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African Values Traditional And Modern In Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes And Asare Konadu’s A Woman In Her Prime
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1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The
word ―Tradition‖ itself derives from the Latin‖ tradere‖ or‖ traderer‖
literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping.
A
tradition is a belief, principle or way of behaviour of a particular
people, passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or
important significance that originated in the past. Common examples
include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes ( Like
Lawyer wigs or Military officer spurs) but the idea has also been
applied to social norms such as anthropology and biology, have adapted
the term ―Tradition‖, defining it more precisely than its conventional
use in order to facilitate scholarly discourse.
The concept of
tradition, as the notion of holding on to a previous time, is also found
in political and philosophical discourse. For example, the political
concept of traditionalism is based around it, as are strands of many
world religions including traditional Catholicism. (Wikipedia)
Modernity
typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical
period, one marked by the move from Feudalism (Or Agrarianism) toward
Capitalism, Industrialization, Secularization, Nationalization, the
nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance
(Barker 2005,444).
Charles Pierre Baudelaire is credited with
coining the term ―Modernity‖ (Modernite) to designate the fleeting,
ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the
responsibility art has to capture that experience.
Conceptually, modernity relates to the modern era and to modernism, but forms a distinct concept.
Whereas
the Enlightenment (ca. 1650-1800) invokes a specific movement in
Western philosophy, modernity tends to refer only to the social
relations associated with the rise of Capitalism. Modernity may also
refer to tendencies in intellectual culture, particularly the movements
intertwined with Secularization and post-Industrial life, such as
Marxism, existentialism and the formal establishment of social science.
1.3 THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The
aim of this research is to rejuvenate or rekindle interest in African
traditional and modern values in the works of Asare Konadu and Ama Ata
Aidoo, namely: A Woman In Her Prime and Changes, in a bid to entrench
core African values that appear to be waning.
1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF STUDY
This study is as well as limited to the novels of Asare Konadu and Ama Ata Aidoo, namely:
• A Woman in Her Prime and
• Changes
Other
sources used include: textbooks, journals, essays, internet facilities,
and personal contributions based on observations, studies, and private
interviews.
1.5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This work is
salient in the sense that it explores African values in traditional and
modern sense, which are still the foundation of existence till today.
This work, will in addition, serve as a means of enlightenment to the present generation and the future.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The
methodology adopted in this research is purely literary, analytical,
comparative, as well as contrastive as a means of highlighting typical
African traditional values in comparison with what present day modern
values appear to be - - some of which are acceptable, since society is
dynamic. Occasionally one comes across the so called modern values that
are aberrations, copied from foreign sources that run counter to African
values.
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