
proverb and title-related proverbs.
Further more; it is made clear in this analysis that proverbs in the films
(Nollywood) could be dialogic and/or mongolic. It is dialogic when the proverb used elicits
response which may be given or not given.It is monologic when the proverb is used
without expectation of any reply but with intention of clarification or statement. This is
common in the analysis we have carried out so far. It is in the following scenes.
We have 1;4 of dialogic versus monologic proverbs in the film.Stylistically,the
meaning of this is in the fact that films are meant for the audience without immediate
feedback.This is responsible for the use of proverbs that explicate more than the ones that
demand answers.