If there's one thing I have noticed about particularly the society where I come from, it's the fact that we value adopted, foreign, acquired, learnt... In other wise, exotic things. From culture, to accent, to food and the fashion, because it's seemingly exciting, stunning, strangely endearing and of course feels like a magnet. I wouldn't exempt myself from this. Naturally almost all the countries of the world experienced imperial colonialisation.
Which means at one time or the other our ancestors have once been in a position of having strange things enforced on them by their colonial masters. The English colonised Nigeria and even now that we're now independent of them we can't help but say that things like a three piece suit, a tie, a sock and Jack was originally ours, but we have generally cultivated that exotic style of dressing simply because it feels modern*
Now not every one originally falls in love with something strange for the first time. For example, someone who is used to eating cassava flakes and melon seed soup all their lives suddenly travels abroad and have the opportunity to taste caviar with some quail eggs and lemon flours, it'll feel strange, dangerously adventurous, but then after having the opportunity to taste and love it, they sort of even begin to eat it more than the Thai or French people that owns it in the first place.
When the English came to Nigeria in the 20th century, they brought things like mirror and tobacco and guns and in no time people started exchanging their families and friends to have these strange goodies.
Now what does this tells you? Exotic things have a way of Influencing people even more than they can explain, should we even begin to talk about accents?; A lot of everyone in Nigeria for example wants to sound British, some American or Spanish and they find this rather superior than having a native accent.
I have spoken to a lot of people who felt my accent isn't really superfluous. They feel that I look good, so sounding British would somehow compliment the looks and it's rather a turn off for them that I sound rather Nigerian, but then, I am Nigerian, I should sound Nigerian. But then let's be logical, is there anyone who doesn't find British accent rather lovely? I bet, no one doesn't. Infact a lot of British actors gains poplar movie roles in the US because they sound exotic and that feeling, when you hear those twisted phonetics often makes people go crazy.
So why would people find one accent rather superior than the other? First of, sometimes what we cannot do often thrills us. I don't know if this sounds wrong, but then I find British English rather appealing but then I don't think it's superior. Should we even begin to talk about the culture? Wigs aren't synonymous with African people. Infact while most Africans have kinky hair, there are races that has curly and wavy hair, for example look at the hair of some Asians, particulary Korean and Indians, they way it looks good on them would make you think they're the definition of perfection.
This is why recently we have a massive importation of foreign human hair into African soil, some African women wants to wear these hairs, they feel they'll look more beautiful. This might seem suprising but it's the reality, now I don't know if this is vice versa, but then I had once heard of a white model who had surgery to have melanin implanted into her skin so she could look dark, I mean the feeling of being foreign sometimes makes people do different strange things.
But is trying to be exotic rather bad?
Far from it; variety is the spice of life anyone can treasure whatever they want, be it from a different culture, tribe or race. A lot of nectar and spice we find in some beverages and drinks or food in our different societies sometimes are mostly foreign, this is to say that there's nothing wrong with expressing our sense of exoticity.
This is because at, a lot of people might not really get to leave their countries for foreign shores but then experience diverse cultures, food and way of life brings these other places to their doorstep. There's no limitations to our ability of exploration. Whether we find other accent rather better or not, everyone is entitled to how foreign or native they want their lives to be like.
All images taken & Owned by me
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My name is @Josediccus, a young Nigerian student who is a Vlogger, A Psychologist, Poet And Sports Writer/Analyst. I'm using my contents as a process to create shared meaning as well as create expressions through which people on/off hive can relate. I believe content is a process to be enjoyed and relished and I'm up for any collaborations in my field stated above. Cheers
@Josediccus, your brother-in-pen & heart
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