Proverbs of The Sene-Gambia

by Bamba Khan and Mariama Khan

Every people have had its share of oral tradition long before the written manuscript immerged. Before there was the written word, there was the sound. Africa is said to be richer in its diversity and complexity when it comes to its people and ethnic groups. Africa has also nurtured and maintained a strong Oral tradition even after writing was introduced particularly in the western part of Africa.

These living traditions have continued to survive in many forms. Those who are believed to be the keepers of the culture, history and genealogy of their people are the griots or Jalibaas. Griots have amazing memories and storytelling abilities. They are found in almost all the ethnic groups with a different name. They sing praises and also play along different instruments but the Kora is the most used. Oral traditions are equally interpreted in equally other forms: traditional ceremonial dances, masks, and many other forms of performing arts.

Storytelling and proverbs seem to be the most entertaining and the most common form of handing down some of the values and history of a people. These forms of oral tradition, however, face serious challenges in this modernized Africa. People would hardly have the time to sit around a well lit fire under the moonlight and eagerly wait for one’s grandfather or uncle to narrate a story with all the suspense it will take. Nor would one have the time now to hear all the stories in the closet. In time, techniques of preservation of these oral traditions are put in place by institutions and organizations as well as individuals. Such diversified techniques vary from recordings to the written word. Recordings have several disadvantages particularly if the form of preservation is not of high quality. As techniques of preservation in Africa may not be up to date, some of the recorded materials may be lost in time and would be very difficult to retrieve. The written word, so far, has proven to be more effective. This was the reason why Birago Diop took the initiative to write the stories on “The Tales of Amadou Koumba” and this is why, in the Gambia, Mariama Khan and Bamba Khan took the initiative to translate the most common proverbs of the Senegambian region.

Proverbs of the Senegambia is a collection of 275 proverbs published by Sandeng Publishers and translated from the three most common languages: Mandinka, Wollof and Pulaar. This collection was published in April 2004 in a small handy (10x 15cm) booklet. It comprises of 67 pages and has in the last two pages, end notes that help to explain some of the lexical expressions in the proverbs. On the cover page, one notices a Xalam player (a traditional wollof griot) illustrated by the famous artist, Njogou Touray. He who plays the Xalam swings along is the Wollof proverb one first reads on the cover. But who are the authors of such a unique collection?

Mariama Khan need not be introduced any longer for she is already famous for her colletion of poems entitled Futa Toro. She holds a Bachelors degree from the Saint Mary’s University of Halifax Canada and is presently the Communications Officer at the Women’s bureau. She has published many poems and short stories and is still expecting to come up with other publications.

Bamba Khan is presently an undergraduate student at the Univesity of the Gambia majoring in Sciology and French. This is his first publication coauthored with her sister. He is working on other publications expected soon.

Prverbs of the Senegambia is a giant step taken towards the preservation of our oral traditions. The transcription of proverbs from the local language is very difficult. A lot of problems are encountered namely the preservation of the tone, the exact meaning and the use of the idiomatic expressions. In their research, Mariama and Bamba are able to do their best to reproduce the exact meaning through a basic literal translation of the original proverbs.

In this collection, no specific classification has been adopted but one notices remarkable resemblance to other western proverbs. Human and social activities are represented in four major themes: cloths, animals, food, the physical body and the environment.

Animals

“No matter how long a monkey’s tail is, if you pinch it, it hurts”

Almost all the domestic animals are mentioned: dog, ram, monkey, cock, hen, goat, donkey, cat, horse and pig. Wild animals are also part of the proverbs: giraffe, snake, crocodile, antelope, lion, wolf, hyena and birds. Insects too: worm, locust and ants. These animals play a primordial role in interpreting the morals of our society.

Foodstuff

“Before you cook pap to sell, cook to eat first”

The use of foodstuff is very significant in the proverbs. It interprets the taste and the pleasure of life but equally the bitter taste it reserves. All the kinds of vegetables and some of the local food are used.

The Physical body

“No mater how long it takes, the leg that remains on the ground will one day meet the snake”

Most of the parts of the body interpret the vicissitudes of life.

Some of the proverbs are derived from social practices ranging from circumcision, sorcery, hospitality, religion etc. some can be bitter such as “The man who marries your mother is not your father and the child of your spouse can’t be your child”

Conclusion

Two young aspiring writers of great talent but at their initial stage of their career as writers have embarked in a very difficult task of translating and helping preserve our oral traditions. The book is one among many others to come. However, translations of such complex traditions have raised several questions in the past. Are the proverbs to be presented in a bilingual form to give the foreign reader an insight of its cultural difference? Isn’t the transcription of each proverb in the original language it is derived from of equal importance? Are the origins of each proverb important enough to note? How are these proverbs classified to give them thematic meanings? Is it necessary to give an explanation of the use of each proverb in its rightful context? As several languages are used, is it sufficient to only present each language’s proverb independently or would it be more interesting to make a comparison of the similarities in context and style of several languages?

The scientific presentation of such a laudable research would render the reading and the discovery of the socio-cultural dimension more helpful and educative. One has to confess that the transcription of our local languages in roman alphabets is such a tedious task that obeys to strict rules to be adhered to and can be a problem to the printers as well. Our two brave heroes have opened the way to a very significant research which, in the near future, should be developed to a scientific discipline to be included in the University of the Gambia handbook. Is the Gambia not intending to begin the use of our local languages as a medium of instruction in grades 1-3 in the very near future?