MISSION OF WISDOM: APOPHTHEGMATA IN LITERARY DEPICTIONS OF CROSS-CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT

This article investigates the function of aphorisms, brief expressions of wisdom, in literary representations of inter-ethnic contact. The main emphasis is laid on their missiological impacts. Combining the classical and contemporary materials, the paper constructs the history of how these wise sayings, originating from early Christian and philosophical traditions, come to be main narrative devices in the stories that deal with cross-cultural interaction. Through an in-depth discussion of some secondary texts like Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the essay reveals how epigrams serve as the means for moral, spiritual, and cultural exchanges to take place within the literary context. It is missiological to bring out the spiritual influence of these witticisms beyond the aesthetic delight, but also the unifying purpose they have played in historical and universal domains. Hence, Benjamin Lea and Sanneh proffers the discursive avenues in art forms such as translation through intentional transformation. The research, through the incorporation of both literary analysis and theological viewpoints, thus maintains the gravity of apophthegmata in the process of intercultural reflection and reconciliation. Using a comparative methodology, the essay explains that these wise yet pithy forms hold the same utility they have always had in handling the ethical quandaries of cultural integration in both historical and contemporary periods.