Social Symbolism of Igbo Names in Nza na Obu.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015-04-11
Authors
Anyachebelu, L.A
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Nigerian Languages and Culture (JONLAC)
Abstract
This paper aims at the exploration of Igbo names in Ogbalu’s Nza na Obu and their social symbolic relevance to the Igbo. It attempts to show that names in Igbo folktales reflect the Igbo culture and their belief system. This is an extension of Emenanjo’s (1977) work on some notes on folktale; in which he takes a look at Symbolism as it applies to characterization, time, place and numbers. In the course of his work Emenanjo (1977) takes a partial look at name symbolism. In this work more insight is thrown on symbolism of names as they relate to folktale. Theory of interpretive criticism is applied in the analysis of this study. The collection and analysis of data is textually based. It is observed that the names in Igbo folktale make some statement about the characters in those tales, which invariably symbolises the naming pattern in Igbo society. This work further corroborates the existing notion that names are fundamental for human identification and also reveal their socio-cultural implications in Igbo society.
Description
Keywords
Social, Symbolism, Nza na Obu, Folktale, Name, culture.