The politics and poetics of certain traditional circumstantial names: Sisaali culture of Ghana

http://www.ihs-humanities.com/the-politics-and-poetics-of-certain-traditional-circumstantial-names-sisaali-culture-of-ghana

Authors: Confidence Gbolo Sanka, Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, & Charles O. Marfo

This paper presents a literary study into certain circumstantial names in the Sisaala culture.  These circumstantial names are purely political in nature since they relate to how traditional authority is obtained and used in the Sisaala traditional setting. By using the theory of onomastics, the researchers are able to filter the history, values, aesthetics and the Sisaalas’ understanding of traditional authority (ethno-democracy) through these circumstantial names. The study reveals that circumstantial names in the Sisaala context that pertain to traditional authority are loaded in terms of semantics, history, politics and aesthetics. Circumstantial names can, therefore, be a source of knowledge that can shed light on contemporary problems that are related to the traditional power struggle in the Sisaala culture.

Keywords: History, onomastics, poetics, political rhetoric, Sisaala.

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Confidence Gbolo Sanka, PhD. African and Oral Literatures, Department of English, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. fikoff75@gmail.om

Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, PhD. Historical Studies, Department of History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. mcgyamfi@yahoo.com

Charles O. Marfo, PhD. Modern Languages, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. cmarfo@gmail.com