Trivial Behaviors as Valuable Data

I cannot now visualize myself without my dreadlocks. My hairstyle has become a significant defining feature of me, earning me in some quarters the name Rasta. At Shashamane, Ethiopia, and in Trinidad, I received Rastafarian greetings from practicing Rastafarians. On each occasion, I was embarrassed...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:The Symbolism and Communicative Contents of Dreadlocks in Yorubaland S. 11 - 38
1. Verfasser: Agwuele, Augustine
Format: Buchkapitel
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2016
Springer International Publishing
Schriftenreihe:African Histories and Modernities
Schlagworte:
African Culture
African history
African Literature
Cultural studies
Habitual Response
Liberian Philosophy
Social & cultural history
Taxi Driver
ISBN:9783319301853, 3319301853
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:I cannot now visualize myself without my dreadlocks. My hairstyle has become a significant defining feature of me, earning me in some quarters the name Rasta. At Shashamane, Ethiopia, and in Trinidad, I received Rastafarian greetings from practicing Rastafarians. On each occasion, I was embarrassed not knowing how to respond. In Ibadan, elderly women, who are neighbors and around my mother’s age, call me “Dada.” Younger people preferred “boda Dada” as term of address. Most, however, maintain their distance, mouthing onirun were (one with the hair of lunatics), ever ready to treat me as such; the others who for whatever reason are unable to avoid me never cease to ask, “Why is your hair like that?” This book is about the different and mostly contrary responses that my hairstyle has induced primarily among Yoruba people and relative to other people. These differences point to different politics and cultures of visual perception. A reviewer commenting on an initial discussion of my encounters with Yoruba people as a result of my hairstyles and their language use said it was based on “trivial and anecdotal evidence”; however, this description misses its mark. Those mundane words, actions, and feelings are offshoot of certain values.
ISBN:9783319301853
3319301853
DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-30186-0_2