The Philosophy of the Street in Ghana: Mammy Wagons and Their Mottos ‐ A Research Note

Lewis, George H.

doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.1998.3201_165.x

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The sample was divided into eleven categories adapted from the work of Lewis (1998) in his analysis of the case of Ghana reviewed earlier. The categories include religious appeals, traditional slogans, advice for everyday living, importance of money, and political statements.…”

Section: Slogans and Mottos In Liberia 31 Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles: a reflection of Liberian philosophy and culture

Guseh

2008

Journal of African Cultural Studies

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Liberia, like many other developing countries, follows the common custom of writing slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles. While studies have been conducted on such slogans and mottos in other countries, very little analysis of the ones in Liberia has been conducted. The purpose of this study therefore is to conduct such an analysis to determine what the slogans and mottos reveal about Liberian philosophy, culture, and history. A sample of 250 slogans and mottos were collected in 2005 and 2006.Overall, the slogans and mottos reveal a strong emphasis on God and religion in Liberia, indicating that Liberians believe in God or a Supreme Being. They also suggest that traditional culture is very important in Liberia. A part of this culture is the practice of giving advice. Liberians are fond of giving unsolicited advice, which may be a manifestation of the kindness and goodwill of Liberians and the belief in Africa that 'it takes a village to raise a child.' Trends in Liberia's political and social developments and the global popular culture are also reflected. The trends show the changing political environment from one in which political freedom was proscribed to one in which such freedom is permitted.The slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles are an important source of information and education on Liberian philosophy, culture, and history. The Liberian Government could use commercial vehicles as a means of informing and educating the people or communities on important public policy issues.

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Section: Slogans and Mottos In Liberia 31 Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles: a reflection of Liberian philosophy and culture

Guseh

2008

Journal of African Cultural Studies

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“…Previous studies have considered the function of messages written on minibuses in numerous countries on the African continent. The five studies to be discussed here identify the frequency, role, and types of messages employed on vehicles in Ghana (Lewis, 1998 and van der Geest, 2009), Liberia (Guseh, 2008), Nigeria (Lawuyi, 1988), and Kenya (Kayi, 2016). Finally, Kipacha (2014) is recognized as contributing greatly to the present study, despite having a quite different set of goals and motivations and reaching different conclusions.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reading into Riding Culture: Messages and Sayings on Daladala Vehicles in Usa River, Tanzania

Spier

2019

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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In countries with limited state-supported public transportation, privately owned vehicles—regularly exceeding a safe speed and a safe number of passengers—have oftentimes arisen to fill this void, and some scholars have considered in different ways the numerous slogans on these vehicles of the African continent. In Eastern Africa these vehicles arrive in a variety of forms, including the pikipiki (motorcycles), bajaji (three-wheeled cars), and daladala (minibuses). While most studies result in the amalgamation and analysis of such messages, others consider the historical transition from messages on material culture to a variety of vehicles, resulting not only in semantic categories but also in a demarcation among the archaic, modified, and innovated. Nonetheless, this study qualitatively identifies 140 unique tokens—collected over a period of three weeks—listed on the typically brightly colored daladala vehicles in Usa River, Tanzania and attempts to provide a taxonomy of larger discursive categories that delineate these messages and sayings, which are believed to present a metalinguistic commentary on relevant, salient topics of everyday conversations.

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“…All, in their own distinctive ways, invite viewer participation in the improvised scene laid out, whether the scene is exclusively written or a combination of writing and images. They are, in the words of George H. Lewis, writing specifically about the mottos on Ghana's urban mammy wagons, “reminders of the individuality of the new African, as well as symbols that unite driver, passengers and street viewers within an African cultural context” (2004:166). 3 The participation indexed by these slogans, sayings, and mottoes differs markedly from that implied in the inscriptions and images to be found on the billboards of multinational corporations.…”

Section: The Social Life Of Slogansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 3 Lewis (2004) provides a useful typology of such sayings. My only disagreement with his categories is in the separation between sayings pertaining to “Pain and Trials of This World” and “Appeals to God or Heaven”.…”

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confidence: 99%

Signs of the Times: Discourse Ecologies and Street Life on Oxford St., Accra

Quayson

2010

City & Society

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What happens when we stop seeing streets merely as geographical locations and rather interpret them as archives? What if, in focusing on an African street such as Oxford Street in Accra, we interpret this archive not as static, but as providing a transcript of dynamic transformations of discourse ecologies? The elaboration of a method for understanding the African street as an archive of discourse ecologies will be the main subject of this paper, with a particular focus on cell phone advertising on the street from 2006-2007. I do not stop at an examination of cell phone advertizing billboards but relate these to the veritable galaxy of other cultural inscriptions to be seen in mottoes and slogans on lorries, cars, pushcarts and other mobile surfaces that can be encountered on the street. Such mobile slogans are a distinctive feature of Accra and of many African urban environments. The central mark of these mottoes and slogans is an improvisational character that is specifically tied to the local cultural mediations that have historically been drawn upon for them. Taken together the two dimensions of inscription-billboard and slogans-hint at the arc of urban social histories, while also invoking a rich and intricate relationship between tradition and modernity, religion and secularity as well as local and transnational circuits of images and ideas. [

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The Philosophy of the Street in Ghana: Mammy Wagons and Their Mottos ‐ A Research Note

Cited by 22 publications

References 1 publication

Slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles: a reflection of Liberian philosophy and culture

Slogans and mottos on commercial vehicles: a reflection of Liberian philosophy and culture

Reading into Riding Culture: Messages and Sayings on Daladala Vehicles in Usa River, Tanzania

Signs of the Times: Discourse Ecologies and Street Life on Oxford St., Accra

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