Rabi “Alaso Oke” of Colonial Lagos: A Female Textile Merchant Commemorated in a Yoruba Proverb
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Date
2016
Authors
Akimwumi, T
Otusanya, T
Adeboye, O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Jenda: A Journal of Culture of African Women Studies
Abstract
This study illustrates how oral evidence, when properly situated within its social
context, continues to provide information and a rich understanding of the African past. The commercial career of Rabi Alaso Oke, a female textile merchant in
colonial Lagos, condensed in a Yoruba proverb, is analyzed in this work. This
analysis of an oral text provides us with valuable insight, not only into the Yoruba worldview and social values that informed the proverb, it also enables us to
appreciate the active role of women in this milieu. In order words, this study underscores the economic independence of Yoruba women using the career of
Rabi Alaso Oke as a case study. It argues that despite the limitations and restric -
tions of the colonial period, African women, just like their male counterparts,
demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and ingenuity, to rise above socio-economic barriers and amass for great wealth, which in many cases translated to social prestige.
Description
Scholarly article
Keywords
Gender , Colonial economy , Textile merchant , Oral traditions , late nineteenth century , Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::History and philosophy subjects
Citation
Adeboye. O. Akimwumi, T. and Otusanya, T. Rabi Alaso Oke of Colonial Lagos A Female. Textile Merchant Commemorated in a Yoruba Proverb", Jenda: A Journal of Culture of African Women Studies (New York, USA), 16(2010), 85-102