Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Five years ago today Cyprian Ekwensi left this world.....

could be both: imagined 'mysterious experience' or real disease.

1. An Igbonna Yoruba word, DAIKO was, in the mid 70s when I read the book, popularly understood among my colleagues and classmates, many of who were Kwara Igbonna, to be the equivalent of Ekwensi's SUKOGU

The popular understanding associated the experience with chance encounters that some people were said to have had with iwin (elves or gremlins?). The 'afflicted' person would get disoriented, forget his or her way home, and would find himself or herself in a strange mystical or mysterious place where they undergo some sort of wisdom training. The encounter could either lead to their attaining the means to riches, knowledge, wisdom, or expertise with the herbs and oracular insights. They invariably find their way back home to tell the tale and they become legend, feared, or or begin to display whatever expertise they attained during their mysterious trip for good or for evil, but otherwise are renown. 

thinking how we conceive of DAIKO then, I think it was probably a local way of engaging with the mind broadening effects, possible hierarchy bending undercutting possibilities of travel or of  new knowledge acquired from travel or from some sort of absences from home. It could also be a means of accepting into the local context, the new, the extra-local capabilities of a local person. The fellow comes back and spins the tale, but backs up the tale with demonstration of some increased mental or spirituality capacity and the society accepts him or her. Many who were said to have had such encounters were usually hunters.

2. I have heard of people, again in my neck of the woods, heading somewhere but getting disoriented and found wandering miles away from home. Somebody eventually discovered they were lost and after several days they are helped back home. The explanation of what went wrong with them was that DAIKO gbe, i.e., he or she was afflicted by DAIKO

------------------------

F. J. Kolapo,  

(Associate Professor of African History)
History Department *  University of Guelph * Guelph * Ontario * Canada* N1G 2W1
Phone:519/824.4120 ex.53212  Fax: 519.766.9516

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From: "Oluwatoyin Ade-Odutola" <kole2@yahoo.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: harrow@msu.edu
Sent: Monday, November 5, 2012 4:59:48 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Five years ago today Cyprian Ekwensi left this world.....

A respondent sent this to me from Germany: "In German, we call this disease "Fernweh". In English this might translate into "travel bug". But it's not "Wanderlust". It feels more "itchy" and really hurts. "Fern" means "distant" and "weh" means "ache"." "Fernweh" is the opposite of "Heimweh" -- longing for home. I think the Chinese would call this a Yin-Yang, seemingly contrary forces that are interconnected What's the opposite of SOKUGO? Well, I know how "Fernweh" feels and it seems quite real to me. --- On Sun, 11/4/12, kenneth harrow <> wrote: From: kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Five years ago today Cyprian Ekwensi left this world..... To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 10:46 PM was it the 1918 flu epidemic? ken On 11/4/12 8:52 PM, Oluwatoyin Ade-Odutola wrote: Cyprian Ekwensi (September 26, 1921 – November 4, 2007) As the day goes the way of yesterday, I recall the passing on of Chief Cyprian Ekwensi. As they say to live in the hearts of those who love us is not to die. A note to myself.... There is a novel written by Cyprian Ekwensi called "Burning Grass" In that novel he mentioned a disease: SOKUGO....it is said to be a wondering disease. I am not sure this is a real disease or an imagined one. I have been trying to find out IF there is any institution researching on Sokugo. Will there ever be an International Conference for Cyprian Ekwensi? --

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