Metaphors of Human-Flora-Fauna Symbiosis: Eco-Criti cal Discourse Expositions in Yorùbá Proverbial Analysis

Abstract

It has been emphasized that metaphors in general are crucial for comprehending and interpreting ecological discourse. Numerous studies on Yorùbá proverbs have been conducted (Jelili et al., 2022; Akanbi, 2020; Anyachebelu, 2019; Olofinsao, 2018; Faleye, 2018; Ojo, 2015; Akanbi, 2015, etc.), but insufficient research has been done on human-flora-fauna symbiosis, particularly in Yorùbá proverbs. This study uses ecocritical metaphor analysis to look at the symbiosis of humans, plants, and fauna in Yorùbá proverbs. The study focuses on how, according to the Yorùbá worldview, particular plants and animals are used to symbolise various human experiences, actions, and traits in Yorùbá proverbs. We use the transitivity system from the Systemic Functional Linguistics approach to eco-critical discourse analysis, along with Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) to explore human experiences with nature through process types and illustrate the metaphorical “mapping” across the conceptual domain. Other human experiences are conceptualised as the target domain through the lens of flora and animals, which serve as the source domain. Both primary and secondary sources of information were carefully selected for this article. The study discovers that Yorùbá proverbs use metaphors of animals such as dogs, cows, chameleons, doves, and eagles as well as woods and trees like iróko and mahogany, to warn people against negative attitudes towards the ecosystem, like destruction, laziness, intolerance, and impatience among others. For harmonious coexistence in the ecosystem, the proverbs urge humans to behave well toward nature. According to the results of the transitivity analysis, the detected process choices in the data can be seen as a positive discourse that motivates people to conserve the environment.