African Proverbs 3600-AP-OW
The course aims at introducing the students to the topic of African proverbs, analysed from the perspective of their form and function, using methodological assumptions of Cultural and Cognitive Linguistics. A special focus will be put on analysis of proverbs in the cultural context of social values and communicative preferences. Illustrative material will come from Swahili and several other languages of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Topics covered:
Importance of proverbs in cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa:
ubiquity of proverbs in African cultures and their high frequency of use
proverbs as part of literary and cultural inheritance and transmission
proverbs as speech acts
sociolinguistic aspects of proverbs as metaphorical speech in discourse
pragmatic function of proverbs in context
didactic role of proverbs
Artistic and aesthetic features of proverbs:
rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, repetition
hyperbole, antithesis, pun, euphemism
Structure of proverbs:
metaphor as a cognitive mechanism of mapping between the surface content (source domain) versus the intended content (target domain)
typical source domains (people, animals, body parts, plants, fruit, foods, natural resources); cultural input (traditional occupations and institutions, religion, social values, artifacts and material objects)
typical target domains (people’s character traits, social norms and values)
Functions of proverbs in discourse:
processing of proverbs as formulaic expressions
creating social and emotional closeness
commentary, advice, moral guidance
indirectness as social value
humor and wit
Proverbs in other domains:
orature and literature (poetry, prose)
songs, movies
proverbial inscriptions on fabrics (Swahili kangas)
Koordynatorzy przedmiotu
Rodzaj przedmiotu
Tryb prowadzenia
Efekty kształcenia
KNOWLEDGE
- the graduate has basic general knowledge about African languages and their proverbs (K_W12)
- the graduate is aware of linguistic diversity and its impact on the cultural and political situation in the world (K_W14)
- the graduate has basic knowledge about paremiology and understands its research aims
- the graduate lists selected (major) African languages and ethnic groups
ABILITIES
- the graduate is able to fluently use the tools for learning and analyzing African languages and their proverbs (traditional and electronic dictionaries, lexicons, language corpora, databases, etc.) (K_U16)
- the graduate has the ability to present issues related to proverbs of Africa in English (K_U21)
- a graduate is able to use selected specialist terms in the field of cultural linguistics and paremiology
- a graduate is able to analyze proverbs in terms of structure, meaning and cultural context
COMPETENCES
- the graduate is able to establish contacts and cooperate with representatives of different cultures (K_K03)
- the graduate sees the need to conduct intercultural dialogue (K_K06)
- the graduate understands the meaning and role of proverbs as means of communication in contemporary African languages
- the graduate recognizes the value and importance of African proverbs as part of the traditions of individual ethnic groups and as the part of the world cultural heritage
- the graduate notices the differences and similarities between proverbs in African languages and proverbs in other languages, indicates some of their sources
Kryteria oceniania
Course requirements include:
- class attendance
- discussing assigned readings
- oral presentation of one article/book chapter
- a brief (oral and written) report on results of own analysis of chosen proverbs in an African language
Literatura
Adamu, Jibril Shu’aibu. 2019. „Proverbs as stylistic devices of the Hausa poetry”. Linguistic Evidence of Cultural Distance. Hausa in Cross-Cultural Communication, red. N. Pawlak. Warsaw: Elipsa. 234-246.
Ahmed, Mohamed-Tahir Hamid. 2024. “Proverbs Attributed to Humans and Nonhumans in the Beja Language (Sudan)”. Nordic Journal of African Studies 33/3: 236-256.
Alugbin, Matthew. 2022. “Discourse Framing in Gender-Sensitive Proverbs in Yorùbá Casual Conversations”. International Journal of African Studies 2/1: 39-47.
Aragbuwai, Adetutu and Samuel A. Omotunde. 2022. “Metaphorisation of women in Yoruba proverbs: a feminist critical analysis”. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies 5/4: 1-18.
Belkhir, Sadia. 2021. “Cognitive Linguistics and Proverbs”. In: Xu Wen and John R. Taylor, The Routledge Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. 599-611.
Finnegan, Ruth. 2012. Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. (Chapter 14 “Proverbs”)
Hrisztova-Gotthardt, Hirsztalina and Melita Aleksa Varga (Eds.). 2015. Introduction to Paremiology: A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies. Warsaw/Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Kambon, Ọbádélé Bakari and Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie. 2017. “TwiSwahili Or KiswaTwili: A Study of Parallel Proverbs in Akan (Twi) And Kiswahili”. Ghana Journal of Linguistics (Special Issue) 6/2: 116-153.
Kobia, John M. 2016. A conceptual metaphorical analysis of Swahili proverbs with reference to chicken metaphor. International Journal of Education and Research, 4/2: 217-228.
Kraska-Szlenk, Iwona. 2023. “Swahili proverbs from cultural and cognitive perspective”. In: Iwona Kraska-Szlenk and Beata Wójtowicz (Eds.), Language, Culture, Literature Intertwined: The Swahili Perspective. Warszawa: WUW. 29-59.
Načisčione, Anita. 2020. “Proverbs in the system of language and their creative use: a cross-cultural view. Culture Crossroads 16: 4-15. Latvian Academy of Culture.
Ndungo, Catherine. 2002. “Social construction of gender with special reference to Gikuyu and Swahili proverbs”. Fabula 43/1-2: 64–74.
Onuoha, Chinenye Esther. 2025. “The metaphorical implications of Igbo proverbs of advice”. Preorcjah 10: 152-173. https://ezenwaohaetorc.org
Yakub, Mohammed. 2020. “The wisdom of our forefathers: animal metaphors and imagery in Nzema proverbs”. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies 2/1.
Zając, Patryk. 2022. „Functions of Hausa Proverbs in Political Discourse”. Hemispheres 36. 35-55.