WOMEN AGAINST WOMEN

Proverbs are widely known to be sayings which convey the feeling of the inner mind in some metaphoric presentations. This study discusses Hausa proverbs (in rivalry) from the feminist and sociolinguistic perspectives. Ten Hausa proverbs are presented, translated into English and analysed using socio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProverbium Vol. 29; no. 1
Main Authors Amina A. Bashir, Halima O. Idris Amali
Format Journal Article
LanguageGerman
Published Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Univeristy of Osijek 01.08.2012
Subjects
Africa
co-wife
co-wifeness
feminism
Hausa
husband
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Summary:Proverbs are widely known to be sayings which convey the feeling of the inner mind in some metaphoric presentations. This study discusses Hausa proverbs (in rivalry) from the feminist and sociolinguistic perspectives. Ten Hausa proverbs are presented, translated into English and analysed using sociolinguistic parameters of when, where, why and who uses the proverbs. Women in polygamous homes are rivals to one another. Their rivalry originates from the fact that they owe their loyalty to the same man. Each wife sees the other as a block to the “total” pleasure she desires from “their” husband. Even though they may have accepted the situation of sharing the man, they still find ways to express their inner feelings of pains against each other by employing the use of proverbs, which is a metaphoric way of expression, without realising they also puncture the image of the entire female gender, the image which women should all guard jealously. 
ISSN:2806-7568