| dc.description.abstract | Intellectually, we are today living in a period popularly known as postmodernism.
The word post-modernisln is itself a full- fledged critique of the
process of rationalization usually identified as having originated in seventeenth
century European enlightenment thought, and which later developed to become
the epistemological pinnacle of Western sense of modernism. Considered as
universally valid in its method and objectives, The epistemological pretensions
of modernism became the reference point against which the knowledge content
of all systems of thought were evaluated or, to use the contemporary
terminology central to this debate, represented. Contemporary trends aim at
transcending this epistemological eurocentrism. Against it, many scholars have
now proposed that knowledge is contextual and relative, thus recommending
a comparative approach to the study of knowledge in the sense of focusing on
the need for greater dialogue between systems which are thus reduced to the
level/status of paradigms.
This thesis contributes to the post-modern debate. It examines metaphors,
narratives and palavers as means of expressing and articulating concepts and
ideas in traditional representations of knowledge. It focuses on the Adigo uses
of these speech forms to exact knowledge and to determine the understanding
and nature of diverse value concepts in their application to cultural practice . | en |
