A DAILY DOSE OF WISDOM GLOBALIZATION AND SMS PROVERBS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Globalization ensures connectedness, the sharing of knowledge across nations and across continents. This is facilitated mainly by growth in information technology which, to a large extent, is dominated by the developed world. The SMS text message is a product of technology as people can send written messages through their cell phones. The language of text messages is of necessity brief and full of abbreviations and symbols because the cell phone SMS facility has a limited capacity for containing written texts. In relation to artistic production the SMS facility is grossly inadequate. It is however appropriate for containing and relating gnomic narrative forms such as the proverb. This paper acknowledges the receipt of SMS proverbs on a daily basis from centre 5020 and centre 5810. The paper looks at one year’s collection of such proverbs, analyses its distribution, and examines its form, particularly the pseudo-proverbs that are presented alongside the proverbs and comments on some of the major themes embedded in them. The paper concludes that modern technology is a career of culture and that a developing world like Nigeria needs to be an active participant in the global world lest it be culturally swallowed by the technologically advanced countries.