Beauty is a universal concept and has many facets. But the standards of measuring beauty are arbitrary and differ from one culture to another. The variations in the ideals of beauty show what is expected of women in any society. In the Western world, the standards of beauty do not extend beyond the physical appearance of a woman. In the African cultural setting, particularly in the Akan culture, the standards of beauty are not limited to only the physical appearance of the woman. How language is used in exploring the standard of beauty in the Akan has received a little attention. This paper seeks to focus on the use of language used in expressing beauty in the Akan society. Using data based on the song entitled “Asianawaa”, by Alex Kwabena Konadu, a well-known Ghanaian musician, this study examines the Akan concept of beauty as reflected in the use of language. Konadu captures the notion of beauty, through the female physical features, non-physical features and the social capital of beauty. The metaphor, allusion and symbolism are the main language tools that help to conceptualise the concept of beauty in this Akan song. The findings reveal that Konadu’s lyrics highlight the metaphorical concept of beauty with its connotations. It draws conclusion that Konadu’s idea of beauty is demonstrated in understanding the relationship between the language and the socio-cultural experiences of the Akan of Ghana.
| Published in | International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12 |
| Page(s) | 155-160 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Beauty, Akan, Culture, Female Curvature
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APA Style
Cynthia Elizabeth Osei, Emmanuel Yaw Appiah, Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour. (2021). Beauty in the Eyes of the Akan People of Ghana: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Alex Konadu’s Song “Asianawaa”. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(4), 155-160. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12
ACS Style
Cynthia Elizabeth Osei; Emmanuel Yaw Appiah; Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour. Beauty in the Eyes of the Akan People of Ghana: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Alex Konadu’s Song “Asianawaa”. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(4), 155-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12
AMA Style
Cynthia Elizabeth Osei, Emmanuel Yaw Appiah, Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour. Beauty in the Eyes of the Akan People of Ghana: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Alex Konadu’s Song “Asianawaa”. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(4):155-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12,
author = {Cynthia Elizabeth Osei and Emmanuel Yaw Appiah and Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour},
title = {Beauty in the Eyes of the Akan People of Ghana: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Alex Konadu’s Song “Asianawaa”},
journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
volume = {9},
number = {4},
pages = {155-160},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210904.12},
abstract = {Beauty is a universal concept and has many facets. But the standards of measuring beauty are arbitrary and differ from one culture to another. The variations in the ideals of beauty show what is expected of women in any society. In the Western world, the standards of beauty do not extend beyond the physical appearance of a woman. In the African cultural setting, particularly in the Akan culture, the standards of beauty are not limited to only the physical appearance of the woman. How language is used in exploring the standard of beauty in the Akan has received a little attention. This paper seeks to focus on the use of language used in expressing beauty in the Akan society. Using data based on the song entitled “Asianawaa”, by Alex Kwabena Konadu, a well-known Ghanaian musician, this study examines the Akan concept of beauty as reflected in the use of language. Konadu captures the notion of beauty, through the female physical features, non-physical features and the social capital of beauty. The metaphor, allusion and symbolism are the main language tools that help to conceptualise the concept of beauty in this Akan song. The findings reveal that Konadu’s lyrics highlight the metaphorical concept of beauty with its connotations. It draws conclusion that Konadu’s idea of beauty is demonstrated in understanding the relationship between the language and the socio-cultural experiences of the Akan of Ghana.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Beauty in the Eyes of the Akan People of Ghana: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Alex Konadu’s Song “Asianawaa” AU - Cynthia Elizabeth Osei AU - Emmanuel Yaw Appiah AU - Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour Y1 - 2021/07/13 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12 T2 - International Journal of Literature and Arts JF - International Journal of Literature and Arts JO - International Journal of Literature and Arts SP - 155 EP - 160 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2331-057X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.12 AB - Beauty is a universal concept and has many facets. But the standards of measuring beauty are arbitrary and differ from one culture to another. The variations in the ideals of beauty show what is expected of women in any society. In the Western world, the standards of beauty do not extend beyond the physical appearance of a woman. In the African cultural setting, particularly in the Akan culture, the standards of beauty are not limited to only the physical appearance of the woman. How language is used in exploring the standard of beauty in the Akan has received a little attention. This paper seeks to focus on the use of language used in expressing beauty in the Akan society. Using data based on the song entitled “Asianawaa”, by Alex Kwabena Konadu, a well-known Ghanaian musician, this study examines the Akan concept of beauty as reflected in the use of language. Konadu captures the notion of beauty, through the female physical features, non-physical features and the social capital of beauty. The metaphor, allusion and symbolism are the main language tools that help to conceptualise the concept of beauty in this Akan song. The findings reveal that Konadu’s lyrics highlight the metaphorical concept of beauty with its connotations. It draws conclusion that Konadu’s idea of beauty is demonstrated in understanding the relationship between the language and the socio-cultural experiences of the Akan of Ghana. VL - 9 IS - 4 ER -
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