RITUAL OF CIRCUMCISION, MOOD DISORDERS AND MANAGEMENT IN CAMARA LAYE’S THE AFRICAN CHILD

Friday Akporherhe; Peter Udi Oghenerioborue

Friday Akporherhe, PhD University of Delta, Nigeria.
Peter Udi Oghenerioborue, Mr niversity of Delta,Nigeria

Keywords: Ritual, Circumcision, Childhood, Mood Disorders and Management

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the therapeutic strategies utilised in the management of mood disorders which characterise the ritual rites of circumcision in Camara Laye’s The African Child. The article argues that circumcision rites for adolescents triggers mood disorders such as anxieties, phobia, insomnia, distress, and so on. These abnormal health conditions can be managed through various adjustments and coping strategies to provide healing to the circumcised patients, parents and society by diverting and alleviating their psychic and emotional pains. They are utilised as mood stimulants and self-coping strategies before the ritual of circumcision.

Author Biographies

Friday Akporherhe, PhD, University of Delta, Nigeria.

Friday Akporherhe (PhD) is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Languages (English and Literary Studies Unit), at the University of Delta, in Agbor, Nigeria. His research interests include African Fiction, African Oral Literature and Field Research on African Languages, Cultural Festivals, and Oral Tradition. His current work is titled, ‘African Oral Literature: The Despondency of the Nigerian Artist in the 21st Century,’ which was published in the Journal of Behavioural Informatics, Digital Humanities and Development Research in 2022.

Peter Udi Oghenerioborue, Mr, niversity of Delta,Nigeria

Peter Udi Oghenerioborue is currently pursuing his doctoral degree programme. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Languages (English and Literary Studies Unit), at the University of Delta, in Agbor, Nigeria. His fields of research include African Oral Literature, African Dramatic Literature, African Poetry, and Field Research on Oral Performances, Cultural Festivals, Oral Tradition and so on. His current work is titled, ‘African Oral Literature: The Despondency of the Nigerian Artist in the 21st Century,’ which was published in the Journal of Behavioural Informatics, Digital Humanities and Development Research in 2022.