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- Herausgeber: CIAPS Press
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Enjoyable and informative, Anthony A. Kila’s account is both a concise introduction to the sayings and myths of a people that have so influenced black cultures, from Brazil to Britain, and a little ‘lesson-in-living’ that we can all still draw on today.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Anthony A.Kila
CIAPS Press
Cambridge Lagos Paris Washington
www.ciaps.org
© Anthony A. Kila 2018
First published in 2003
Copyright notice
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except in accordance with the provision of the copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP.
Applications for the copyright owner's permission should be addressed to the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in publication Data
Data available
ISBN 978-0-9545465-1-9
Illustrations by Reggie Pedro & Ben Adedipe
Cover Design by Ikenna Anabor
Table of contents
PREFACE
FOREWORD
COLLABORATION
ENVY
HONOUR
MONEY
MUTABILITY
PATIENCE
PESSIMISM
REALISM
RESPECT
SELF-RELIANCE
WORDS
GLOSSARY
About the Author
PREFACE
In my quest for the means to understand different cultures and societies and the factors that regulate and determine their ways of life, I have always been fascinated by the capacity of proverbs to encapsulate complex themes and ideas.
This is not a book about Yorùbá language; the language with which we write or speak constitutes just a fraction of our mode of communication, which in turn constitutes just a fraction of our cultures. Yes, important fraction but just a fraction.
The proverbs cited in the following pages were initially collected for my personal studies. I realized however, that not only did they succinctly express some Yorùbá concepts but they also helped to illumine the society in which they originated. This has, above all, motivated me to share them with others who may be interested.
The selection of Yorùbá proverbs is intended to provide the reader with a glimpse into the culture of the Yorùbá people. There are thousands and thousands of possible proverbs but only those proverbs which are both typical of Yorùbá culture but that can be easily understood by those unfamiliar with the Yorùbá people and culture are included here.
Each section and indeed each page has been set in a way that the reader can read as a standalone.
Many people have contributed to the research and compilation of this book. Here I would like to remember and thank Adriana Piga the first person to suggest writing this book, Bola Ajayi and Fidel de Silva who helped with the gleanings of proverbs, Chief Adeola Adeyemi my main contact with oral sources, Cecilia Gatto Trocchi with whom I had long and lively discussions about some of the ideas expressed here, Danny Aeberhard who worked through the whole book, Valentina Buonumore, whose friendship laid a bridge between us.
Also a special thanks to Tutu Bashorun and Wunmi Adegunwa that helped with tonality, accents and other linguistic aspects of the book, Ayobami Kila who typed and read drafts of the book, Ikenna Anabor who worked on the cover and formatting, Noemi Kila who coordinated the illustrations.
Anthony A. Kila
FOREWORD
There are over 40 million people who recognize themselves as Yorùbá people and they live mainly in Nigeria and Benin. The Diaspora induced by centuries of slave trade and immigration have however taken their descendants and culture to countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Cuba and to the eastern cities of the United States of America, to the UK and now to the Ireland.
Since around AD1000, the Yorùbá people built a thriving network of cities and trading routes. Most of their cities and towns still exist today and many of the societal structures are still intact. Their kings, known as Oba, are regarded sacred, and they live in town centers encircled by chiefs.
In the Yorùbá worldview, there is a supreme God called O̩ló̩run and about 400 deities called Orìs̩à who are his emissaries. The complexity of the cosmology has led many western scholars to compare them to the pantheon of the ancient Greeks and Roman ones. In countries such as Brazil and Cuba where the Yorùbáand their traditions have an impact on the social life, the rituals of the Orìs̩à have been incorporated into the Christian rituals to create a syncretic religion called Santeria.
According to the myths, the world began at Ilé-Ifè̩, a city of great historical and religious significance in the heart of the Yorùbá nation. This is where O̩ló̩run lowered a chain from the sky to allow a party of deities led by Odùduwà, the ancestor of mankind, to descend into the world. Before leaving the sky, the deities were given a cockerel, some earth and a palm kernel. When Odùduwà got to the world it was covered with water. He threw the earth into the water and lowered the cockerel onto it. The cockerel scratched it and the earth expanded to become land while the kernel grew into a tree with sixteen limbs; from this beginning, farmland spread across the world. Ilé-Ifè̩ in fact literally means "the land expands".
The Yorùbá people believe everything in life is related and every aspect of life is a continuum. They believe that a person who dies does not cease but goes to join the realm of the ancestors where he or she still has influence on the world. Maskers called Egúngún are paraded to embody and pay homage to the deceased ancestors.
The Yorùbá consider every god and every religion as legitimate expression representing the various routes available to conduct mankind to the same God and to allow human beings to accomplish their destiny. They believe that each one of us has to seek and follow the most appropriate god or religion for our personality and goals in life.
Although it is believed that everyone has chosen a destiny before coming into the world, ultimately each person must take responsibility to develop the good character, Ìwà, necessary to fulfill their destiny.
In this book, which is part of the result of intense epistemological research in cultural anthropology that started at the University of Perugia, Anthony Kila uses Yorùbá proverbs to give us a flavour of a complex and imposing culture. While he is very committed to African culture and values, Kila, the scholar is also keen on demystification.
According to Kila, “it is not demystification that kills a culture, it is ignorance. In choosing the proverbs presented in the following pages he was careful to avoid romanticizing the Yorùbá people nor to attribute them to any bizarre qualities.
In that the human topics covered are resonant and familiar and the analysis original and illuminating, in my view, this book may be compared to Erasmus of Rotterdam's Adagio and Augusto Arthaber's Dizionario Comparato.
When I read the final draft, I found the content fascinating and provocative, accessible to all readers, it will certainly prompt their interest in Yorùbá culture. While the imagery of the proverbs is located in the particulars of the Yorùbá culture, the analysis conveys the universality of human nature.
Cristiano D’Orsi
Johannesburg
”Enjoyable and informative, Anthony A. Kila’s account is both a concise introduction to the sayings and myths of a people that have so influenced black cultures, from Brazil to Britain, and a little ‘lesson-in-living’ that we can all still draw on today.”
Diran Adebayo
Author of Some Kind of Black
COLLABORATION
Àjèjì o̩wó̩ kan kò gbé igbá dé orí.
No single hand, regardless of its might, can lift and place a calabash on the head.
Amongst the Yorùbá, it is still a very common practice for people to carry loads on their heads. In the traditional society, the calabash in all its different forms and sizes is one of the most frequently used containers for drinks and the usual vessel in which palm wine is kept, and from which is kept and sold.
The status of the calabash in the society has changed through time. In recent years, the growing trend in rural areas and villages has been to replace it with various types of aluminium, metal and plastic containers. In those areas where it still survives in daily use, the calabash continues to be a simple and practical container.
By contrast, its presence in the cities is slowly but noticeably increasing, here calabashes have become appreciated aesthetic qualities and as symbols of tradition and are now mainly used as decorative articles for homes and in public buildings like restaurants and hotels.
