A Critique of Yorùbá Judgment: Individual Authority, Community Creation, and the Embodiment of Àṣẹ

Abstract

Andrew Apter argues that the expression of Àṣẹ , which roughly translates as ‘authority,’ is ‘the most profound and most difficult stage of entry into Yoruba culture.’¹ Indeed structures of authority emerge across discourses, making it a core concern for Ìfọgbọ́ntáayéṣe:. Àṣẹ defies definition, but in simplest terms it refers both to the mechanism by which authority is conferred on a person or an object and the mechanism by which that person or object demonstrates its power: the line between possessing and enacting authority is a slender one. Àṣẹ as related to form is the concept that authority has a specific context in which it must be enacted; that this context is related to metaphysical sources of Àṣẹ ; that, despite this metaphysical connection, form cannot confer authority without audience interaction; and that certain forms are more associated with authority than others.