The intersection of modern African poetry and folklore is a much-researched topic in African literary scholarship. However, literary scholars have not examined this relationship in the poetry of Christian Otobotekere, a king and poet whose cultural productions have been mostly studied from the perspective of ecocriticism. Therefore, in this article, I look at the place of Ịjọ (also spelt “Ijaw”) folklore in Otobotekere’s A Sailor’s Son 1: In the Wake of Games and Dances (2015). I find that, in this collection, Otobotekere frequently employs the folklore of his people, including dirge, drum poetry, lullabies, moonlight stories, dance patterns, and musical styles, as well as elements of Ịjọ songs such as simplicity, repetition, allusion, dialogue, and direct address. I further discover that Otobotekere’s incorporation of Ịjọ folklore makes his poetry performative and helps it to achieve the quality of what is usually referred to as “written orality”. I argue that Otobotekere makes it his main aim to showcase these aspects of folklore to the non-Ịjọ reader and to document them for future generations in the Ịjọ community in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. This study appeals to scholars in the fields of literature and folklore as it contributes to the decades-long conversation on the interaction between the two disciplines.
This article analyzes the tribal aspirations of Sippis, traditionally a wool shearing caste closely associated with Gaddis. Sippis have different administrative classifications across three districts in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. In most contexts, they self identify as part of the Gaddi tribe. In this regard, they are not alone; four other caste groups, partially integrated into Gaddi life, make similar claims of tribal belonging. They argue that Gaddis are a caste heterogeneous tribal community with entrenched forms of casteism and ritual exclusion. Some identify with the neologism “Scheduled Tribe Dalit” to reflect their intersectionality as both marginalized Dalits and tribal people. Sippis, however, demand tribal inclusion along different ideological lines, often de-emphasizing tribal casteism, and emphasizing status equivalence with Gaddi Rajputs and Brahmins. Sippis generally reject their subordination as landless peasants and unfree clients under patronage exploitation, a narrative central to many other self identifying Gaddi Dalits. In doing so, Sippis separate themselves from other Gaddi identifying caste groups as they appeal for Scheduled Tribe status in Kangra. Based on 22 months of fieldwork, I analyze the ideologies of Sippi exceptionalism in the domains of pilgrimage, ritual practice, vocational lifestyle, and belief. The widespread recognition of Sippis as the highest status group among Scheduled Caste Gaddis, both in terms of self stylization and tribal social acceptance, accounts for villages where lower status groups have legally changed their caste certificates to become Sippi. Attention to how reservation shapes spirituality has broader implications for the anthropology of affirmative action across South Asia.
Lungisani Xolani Khumalo, Thabo Ditsele, Christopher Rwodzi
The Use of Official Languages Act (No. 12 of 2012) applies to all national departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa and stipulates that they should promote multilingualism when interacting with members of the public and/or customers. The main aim of this study was to investigate how two SOEs, that is, the South African Post Office (SAPO) and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), manage communication with their customers, particularly those who cannot communicate in English and Afrikaans. Data for this study were gathered through a mixed method approach. Quantitative data (i.e., a Likert-type scale) were gathered from 120 participants who were customers of the two SOEs, and qualitative data (i.e., face-to-face interviews) were gathered from 20 interviewees who were drawn from the 120 participants. The researcher was based in Gauteng, and conducted the study in that province because it was convenient and practical. The data were gathered in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, and the West Rand. The study found that customers believed that those who could not communicate in English and Afrikaans did not receive adequate information from the SOEs because of this shortcoming. The study also revealed that the marginalisation of Black South African Languages (BSALs) by SOEs was regarded as justified by some respondents because these SOEs provided services to customers who speak different languages. The study also found that other participants felt that it was necessary for SOEs to continue to use English as the main language of communication with customers because it is an international language, which also promotes unity among the people of South Africa, including customers of SOEs.
Contribution: The major contribution of this article to scientific knowledge is that it dwells deeper into how customers of the two SOEs who are less proficient in English and Afrikaans felt excluded in communication with all customers, and this is the first article to do so. Through this article, there is potential that the SOEs will appreciate that customers who are less proficient in English and Afrikaans want major adjustments to be made so they too can feel a sense of belonging and also fully appreciate what is being communicated to all customers, regardless to their proficiency in the two languages.
زندگی و هنر فرهاد، این عاشق ناکام داستان خسرو و شیرین همواره از آن ظرفیت برخوردار بوده است که در ادبیات فارسی و زبانهای دیگر مورد تأویل و بازخوانیهای متفاوت و گاه متضاد با روحِ اصلی داستان قرار گیرد. حضور مستمرّ فرهاد تنها به ساحت شعر محدود نمانده و به عرصه نمایش نیز کشیده شده است. ناظم حکمت نمایشنامه شیرین و فرهاد را با نیمنگاهی به منظومه نظامی و شاید از روی افسانهای محلی و براساس موازین رئالیسم سوسیالیستی تألیف کرده است. ما در این مقاله که با روش تحلیلی- توصیفی انجام شده، ابتدا انگارههای کلان مارکسیستی را که در تکوین این نمایشنامه تأثیرگذار بوده است، برشمردهایم. مخالفت با نهاد سلطنت، طرفداری از مردم فرودست، تأکید بر عشق عمومی در مقابل عشق خصوصی و قهرمانسازی از مردمِ عادی پارهای از این آراء است. سپس این بحث را پی گرفتهایم که شخصیت فرهاد چه مشخصاتی دارد که حکمت به سراغ این قصه رفتهاست. شخصیت مبارز و انقلابی فرهاد و نیز چهره مبهم و رازآلودِ وی در افسانهها به همراه جثه عظیم و پهلوانانهاش از او فردی مستعدّ برای پرداختی سوسیالیستی ساخته است. از طرف دیگر، فرهاد در ادبیات ترکی سیمایی درخشان دارد. تُرکان این تیپ را از ادبیات فارسی گرفته و به اشکال گوناگون پرورش دادهاند. نفوذ فرهاد در ادبیات عامیانه، دارا بودن ساختمایههای نمایشی و برخورداری از پایانی امیدبخش هم از جمله عواملی است که احتمالاً حکمت را به بازنویسی و تبدیل این داستان به نمایشنامه علاقهمند کرده است.
Indo-Iranian languages and literature, Languages and literature of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Abdul Basid, Muhamad Syahril, Mohamad Irvan Muzakky
et al.
This study aimed to reveal the structures of intransitive independent clauses in the film “Ḏīb” based on the perspective of Kenneth L. Pike’s tagmemic theory. This was a qualitative descriptive study. This study gathered data from an Arabic film entitled Ḏīb directed by Naji Abu Nowar. The data collection techniques used in this study were watching, translating, and note-taking techniques. The data were analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results indicated that there were four structures of intransitive independent clauses in the film “Ḏīb,” namely: (1) S + P consisted of three parts: The first was S + P. The second was the intransitive independent clause = NP + IVP. The third covered slot containing S + P, class which entailed NP + IVP, role that subsumed S + P, and cohesion without objects. (2) P + S + Adjunct (Adj – NP) comprised three parts. The first was P + S + Adj – NP. The second was the intransitive independent clause = IVP + NP1 + NP2. The third consisted of slot which contained P + S + Adj, class that subsumed IVP + NP1 + NP2, role which entailed P + S + Adj, and cohesion without objects. (3) P + S + Adjunct (Adj – PP) had three parts. The first was P + S + Adj – PP. The second was the intransitive independent clause = IVP + NP + PP. The third involved slot which entailed P + S + Adj, class that subsumed IVP + NP + PP, role comprised of P + S + Adj, and cohesion without objects. (4) S + P + Adjunct (Adj – AP) consisted of three parts. The first was S + P + Adj – AP. The second was the intransitive independent clause = NP + IVP + AP. The third comprised slot containing S + P + Adj, class which subsumed NP + IVP + AP, role consisting of S + P + Adj, and cohesion without objects.
Language and Literature, Languages and literature of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Muhamad Agus Mushodiq, Muhammad Syaifullah, Dian Risky Amalia
et al.
This paper aims to reveal the mistakes of micro Arabic in the aspects of Ilm Saut (phonology), Sharaf (morphology), Nahw (Syntax), and 'Ilm Dalalah (Semantics) in preaching materials conveyed by ustadz and ustadzah included in the groups of "Ustadz Sunnah" and "Islam itu Indah". Arabic mistakes are often made by ustadz and ustadzah who often appear on social media. In general, an ustadz must have good Arabic language skills. The vast emergence of ustadz and ustadzah on social media is allegedly not accompanied by their qualified mastery of the primary language used in Islamic teaching sources and primary books, namely Arabic. Hence, the researchers used micro linguistic theories comprising the studies of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics therein. This study applied a descriptive-qualitative method. Researchers not only described the Arabic mistakes made by those of "Ustadz Sunnah” and "Islam itu Indah" but also provided corrections to such mistakes. In analyzing the data, the researchers used a separate analysis method. The findings demonstrated that those of "Ustaz Sunnah" and "Islam itu Indah” made mistakes in verbal Arabic at phonemic, morphemic, syntactic, and semantic levels.
Language and Literature, Languages and literature of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Attitudes towards varieties of a language have been an issue in educational contexts. For example, it is generally said that societies have a positive attitude towards the standard variety and a negative attitude towards the non-standard varieties of a language. The attitudes towards language varieties can affect their use in education and can have an impact on learners’ learning and achievement. In some contexts, learners hold a view that dialect-speaking learners have lower academic potential than learners speaking the standard dialect. The learners’ attitudes have significant implications for the use of dialects in the classroom as it can determine the value and emphasis given to the dialect in education. Therefore, this article establishes the attitudes held by learners towards the recognition and development of isiBhaca in the education space in Umzimkhulu. Using mixed methods, the study followed a survey research design. Data were gathered from 128 purposively selected learners from Grades 6 and 7 at six schools in Umzimkhulu. Mean scores about the belief statements were calculated in order to analyse the quantitative data, whereas the qualitative data were analysed thematically. The study found that learners held positive attitudes towards the recognition and development of isiBhaca in the education space, although they were unsure as to whether this recognition should extend to the language being given official status in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, where it has a significant number of home language speakers.
Textual agency plays a fundamental role with regard to the literary production devoted to catastrophic events and the trauma they entail; it raises questions about the ethics of the disaster, as if to say the legitimacy of the literary works on the theme. The authorial commitment to bear witness to the events often clashes with the unrepresentability of the event itself: silence and discursivity are both misleading choices in the sense that the first is a real blot on History, while the latter implies to domesticate trauma in order to transpose it into literary forms. This article aims to give relevance to the therapeutic agency of the Literature of the catastrophe and in doing so, it contributes to the re-evaluation of the genre as part of the literary canon.
Languages and literature of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
In the 20th volume of the Taishō Canon (大正新脩大蔵経), there are five texts that were all supposedly translated by Amoghavajra 不空 in the 8th century, and share the same subject: longevity. One of them is the Fugen Enmei scripture 普賢延命経. In order to better understand its content, I will examine the other four scriptures. First, I discuss their arrival to China and Japan, then I present their protagonists, key elements, and last I give a short
introduction of the mantras (or dhāraṇīs) found in the texts. Although they are assembled in the Taishō Canon, their history is full of questions and ambiguities. First of all, there is the question of their title, since only two of the four texts seem to be originally from the continent. The translator is given in two of the texts; however, the Chinese and Japanese Buddhist catalogues and canons, from time to time, seem to differ in their attribution. The subjugation story of Gōzanze 降三世 and Daijizaiten 大自在天 creates another problem, for their scene is not to be found in the 8th century translations of the Kongōchō kyō 金剛頂経, only in the 10th century version of Dānapāla. This raises the question why the supposed translator, Amoghavajra, or his master Vajrabodhi, did not include this scene in their version of the former scripture, which is one of the chief texts in the esoteric tradition.
Tamil Siddha medicine in the present-day discourses on identity and tradition is often presented as an exclusively Tamil system of science. The following paper aims at showing some examples of quite different images of the Tamil Siddha tradition depicted in a few of the classical Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical texts. The following consideration concentrates on the works of two respected authors of Tamil Siddha literature, namely Irāmatēvar alias Yākōpu and Pōkar, both of whom may be regarded as particular cosmopolites among the Tamil Siddhas. The texts ascribed to Yākōpu and Pōkar suggest the cosmopolitan nature of both of the authors, which may be also reflected in the character of their teachings presented in their literature as a transcultural system of knowledge dedicated to the benefit of all mankind.
Indo-Iranian languages and literature, Languages and literature of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
In this article I will examine four historiographical sources originally written in Greek, Armenian, Arabic and Persian regarding Bahrām Čubin. Given that the sources represent four distinct historiographical traditions they will give light on their respective styles, tendencies and religious and historical affiliations.
Retors word binne postkoloniale Afrika-fiksie toenemend as ’n variant van die ekstra-diëgetiese verteller in die narratologie erken. Een voorbeeld hiervan is die gemeenskaplike stem. As middelpunt van die sosiale, geskiedkundige en politieke bewussyn, hou retors verskillende voordele in vir die skrywer. Ten spyte van retors se sterk aanwesigheid in postkoloniale Afrika-prosa, het kritici tot dusver min oor hierdie fassinerende narratiewe agent geskryf, oënskynlik omdat die ‘kanon’ van die Afrika-letterkunde, wat Lindfors beskryf het as die ‘long drums and canons’, die meeste aandag gekry het. Dit is wel bemoedigend dat ‘n ommeswaai aan die einde van die twintigste eeu plaasgevind het en dat kritici nou wel narratologiese kriteria op postkoloniale Afrika-fiksie begin toepas. Hierdie artikel teoretiseer die aanwending van die retor in Two thousand seasons deur aan te voer dat die retor ‘n bevoorregte posisie inneem danksy die ideologiese invloed wat hy uitoefen en die gesag van sy gesigspunt. Die artikel wil ’n bydrae lewer tot die bestudering van die narratologie in die Afrika-roman deur die aandag te vestig op die belangrikheid van die retoriese strategieë van die retor as agent in postkoloniale Afrika-fiksie. Hierdie artikel onderskryf dus ’n kritiese diskoers oor Afrika-tekste wat – in die woorde van Culler– ’n poëtika, die studie van die voorwaardes vir betekenis in postkoloniale Afrika-fiksie, uitmaak.
Multilingualism and multilingual education in Africa are different from multilingualism and multilingual education in Europe. Nevertheless, to some extent the circumstances are comparable. In both regions there are currently important academic and political discussions about the significance of the first language in the process of second language acquisition and about the effectiveness of bilingual education. Against this background the paper outlines the discussions in Germany about the impact "mother tongue education" may have on the acquisition of a second language (German), on the one hand, and on the different models of bilingual education, on the other hand, especially with regard to migrant contexts. There is some research on these topics, but more empirical evidence is urgently needed, in Europe as well as Africa.
Philology. Linguistics, African languages and literature