AF 230: YORUBA LIFE AND CIVILIZATION

TIME:
PLACE:

Instructor
Required texts
Course Description
Grading Policy
Course Outline

COURSE INFORMATION

 

INSTRUCTOR: Antonia Fælárìn Schleicher

Offices: 1402 Van Hise
4231 Humanities Bldg.
Telephone:
265-7905 (4231 Humanities Bldg. office)
262-6537 (Van Hise office)
262-2487 (ALL Dept. office)

Email: ayschlei@wisc.edu

Website: http://lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/nalrc/yoruba/

Office Hours:

Other times by appointments only.

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REQUIRED TEXTS: (available for purchase at University Bookstore)

1. Bascom, William. The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. 1969. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, 1984.

2. Bascom, William. African Folktales in the New World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.

3. Soyinka, Wole. Ake. Arrow Books Limited, 1983

4. Tutuola, Amos. Palmwine Drinkard. Grove Press, 1982

5. Brandon, George. Santeria from Africa to the New World. Indiana University Press, 1993

6. Schleicher, Antonia Folarin. Je K’A Gbo Yoruba Multimedia CD-ROM. 2003

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Recommended Texts:

1. Turner, Lorenzo D. Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect. The University of Michigan Press, 1974.
2. Holloway, Joseph E. Africanisms in American Culture. Indiana University Press, 1990.

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COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the language, life, and culture of Yoruba speaking people of West Africa, Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti. Course will discuss the importance of Yoruba culture in the Americas. There will be readings on Yoruba history, politics, language, economics, sociology, literature, art and esthetics, religion, and music. There will be some discussions on the role of language in culture. Various changes that have taken place since the nineteenth century will also be discussed. All readings will be in English.

GOALS :  The Class Will Give You a Chance to:
1. Appreciate the role of languages in the cultures of any group of people that you study.
2. Learn about Yoruba language and culture and the role that both play in the New World.
3. Think in depth about the power of language and culture in any given society (especially African societies).
4. Increase your understanding of African culture in general and Yoruba culture in particular.

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GRADING POLICY:

10% Attendance and Class Participation
30% Sixth Week Exam
30% Twelveth Week Exam
30% Oral Presentation and Written Final Paper

A = 96-100 AB = 91-95 B = 86-90 BC = 81-85 C = 70 – 80 D = 60 - 69 F = below 60

CLASS PARTICIPATION: Attendance is very essential because class time will be spent on discussions. Students are expected to attend class every class period having prepared to discuss the questions for the day. The class participation grade will be based on your attendance and the quality of your preparation. Students are encouraged to ask questions, participate in discussions, and volunteer answers. Except for prolonged illness, more than ONE absence will lower your class participation grade. If you are absent for any reason, you are still responsible for the class activities on the day you are absent. Remember that this is a class that meets only once a week. One absence can affect your overall performance in this course.

FINAL PAPER: At the end of the semester you will be required to identify and discuss in a short paper some aspects of Yoruba culture in either Ake or Palmwine Drinkard. Or you could do more research on any aspect of Yoruba culture that you are interested in. This discussion paper should be turned in the last day of classes. The paper should be minimum of FIVE pages.

TENTATIVE DISCUSSION TOPICS:

I. The Origins of the Yoruba

II. Yoruba Language and Culture

Role of language in culture
Greetings
Use of proverbs and folktales

III. Life Cycle: Birth, Marriage, and Death

Yoruba beliefs about birth, marriage, and death
Pregnancy and delivery
Names and the naming ceremony
Marriage ceremonies and polygamy
Death and life after death

IV. Economies

Traditional occupations
Credit system
Craft specialization
Role of market women

V. Political Organization

The kingdom
-The Obas and the chiefs
Other officials
The legal system

VI. Social Organization

Family and extended family system
Institutionalized friendship and clubs
Kinship terminology
Role of women in Yoruba society

VII. Traditional Religion

Olorun and Olodumare
The other deities
Egungun and Gelede
Witches and wizards
Rituals and divination
Religious syncretism

VIII. Esthetics

Bodily decorations
Weaving and clothing
Pottery, calabash and wood carving
Verbal art and music
Dyeing and Embroidery
Leather working and bead working
Metal working and blacksmithing

IX. Yoruba Esthetics in the New World

X. Yoruba Religion in the New World

Ogun in the New World
Vodun in Haiti
Umbanda and Candomble in Brazil
Santeria in Cuba and New York City

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TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

Date	Preparation Before Class	In Class
Week 1   (Origin of the Yoruba)	Focus Questions : Who are the Yoruba people? Where do they fit in today’s Nigeria? What is the origin of the Yoruba people? What are problems associated with oral history? What are the unique features that separate the Yoruba group from other African groups? ****************************** Read Bascom 1. pp. 1-17. Sources of Yoruba History by S.O. Biobaku, pp. 1-23.	-Go over the syllabus. -Introduce the Course. -Get to know each other. –Show the video on “ Nigeria Squandering Riches”. -Discuss focus questions. -Discuss the structure of the bi-weekly paper and the final paper.
Week 2	Continuation of Week 1 focus questions and issues	Continuation of Week 1 discussions
Week 3   (Language and culture. Greetings. Traditional education)	Focus Questions : 1. What is language? 2. What is culture? 3. What is the relationship between language and culture? 4. What are different ways that languages portray the culture of the speakers? 5. What do Yoruba greetings tell us about the Yoruba people? 6. How did the Yoruba educate their children before contact with Western education? Read Awoniyi, pp 357-388. Schleicher (1998), Using Greetings to Teach Cultural Understanding.	-View a CD-ROM on Yoruba greetings. -Discuss focus questions in general. -Discuss the role of language in Yoruba traditional education ** **
Week 4   (Life Cycle: Birth, Marriage and Death)	Focus Questions : 1. What does it mean to be a full human being to the Yoruba? 2. What is the Yoruba world view with regards to Birth, Marriage, and Death? 3. What are Yoruba names and what is their significance? 4. What are praise names? 5. Is Yoruba life based on having children? 6. How would you reconcile Hallgren’s theory with the Yoruba poem “Omo Atata”? 7. What is an Abiku? Is it true that there are “abiku” children? 8. In what ways does marriage reveal the family structure of the Yoruba? 9. What is the role of women in Yoruba traditional culture? 10. What is polygamy and its role in Yoruba culture? Read Bascom 1, pp. 55-69. Hallgren, pp. 158-169	-Show a video tape of a wedding???   -Discuss focus questions.
Week 5	Continuation of Week 4 issues and questions	-Continuation of discussion on Life Cycle: Birth, Marriage, and Death
Week 6   (Traditional and Modern occupation)	Focus Questions : 1. What is Yoruba’s attitude towards work and laziness? 2. What are some proverbs and poems that portray the attitude of the Yoruba toward work and laziness? 3. What did polygamy have to do with traditional occupation? 4. Were there differences between women and men’s jobs traditionally? 5. What are the major differences between traditional farmers and modern farmers? 6. What were the different ways that the Yoruba traditionally helped one another economically? Read Bascom 1, pp. 18-28	-Read the poem “Ise ni Oogun Ise” Discuss focus questions.   Sixth Week Exam????
Week 7	Continuation of issues Economies	-Continuation of the discussion on Economies
Week 8   Political Organiza-tion	Focus Questions: How did the Yoruba govern themselves before colonization by the British? How were law-breakers taken care of? Which laws governed the Yoruba? What happened to the political structure of the Yoruba during British colonization? What happened to the political structure of the Yoruba after independence from the British. Read: Bascom 1, 29-41	-Show a video of a coronation of a Yoruba king   -Discuss focus questions
Week 9   Social Organization	Focus Questions : What are the roles of the family and the extended family in the social structure of the Yoruba? How does the Yoruba language reveal the kind of social structure in Yorubaland? How does polygamy affect the family within the Yoruba social structure? What is “Institutionalized Friendship”? What roles do the “family” and the “extended family” play in Yoruba city government? Read: Bascom 1, pp. 42-54	-A Video on “Ebi”   -Discuss focus questions
Week 10   Yoruba traditional religion	Focus Questions: Why are the Yoruba regarded as being “incurably religious”? What is the basic belief system of the Yoruba? How can the Yoruba be both “monotheistic” and “polytheistic” at the same time? Who is “Olorun” in Yoruba belief system? What are “deities”? What role does the Yoruba belief system play in every aspect of Yoruba people’s lives? What are the impact of Christianity and Islam on Yoruba traditional religion and vice versal? Read: Bascom 1 pp. 77-97 - Handout	-Discuss focus questions.
Week 11 Yoruba Traditional Belief System	Continuation of Week 10’s topics	Continuation on the discussion on Yoruba traditional religion.
Week 12 Yoruba language and culture in the new world	Focus Questions: What aspects of Yoruba language and culture are still evident in the new world today? Why is Yoruba used in Cuba and Brazil as liturgical languages? What Yoruba deities are worshipped in the new world today and why? What is Trinidadian Yoruba? What is sychretism? Read: George Brandon “Santeria from Africa to the New World”. - Bascom 2 “African Folktales in the New World”.	-Show a video of African traditional religious initiation in Brazil. - Discuss focus questions
Week 13   Yoruba language and culture in the new world	Continuation of Week 12 discussion topics	- Continuation of the discussion on Yoruba language and culture in the new world   - Twelfth Week Exam
Week 14   Yoruba language and culture in the new world	Continuation of Week 12 discussion topics	-Continuation of the discussion on Yoruba language and culture in the new world
Week 15	Final paper presentations   ****Your final paper is due on the last day of class**	Each student gives an oral presentation of his/her final paper. Comments will be made on each presentation.

 

 

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