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Paper short abstract:

The paper deals with the song woddella, exclusively sang by women. Next to the usual function of work songs, i.e. to improve the efficiency of the work, and to relieve the boredom of a tedious job, woddella is also used to show knowledge of multiple languages.

Paper long abstract:

In most cultures, time-consuming, repetitive group activities are often accompanied by songs. The Zargula-Gamo (from the East-Ometo branch of Omotic in south-west Ethiopia), have various types of work-songs. In the present paper I analyze the structure and content of woddella, a work-song sang by two women engaged in a group work. The couplets in the song are highly structured, comprising four to six words in a unit. What constitutes a unit can be recognized by the repeated tunes/melodies and the constant final word woddella 'a young man'. Also, the women take turns at the end of a unit. The contents of the song involve utterances expressing wishes, describing characters or relationships of the singer herself or of other people including the one who is working and singing with her. Interestingly, the contents of the song also involve a form of a word-game, combining Zargula words with others borrowed from Amharic, Gamo and/or Zayse in a unit or a couplet. In this latter case, the singers compete in the recognition of words and their associated meanings across languages. I discuss language contact and bilingualism in the area as well as changes in the ways of performing day-to-day labor activities and the consequent vanishing of specific forms of verbal art.

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Paper long abstract:

There seems to be an assumption that knowledge is understood and construed in the same way everywhere. What is more, the European conceptions of "knowledge" have different accents leading to confusion in the academic discourse: The Anglo understandings of different kinds of knowledge; 'academic knowledge', 'scientific knowledge' 'social sciences' 'humanities' etc. do not entirely correspond to the understandings or systems say in Central Europe. This become evident in cross-language discourse such as when continentals use 'science' to mean academic as opposed to folk knowledge. In this presentation, I explore the conceptual understanding of knowledge and knowledge systems through everyday linguistic practices about what it means to know in Ewe and other West African languages (cf. Dzobo 1992). I will then show how different oral genres are good sources for information on the conceptions of knowledge. Some of the genres to be discussed are different types of names: anthroponyms, toponyms, ethnonyms, zoomorphic names and plant names. As some of these are based on other genres such as proverbs and oaths, these will also be discussed. Folk tales and practices within festivals will also be addressed. In conclusion I will concur with a British Science journalist and Physicist who argues that science is a mindset to understand nature. The different knowledge perspectives from these sources reveal a mindset of the African to grapple with nature.

Reference

Dzobo, Noah Komla. "African symbols and proverbs as source of knowledge and truth." In Dzobo, N. K., Kwasi Wiredu, and Kwame Gyekye (eds) Person and community: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies 1 (1992): 89-100.

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Paper long abstract:

In a speech on connected histories and their relevance to Africa, Shamil Jeppie stresses the importance of islands in the reconfiguration of continental history. When Captain C. H. Stigand describes the little group of islands known as the Lamu Archipelago in northern Kenya, he argues how, historically speaking, this is the most interesting part of the British Protectorate.

Commonly referred to us as the centre of Swahili culture and literature in the 18th and 19th century, the islands of Lamu and Pate, surrounded by belt of mangrove, have seen the flourishing of important centres of literary and knowledge production. The first scriptoria which came into being on the island of Pate in the town of Siu, developed a fine craftsmanship in book production and manuscript copying; the dialects of Kiamu, Kipate, Kisiu became also the literary languages par excellence, the pure genuine dialects of the coast used for recording war poems and wedding songs verbally, but also to exchange trade letters. Nowadays, we keep witnesses of these written as well as oral traditions which are still alive and can be recalled by heart. Who does still perform and re-enact the songs and dialogue poetry of the local bards of the past and why? Based on interviews conducted in situ in 2018, this paper investigates to what extent the coastal identity and the cultural and historical tradition of the archipelago does still resonate among the community, and how it can contribute to a re-writing of African intellectual history that is both diverse and deeply rooted in African historical realities.