Before DNA Test: A Literary and Cultural Exposition of Paternity Test in Yoruba Folklore

Abstract

The concept of paternal status is one of the major causes of contemporary social conflicts that calls for scholarly discourse from different academic fields. The concept aroused the interest of scholars rooted in scientific, biological, legal, cultural and literary perspectives. Since a child cannot be born without passing through a mother, the society usually doubts not the maternal status of a child.  Unlike the mother, the paternal status cannot be fully assured. Thus, there is need for a deep cultural exposition on the concept of paternal identification in Yorùbá cosmology prior to the advancement of orthodox deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This paper showcases the paradigms of paternal identification among the Yorùbá people of South-western Nigeria, from Yorùbá folklore and oral literary genres in the form of oríkì, proverbs, ifá literary corpus and songs. It also investigates some Yoruba cultural practices through in-depth interviews with randomly selected Yorùbá custodians of culture. The data collected for the research were transcribed and analysed within the general theoretical framework of Archetypal Theory. The paper identifies family traits which include physical (àfojúrí), hemopathological (àìsàn ajẹmẹ́jẹ̀), and acquired traits (àwòṣe) as the major ways of paternal status test among the Yorùbá. Other methods are birth rites, a child’s behaviour and habits and consequential occurrences. The paper concludes that despite the fact that DNA has taken over the contemporary spheres in finding solutions to paternal identification conflicts, this does not stop the revitalization of traditional methods.

Accessibility Summary:

In accordance with Title II regulations this content meets all points of exemption as Archived web content and/or Preexisting conventional electronic documents.