The application of Victor Turner’s liminality and symbology to the installation of obas among the Yoruba people of south western Nigeria
Apstrakt: This article examines the concepts of liminality and symbology. It borrows from the works of Victor Turner on the two concepts and their application to the study of chief installation among the Ndembu people in Zambia. The article explains the application of liminality and symbology to the installation of kings among the Yoruba people of south western part of Nigeria. The liminality rites like shaving of head, prostrating before the people, wearing of white cloth around the waist, relating the history of the land, swallowing of bullets, and sexual abstinence were thoroughly explained in this article. The article also takes into cognisance, the concept of symbology. The process of ‘picking calabash’ by the king elect was discussed and the meanings of the items kept inside each of the calabashes were explained. The item that the king picks and the implication of this on his reign was also discussed. The article also treated the symbolic meanings of beaded crown and royal sceptre. Finally, the article recommended that anthropologist and ethnologists should exploit the concepts of liminality and symbology in other cultures of the world.
Ključne reči: liminality, symbology, king-elect, Yoruba people, rites of passage