Issues in ethnolinguistics presented through African languages examples 3600-KM-ZEPJA-OG

The classes are workshops consisting of lectures on the use of linguistic data as a source of information about culture, discussions on selected topics and tasks to be performed in groups. They are aimed at shaping participants' awareness of linguistic diversity and its impact on the cultural and social situation in the world, with particular emphasis on Africa. The aim of the workshop is to discuss the use of selected ethnolinguistic methods in linguistic and cultural studies on the material of African languages (with particular reference to the Hausa language in Nigeria). Some of the most important languages and ethnic groups of Africa will be mentioned. Basic information will be presented about the theories and research methods used in broadly understood ethnolinguistics (including the Linguistic World Picture, Speech Act Theory, Conceptual Metaphor Theory) and how they can be applied to the analysis of vocabulary and cultural texts (on the example of proverbs and fairy tales). Selected specialist terms in the field of ethnology (including ethnic group, cultural identity), cultural linguistics (including key word culture, prototype) and paremiology (including framing, meaning updating, pseudo-proverb) will be explained.

The role and importance of orature (based on the example of African proverbs) for individual ethnic groups and for the world cultural heritage will be discussed. Its special value as data for ethnolinguistic analyzes aimed at examining cultural distance will be indicated.

Participants will be asked to perform a number of tasks related to the linguistic, semantic and cultural analysis of African proverbs and fairy tales (working with translations), such as: compiling Polish and African proverbs (in different languages) according to their message (deep meaning), extracting key words from the content of proverbs, assigning proverbs to thematic groups, as well as analyzing Hausa fairy tales in terms of the content and cultural concepts they contain. Some cultural codes found in various African cultures and languages will be explained and discussed. The starting point will be a comparison of Polish cultural codes with Hausa cultural codes.

After completing the workshops, participants will be prepared to analyze cultural texts (e.g. proverbs, fairy tales, legends) in terms of their structure, meaning and cultural codes contained in them, and will be able to notice and generalize the differences and similarities between cultural texts in African languages and cultural texts in other languages.

Course coordinators

Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł
Patryk Zając

Type of course

Term 2023L:

general courses
optional courses

General:

optional courses
general courses

Mode

Classroom

Learning outcomes

KNOWLEDGE
Student who participated in the workshop:
- lists some of the most important African languages and ethnic groups
- is aware of linguistic diversity and its impact on the cultural and political situation in the world, with particular emphasis on Africa
- has a basic knowledge about ethnolinguistics and paremiology and understands their research aims

SKILLS
- understands and correctly uses selected specialist terms in the field of cultural linguistics and paremiology
- is prepared to analyze various types of cultural texts in terms of their structure, meaning and cultural codes contained in them

COMPETENCES
- is ready to establish contacts and cooperate with persons from different cultures
- recognizes the need for intercultural dialogue
- recognizes the value and importance of African orature as part of the traditions of individual ethnic groups and as part of the world's cultural heritage
- recognizes the differences and similarities between proverbs in African languages and proverbs in other languages and is able to generalize them; indicates some of their sources
- understands the meaning and role of proverbs and other cultural texts as a source of data in linguistic and cultural studies

Assessment criteria

lecture
discussion
group tasks

Practical placement

There are two conditions of receiving a positive grade:
1. Attending the whole workshop from the beginning till the end.
2. Active participation in the workshop, i.e. taking part in discussions, asking questions, cooperating with other participants during group tasks.

Bibliography

Literatura [literature]:
Bartmiński, Jerzy (red.) 1977 [2006]. Językowe podstawy obrazu świata, Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS.
Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980 [2020]. Metaphors we live by [Metafory w naszym życiu]. (trans. by) Tomasz Krzeszowski. Warszawa: Aletheia.
Pawlak, Nina. 2014. „‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Hausa Language and Culture”. Hausa and Chadic Studies in Honour of Professor Stanisław Piłaszewicz, red. Nina Pawlak, Izabela Will, Ewa Siwierska. Warszawa: Elipsa. 172-187.
Pawlak, Nina. 2010. „Dom w opozycji do buszu i świata. Perspektywa kulturowa pojęcia ‘gida’ w języku hausa”. Etnolingwistyka 22. 129-144.
Schultze, Brigitte. 1999. „Historia i kultura pod soczewką: kluczowe pojęcia polskiej kultury jako wyzwanie dla tłumacza” [History and culture under the lens: key notions of Polish culture as a challenge for translator]. In Brigitte Schultze (ed.), Perspektywy polonistyczne i komparatystyczne, 3–22. Kraków: TAiWPN Universitas.
Wasiuta, Sebastian. 2023. „Etnolingwistyka kognitywna – w stronę integralnego opisu języka”. LingVaria 18(2(36)). 267–276. https://doi.org/10.12797/LV.18.2023.36.17.
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1997. Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1986. „Does Language Reflect Culture? Evidence from Australian English”. Language in Society 15(3). 349-373.

Przysłowia [proverbs]
Górska, Elżbieta. 2016. „The Image of the World in Polish and Arabic Proverbs as a Contribution to Research in the Filed of Comparative Paremiology – a Preliminary Outline”. Rocznik Orientalistyczny 69(2). 65-76.
Hrisztova-Gotthardt, Hirsztalina i Melita Aleksa Varga. 2015. Introduction to Paremiology: A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies. Warsaw – Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Okwelume, Obii. 2017. Drumbeats. The Proverbs of Africa. Lagos: Narrative Landscape Press.
Pachociński, Ryszard. 2009. Przysłowia afrykańskie. Natura i wychowanie człowieka w tradycji ustnej. Warszawa: Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych.
Smits, Heleen. 2019-2020. Proverbs in African Languages (dossier). https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/proverbs-african-languages [22.02.2021].
Zając, P. 2018. „O przekazie uniwersalnym tekstów kultury na podstawie przysłów w języku hausa i polskim”. Afryka 47.11-27.
Zając, P. 2018. „Słowa-klucze kultury w przysłowiach hausa”. Przegląd Orientalistyczny 1-2 (265-266). 155-181.
Zając, Patryk. 2019a. „Metaphorical mapping of LIFE in the Hausa proverbs with regard to their cross-linguistic equivalents”. Linguistic evidence of cultural distance. Hausa in cross-cultural Communication, red. Nina Pawlak. Warszawa: Elipsa. 181-193.
Zając, Patryk. 2019b. „Zastosowanie teorii metafory Lakoffa i Johnsona w paremiologicznych badaniach porównawczych na przykładzie przysłów w języku hausa i polskim” [Applying Lakoff & Johnson Theory of Metaphor in comparative paremiological analysis. The case of Polish and Hausa proverbs ]. In Natalia Greniewska & Agnieszka Lesiczka (red.), Między Wschodem a Zachodem, między Północą a Południem 3, 7–17. Warszawa: Campidoglio.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

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Description of 3600-KM-ZEPJA-OG in USOSweb