Speaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory

Conant, Faith R.; Yankah, Kwesi

doi:10.2307/541675

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Here, it is possible to distinguish between scientific paradigms that underpinned traditional knowledge production and communication paradigms that promoted traditional knowledge dissemination, though there are points of overlap between the two. African societies usually codified their knowledge in proverbs, myths and folktales [see, for example, Yankah, 1995] which, in turn, acted as veritable vehicles of dissemination and education among the people [Majasan, 1969]. African knowledge paradigms were deeply rooted in rich cultural practices and norms, of which language was -and still is -an integral part [Fab-Ukozor & Etumnu, 2022].…”

Section: Looking Back: Tracing the Trajectory Of African Scientific A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa

Sesan,

Ibiyemi

2023

Journal of Science Communication

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The imbalance in the global scientific landscape resulting from the enduring legacy of colonialism in the south and the hegemony of scientific paradigms originating in the north is immense. Our paper makes a case for employing traditional knowledge systems and paradigms as tools for redressing this imbalance in African societies. To achieve this goal, the paper argues, scholars and science communicators must actively pursue a radical, “power-literate” agenda of scientific decolonisation on the continent. Central to this mission is the need for scholars to be equipped with a keen sense of the past — including an understanding of what worked for knowledge production and perpetuation in pre-colonial African societies — without which science education and communication in those societies will remain untethered from the realities of the present and their visions for the future. Concurrently, attention must be given to nurturing home-grown paradigms and platforms for research in higher education that are rigorous yet unencumbered by the age-long tendency to refract African experiences through northern lenses.

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Section: Looking Back: Tracing the Trajectory Of African Scientific A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa

Sesan,

Ibiyemi

2023

Journal of Science Communication

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“…Other theorists characterise the functions of silence by connecting it with at least one more element, such as communication or gesture. It is then recaptured as eloquent silence, which is intended to express or communicate a meaning [63,64] , or semiotic silence, which is coupled with visual elements such as gestures, facial expressions, designs, colours, flowers, and traditional artefacts which serve as 'silent proverbs,' most of which require cultural knowledge and ability to decode and interpret [64,65] .…”

Section: Defining Silencementioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple meanings of silence in social psychology

Bao

2023

Environ Soc Psychol

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Drawing on research-based discourse, this article provides an updated overview of what silence means in social psychology. Such meanings can be viewed from an interpersonal dimension and an intrapersonal dimension. That is, silence can be externally or internally generated. The external process sees silence as a response to the social environment, while the internal process views silence as an individual choice. The article argues that silence has a sociological nature. When a silent person sends out a silent message to the public (such as showing resistance or alienation), this person not only expresses their personal view but also acts on behalf of others. The article rests on the ideal of sociological imagination to argue that an individual’s issue of concern or trouble, seemingly a limited social experience, may not be a single case but can represent the concern of a group or a society. This means that the lives of individuals can signify the status and reaction of their community. By presenting silence from various individual perspectives, the article showcases the richness of what silence means and what it does in social contexts.

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“…13 "Linguist" has been commonly used since colonial days to translate the Akan word okyeame, referring to the traditional ruler's counsellor and speech intermediary. See Yankah (1995) for a comprehensive study of the Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory.…”

Section: My Translationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reinventing African Chieftaincy in the Age of AIDS, Gender, Governance, and Development

2012

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We, the authors of this book, were drawn together by our belief that one of Africa's indigenous human resources for development, i.e., traditional authorities, was being overlooked, if not rejected, because of the misconceptions held by some policy-makers and researchers in African postcolonial states and elsewhere. We were puzzled by the anti-chief railings, especially in light of the realities on the ground that were experienced in Ghana, South Africa, and Botswana. We saw that some chiefs in those three post-colonial countries were active in development but some appeared not to be involved. We asked ourselves if these active chiefs were part of some larger trend that had been somehow overlooked during the aftermath of independence. Independence had truly been a wonderful achievement that ended European colonialism, but of course new problems had emerged that then had to be addressed. During this time, traditional leaders fell from sight and often from the political grace of the nationalists who had achieved independence. This was also a time when the now independent African states had to face the challenges of transforming colonial bureaucracies, armies, police forces, economies, etc., into democratic post-colonial states and economies. The way turned out to be much harder than expected: these included, inter alia, military coups, corruption that in some cases bled the country's finances dry and impoverished the people, an inherited state governing ethos of the colonial state, economies undermined and distorted by the European-controlled slave trade, colonialism, and now new forms of imperialism (see, for example, the prophetic words of Fanon 1963 and1967; Nkrumah 1965; Rodney 1972 or Saul 2005, revolutions, and elections betrayed. Having seen and often having experienced some of these from a variety of perspectives, we the authors of this book began to realize that we had a common interest in the potential that African chiefs might have in promoting (or hindering) development. We had no illusions that traditional leaders would or could "save" Africa, any more than the civilian and military leaders of the postcolonial African states would, but we did have a sense that traditional leaders represented an overlooked and underused indigenous human resource in some or perhaps many sub-Saharan African states that might well contribute to development.

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Speaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa

Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa

The multiple meanings of silence in social psychology

Reinventing African Chieftaincy in the Age of AIDS, Gender, Governance, and Development

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