Contemporaneity, Aesthetics and Pedagogic Content of Proverbial Lore Among the Bakor of Northern Cross River State, Nigeria: A Case Study of Ekajuk Proverbs
[1]
Francis Mowang Ganyi, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
[2]
Jayne Owan, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
[3]
Stephen M. Ellah, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
Despite the volume and diversity of scholarship on proverbial lore, no single uniform definition of proverbs has been reached as acceptable in all disciplines and cultures (Madumulla 1998: 258), which portray the extent of malleability to which proverbs are prone in terms of contextual relevance and variability. It also shows that, as society progresses, the changes in structure and function of societal segments determine proverb metamorphosis as these changes get reflected in proverbs since the creative impulse of artists reworks the proverbs to reflect contemporary culture and landscape of the society where the proverb is created and realized. Proverbs are thus sustained by contemporary contextual experiences which debunk earlier or past suppositions concerning the obsoleteness of oral compositions. Each society, therefore, boasts of proverbs that reflect the level and extent of development to which that society has been prone as reflected in proverbs and other oral narratives. Proverbs are therefore generally accepted as veritable tools for knowledge impartation and mnemonic purposes for the improvement of reasoning abilities. They have also been described as metaphors to guide moral choices and self - examination, while serving as pedagogic devices that provide experiential case material on which reflection is based (Ngalim 2014: p.58). From this perspective we have focused on Bakor proverbs with the aim of realizing their distinctiveness as products of a particular cultural milieu. It is discovered that the proverbs are products of and reflect contemporary experience aesthetically realized within contextual situations that serve pedagogical purposes in Bakor society. Each proverb therefore has a context of use that enhances clarification of experience and vivification of concrete behavior in society.
Proverbs, Pedagogy, Aesthetics, Contemporary Experience, Contextual Imperative, Bakor, Orality and Identity
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