Ideological and communicative perspectives on divination amongst the people of Northern Ghana
-
Asangba Reginald Taluah
Abstract
Divination occupies a central position in the lives of people in traditional settings. It is perceived as a strange yet familiar place of religious significance, where fortunes are revealed, destinies controlled, futures foretold, and problems resolved. Hence, the fear of the unknown is diminished. As a ritual performance, divination in northern Ghana involves a whole complex chain of communication processes and actors. Both verbal and non-verbal cues are realised in the process of divination, with the principal characteristics being repetition, mimicry, gestures, signs, and symbols. Divinatory practices aspire to the sacred and the secret, where manifestations of the supernatural are realised in the natural world. The modes and codes of communication in divination require special training, on the part of the interpreter, and divine selection in most instances, on the part of the diviner. Employing descriptive analytic approaches in qualitative research, this paper seeks to examine the ideological perspectives of divinatory practices in northern Ghana and their consequent influence on the communicative practices in that art of divination. Adopting approaches in linguistics and semiotics, a multi-modal analysis is undertaken to examine the myriads of modes of communication in divinatory practices. This paper concludes on the note that there is the potentiality for linguistic manipulation in every language, and that there exist secret codes in every community (Storch 2017).
Abstract
Divination occupies a central position in the lives of people in traditional settings. It is perceived as a strange yet familiar place of religious significance, where fortunes are revealed, destinies controlled, futures foretold, and problems resolved. Hence, the fear of the unknown is diminished. As a ritual performance, divination in northern Ghana involves a whole complex chain of communication processes and actors. Both verbal and non-verbal cues are realised in the process of divination, with the principal characteristics being repetition, mimicry, gestures, signs, and symbols. Divinatory practices aspire to the sacred and the secret, where manifestations of the supernatural are realised in the natural world. The modes and codes of communication in divination require special training, on the part of the interpreter, and divine selection in most instances, on the part of the diviner. Employing descriptive analytic approaches in qualitative research, this paper seeks to examine the ideological perspectives of divinatory practices in northern Ghana and their consequent influence on the communicative practices in that art of divination. Adopting approaches in linguistics and semiotics, a multi-modal analysis is undertaken to examine the myriads of modes of communication in divinatory practices. This paper concludes on the note that there is the potentiality for linguistic manipulation in every language, and that there exist secret codes in every community (Storch 2017).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Language in strange and familiar places: A short introduction 1
- The eternal and the ephemeral 9
- Language preservation in strangely familiar places: How traditional skills have helped preserve Shaetlan 39
- Hidden landscapes and the images of the “unseen”: from north-west Amazonia to the Middle Sepik region of New Guinea 75
- The intersection of language, religion, identity, and scholarship: Opportunities for the revitalization of Ge’ez 131
- Speaking of oneself in multi-term evidential systems: From the Himalayas to Amazonia 149
- Ideological and communicative perspectives on divination amongst the people of Northern Ghana 193
- Beyond participants–researchers–research outsiders: food talk and the (co-)construction of knowledge in multi-sited participatory ethnography 223
- Making and selling Greek food in London: Migrant hospitality professionals talk about food authenticity over dinner 257
- Feierabendziegel: Roof tiles with celestial bodies on them, and how they are relevant for understanding experiences of contingency 287
- Index of authors 329
- Index of subjects 335
- Index of languages, language families, areas, and peoples 339
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Language in strange and familiar places: A short introduction 1
- The eternal and the ephemeral 9
- Language preservation in strangely familiar places: How traditional skills have helped preserve Shaetlan 39
- Hidden landscapes and the images of the “unseen”: from north-west Amazonia to the Middle Sepik region of New Guinea 75
- The intersection of language, religion, identity, and scholarship: Opportunities for the revitalization of Ge’ez 131
- Speaking of oneself in multi-term evidential systems: From the Himalayas to Amazonia 149
- Ideological and communicative perspectives on divination amongst the people of Northern Ghana 193
- Beyond participants–researchers–research outsiders: food talk and the (co-)construction of knowledge in multi-sited participatory ethnography 223
- Making and selling Greek food in London: Migrant hospitality professionals talk about food authenticity over dinner 257
- Feierabendziegel: Roof tiles with celestial bodies on them, and how they are relevant for understanding experiences of contingency 287
- Index of authors 329
- Index of subjects 335
- Index of languages, language families, areas, and peoples 339
