My Research SWOT | Osward Chanda

 INTRODUCTION

Like a candle light flame in a dark and windy environment, every success has strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have potential to enhance or impede its actuation. To begin with, this topic presents a huge opportunity for preservation of Zambian and African culture at large and the platform to learn in person from practitioners of name regulations in Hungary and other surrounding European countries. Furthermore, my previous experience in names research is a strength for this work. On the other hand, weaknesses include the arduous task of collecting names from 73 indigenous ethnic languages and dialects to provide a possible official list for Zambians to select from, and lost meanings as a result of the oral culture. Besides, the negative attitude of some Zambians toward indigenous culture is a threat to this work. Therefore, venturing on the quest to preserve Zambia’s intangible cultural heritage through introduction of name regulation has the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats herein discussed. 

flame, windy 

The flaming wick is the candle’s strength, the waning wax is its weakness; darkness provides its opportunity to shine, whereas the wind stands for its threats. First, I will present strengths and opportunities in Part 1; second, weaknesses and strengths in Part 2; third, possible resolution in Part 3, and, lastly, give a conclusion.  

PART 1: OPPORTUNITIES AND STRENGTHS 

Most importantly, my thesis topic presents an opportunity for resuscitating an entire culture. As the candle is used to light other unlit candles, though focused on my home country, Zambia, the project has latent potential to ripple similar effects in surrounding countries. It presents an opportunity for a significant fraction of the world culture to shine. As evidenced by Alhaug and Saarelma (2017) in their study of Finnish and Norwegian names, the use of names from a language strongly promotes preservation of that culture. This was also echoed by Bangeni (2000) in his study of Xhosa first names and Lisimba (2000) in his study of Lozi names. Not only will introduction of laws to govern naming in Zambia promote Zambian culture, but also African culture and, subsequently, world heritage.    

In addition, studying in Central Europe, at CEU, presents many opportunities for my topic as many surrounding countries with strong regulations in the European Union are within reach, and their enforcers available in flesh and blood. If I studied in an African university, the most practical way of referencing European institutions enforcing name regulations would have been online sources as there are no such regulations that I know of being enforced in an African country. Online references are limiting due to language barriers in accessing some documents which may not be translated and are unable to give first-hand experience of the relevant practices. Studying in a university in any other continent would have made comparison more challenging because of the distance between countries enforcing name laws. Hungary provides a great opportunity owing to its elaborate name laws as we as its central location in Europe, as my country Zambia in Central Africa, and convenient travel between neighbouring countries enforcing naming laws, or easier correspondence therewith.  

Worth noting, too, is the strength of riding on the backbone of the experience I have gained from my seven years of continuous research into African names. It has lit in me the candle light of enlightenment through exposure to various aspects of studying this subject, sponsored by the multidisciplinary nature of scholars I have encountered from different parts of the world who study the same subject with different interests, and to many key and invaluable ordinary people and cultural authorities on the ground. This continues to mould and remould a well-rounded scholar in me. I will leverage the important contacts I have established with key informants during my field work, as well as the knowledge and skills I have acquired over the years.   

PART 2: WEAKNESSES AND THREATS 

antagonism

While the wind poses a threat to the burning candle, it is a strength to a windmill; in spite of the flame’s usefulness, it jeopardizes a hut thatched with straw. In this respect, the multilingual nature of Zambian society poses a threat to the success of the proposed names policy. Though we have captured a gigantic volume of over ten thousand indigenous names and their meanings from over 30 languages drawn from all ten provinces, there remains a barrier of financial challenges in eventually documenting a comprehensive record of names from all 73 languages and dialects. As precaution, countries that enforce name laws also provide approved name lists for their citizens to choose from.  

We all know, as is generic of African culture, that Zambian culture is inclined toward oral traditions. Therefore, there exist enormous challenges in capturing and documenting accurate data on names. Through our research experience, I have discovered that many names used in our society have no known meanings. It is not uncommon for respondents, even reliable elders, to say that those who knew the meanings of certain names had died. Thus, the meanings of many names have been lost in the passage of time.  

As if that were not enough, there is a general tendency among some Zambians to demonize indigenous culture. Without much thought, many attach the concept of ‘light’ to Western or Hebrew, Greek or Arabic culture and ‘darkness’ to African culture. By this I mean that fostering the use of purely African names may be resisted as ‘non-Christian’ in some sections of society. Sadly, this may be viewed as an inferiority complex attached to a solely African identity. It is something that stems from colonial times. I know of many elders still alive in our society who have retold their experiences with harsh naming practices during our colonisation by Britain. Initially, those with purely African names were denied admission and registration into the school system – they were given new names upon admission to school and their African first names either became middle names or were completely discarded against their wishes. In the pasage of time, Zambians began to value an English or ‘Biblical’ identity. In my informal discussion with an immensely experienced Hebrew Onomastician during the Internationa Congress of Onomastic Sciences, I asked whether the terms ‘Biblical names’ and ‘Hebrew names’ were interchangeable. Her response was negative, citing that Hebrew culture was distinct and was neither Biblical nor Christian culture.   

PART 3: RESOLUTION 

Interestingly, the eminence of the House of Chiefs, their endorsement of the names research project and their pledge to supply us with data or cultural experts from their respective ethnicities has potential, through extensive community involvement, to overcome the threat posed by multiplicity of languages. Some academics such as historians, linguists and other, in addition to members of the general public have also committed to the work. The company I am affiliated with, Pensulo Publishers Limited, is already collaborating with some of Their Royal Highnesses and others in this quest. Community involvement in sculpting a new culture for Zambia will play a major role in introduction of name laws.   

As a way of speeding up documentation, perhaps, our research should be more flexible to incorporate mere documentation of lists of indigenous names from the various languages without necessarily restricting ourselves to the arduous task of capturing all details. For example, such details as meanings of names, their brief backgrounds and pronunciations can be left to the original Encyclopedia project. The heritage preservation side through introduction of laws should only focus on merely recording proper names which exist in the respective Zambian languages. Therefore, zeroing in on simply making lists will result in accomplishment of the proposed name regulation in record time.  

Moreover, I would be indebted to have opportunity for further research at doctoral level to address these and other aspects as research problems and questions to be pursued further. In addition, other scholars in the field or in related fields should be encouraged to pursue similar research interests. In this way, the subject will be examined from a multifaceted perspective. I therefore encourage further scholastic inquiries on this topic as they have potential to address the above and other weaknesses and threats.  

solidarity

CONCLUSION   

To sum up, every success has strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have potential to enhance or impede its actuation. I began by identifying the huge opportunity that this topic presents for preservation of Zambian, African and world heritage at large and my vantage point of learning in person from practitioners of name regulations in Hungary and other surrounding European countries. Then, I identified my previous experience in names research as a strength for the current work. In contrast, the weaknesses included the arduous task of collecting names from 73 indigenous ethnic languages and dialects to provide a possible official list for Zambians to select from and I highlighted the lost meanings of names due to the erstwhile transmission of this knowledge orally. In addition, I singled out the negative attitude of some Zambians toward indigenous culture as a threat to this work. The possible resolutions highlighted included community involvement in the process, simplifying the name collection process by merely focusing on making name lists, and turning the weaknesses and threats into questions for further research. 

 Link and References:

Gulbrand Alhaug and Minna Saarelma (2017)  https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.275

G.N. Bangeni & Coetser, A. “Xhosa First Names, Societal Values and Power Relations,” Nomina Africana: Journal of the Names Society of Southern Africa, 14 (2) (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal, 2000) 59-69 

Mukumbuta Lisimba, Lozi Names in Language and Culture, Libreville: International Centre for Bantu Civilisations, 2000