Child naming and the need for cultural decolonization initiatives Among the Hausa in Northern Nigeria

被引:0
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作者
Muhammad D. [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina State, Katsina
[2] Department of English and French, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina
关键词
Culture; Decolonisation; Epistemology; Naming;
D O I
10.1007/s41297-023-00185-z
中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
This paper revisits the naming practices among cultures and peoples across Northern Nigeria, especially the Hausa, in relation to the question of cultural coloniality and the need for decolonial initiatives that can reposition value systems being buried by colonial power relations. Naming, prior to the Arab presence or Arab colonization in the region, was a space that foregrounds the history, spatial and temporal identities of the person bearing the name. It also occasioned people’s expectations and hopes on the child who was given the name. There was no arbitrariness in this knowledge-based system of naming. However, with the advent of Islam and its attendant Arab culture from the 7th to the eleventh and twelfth century, people’s cultural practices, especially in the naming spaces, became increasingly hybridized to contain Arabic influences. Arabic names have now dominated the naming spaces throughout the region, especially among the Hausa-Muslim families. The increasing influence of Western culture does not alter this practice. It intensifies the urge to identify and sound Arab, to Arabize by going beyond the names of pious figures found in Islam. Naming today in the region is informed by the fancies of Arab sounding names that are often unconnected to people’s realities, identities, and personal and collective histories. These names are typical among educated middle class. They range from names of animals to places and objects. This paper digs out the meanings of names given to people before the arrival of Arabic culture in Northern Nigeria as part of indigenous epistemologies that are becoming unpopular because of the pejorative notions associated with them today as animist practices. It also portrays some popular Arabic names and their meanings that are prioritized today. It foregrounds the conceptualization of identities in the Hausa language, the lingua-franca of the greater part of Northern Nigeria. © 2023, The Author(s).
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页码:23 / 31
页数:8
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