MODERNISATION AND THE FULƁE WOMEN

A REFLECTION FROM SO ALJANNAR DUNIYA

Abstract

Modernisation can be said to be a pervasive global phenomenon that has affected all aspects of human life, socially and morally. Its impact has in one way or another affected human culture including the most primitive or remote one. Thus, his work examines the extent to which modernisation has influenced the Fulɓe’s code of conduct; (pulaaku), especially semteende (shyness, modesty), neɗɗaaku (respect), and munyal (patience) amongst the Fulɓe women. The data was generated from Hafsat Abdulwaheed’s fictional novel, So Aljannar Duniya. The paper adopts a cultural relativism approach to explore the current conditions of these three components of the Fulɓe code of conduct and relate them with the Fulɓe’s primitive pulaaku amongst their women. These include how modernisation has affected the concept and notion of courtship, how marriages are conducted, how women conduct themselves within the society as well as the changes experienced over the years as a result of modernisation. This paper was able to confirm that all cultures are dynamic. It also reveals the changes and challenges experienced by the modern-day Pullo woman. Finally, the paper reveals the harmony of the Fulɓe women’s common cultural identity which they share across the African sub-region.