The Symbolism and Communicative Contents of Dreadlocks in Yorubaland [electronic resource] /
Agwuele, Augustine.author.
This book offers an interpretation of Yoruba people’s affective responses to an adult Yoruba male with a ‘deviant’ hairstyle. The work, which views hairstyles as a form of symbolic communicative signal that encodes messages that are perceived and interpreted within a culture, provides an ontological and epistemological interpretation of Yoruba beliefs regarding dreadlocks with real-life illustrations of their treatment of an adult male with what they term irun were (insane person’s hairdo). Based on experiential observations as well as socio-cultural and linguistic analyses, the book explores the dynamism of Yoruba worldview regarding head-hair within contemporary belief systems and discusses some of the factors that assure its continuity. It concludes with a cross-cultural comparison of the perceptions of dreadlocks, especially between Nigerian Yoruba people and Afr ican American Yoruba practitioners.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
.Introduction -- Chapter 1 Trivial behaviors as valuable data Trivial Research Scope and Content -- .Chapter 2 The Yoruba Universe The Yoruba World The economic order of the 17th century was primary around enslavement Yoruba Filiality -- .Chapter 3 Diachronic Study of Yoruba Hairstyles At the Scripture Union House in Ibadan Traditional Styles Dada Personal Styles and Identity -- .Chapter 4 The Underpinning of The Yoruba view of hairstyle Yoruba Traditional Religion: Ori The good life and Ori Ori and Receive Confessions Culture of Fear Old Wine, New Gourd -- .Chapter 5 Dynamics of culture and visual profiling Synchronic Yoruba Body Image and Perception of Hairstyles Contemporary Popular Perceptions Adaptive Practices: Elite Athletes and Artists Iyalorisha and the Pastor: A case of two Yoruba Other Perspectives: African American and Natural Hairstyles -- .Conclusion. .
This book offers an interpretation of Yoruba people’s affective responses to an adult Yoruba male with a ‘deviant’ hairstyle. The work, which views hairstyles as a form of symbolic communicative signal that encodes messages that are perceived and interpreted within a culture, provides an ontological and epistemological interpretation of Yoruba beliefs regarding dreadlocks with real-life illustrations of their treatment of an adult male with what they term irun were (insane person’s hairdo). Based on experiential observations as well as socio-cultural and linguistic analyses, the book explores the dynamism of Yoruba worldview regarding head-hair within contemporary belief systems and discusses some of the factors that assure its continuity. It concludes with a cross-cultural comparison of the perceptions of dreadlocks, especially between Nigerian Yoruba people and Afr ican American Yoruba practitioners.
Africa, Sub-Saharan-History.
Civilization-History.
Ethnology-Africa.
Africa-Politics and government.
History of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Cultural History.
African Culture.
African Politics.