Ahyu: A Journal of Language and Literature

Introduction

Clarissa Vierke — 2023-12-04

Invisibility in Visibility: The Child-Trickster in "Frank Donga Versus Baby Landlord" Comedy Skits on Youtube

Bizuum Godwill Yadok — 2023-12-04

The advent of social media in digital technology has proved to be a blessing in disguise for many entrepreneurs as it de-emphasized the physical location of markets for dissemination of goods and services thus exponentially boosting their profit margin. Another set of entrepreneurs who have exploited social media space to earn substantial income are creative minds who have carved a niche for themselves by churning out creative content of various forms such as music, short films, pranking, interviews, comedy skits and the like. This set of entrepreneurs have been able to get major social media giants like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pay them for the engagements their content attracts regularly. Like the Mark-Angel comedy skits on social media, Frank Donga runs a series of comedy skits on YouTube, many episodes of which he features an invisible smart child-like character known as Baby Landlord. This paper examines factors responsible for Baby Landord’s ingenuity and his ascription of power, especially from a Marxists and Foucaultian perspective, using a sample of three episodes of Frank Donga versus Baby Landlord comedy skits on YouTube.

Verbal Abuse as Child Discipline

Vivian Ijeoma Ogbazi — 2023-12-04

Although many studies have been carried out on child humor in Nigeria, especially, on Mark Angel comedy, an internet humor mode, they have often ignored the imbalance of the power structure between the adult and the child. Thus, this study argues that evident in the power structure skewed in favor of the adult is the resort to verbal abuse as a tool for disciplining the child. The essay argues that the adult construes the child's expressive observations as resistance to the adult mode of life. The ultimate result is that the child does not achieve a symphony with his/her environment which stunts his/her development, so he/she deploys a defense mechanism to protect his/her conscious thought processes from any form of antagonism the adult poses. This essay draws on the concept of adultism to highlight the disciplinary power expressed in the form of verbal abuse exercised by adults over children. It reveals how the adult assumes the dominant role, while the child's actions become secondary, leading to the suppression of the child's thoughts as a consequence of verbal abuse. The essay unearths how the power exercised causes the child to abide by the adult’s will, thereby, shriveling up the child’s thoughts and ideas. Examining skits that mostly exhibit the above scenario of verbal abuse as a response to child contestation of adult action, this essay concludes that an adult’s abusive behavior is essentially psychologically impactful on a child’s behavior, and leaves a huge stratum of the child’s consciousness undeveloped.

Decolonizing Western Phonics

Ignatius Chukwumah — 2023-12-04

Studies have focused on written children’s literature, and only recently, those on performances for children have concentrated on social effects. However, a novel strand of children's performance, Uncle Wowo (a Facebook/YouTube performance page) whose anchor, Uncle Wowo, resorts to a performative mode that draws on the Idoma (an indigenous Nigerian language) alphabet to spell-read English words. First, he spells each alphabet. This study draws on Idoma spelling and articulatory system, English pronouncing conventions and sundry concepts of decolonization to unveil how Uncle Wowo guides his humorous purposes to online child auditors by focusing on the most defining skits containing words capturing the fragmentation of the autochthonous African worldview. These words which range from the names of countries, places of worship, acts/items of worship embodying foreign thoughts and ethics to those serving as impediments to the indigenous group’s complete humanization, especially because they were the heritage of colonialism alien to the indigenous users. This essay argues that Uncle Wowo’s performance was a decolonising performative act that retrieves the African language from the sphere where it symbolises the language of the oppressed to that which it figures actual liberty, even if, linguistically. Paulo Freire’s theory of critical pedagogy assists in this symbolic retrieval, revival and liberation of the oppressed through the restoration of the thought-language of the dehumanised and colonised. The essay concludes that as insignificant as children's humorous performance, Uncle Wowo dares to upstage Western pronouncing patterns in obviously negligible ways but significantly decolonising of Western linguistic pedagogies.

Performance, Structure and Functions of Riddle Game in Həba Community

Cletus Emmanuel Sharndama — 2023-12-04

The Həba (Kilba) people live in northern Adamawa State of Nigeria. Həba is the people, while nya Həba is the language. The people have many rich verbal arts which include folktales, songs, proverbs and riddles. This study aims to examine the performance, structure and functions of riddle game as one of the genres of oral literature. The data for the study was obtained through recording of riddles performed in natural settings. Also, the people older than the researchers were interviewed in order to gather information the functions of riddle game in Hǝba community. Descriptive survey was employed for the study in order to interpret, describe, explain and discuss the data in its natural state. Qualitative method was therefore adopted for the analysis of the riddles in the corpus of the study. The result showed that the Həba folk riddles have some peculiar organizational and syntactic structures. The organizational structures include invitation to play riddle game, challenging, unraveling, penalising, and turn-taking. The analysis of the syntactic structure of the riddles revealed that the riddle acts are highly standard expressions that permit little or no variations. The art of riddling constitute part of the ancient educational and recreational systems of the Həba people. As a community art, riddle telling enhances cognitive development, promotes social cohesion and unity among the children. This paper therefore aims to examine peculiarity of the performance, the structure, and the functions of riddle as verbal art in Hәba community.

Counter-Hegemonic Gender Discourse in Jukun Proverbs

Azetu Azashi Agyo — 2023-12-04

Proverbs have long functioned as repositories of cultural wisdom, reflecting the values, beliefs, and social norms of diverse communities. The domain of gender discourse remains a dynamic arena for the negotiation of societal norms, power dynamics, and resistance to prevailing ideologies. Grounded in the theoretical framework of standpoint feminism, this study adopts a lens that acknowledges the complex interplay of gender dynamics within the Jukun community. This framework provides a nuanced perspective for understanding how counter-hegemonic gender discourse emerges within the broad context of Jukun proverbs. Employing a qualitative research approach, this project conducts a comprehensive analysis of a diverse range of Jukun proverbs, exploring the cultural, historical and social contexts that have nurtured counter-hegemonic expressions among the Jukun. The proverbs are examined not only as linguistic artifacts but also as reflections of lived experiences and resistance to dominant narratives. Within this rich linguistic framework, the work uncovers the subtle yet potent expressions that challenge, subvert or redefine traditional gender norms and ideologies. Ultimately, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between language, culture and gender, shedding light on the evolving dynamics of gender discourse within this diverse and vibrant community. It reaffirms the importance of linguistic and cultural analysis in the pursuit of gender equity and social change.

Technological Adaptation and the Role of Social Media in the Proliferation of the Newly Created Minim Script from Burkina Faso

Jannis Kostelnik — 2023-12-04

This paper seeks to present an emerging, academically yet undocumented alphabetic script invented by Mahamadi Ouédraogo (*1983), an Islamic scholar from Burkina Faso. This script, called minim biisi (“Letters of Knowledge”) by its creator shows some historical continuities both to other West African Scripts as well as to Islamic traditions of cryptography and secret alphabets, yet at the same time offers interesting insights into the creative endeavours of a script creator in the digital age. Drawing on my fieldwork with the inventor of the script and some of his closest adherents in Ouagadougou, this contribution traces how Ouédraogo resolved the challenge of digitalizing his script by employing open-access font-creating software, thus avoiding regulating authorities such as the Unicode Consortium, Burkinabè policymakers, and software developers. It presents the various fonts he has created for his script and the possible issues and difficulties posed by some characteristics of his script, which are cross-linguistically rarely encountered. Additionally, it seeks to document how social media and social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp play a role in the proliferation of this script and how these proliferation efforts are received by digital audiences. Due to the internationality of social media, these audiences are not only found within Burkina Faso, but also in the diaspora, which is reflective of the creative and decisive roles diasporas have played and continue to play in the creation and proliferation of West African Scripts, especially N’ko.

A Pragmatic Study of Digital Communication among Students at Federal University. Wukari, Nigeria

Victor Elendu Frederick — 2023-12-04

The new media, also known as social media, among other benefits, promotes communication among students as well as language development in linguistically diverse contexts in Nigeria. On the university campus, students who have been experiencing difficulties in contributing to interactions in classrooms and other formal settings on the campus, appear to find voice in these electronically mediated spaces. Communication in digital spaces accommodates linguistic and paralinguistic cues. Thus, it is characterized by innovations, which include an admixture of languages and varieties of Nigerian English, graphics, memes, and emojis, among others. This study examines some posts by students as well as comments on the posts on a Federal University Wukari students’ Facebook forum. Information from the analysis of data reflects the linguistic practices of the students, the kind of information and knowledge they share as well as their communicative procedure. Findings from the study also reflect on the sociolinguistics and implications of social media communications on the University community as well as in the society in general.

Strategies of Naming in Selected Novels of Alain Mabanckou

Edirin Sylvester Otegbale — 2023-12-04

This paper investigates specific naming strategies in selected novels of Alain Mabanckou, namely, African Psycho, Verre Cassé, and Black Bazar. Using the theory of foregrounding and close reading as methodology, the research explores syntactically and semantically how names in the selected texts stylistically mirrored contemporary African harsh societal realities and the damnés de la terre experiences while maintaining a high level of aesthetic. The study underlines that among the numerous forms of stylistic techniques deployed by the writer, naming of characters in the form of coining, neologism and compounding, stands out as a creative stylistic tool in the creation of the chosen texts, reflecting the experiences of Africans in the writer’s home country of Congo Brazzaville and the black man’s experience as an immigrant in France, respectively. The analysed names in the selected texts create new forms of register and emphatically projects the overall message of the writer in the chosen texts while underlining the anatomical and psychological composition of the characters, their social involvements, and their origins. The research concludes that the act of naming characters in the context of usage in the text is not only a stylistic tool but a linguistic one that aids in foregrounding specific messages of the writer wherever it is deployed in the texts.

Language on the Road

God’sgift Ogban Uwen — 2023-12-04

This paper examines (mis)interpretations of the semiotic components of road signs by road users within the Nigerian sociocultural environment using global standards as an evaluative framework. The selected roads were two Trunk A highways: Calabar-Uyo and Calabar-Ogoja in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopts insights from Geosemiotics theory to account for drivers' (mis)interpretation of road signs as influenced by their shared cognitive sociocultural knowledge. The data was generated using participant observation, semi-structured interviews with digital photographs, and field notes in a two-year fieldwork involving 32 drivers who plied the roads regularly. Findings indicate that motorists along the selected roads maintain a consistent road signs culture that contains mixed global and indigenous semiotic components. While certain road signs align with global standards and meanings, others represent index local comprehension derived from Nigerian ethnocultural backgrounds. The localised standards are prominent in warning and informative signs that are characteristically symbolic, iconic, and indexical, and are combined for the dissemination of messages. These mixed practices call for a blended road signs system that attends to the information needs for the safety of both Nigerian indigenous and foreign road users.

Child Raising in African Culture, a Blight on Human Dignity?

Ifeoma Cassandra Nebeife — 2023-12-04

Trauma of migration has been seen as not only peculiar to African immigrants in the West. This is because Africans, on returning to their roots also experience other dimensions of trauma, meted and shielded by the custodians of culture all in the name of ‘Communal Child Raising’ manifest in culture shock, stereotyping, abuse and general disillusionment. Using the theory of Adultism, this paper examines how Sade Adeniran; a member of the Yoruba community interrogates the popular Yoruba adage- “it takes a village to raise a child”. This paper unravels the datum that this adage has been adversely wielded by African parents and guardians to mentally, financially, physically and emotionally abuse Africans under their care. Imagine This as a literary work, captures the injustice on the self image, identity and dignity which our African culture in this regard impose on affected young population. The theory of Adultism foregrounds the seeming undiscussed issue of oppression meted to children by adults who take advantage of the position of authority which they occupy in the lives of these young people. When custodians of societal values neglect their responsibility of building the human dignity in their wards via a more humane culture of child raising, it engenders a dysfunctional society with problems which eventually lead to social change. This paper there submits that education and respect for the human self, regardless of the age involved remain panaceas for sustainability of human dignity grounded in our Africaness.

Analysing the Impact of Music as Popular Culture on the Social Linguistic Trends among the Jukun Youths in Wukari

Omotolani Ebenezer Ekpo — 2023-12-04

Previous studies have focused on the inter-influencing interaction of sociocultural customs and music practices in macro and micro ways in many cultural sites across the world. However, not much has been done to uncover similar matrices among Jukun youths in Wukari, Taraba state. This study therefore investigates the role music plays on the modulating social linguistic trends among Jukun youths in Wukari town, between the demographic ages of 15-30. The study provides a qualitative analysis of its data from ethnographic fieldwork through structured interviews and focus group discussions with 115 participants that comprised mostly of youths and some elderly members of the community. Drawing from Jukun youths' perceptions of language and music from traditional and non-traditional cultural perspectives, the connectivity of the two social elements within the context of youth language is discussed. It concludes that the current modulating social linguistic trends among the Jukun youths/young adults in Wukari, are based on their consumption of popular music, resulting in new word usage that threatens the sustainability of Jukun language.