Proverbs: A Pack of Lies?

Abstract

A European researcher travels to a remote West African village to conduct a research on the role of proverbs in the society.  In the village, he talks to a chief who happens to dislike proverbs in the society.  In the Village, he talks to a chief who happens to dislike proverbs for their indirectness.  The chief informs the researcher that proverbs are a pack of lies.  The latter appears to be convinced with that and writes a lengthy article on the frailty, scheming and deceit of proverbs and gets it published in the journal of Royal Anthropological Institute called MAN, Vo. 28.2 (1993:  225-242).  The article attempts a rejoinder to the chief and the researcher.  The major argument is that the chief’s hatred of the proverb corpus should not be regarded as a yardstick for their social significance.  The paper also reiterates the observation by Okpewho (1992), Chinweizu et al (1980) and Lo Liyong (1969) that scholars of a foreign culture should feel that they owe to the culture in which they carry out their research the duty to accord such a culture their scholarly unbiased integrity.