Strategies of Scholarly Depth and Range : Ogo Ofuani on Okot p'Bitek

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

*​*




*

Strategies of Scholarly Depth and Range *

*

Ogo Ofuani on Okot p'Bitek *




Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju



Ogo Ofuani, Uniben Eng/Lit Dept and the Vision of Inspiring
Teaching<https://www.facebook.com/groups/239114619545971/>



Facebook Group



A Division of Compcros <http://danteadinkra.wix.com/compcros>


Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

"Exploring Every
Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"


A strategy by which scholars achieve depth and range in relation to a
subject is that of exploring various aspects of the subject in a sequence
of scholarly essays, often published in academic journals.

Two examples strike me in this regard with particular reference to their
signifinace for the Nigerian and other African contexts in which article
rather than book publication is the norm in academic culture.

One is that of Alexis Sanderson <http://www.alexissanderson.com>, Spalding
Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford,
whose lengthy
and detailed articles on the Saivite school of
Hinduism<http://www.alexissanderson.com/publications.html>are a point
of reference in scholarship in the field, in an academic
culture where book publishing is a norm and in which he seems not to have
published any book.

I am struck by the scope of Sanderson's achievement using the essay method
alone.

The other is Ogo Ofuani <http://www.uniben.edu/professor-ogo-ofuani>,
Professor of Stylistics in the Department of English and Literature at the
University of Benin, whose research has focused on the writer Okot p'Bitek
in articles spanning several
years<https://www.facebook.com/groups/239114619545971/>[links
to some of Ofuani's works] in which he examines various dimensions of the
achievement of Okot p'Bitek, particularly in terms of the relationship
between language and meaning, in an academic culture in which book
publication is not a norm, but in which Ofuani has been able to provide an
apprehension of a subject in multifaceted detail through essays alone.

I am struck by Ofuani's dogged focus on a particular writer, thereby
providing depth that might not otherwise be possible except in a thorough,
full length book.

What is the conceptual and analytical scope of Ofuani's exploration of Okot
p'Bitek?

Can this scope be correlated with his other publications, on Nigerian
Pidgin English, perhaps thereby distilling a perspective on linguistic
creativity in various contexts, perhaps in relation to the tension between
cultural authenticity and new means of social existence at times
highlighted by Okot p'Bitek's work?

What is the significance of Ofuani's and Sanderson's strategy of focus
on articles instead of books in relation to the Nigerian and other African
contexts in which academic book publication is still at an embryonic stage?

What are the implications of Ofuani's focus on publication in some of the
most prestigious Western journals in his field in relation to his location
in Nigeria, and in Africa, in particular?

A foundation for exploring these questions, the significance of which
resonates broadly across cultures of learning all over the world, is being
laid at the
Ogo Ofuani, Uniben Eng/Lit Dept and the Vision of Inspiring
Teaching<https://www.facebook.com/groups/239114619545971/> Facebook
group through the building of a complete Ofuani publication bibliography.

Contributions on these questions, which may or may not relate to the
particular scholars mentioned here, are invited and most welcome.


Also posted in

Ogo Ofuani, Uniben Eng/Lit Dept and the Vision of Inspiring
Teaching<http://ofuanienlituniben.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/strategies-of-scholarly-depth-and-range.html>
blog

Facebook Notes <https://www.facebook.com/notes/oluwatoyin-vincent-adepoju/strategies-of-scholarly-depth-and-range-ogo-ofuani-on-okot-pbitek/10152086119294103>