Water Symbolism in Yorùbá Folklore and Culture1

Water is not only a physical substance; it is also an intrinsic part of peoples’ identity, cultural perception, religious beliefs and worldviews. Water is a relevant and a significant variable that is also germane to the understanding of Yorùbá peoples’ identity, culture and religion. Hence, this ethnographical and literary study examines the image of water in Yorùbá cosmology using folklore (oral texts) of the people as paradigms. It uses a field investigative method of research to elicit primary data from the people on the uses of water in diverse spheres of life. It supplements oral data with secondary data in the form of books, journal articles and archival materials. The data collected was analysed from the lenses of a hermeneutical-anthropological approach. The study found that water constitutes and creates cultural, social and religious identities among the Yorùbá people of southwestern Nigeria. In addition, it concludes that water represents one of the several ways through which the Yorùbá society can be best understood.

Feminist Bunker Fantasies

Feminist science fiction emerged during the late 1970s as a creative and political force, with the nuclear condition as a core element of this new form and its new approach to science fiction. Despite the full awareness and acknowledgment of the horrors underpinning the postapocalyptic world, this body of work as a whole is hopeful and open to the future in ways that most other 1980s bunker fantasies were not. These are not only survivors’ songs, in other words; they are critical engagements with the complexity of historical change that refunctioned the spaces of the Cold War into new configurations. One of the primary, and often the only, positively bunkered spaces in the texts themselves during this period were the analogous forms of language, storytelling, words, and writing. While the positive, enabling bunker potentials of language—and the stultifying effects of its loss—remain a constant theme through this period, the changing representations of physical spaces in relation to language fall into roughly three periods, analogous to political changes in the cultural perception of nuclear threat. The sheltering power of language remains a constant throughout, as do the spatial association of the fallout shelter with masculine social structures and the nuclear condition, along with the central problematic of reproduction and reproductive futurism in relation to survival in a post-holocaust world; however, writers’ treatment of these themes changes.

Subjective Well-Being and Parenthood in Chile

Being a parent plays an important role in people’s life trajectory and identity. Though the general cultural perception is that having children is a source of subjective well-being, there is evidence that, at least in some societies, the subjective well-being of those who are parents is worse, in some aspects, than that of those who are not. This gap has been the object of interest and controversy. The aim of this study was to compare Chilean adults with and without children in a broad set of well-being indicators, controlling for other sociodemographic variables. A public national probabilistic database was used. The results show that, in terms of positive and negative affect, those who are not parents achieve greater well-being than those who have children. Other results also pointed in that direction. The implications of the social context and gender, which are aspects that pose a burden for the exercise of parenthood in Chile, are discussed.

Identification and Evaluation of Preservative Plants on Traditionally Fermented Cow Milk

The majority of communities in different regions of Ethiopia are relying on a variety of plants to improve the quality of their dairy products. However, this cultural perception was scientifically not well strengthened. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to identify milk preservative plants and evaluate the effects of preservative plants on fermented milk redox potential, Potential hydrogen (pH), and sensory analysis. The survey study was conducted on purposefully selected 80 households in the Haramaya district. However, the laboratory study was conducted on four top-ranked plants for the preparation of fermented milk samples at ambient temperature following similar techniques and procedures observed at households. All the collected data were analysed by Statitsical Analysis software (SAS). In the study area, five plants in the families of Oleaceae, Celastraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rutaceae were identified and used by the majority of respondents with perceptions of enhancing the flavour of their products. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of redox potential were proved the cultural perception of the majority of respondents that they were used both Olea Africana and Catha edulis in substitute to each other for the same purpose. The pH of all treatments was continuously decreased and the milk samples treated by Olea Africana and Catha edulis were recorded the lowest values at the end. The observed pH results have disproved the communities cultural perceptions that they believed smoking increased the shelf life and extended the fermentation time whereas the Hedonic scores of panelists proved the local perceptions of respondents that they were mainly intended to make their products much more acceptable and preferable by its flavour to the consumers.

Cultural dermatoses: A review

The impact of globalization and migration is reflected in cultural dermatoses which in earlier times were localized to specific regions. Therapeutic, cosmetic, and religious practices can lead to dermatoses. Therapeutic practices such as cupping, coining, acupuncture, and moxibustion may cause purpura and ecchymoses which are sometimes mistaken for child abuse. Cultural perception of beauty is often the motivation behind practices such as threading, use of bleaching agents, henna, bindi, and hair oils, which, in turn, can cause irritant and allergic contact dermatitis as well as a host of other dermatoses. Prayer nodules and turban dermatoses may manifest as outcomes of culture specific religious practices. A knowledge of these conditions can help the dermatologist to offer a correct diagnosis and treatment.

Madurese Fishing Community Cultural Perception of Coastal Litter

Piles of litter on the beach polluting the sea have become one of the global problems at this time. Indonesia is an archipelago country whose coastline is inhabited by tribes who have been living as fishermen for hundreds of years. Therefore, it is important to understand what the cultural perception of the fishing community is regarding the litter problem. This study aimed to figure out the perception of the fishing community in Madurese culture regarding the litter on the beach. By adhering to the phenomenological paradigm, the researchers chose four fishing families in Madura, conducted semi-structured interviews and observations, as well as analyzed the data. We conducted Creswell and Poth’s qualitative data analysis spiral. The found that the Madurese fishing community perceives coastal litter as (a) a physical problem, (b) a human-God relational problem, and (c) an individual-government relational problem. In short, the community's perceptions of the litter on the beach are related to their beliefs about the position of humans, nature, and God.

Perception difference analysis using digital technology: case study on Ghanaian Adinkra symbols and Chinese traditional symbols

Based on data analysis, this study measured the level of perception of Ghanaians and Chinese cultural symbols. The objective was to investigate the possible differences and misconception in visual perception and comprehension between Ghanaians and Chinese. One hundred symbols, fifty from Ghana and fifty from China was used to administer questions in a survey to a total of hundred Ghanaian and Chinese subjects. By employing digital technology such as data collection and data analysis the most typical and least typical cultural symbols among both countries were collected. Further analysis was done to find out the factors affecting the perception of symbols by subjects and interaction effects between genders. Findings show that at least 40% of both Ghanaian and Chinese subjects had a relatively good knowledge of their cultural symbols which help identify them as typical symbols of their nations. The cultures of the subjects played a significant role on the results while gender, level of education, employment and the academic status of individuals impacted minutely on the outcome. The significant outcome of this study provides the basic foundation for researchers who are interested in examining cross cultural perception of cultural symbols. This study increases the need for awareness of cultural symbols and their meanings outside a country’s borders.