A FEMINIST DISCOURSE OF SELECTED HAUSA PROVERBS

Abstract

Proverbs and metaphors are common features of communication. They are used in many parts of Africa to add flavour, candour and power to verbal communication. There are many articles on Hausa proverbs; however, very few on how these proverbs reflect the power relations among the social groups in Hausa Society. This paper, using Fredric Jameson’s concept of Nominalism and the theory of Cultural Feminism, examines the power relations between the male and female gender in Hausa Society through selected Hausa proverbs. The objective is to draw attention to how proverbs are used to promote / perpetuate gender imbalance in Hausa culture. The paper adopts the qualitative method of research and the proverbs used are purposively selected. Data is collected from different varieties of the Hausa language. Cartoons in the popular press are used to illustrate selected proverbs. This is to demonstrate how proverbs could be interpreted using both verbal and non- Verbal codes of communication. The data revealed how the representation of women in Hausa proverbs reflect socio –cultural assumptions and contradicts biological or natural realities. It also revealed how language is used to perpetuate and transmit negative proverbs about women from generation to generation. Since proverbs are formed from culture and expressed through language, they could be changed. The paper recommended the deliberate refusal by society to use negative proverbs on women and to discourage the use of language to perpetuate / transmit them.