Greyness Is Aged, Bearded Is Adult: Yoruba Age and Seniority

I explore how Yoruba people ascertain who is junior, who is senior, and the mark of equality beyond obvious age, as well as the social function of these distinctions in everyday life. The social ranking of people as either senior, junior or mate is an invaluable principle of social organization amon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nordic journal of African studies Vol. 33; no. 4; p. 269
Main Author: Agwuele, Augustine
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Uppsala Nordic Africa Research Network 01.01.2024
Subjects:
Attitudes
Classification
Enculturation
Equality
Ethnography
Everyday life
Information sources
Interpersonal relations
Life chances
Lineage
Psychology
Seniority
Social function
Social organization
Worldview
Yoruba language
Yoruba people
ISSN:1235-4481, 1459-9465
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:I explore how Yoruba people ascertain who is junior, who is senior, and the mark of equality beyond obvious age, as well as the social function of these distinctions in everyday life. The social ranking of people as either senior, junior or mate is an invaluable principle of social organization among the Yoruba. It features prominently in determining privileges and access, and in orchestrating interpersonal relationships and modes of interaction. I examine linguistic and non-verbal signs drawn from popular cultural performances, habitual practices and proverbs, including sozialised roles and habitual typification which representing the cogitations of a Yoruba senior, to provide an ethnographic description of this social practice in its historical and contemporary form. In addition to the linguistic evidence, the opinions of subjects interviewed on the subject are presented. Taken together, the various sources of information show that this classification system operates within integrated cultural institutions that rest on their origination precepts, goals of earthly existence, and sociation habitudes. The system and its utility persist as they are fundamentally woven into the psychology of the children during their formative years within the lineage, and into the worldview of others through enculturation since people's life chances are partly dependent on their position within their nuclear family and their lineage.
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ISSN:1235-4481
1459-9465
DOI:10.53228/njas.v33i4.1249