engleski

Proverbs accross cultures: Engaging with anti- proverbs and postproverbials in European and African proverb studies in the digital age

Proverbs are considered as basic elements when discussing different cultures, and some proverbs are even considered to carry the hallmark of universality. Originating from the oral tradition, they are nowadays present in both traditional and radical forms, in all spheres of human culture, namely in the written text, media and the Internet. This paper discusses the universality of the notion of proverbs and proverb transformations, as well as their presence in the digital age by comparing the mechanisms of transforming proverbs into anti- proverbs in several European languages with the mechanisms present in transforming proverbs to postproverbials in African languages. Apart from comparing acts of transformation among mostly younger generations of speakers or users of specific languages, the issue of preserving their transformations addressed and exemplified through the presentation of the PACE Research Network (Postproverbials in African Cultural Expressions) will be addressed. The questions raised through the present paper are: Do proverb transformations reflect a universal global tendency in cultural changes? Can we actually state that proverb transformations are the cause or merely the reaction to changes on the local, regional or even global level? Are transformations of canonical proverbs regarded as a new subculture in the digital age, and what is their significance? Should they be preserved and nourished further?

Africa ; anti-proverbs ; Europe ; PACE Research Network ; proverbs ; postproverbials

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