International Journal of Arts and Humanities

A pragmalinguistic analysis of Im/Politeness in selected Nigerian Open Letters

Rasaq Atanda Ajadi — 2024-02-15

This study examines the pragmatic and linguistic aspects of politeness and impoliteness in Nigerian open letters. Its objectives are to: examine how linguistic choices indicate [im]politeness and investigate how common ground influences the expression of im/politeness in the selected open letters. The study employed the qualitative research method while it deployed the purposive sampling technique to select three open letters written to two sitting presidents in the Fourth Republic between 1999 and 2015. The letters are Wole Soyinka’s ‘You're Rambo on the loose’, Umar Abubakar Dangiwa’s ‘The Devil Is It’ and Olusegun Obasanjo’s Before it is Too Late’. The recipients of the letters were Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Only the letters that centred on political matters and the state of the nation were considered in this study. The study uses the pragmalinguistic framework of Geoffrey Leech (2014) to analyse how im/politeness is grammticalised in the selected open letters. The analysis showed that iterative lexemes such as ‘never’, more, many and routine iterative lexemes are deployed to activate face threatening acts to attack the recipient’s face. From the analysis, it was revealed that the use of the iterative verb ‘repeat’ presupposes the writers’ misalignments with the recipient’s allegation of breaching the maxim of quality, i.e., fabricating lies; the adverb ‘more’ reveals a determination to debunk the allegation of mediocrity, etc. The study concludes that the open letters grammaticalise im/politeness in such a way that an understanding of the political narrative background prompting the writing of the letters is indispensable.

An examination of the strategic logic of nonviolent resistance in Fela's Afrobeat

Noah Opeyemi Balogun — 2024-01-03

This study explores Fela Anikulapo Kuti, arguably Africa’s most iconic resistant artist of the twentieth century by analysing the strategic logic of Nonviolence in his responses to numerous violent attacks by the repressive and oppressive regimes of the post independent Africa, nay Nigeria. Using the conceptual tool of music as social process and philosophical tool of critical and constructive analysis, the study combines documentary data in Fela’s Afrobeat and Key Informant Interview, in order to demonstrate the strategic logic of nonviolence in conflict engagement and transformation in Fela. The study argues that Afrobeat is a musical philosophy shaped by disregard for human rights and gross irresponsibility on the part of government that have manifested in Africa/Nigeria’s underdevelopment since the Union Jack was lowered in 1960s. The study avers that chose to be part of politics of revolution by using his music to exude protest and persuasion, non-cooperation and intervention against injustice that has created the many problems of man and social reality. The study concludes that Fela won against the oppressed post-colonial African leaders as he was the public conscience of the oppressed Africans who have continued to win despite being repressed.

The philosophy of nonviolent resistance in Fela's Afrobeat

Noah Opeyemi Balogun — 2023-11-24

This study explores Fela Anikulapo Kuti, arguably Africa's most iconic resistant artist of the twentieth century by analysing his philosophy of nonviolence in his responses to numerous violent attacks by the repressive and oppressive regimes of the post independent Africa, nay Nigeria. Using the conceptual tool of music as social process and philosophical tool of critical and constructive analysis, the study combines documentary data in Fela's Afrobeat and Key Informant's Interview, in order to demonstrate the philosophical status of nonviolence resistance in conflict engagement and transformation in Fela's Afrobeat. The study argues that Afrobeat is a musical philosophy shaped by disregard for human rights and gross irresponsibility on the part of government that have manifested in Africa/Nigeria's underdevelopment since the Union Jack was lowered in 1960s. The study avers that Fela chose to be part of politics of revolution by using his music to exude protest and persuasion, non-cooperation and intervention against injustice that has created the many problems of man and social reality. The study concludes that for Fela, it is unAfrican to exert coercion; beat, kill or lynch and hopeful that Africans will eventually value nonviolence rooted in their cultural tradition.

Graffiti and new media: Leveraging technology to advance creativity and learning in Nigeria

Patrick Edem Okon — 2023-10-06

The paper explored the relationship between graffiti and new media, with specific focus on the effect of new media appropriation on the growth of graffiti writing in Nigeria. Qualitative research design and methodologies were used. The theory of technological determinism provided the conceptual directions. Findings showed that graffiti artists were increasingly active on social media; and, used social media for different purposes, including graffiti-based artistic activities. While a wide range of social media were used, only Instagram was the most preferred, because of its unique technical qualities. The engagements of graffiti artists with new media were, in varying ways, bearing innovative and socio-cultural benefits. Apart from providing opportunities for the showcasing of talents or the digital documentation of graffiti, the interface had also allowed for improved artistic creativity, through the placements of graffiti arts unto virtual spaces as Non-Fundable Token Arts (NFTs), as well as the education of young adults online/offline on graffiti arts. Also, in order to mitigate the low status of public awareness on graffiti in Nigeria, graffiti artists should heighten their engagements with social media to popularize the practice in its contextual form; and, the placements of graffiti arts on NFT panels should be seen as a step in the right direction, towards the preservation of graffiti arts for posterity.

(Non)violent protest in Africa: Echoes and lessons from Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Noah Opeyemi Balogun — 2023-09-05

This study examines the intersection of popular music/culture, social movement and protest by analysing the numerous protest music produced and performed by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Africa’s most iconic resistant artist of the twentieth century. It engages the core questions of right, injustice and inequality that have manifested in Africa/Nigeria’s underdevelopment since the Union Jack was lowered in 1960. It argues that Fela’s music did have obvious impact on Nigerian youth and the working class who attempted to revise or renegotiate their relationship with the Nigerian state. Yet, it posed hitherto unanswered questions of the changing meaning of social movement in relation to artistic production -- an aspect of peace studies that scholars have completely overlooked. It concludes that as people reconfigure social relations from one stage to another in their life, their engagement with the State and the social meaning attributed to social justice, which Fela’s music emphasised, also change. Thus, popular consciousness shaped by resistant music is not immutable to nonviolent social protest. Rather, it continued to change as individuals and groups reconstitute their relationship with the society, and as their social status transformed in accordance with the acquisition of better education, wealth/resources, among other significant elements that shape human’s consciousness.

Challenges and limitations of ChatGPT and other large language models

Erwin L. Rimban — 2023-06-21

This article explores the challenges and limitations of large language models, focusing on ChatGPT as a representative example. We begin by discussing the potential benefits of large language models, such as their ability to generate natural language text and assist with language-related tasks. However, we also acknowledge the concerns around these models, including their environmental impact, potential for bias, and lack of interpretability. We then delve into specific challenges faced by ChatGPT and similar models, including limitations in their understanding of context, difficulty in handling rare or out-of-vocabulary words, and their tendency to generate nonsensical or offensive text. We conclude with recommendations for future research and development, including the need for increased transparency, interpretability, and ethical considerations in the creation and deployment of large language models.

The Coca-Cola Company advertising history illustrated through phonecards

Wagner de Souza Tavares — 2023-03-20

Coca-Cola is a carbonated beverage created by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America (USA) which leadership in the soft drink business was achieved after development of advertising programs. Phonecards are items collected by people worldwide. Telecommunication companies along with The Coca-Cola Company displayed Coca-Cola advertising on phonecards. The objective was to illustrate The Coca-Cola Company advertising history through Coca-Cola phonecards. Single phonecards and those in the form of sets and puzzles, besides phonecard folders were used in the study. The number of Coca-Cola phonecards ever produced per country and continent was listed. Coca-Cola advertising slogans were extensively displayed on phonecards, including “Always in Motion”, “Delicious & Refreshing”, “Drive Refreshed”, “Enjoy”, “Have a Coke”, “Refreshing”, “Refresh Yourself”, “Talk about Refreshing”, and “What I Want is a Coke” from Japan as well as “Refreshment Right Out of the Bottle” and “Always Together” from Hungary and Indonesia, respectively. Japan had the highest number of Coca-Cola phonecards ever produced, 584, followed by USA, 441, China, 95, Germany, 51, and Australia, 41. Asia had the highest number of Coca-Cola phonecards ever produced, 760, followed by America, 519 and Europe, 211. The Coca-Cola Company history was successfully illustrated through advertising phonecards.

A prospect of developing epistemology of moral intuitions by analogy with mathematical knowledge

Sergei Korchevoi — 2023-02-14

In the first part, this article deals with the idea of supporting Moral Intuitionism by drawing an analogy with conceptual mathematical knowledge. The analysis shows that arguments of pro and contra to the above idea are rather aimed toward assumptions and expectations of moral epistemologists; the arguments miss the essence of mathematical conceptual thinking. The image of mathematical thinking exemplified in the epistemological discussion is probably afflicted by implicit biases. The second part of the article applies a very tentative model of mathematical thinking to several cases, or thought experiments, that have been bothering analytical philosophers, practical philosophers, and moral epistemologists. As a result, one can find that the considered thought experiments look very undefined even from a point of view of an imaginary applied mathematician.

Measuring university performance in Tanzania: A comparative analysis of market orientation scales

Ramadhani Kitwana Dau — 2022-10-20

This study makes a comparison between a well- established tool for measuring market orientation (MKTOR) with a new tool especially designed for measuring university performance, i.e., University MARKOR. Data were collected from 212 private and public universities across Tanzania and were an analyzed using AMOS 22. A response rate of 58.2% was achieved and considered adequate. The findings show that both scales demonstrated good model fit. Consistent with previous studies University MARKOR has demonstrated superior psychometric properties than MKTOR.Strong leadership is needed at universities in order to identify new sources of funding and reduce their dependence on traditional sources such as school fees, subventions and grants. A major contribution of this study is that it is the first ever study in Africa which is pan territorial involving both private and public universities that has tested the robustness of market orientation scales.

The return of the woman corpse in the funeral rites of the Urhobo and Isoko culture of Nigeria in historical perspective

Uwomano Benjamin Okpevra — 2022-10-07

This paper aimed at interrogating the changes and continuity in an aspect of the Funeral rites of the Urhobo and Isoko of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. It critically examine the practice of returning the corpse of the married woman to the homestead of her family rather than bury her in her husband’s homestead. This practice has over the years been questioned and interrogated and calls for scrutiny. The paper argues that social change factors and processes have introduced continuous changes in the Urhobo and Isoko with regards to the funeral ceremony and have greatly been affected. The practice has been perceived as that which promotes Patriarchal dominance. The paper adopts the historical and analytical model, deploying both primary and secondary data in interrogating the practice of returning the corpse of the married woman to the homestead of her family rather than bury her in her husband’s homestead and avers that if not properly handled, it could affect intergroup relation. The paper, therefore, concludes that this trend is posing a serious threat to peaceful and harmonious intergroup relation among families that indulged in inter-tribal marriage. It recommends among others, that the Urhobo and Isoko should be re-socialized properly to flow with modernity in this aspect of their culture.