Our Elders Never Lie: The Metaphor Power Base of Proverbs among the Tonga Speaking People of Zambia And Zimbabwe
Keywords:
Proverbs, Paremíology, Metaphor, Tradition, Worldview, Agency, Communication, Negotiation, Elders, Valley Tonga, Afrocentricity, Appraisal, Ethnopoetics
Abstract
This article seeks to explore ways through and extent to which the use of proverbs inspires confidence in the youth towards their elders in the African society in general and the Valley Tonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe in particular. The Achebean saying that ‘proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten,’ does not only point to the fact that proverbs make ordinary speech aesthetically pleasant to the ear but also that the wisdom contained therein is culturally/socially accepted. The effective and efficient deployment of proverbs in this regard earns the user respect from targets of his address. The article analyses various ways in which proverbs are incorporated in everyday speech and how these in turn, enhance chances of delivering the intended message successfully among the Valley Tonga communicators. In most cases, when a Tonga speaker wishes to delegate presentation of a complex matter to the proverb, they attribute the wisdom to the Tonga society of yester years. This tendency, the article concludes, removes personalities from the proverb while promoting objective analysis of the situation by those addressed. The article examines selected proverbs in terms of structure, pattern of usage, types of images/metaphors used and their expected impact. The article applies a triangulation theoretical framework of Appraisal, Ethnopoetics and Afrocentricity theories to delineate the communicative intent of the proverber. Together, the theories look at social functions of the language rendered by performers of the oral arts.References
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2. Arora, S.L. (1984). The Perception of Proverbiality, in Mieder, W. (ed.), Wise Words: Essays on the Proverb, 3–29. New York: Garland.
3. Asante, M.K. (2007). An Afrocentric Manifesto: Toward an African Renaissance. Cambridge: Polity Press.
4. Asante, M.K. (1998). The Afrocentric Idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
5. Dabaghi, A., Pishbin, E., and Niknasab, I. (2010). ‘Proverbs from the Viewpoint of Translation,’ Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(6), 807–814.
6. Ellis, C., Adams, T.E., and Bochner, A.P. (2011). Autoethnography: An Overview, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Social Research, 12(1). Available: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095 [Accessed January 2011].
7. Finnegan, R. (1970). Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Gumperz, J.J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9. Haas, H.A. (2016). ‘Are Proverbs Cliché? An Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Folkloric Performance,’ Proverbium, 33, 193–242.
10. Hymes, D. (2003). Now I Know Only So Far: Essays in Ethnopoetics. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
11. Hymes, D. (1996). Ethnography, Linguistics, Narrative Inequality: Toward an Understanding of Voice. London: Taylor and Francis.
12. Hymes, D. (1981). ‘In Vain I Tried to Tell You’: Essays in Native American Ethnopoetics. London: University of Nebraska Press.
13. Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
14. Mandova, E., and Chigombe, A. (2013). ‘The Shona Proverb as an Expression of UNHU/UBUNTU,’ International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 2(1), 100–108.
15. Martin, J.R. (1997). Analysing Genre: Functional Parameters, in Christie, F., and Martin, J.R. (eds.), Genres and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, 3–39. London: Cassell.
16. Marongedze, R. (2019). Interface of Music and Politics: Versions of Patriotic Consciousness in Zimbabwean Music, 1970–2015. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of South Africa, Pretoria.
17. Maslova, Z., and Minakhin, D. (2018). Metaphor and Metaphorical Worlds: A Cognitive-Ontological Approach. Available: [www.academia.edu/39499388/](http://www.academia.edu/39499388/).
18. Maslova, Z. (2016). Meaning, Sense and Informativity in Metaphoric Language. Biljana Mišić Ilić & Vesna Lopičić. Conference Presentations: UDC 81’373.612.2:159.955, 429–444.
19. Mielder, W. (2004). Proverbs – A Handbook. Westport: Greenwood Press.
20. Mieder, W. (1993). Proverbs Are Never Out of Season: Popular Wisdom in the Modern Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
21. Muchemwa, B. (2002). Death and Burial among the Shona: The Christian Celebration of Death and Burial in the Context of Inculturation in Shona Culture. Harare: Pastoral Centre.
22. Muchoocha, N. (2017). Personal Interview, 11 July, Village Siampondo, Chief Mweemba, Sinazongwe District, Zambia.
23. Mumpande, I. (2001). Tusimpi: Tonga Proverbs. Harare: Silvera House.
24. Mutunda, S. (2016). ‘Portrayal of Women in Folklore: A Case Study of Proverbs Among the Lunda in North Western Part of Zambia,’ International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities (JELLH), 4(2), 508–527.
25. Neuman, W.L. (2000). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
26. Ngalande, S. (2015). Nsenga Proverbs in Zambia: Linguistic, Ethnographic and Logical Analyses. Kyoto: Shoukadoh Book Sellers.
27. Nieuwenhuis, J. (2007). ‘Qualitative Research Designs and Data Gathering Techniques,’ in Mares, K. (ed.), First Steps in Research, 70–97. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
28. Scheub, H. (1977). ‘The Technique of the Expansible Image in Xosa Nsomi – Performance,’ in Lindfors, B. (ed.), Forms of Folklore in Africa: Narrative, Poetic, Gnomic, Dramatic, 37–63. Austin: University of Texas.
29. Siamwiza, M.N. (n.d.). Foreword, in Zaucha, G., Batonga Across the Waters: A Travelling Exhibition of the Batonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe Forty Years After the Building of the Kariba Dam. Choma: Choma Museum.
30. Spencer, H.J. (2019). TOO RADICAL: A Positive Review/Essay of ‘Philosophy in the Flesh’ by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1999). Available: http://www.academia.edu [Accessed 14 February 2019].
31. Thomson, E. (2005). ‘Our Gods Never Helped Us Again: Oral Testimonies.’ London: Panos Southern Africa.
32. Steen, G.J. (2007). Finding Metaphor in Grammar Usage: A Methodical Analysis of Theory and Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
33. Tremmel, M., and the River Tonga People. (1994). The People of the Great River: The Tonga Hoped the Water Would Follow Them. Gweru: Mambo Press.
34. Vansina, J. (1985). Oral Tradition as History. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
35. White, P.R. (1998). Telling Media Tales: The News Story as Rhetoric. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Sydney, Sydney.
Published
2020-09-30
How to Cite
Siakavuba, J. (2020) “Our Elders Never Lie: The Metaphor Power Base of Proverbs among the Tonga Speaking People of Zambia And Zimbabwe”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 3(1), pp. 128-144. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.3.1.444.
Section
Humanities