A pragmatic reading of Ahmed Yerima's proverbs in Yemoja, Attahiru, and Dry Leaves on Ukan Trees

Abstract

Unlike earlier studies that have examined proverbs from the point of view of speech acts, the present article draws on the more recent perspective of pragmatic acts or pragmatic acting. It examines three recent dramas by Ahmed Yerima, the prominent Nigerian playwright and director of the Nigerian National Theatre. In these plays—Attahiru (1999), Dry Leaves on Ukan Trees (2001), and Yemoja (2002), African proverbs display all of the conventional structures and types as defined in the previous literature on proverbs. As Yerima uses proverbs primarily as communication tools within culturally defined contexts, a function-based, rather than a structurebased, approach must be taken to properly understand their role in the dramas. To this end, a modified model of pragmatics for understanding the role of the proverbs, based on Mey's 2001 model of a pragmeme, is offered.

It is demonstrated that Yerima's plays employ proverbs with topiccomment, fixed/non-fixed, and poetic/non-poetic structures, and that they include all three types of proverbs—weather, flora/fauna, and cultural—as identified in the literature. Most importantly, it is shown that the proverbs are sensitive to contexts of interaction. Through proverbs, the speakers in the dramas use pragmatic acts, or practs, to use Mey's (2001) term, which counsel, accuse, pronounce, and/or assure. The proverbial propositions are reformulated by the speaker to unveil their meanings, allowing readers, whether or not they are members of the culture, to fully access the dramas. This study on Yerima's plays aims to shift the literature on pragmatics forward while simultaneously providing new insights into contemporary African drama.