The Past as The Present: Social Transformations in Proverbial Expressions

Abstract

The proverb is a wise saying based upon a people’s experience and is a reflection of the social values and tradition of the people. The African proverb also serves a veritable medium for the projection of a variety of social goals. Traditional proverbs were communally owned with no known authorship. Postproverbials on the other hand are modern proverbs coined from existing proverbs or created from social interaction mostly in urban areas. These proverbs subvert traditional proverbs and are meant to elicit laughter at social gatherings. Postproverbials are not ethnic based and do not also have a known ‘originator”. Most of the postproverbials are circulated in online communities. It should be emphasised that in both the traditional and modern context, the African proverb has remained relevant. The paper is inspired by the works of Aderemi Raji-Oyelade (1999, 2012) who describes postproverbials as “ultramodern alternative to the typical conventional proverb”. The focus of this paper is to examine the tenets of the postproverbials used by comedians and entertainers in urban Warri and its environs in Delta State of Nigeria. Using the functionalist theory, part of the objectives of the paper is to analyze the socio-cultural content and context of postproverbials indicating the traditional proverb, its postproverbial and the pidgin version.