Samuel Johnson’s view about Oduduwa in connection with the origins of the Yoruba

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Samuel Johnson’s view about Oduduwa in connection with the origins of the Yoruba
 
Creator Jock, Agai M.
 
Subject — Africa; ancestor; Ancient Near East; Ile-Ife; migrant legend; myth; Oduduwa; oral tradition; Yorubaland
Description The most favourable explanation pertaining to the Yoruba origin is that of the Oduduwa tradition according to which he is the original ancestor of the Yoruba people. Although the Yorubas have reached a settlement on Oduduwa as their ancestor, they disagree on the origin of Oduduwa. Whilst some associated his origin with Mecca or Arabia, others say Egypt or Israel. Samuel Johnson, the most prominent writer of the Yoruba history, discussed various theories that pertained to the origin of Oduduwa. He argued that Oduduwa or the original ancestors of the Yoruba people were Coptic Christians. Writers of Yoruba history from the 20th and 21st centuries had continued to build upon Johnson’s view of the Yoruba origin in connection with Oduduwa. This research is a study of the Yoruba and Johnson’s perspectives of Oduduwa in connection with the Yoruba origins. The research elucidates the circumstances of Johnson’s Christianisation of the Egyptian origin of the Yoruba.Contribution: This article shall contribute to a distinct understanding of the origin of the Yoruba in connection with the identity and the personality of Oduduwa. Students of history and cultural studies will find this research of utmost benefit because it explains the origin of the Yoruba from the perspective of Samuel Johnson, the first Yoruba man to document extensively on the Yoruba history, language, its culture and its people in a single document or collection.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
Date 2020-08-06
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v76i4.6013
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 76, No 4 (2020); 8 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6013/15543 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6013/15542 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6013/15544 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6013/15541
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Agai M. Jock https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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