ENL 416: FRICAN ORAL LITERATURE II

THE RELEVANCE OF AFRICAN COSMOLOGY TO AFRICAN ORAL

LITERATURE

Introduction

It is common to say in literary discussions that literature

is a mirror to society. Literary works are products of a
society on which their stories are based. African oral
literature is an offshoot of literature. Its peculiarity is that
it deals essentially with literature of the grassroots. It is
therefore a mirror of the traditional society which on its
part is much influenced by its cosmology. The cosmology
of traditional Africa is the study of the interrelationship
between the celestial bodies and the earth, or between
the Spiritual world and the physical world both of
which make up the universe or the cosmos. This close tie
between the two bodies has much influence on the
African society and reflects heavily in its literature. This is
the focus of this lecture.

What is African Cosmology?

It is viewed from the point of religion or from that of

science: the cosmos refers to the universe as an ordered
system. As to the maker, Religion makes it clear that
the Supreme God is behind it; science has shielded away
from acknowledging God. Space has been observed for
uncountable centuries. Origins of man and space among
others have been questioned. There are substantial
 observational records from ancient civilization of
China, Babylonia Egypt and China. Modern deep space
investigations have been carried out using powerful radio
telescopes. But science has found little on how Ibis
ordered system was put in place. Religion has given
answer centuries back and has not contradicted itself till
date. It is the study of the universe, the earth on earth
in which we live and the celestial realm not visible to
man, that is regarded as cosmology. How Africans in
general, conceive this is our main concern in this lecture.
African cosmology comprises two major entities, the
Belief System and the Cycle of Life and ii will he taught as
such.

The Belief System

The belief system simply refers to the conception of the
universe as that which is seen and that which is not seen
but anchored on faith. This consists of the Belief in God,
the Belief in the Divinities, the Belief in Spirits and the
Belief in Magic and Medicine.

The Belief in God

The Supreme God is believed to be the author of the
universe and the beginning and the end of
everything contain in it. No single source has shown any
evidence of the person of God as a physical being.
Something close to this is reve1ed in the Bible. It says
that God occupies a throne but He cannot be described
(see Revelation 4:3).The author of the scripture
implies that the more you look at Him, the less you see.
The different cultures therefore give God different
names based on His functions and on sentiments.

The Yoruba call God Olodumare (the King Who Wields

great authority); Olorun (the Lord of Heaven); Oyigiyigi
Oba Aiku (the mighty, immortal king); Oluwa (the Head-
maker of us or our overlord). Among the Itsekiri of
Delta State of Nigeria and the Owo of Ondo State of
Nigeria, God is regarded as Oritse (the source of all living
things). The Edo people of Edo State in Nigeria call God
Osanobua or Osanobwa (the source of all things)
while the Ijo (Ijaw) people refer to God with a gender
variation, as Temearau (she who creates).

Among the Hausa, God is Allah, this name is strictly of

Islam which is the dominant religion among the core
Hausa. Christians of Hausa origin often prefer God’s
name as Ubangiji Allah. The Ibo of Nigeria call God
Chukwu (the origin of beings); Chineke (the creator of all
things); Obasi (connoting that God lives in the sky). The
latter name is only a variant of the conception of God by
the Ibibio of Nigeria who call Him Abasi Ibom (the God
who lives on earth and in the sky). The Tiv refer to God as
Aondo (the power above that makes and directs all
things). The Nupe of Nigeria call God Soko (the great
Deity who occupies the heavens).

The Akan people of Ghana regard God as Odomankoma

(the Deity who is full of all things and who gives grace
and mercy). The Ashanti describe Him as all-powerful.
The Ga call God Nyonmo or Nyama (God of fullness)
among the Fon and the Ewe of Berlin Republic, God is
called Nana Buluku (the creator). In Sierra-Leone, the
Mende point to God as Ngowo (the eternal Being who
creates all things). The Kono refer to Him as Maketa and
Yataa (the eternal One).

The Ngombe of Congo conceive of God as Omnipotent

while the Zulu and the Banyarwanda of Southern Africa
view God as He who sees all and knows all; the Wise one.
The Gikuyu, the Akamba and the Teso of East Africa think
of God as the Maker and Controller of all things.
The name given to the Supreme God by the different
cultures can be traced to the attributes of God from an
anthropomorphic perspective. God is unique in that He
creates. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent,
immanent and immortal. He is king and He is Judge. This
is an attempt to summarize the meanings of the various
names given to God by the different cultures of Africa.

Among Islam and Christian believers, God is conceived of

in different, complimentary ways often regarded as
ninety-nine in number; all of them being compliments of
God. Examples of the names are the following:

The Compassionate, The King, the Most Holy One, the

Sound One, the Author of Safety and Security, the
Protector, the Maker. The Forgiving One, The One Who
Provides, The Omniscient One, The All Hearing One, The
All Seeing One, The Just One, The Judge, and The
Ultimately Wise One.
These names and attributes do recur in African oral
traditional forms.

The Belief in the Divinities

Another aspect of the African belief system that features

often in oral literature is the belief in the divinities. It
must he stressed from the beginning that the belief in the
divinities does not in any way amount to polytheism as
earlier anthropologists made us to believe. The African
religious faith is monotheistic rather, the belief in one
God. Divinities are rather ministers of the supreme God
with neither duties nor portfolios assigned to them by
God. The works of Rattray, Parrinder, Nadel, Lucas.
Idowu, Awolalu and Dopamu have succeeded in
relegating the misnomer of polytheism.

African divinities are by origin in two categories, the

primordial ones and the deified ones. The primordial
divinities are gods created by God as far when the world
was created and they were believed to have descended
from heaven. The deified divinities are gods and
goddesses who were initially humans but were given such
titles, having distinguished them as extraordinary being
and upon their death. Among the Yoruba, the census of
divinities is between 201 and 1700. The number is far
lower among other cultures. In most cultures they are
known according to their functions. We will not bother
ourselves with details here as it would be unnecessary to
do so, but examples are beneficial to the discussion.

Examples of divinities and their duties are the arch-

divinity (Obatala in Yoruba and Egbesu in Ijo or Ijaw);
divination (Ibinokpabi in lgbo and Fa in Fon, Orunmila or
Ifa in Yoruba); thunder (Amadioha in Igbo and Sango in
Yoruba, Obumo in lbibio and Sokogba in Nupe); earth (Ala
in Igho, Oto in Edo and Isong in ibibio) Others are the
divinities of Iron (Ogun in Yoruba); Justice by health
affliction (Sonponna in Yoruba, Ayelala in Yoruba and Ijo,
Ojukwu in Igbo, Sagbata in Ewe and Fon), water (Bin’abu
in Ijo, Olokun, Oya, Osun in Yoruba) There is also the
peculiar god, the intermediary between God and man
whose ambivalent character earned him the title trickster
(Agwu in Igbo, Esu in Yoruba and Legba in Fon) The
divinities are worshipped at shrines, they have their
taboos and totems.
These gods and goddesses are referents in the oral forms
of the various cultures, particularly in the invocatory
chants and songs.
In Christianity, just as in Islam, the equivalents or
counterparts of the divinities are angels who in rank are
either arch angels or lesser angels. Four arch angels are
for example, believed to be holding the four pillars of the
world; they are Holy Michael, Holy Gabriel, Holy Raphael
and Holy Uriel. Some angels are also watchers over the
seven days of the week- Michael (Sunday), Gabriel
(Monday), Samael (Tuesday), Raphael (Wednesday).
Sachiel (Thursday), Anael (Friday), Cassiel (Saturday).
Even hours of the day are assigned to particular angels to
watch over. Angels in Islam are equally Allah’s
messengers like men, they are Allah’s creatures and they
worship him continually. But unlike humans, angels are
immortal. They record man’s action, receive his soul at
death and will serve as witness for or against him on
judgement day. Their names are identical to the Christian
Angels.

The Belief in Spirits

It is believed that the African world is full of spirits,

spiritual beings including the living dead. By
classification, Spirits are lesser than the divinities. They
are also messengers to the divinities, bearing errands
from them to humans. They are said to be amorphous
because they are capable of transmuting into different
forms- human beings, animals and inanimate objects
such as a helper you meet mysteriously, a large snake
found in the fourth floor of a house not surrounded by by
forests or a thick bush, a tree reported to be harbouring
strange activities by night. This depends on the roles they
are meant to play at different times. Among the Greeks,
spirits are regarded as nymphs.

There are good spirits and there are had spirits as well as
illustrated above. Bad spirits are usually messengers of
bad surrogates of some god and goddesses, sorcerers
and magicians. In Islam for example, they are
messengers of Shaitan or Iblis (Satan). They are
employed to lead men astray, oppose the angels and
prophets of God. They are called jinn.

The living dead are another class of spirits who are

transmutations of former humans who hover in the
environment either because they have not completed
their life span or who rise from the dead in order to fulfil a
purpose in favour of their loved ones or against those
who have brought them to premature death. This
accounts for the reason Africans are involved in ancestral
worship as we find in Masquerade Chants or song in oral
literary forms. It is believed that ancestral spirits can live
in five generations before they become extinct.

The Belief in Magic and Medicine

Scholars have agreed that this topic is a tricky one to

discuss because of the over-lapping nature of magic and
medicine. This is not to say that they cannot be
functionally described. Magic is the art of obtaining the
result of a physical activity or attaining a physical
purpose in a manner that cannot be scientifically
explained. A human disappears without any verifiable
device or he produces edibles without using a
conventional means. It involves the use of the
supernatural forces. In most cases such supernatural
forces are evil in nature because invocations often used
are directed to malevolent forces or evil spirits. Black
magic arts such as witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy
are in this category in magic, objects may be involved or
may not be involved but incantation or the power of
words is vital as we shall see later in chants.

By medicine, it is meant the science of using plants and

animals parts for the prevention or cure of diseases.
Leaves, barks and roots of plants; blood and flesh of
animals are used. The inability of scholars to separate
medicine from magic is in the fact that in some medicinal
preparations, incantation, an aspect of magic, is involved.
Besides, it has been realized that the practitioners of
medicine often double as magic practitioners vice versa.

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is all about cosmogony, it is a

scientific attempt to account for the birth of the universe,
using evidence from the discoveries in physics and
astronomy The theory derives from Fred Hoyle’s 1949
coinage. Hoyle’s intent was to make a pejorative
reference to scientists who claimed that the universe was
still expanding, in contrast to his own belief of a ’steady
state’ model. Our universe is said to have come into
existence 13.7 billion years ago as a ‘singularity’
Singularity has been adopted as a name because it
signifies any idea that is difficult to describe. This is to
say that there is no end to the mystery behind the
universe, even in the eyes of scientists, physicists and
astronomers.
Scientists, theologians and philosophers are agreed that
the Big Bang Theory is a major meeting point between
religion and science. Even though the theory originally
set out to do a scientific investigation into the origin of
the Earth in order to relieve humanity of the dogmas of
religion, the discoveries made by the scientists are only
pointing to one fact; that this theory may have
unconsciously gone ahead to provide evidence in favour
of the religious ‘fallacies’ it had earlier dismissed.
The 2010 update on the discoveries made on planet Earth
is stunning; it has already begun to corroborate the
biblical myth of origin. It does not only agree that the
universe was void initially as contained in Genesis 1:2
(‘’The earth was without form, and void; and darkness
was on the of the deep’’) it also corroborates God’s first
and major task of creating the world from void. Science
reveals that oxygen emerged as the first thing essential
to animal and human existence. Lack of water made
nonsense of it. And then water appeared as another
development in agreement with God’s second feat of
creation on the second day:

Then God said, Let there be a

firmament in the midst of the waters
and let it divide the waters from the
waters- Let the heavens be gathered
together into one place and let the dry
land appear; and it was so. (Gen.1:7-9)
Science does not contradict the Bible as to the first living
things on earth- plants and then animals. God’s task on
the third day was to bring forth grass, the herb that yields
seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruits according to its
kind.

THE RELEVANCE OF AFRICAN COSMOLOGY TO

AFRICAN ORAL LITERATURE II

Introduction

In the previous discussion, we gave a general

introduction to African cosmology which is the bedrock of
African oral literature. We also mentioned that the
cosmology comprises the belief system and the cycle of
life. However, because of the volume of the materials to
be discussed, it was too broad to take both aspects in one
discussion. That was why we discussed the belief system
only in the present one, we intend exposing the cycle of
life and its relevance to oral forms.

The Cycle of Life

Life is often considered as a cyclical chain comprising

predestination, birth, marriage, death and hereafter. This
is a universal conception of life in that the idea cuts
across all cultures and religions. The relevance of African
cosmology to African oral literature is that the elements
recover greatly on the oral narrative forms, the poetic
form and the dramatic forms. This is because literature is
as a mirror to life events. Tue elements of the cycle of life
are also regarded as the rites of passage and they will be
discussed in that order below.

Predestination

This is man’s first link with God, his creator. It is the first
stage of man’s life, the stage before real life. It is also
regarded as man’s destiny. It is hinged on the belief that
what becomes of man on earth is decided before he was
horn partly by him and partly by God. Man is given
opportunity to choose what he wants to be by indicating
before the stool of heaven, the divinities being his
witness. God then bestows on him the second portion of
his destiny after which he is given birth to. The portion of
man’s destiny awaits him on earth and this is dependent
on the circumstance of his birth and Ii is encounter with
benevolent or malevolent forces.

Man is believed to comprise two beings, the physical and

the spiritual. The spiritual which, is his soul and the
invisible man represented by his guardian spirit who
guides him, protects him and ceases to be only when he
is maturely dead. Among the Yoruba and the Edo, the
guardian spirit is symbolized by the head, thus the
reference to head when man is invoking his guardian
spirit to guide him a right. Humans who have the jinx of
bad luck on them do have their head cleansed spiritually
in order to break the jinx. Among the Igbo, the guardian
angel is referred to as Chi, the Yoruba call it Ori. The
Idoma Owoico, the Ijo Orun agbani. the Nupe rayi, the Fon
ye and the Akan sunsin

Birth

Birth is a process of a woman being delivered of a baby. It

is preceded by pregnancy which span over an average
period of nine lunar months. Pregnancy has some taboos
attached to it and this varies from culture to culture.
However, there are general African taboos such as
pregnant women forbidden to walk the streets at unholy
hours such as when the sun reaches its peak (between 1
pm and 3 pm) or at the height of night (as from 11 pm till
dawn). There is the constant Fear of a pregnancy being
attacked by malevolent spirits who place a jinx on the
foetus.

The birth of a. child marks the beginning of his life and

the circumstances of birth influence his pre-ordained
destiny positively or negatively. There are four factors
involved. The hour of birth is one. Women go into labour
before midnight and are not delivered of their babies until
past midnight are said to have babies with twin spirits’
which makes their lives double-barreled or full of
confusion. Also children born at peak hours of the sun
(such as the hours of 1-3 pm) become brazenly tough
characters. The day of the week on which a child is born
is another factor. A child born on a particular day of the
week (Sunday - Saturday) may be very lucky; he may be
unlucky at the initial stage of life; he may have a short
life span; he may be brilliant: lie may be a pathological
liar or thief; he may be saddled with the problem of
matrimony; he may he naturally sinful. The lunar month
in which a child is horn is of great influence also. Four out
of the twelve lunar months are believed to be negative
because they are periods when children with familiar
spirits are born. Finally, the names given to the child
exert great influence on his personality. A man’s name
can make his life or mar it. It is not unusual that some
persons are advised to change name during spiritual
consultations.

The personality of man is influenced by the elements of

water, earth and air. In metaphysics it is asserted that
every human being has all these elements in him, one of
them being the dominant force which is determined at
birth. A child dominated by fire is often daring and
temperamental and intolerant of contrasting
personalities. Water has the influence of getting children
it dominates to have perennial association with water, the
female ones in particular do have extra- ordinary beauty
at the expense of matrimony or fertility. Earth as a
dominant element makes gentle, tolerant people while air
spiritually makes persons to be invulnerable to attacks by
malevolent forces. For more information, the four
elements are spread over the twelve lunar months
equally as we can see below:

1. Aries, March 22 – April 21, Fire

2. Taurus, April 22 – May 21, Earth
3. Gemini, May 22 – June 21, Air
4. Cancer, June 22 – July 21, Water
5. Leo, July 22 – August 21 Fire
6. Virgo, August 22 – September 21, Earth
7. Libra, September 22 – October 21, Air
8. Scorpio, October 22 – November 21, Water
9. Sagittarius, November 22 – December 21 Fire
10. Capricorn, December 22 – January 21 Earth
11. Aquarius, January 22 – February 21 Air
12. Pieces, February 22 – March 21, Water.

The features of birth discussed above cut across world

religions and are employed in spiritual investigation and
healing. They are also alluded to in chants and songs
nuptial chants and songs of christening. c/f naming;
change of names-Abram/Abraham, Gen.17:5,
Sarai/Sarah Gen. 17:15, Mattaniah/Zedekiah 11Kgs
24:17

Marriage

Marriage is the only rite of passage that man witnesses

and is accorded the right to decide on. However, the
factor of choice has spiritual implications on the well or
otherwise of the spouses. In traditional African religion it
is obligatory to marry. The same applies to other world
religions except Christianity which encourages celibacy in
sonic contexts.

The choice of a marriage partner is so important that

youths are often counselled to seek spiritual guidance.
For example, partners born in the same lunar months do
not necessarily fuse. Rather certain months with
contrasting vibrations blend greatly in the choice of
marriage partners. Also some elements do not blend,
people bearing them should avoid getting married to
each other. For example, a man of fire is advised against
marrying a woman of fire; in order to avoid a matrimony
of perpetual stress as both man and wife are likely to be
highly temperamental Further, fire and water cannot
blend because they are enemies; water is likely to ruin
the fortunes of fire. In contrast, History and genetics are
also at work always. Parents do take the pains of probing
into the background of spouses-to-be of their children and
discourage them from getting married to people with
negative health or character traits in their families, in
order to guarantee their marital bliss and the future of
their children.
Most of the ideas of marriage discussed above and the
problems related to them are recurring themes in nuptial
chants and songs in oral literature. Also in songs of
vituperation, the dominant theme is the problem of
polygamy (an approved practice in traditional cultures)
often arising from rivalry among or between wives of the
husband.
Death and Hereafter
Death is the act of dying. In medical science, it is a
situation in which a person has ceased breathing and has
lost his pulse as a result of which he is pronounced as
clinically dead. Science and religion have made
assertions on the life span of man. In biological sciences,
the human body is said to expire at the age of hundred
and twenty three. In the first book of the Holy Bible,
ancient man is said to be able to live up to the incredible
age of a nine hundred and thirty years as was the case of
Adam indeed Methuselah lived for nine hundred and sixty
years. (Genesis 5:1-32) Traditional African religion is not
precise but it stresses old age as the ripe age. This brings
us to the two types of death, natural and unnatural
deaths.

A natural death is death at old age which occurs after a

fulfilled life and which is often celebrated lavishly by
traditional Africans. Unnatural death is any death that
occurs at any relatively young age. Two factors are said
to be responsible for this. The first factor is self-abuse or
the immoderate eating of food items, excessive intake of
alcohol or other drinks, addiction to drugs or obsession
with sex. This factor is man’s own influence. The other
factor is that of the perennial presence of malevolent
forces that constantly prey on humans. Deaths arising
from this are handiwork of witches wizards, sorcerers and
other wicked forces.
Death as a rite of passage is often followed by burial. In
traditional Africa, the dead are accorded a great burial
because of the belief that if the dead are not properly
buried, they cannot rest in peace and will as a result
render the living restless. The dead are also being
prepared for a pleasant life hereafter. This is the origin of
ancestral worship which is a rite of performing burial rites
repeatedly in order to attract favours of the living dead.
The soul of a dead person is often considered as an
unseen presence. ‘The appearances of dead persons to
those who have not heard of their transition or the
appearing of dead ones in the dreams of their relations
either to grant them favours or to reproach them
strengthens the belief in the hereafter.

Burial rites are obligatory to the dead notwithstanding

their moral uprightness or moral excesses in life. It is
believed that their mode of life determines their life after
and that judgement awaits the dead in heaven where
they are confronted with their good or bad deeds in life.
For example, wicked souls are made to transmute into
wild animals which are often starving for lack of food.

A particular oral literary form that is the offshoot of death

and the belief in the hereafter is the ancestral spirit chant
which is performed by masquerades that are regarded as
surrogates of the living dead in ancestral worship.
TOPIC: FIELDWORK METHODOLOGY

Introduction

In the first two lectures, our discussions centred on the

background to this subject area. We did emphasize that
the African cosmology is the source materials for African
oral literature. What logically follows is the collection of
these source materials. The collection itself requires
some methodology which students must be familiar with.
This is the concern in this lecture and the next

What fieldwork is?

In context, fieldwork is any research carried out beyond

the class, beyond the laboratory and beyond the office.
Fieldwork is that art of collecting data from resource
persons or informants based on a specific purpose of the
fieldworker. As students and workers of culture or
folklore, fieldwork in our own sense is primarily directed
towards folklore research; it is an attempt to know people
at the grassroots and their ways of life, and to collect
related materials for the dual purpose of keeping records
and doing analysis.

Unfortunately, the methodology of oral cultural research

has remained the least organized simply because both
students of introductory and advanced oral cultural
studies are handicapped in fieldwork. This defect is
caused by either student’s unwillingness to carry out this
primary and essential obligation or the teacher’s inability
to sponsor students on field trips.

Every fieldwork undertaken must be on purpose; the

specific purpose which itself determines the style of
collection for illustration, a fieldworker: who is recording a
ritual cannot afford to be detached from the event, he
must demonstrate reverence even if he has to feign it.
This is often expressed in the following proverb- if you
want to catch a monkey then you must behave also like
the monkey. Collecting data on an epic performance
requires patience and time sacrifice. Performances
involving taboos or other prohibitions must be complied
with because the consequences of violations do not spare
the stranger - collector.
.
(B) Descriptive Terminologies

Before we go further, let us address some technical terms

used in fieldwork. These terms emanate from some
recurring experiences in our field of study. They require
some working definition because elsewhere, they have
become controversial words to use.

(i) Collectanea

In a less technical word, it is simple ‘data. In our context

as folklorist it is in reference to notes, drawings, tape,
films and other sundry recordings carried out in the
course of fieldwork.

(ii) Informant

This term requires some restraint in usage because it has

a negative, reflective meaning pointing to the legal
situation. It is also used in variation with ‘informer’. Both
have the denotation of affiliation with the law
enforcement agencies for the purpose of informing on
people. An. informant is simply anyone who supplies
information to a fieldworker of folklore, of anthropology,
of oral literature or of oral history. In view of the negative
effect of the word on some people who might feel
uncomfortable being described as such, fieldworkers
alternatively employ other terms such as respondent,
participant, interviewee, source persons.

(iii) Performance

The term does not refer to just bodily movement, nor

does it mean mere singing or dancing. Rather it refers to
a situation in which a person or a group of persons
provide information for a fieldworker. The term is varied
and wide.
It could be shrine worship, a funeral ceremony, a puberty
rite, a moon-light story-telling, an interview et cetera. The
ability to obtain a good performance depends on the
fieldworker’s personal relationship with the
informant/performer.
Record
It is the preservation of information & video compact disc
plates, films, photographs, notes and transcriptions.

Fieldwork Methodology

There are usually three ways by which a fieldworker

justifies his presence on field. The first is for the purpose
of fulfilling the requirement of a particular examination.
The fieldworker must admit here that his interest is
somewhere else. The second justification is that he is out
to save or salvage a valuable aspect of folklore which
could be lost if not preserved; for instance, a medicine
man’s mastery of traditional medicine which has never
been documented before. This was the primary concern
of earlier, folklorists such as Albert Lord, P.C.Lioyd and
Ulli Beier. A fieldworker’s third reason may be to fulfil a
special interest in a particular people or some aspects of
their culture. This ought to be the primary aim in any
typical fieldwork.

Any meaningful fieldwork is done in three basic stages —

Pre-Fieldwork (Planning) Fieldwork Proper (Collecting) and
Post Fieldwork (Transcribing and Analyzing).

Planning
Every serious-minded fieldworker has a purpose in mind.
The manner in which this is achieved, is called planning.
A reasonable degree of resources are involved so he has
to plan. The topic is framed, and the time duration is
worked out. This stage of fieldwork is usually addressed
by the use of WH — questions:

What is to be done?
Where is it to be done?
When is it to be done?
Who is to be involved?

Addressing these questions readily leads you to the next

move- finding informants. There are different ways of
sourcing for informants. If your immediate environment is
the same place to collect your data, which is rare, then
your length of residence there determines the extent to
which you would know what informants are available.
Students always grapple with a high degree of time
constraint because there is usually a deadline. This
makes students to look for just any one who could play
the role. The demerit of this action is that teachers have
to spend a lot of time separating the grain of data turned
in by committed students from the chaff dumped by
students who simply want to let themselves go.

Budget
Fieldwork involves money from start to finish. You need
money for transportation, feeding and lodging where
necessary; for example, if your target performance takes
you far away from your base and for more than a day.
Money will also be provided for tape, films and batteries.
It may require you to pay your in formant formally or you
may offer him money or something else as a parting gift
in appreciation of his co-operation.
Fieldworkers of means must be wary of what they give to
informants either as performance fees or as a token of
appreciation. Experience has shown that over-generous
fieldworkers do spoil informants to the extent that
fieldworkers of lesser means are made to pay through
their nose in order to satisfy the resultant greed of such
informants. At the same time fieldworkers must not be
close-fisted. Moderation is the watch word. The terrain
must not be destroyed for others!

Collecting
This is the real activity of fieldwork. It is regarded as
fieldwork proper also. Having fully prepared, the field
worker moves to the field to actualize his purpose.

(i) Some guidelines on the Proper Management of

the Fieldwork

(a). Do not make your tongue too tied that your informant
or interviewee or performer thinks you are an idiot but do
not be so talkative that you take over his role.

(b) Do not show off so much that the performer concludes

that you are a fool than a researcher and do not be
greedy for information.
(c) Do not ask questions that require Yes/No answers.
Yes/No questions are conversation stoppers; they do not
provoke information out of your informant or performer.

(d) If it becomes inevitable to ask Yes/No question, follow

them up with questions that will elicit narrative answers.

(e) If your informant chooses to steer the interview in. a

manner that is strange to you, do not stop, rather go
along. I here is always an opportunity to get out of him
the desired information.

(f) Use whatever device you can to get as much details as

possible. This is the essence knowing as much as possible
about your target performance so that you can easily
identify loopholes in performance.
(g) Never turn the recorder on or off to the knowledge of
your informant despite the fact that you have earlier
informed him that he is being recorded.
(h) Use all machines that you can afford to do your
recording but always remember that the machine must
not boss you.

Some suggested questions that will trigger

Information from your Informant.

(a) What are the origins and traditions of this village

or town?
 (b) What have been the major problems in the life of
this village/town?
(c) Are there incidents of war, plague, famine,
rampage of wild beasts here before?

(d) What is the relationship between your people and

your neighbours?

(e) Have your people been under any influence of

some powers before; for example, being a vassal
state or being colonized?

(f) What are the major occupations of our people?

(g)What is your religion or what are your religious

beliefs?

Collateral Information on the

Informant/Performer/interviewee

It is necessary to obtain the following vital information

from the performer as this enables you to place him
constantly before you, even though he is not physically
there.

(a) Name and address

(b) Place of birth, Date of Birth, Place of Rearing

 (c) Size of family, polygamous or otherwise

(d) Incidence of immigration

(e) Education / Apprenticeship and training

(f) Occupation

(g) Religion
(h) Major events in the cause of growth

(i) Repertoire of folklore and cultural materials

(j) Photograph of Informant

(k) A physical and psychological description of

informant

Tagging and Labeling

All fieldwork collectanea must be labeled and serialized.

The first tape is No .1, the second i No 2. The essence of
serial numbering is that you are able to trace field
movement sequence or retrieve information very easily.
The labels should bear items such as:

(a) Name of Informant

(b) Date
 (c) Number of tapes for the day or for a particular
form of performance e.g. NC) 2 of 5 tapes
(d) The general oral form recorded
(e) The place

Tape Announcement

It is the act of supplying information, on the performance

on the head of the tape such as:

This is Gboyega Kolawole, recording Alabi

Ogundepo’s Ijala (Hunter’s Chant) at Okefia Osogbo
on the 13th day of January 1988. This tape is No 14
and it is the 2nd of 5 tapes on Ijala.

Location Logs

Giving your collectanea good storage is obligatory in

order not to lose them to fungi for example; logging
is done as follows:
Location: Tape: No. 14
Project: Ijala
Location: Osogbo
Date: 4—1—88
Equipment used: Walkman
Recorded by: Gboyega Kolawole

Transcribing, Translating, Analysing.

This is equally regarded as Post Fieldwork. Transcribing
means writing out the information recorded through any
electronic device: audio recorder, video camera, and
camcorder. All information contained in the recording
must be written verbatim and serially.

Translation follows and it could be done simultaneously

with the transcription. As the transcription is usually the
indigenous language form of the recording, a translation
into English is obligatory. The transcription is placed left
while the translation is done on the right. Translation can
be done from different points, but the target of
translation chooses the type of translation. A translation
could be literal, thematic, and idiomatic. Discretion is
very important here!

Analyzing is the literary appreciation of the data

collected. It involves the identification of the traditional
and literary features of the particular oral form and
commensurate appreciation of them. Analyzing
occasionally may be required in the form of a report.
Students are advised to write in a formal way not
excluding items such as Abstract, Acknowledgements,
Preface, Scope of Study, Methodology, and Appendix,
which you are already familiar with in research
methodology. In addition, your report must include the
list of your informants.
We have dealt with the literary aspect of fieldwork in this
lecture. It comprises pre—fieldwork or planning, fieldwork
proper or real data collection and post fieldwork or
transcription, translation and analyzing. Students should
note that the issue of transcribing and translating your
data presupposes that you cannot collect data in a
language you do not know as you will not be able to
translate into the official language. The idea of an
interpreter or a translator in fieldwork is not proper in
folklore. Our next discussion is on the mechanical aspect
of folklore collection.

THE MECHANICAL ASPECT OF FIELD WORK

Introduction

In the last discussion we started the two lectures on the

topic, fieldwork. The first lecture attempted to discuss the
literary aspect of fieldwork. The present lecture will
illustrate the mechanical aspect of fieldwork. By this we
mean that we will explain the basic forms and functions
of machines used in fieldwork. As fieldworkers who
use them compulsorily, it is imperative for us to know
their mechanism so that they do not boss us.

It is obligatory for the fieldworker to carry machines to

the field for the purposes of documenting and preserving
the information collected. A minimum of one machine is
compulsory, for example an audio tape recorder. When
machines are many, they are delightful. However, too,
many cooks should not be allowed to spoil the broth. No
matter the Number of equipment we carry to the field, we
should always remember that the machines are tools in
our hand and we should be in full control of them.
Machines were not only few in the past, they were also
heavier to bear and more cumbersome to use effectively.
Today there is a greater number, more sophisticated
and easier to operate. In fact, most machines are digitally
mastered and the advantage of this is that it tells the
researcher that there is a malfunction immediately. This
guarantees a successful recording of the performance.

Audio Tape Machines

An audio tape machine is an information processor

delimited to the voice only. It is also made to store
information. In other words, it can play back information
and also recording information when signals are
externally released from a tuner or a turntable, or
another tape player. What the tape recorder does is to
encode on the magnetic tape the signal passed with as
much fidelity as possible.

The tape recorder/player is a component placed between

two other components in a sound mechanism. It is
bracketed on the first side by the component that feeds
signals into it. On the other side is the component that
utilizes the output. The tape machines generally have
four major components all of which are functional. They
are the following:

Transport: This system moves the magnetic tape across

the erase, the record and play heads.

Heads: They get rid of the signals on the erase, place

signal on the tape (i.e. record the signal) or they
sense/decode the signal already placed on the tape (i.e.
play back).

The pre-amplifier delivers the input signals to the heads

(in record mode) or it reads the signals picked by the
head and sends it to the amplifier (in play back mode).

The amplifier makes the tiny preamp signal larger and

then channels it to the speakers. The preamplifier and the
amplifier are two components of the heads.

Track: It refers to the number of separate records paths

on the tape. A full track machine has one, while a two
track (a half tracks) machines has two and a four track (a
quarter tracks) machine has four paths.

Channel: It means the number of tracks a particular

machine can play at once. Stereo refers to a two-channel
tape recorder that can feed two speakers; a four-channel
recorder can feed four separate signals into four
speakers.
Microphone

A microphone is a part of the set of devices called

transducers which change one form of energy into
another. For example, a solar panel on the roof of a
building changes the sun’s radiant energy into the
thermal energy, an electrical motor changes electrical
energy into mechanical energy, a generator changes
mechanical energy into electrical energy. A microphone is
a kind of generator; it reacts or responds to variations in
the air pressure and changes those variations into
electrical energy.
There are several systems by which microphones change
air pressure to electric energy. The various systems have
different properties which also determine the quality of
sound reproduced. Microphone types are carbon crystal,
ceramic, dynamic and condenser electrets. The first four
are cheapest to produce and they have the strongest
signal but they are produced with the expensive tape
recorders, thus they do not produce high quality sound. In
order to do a very serious and effective recording, a
fieldworker or records uses condenser or electrets
microphones.

Photographs and Cameras

Cinematographers thrilled by their mastery of the camera
often describe photography as “painting with light’. This
is quite true because photographers manipulate light in
order to create a chemical change in the on a photo
which is then developed. If the film itself is a positive
print, it is referred to as “reversal film”. This is not
because it is reverse of what is recorded but because it is
usual in photography for a camera mechanism to reverse
all tones of the previous stage. If the film requires
another printing step before normal image is achieved, it
is referred to as a “negative” film.

In video, the change is magnetic and not chemical. This is

effected not by light hitting the tape itself but by
transducers that respond to light energy by emitting
electrical energy. The signals produced by those
transducers are amplified and fed to the magnetic tape.
All film cameras perform exactly the same operation;
they focus light in the space where the film is being held.
This is made possible by the lens of the camera.
However, the most primitive camera, the pin-hole camera
does not use lens.

More sophisticated cameras and moving cameras are

manufactured today and they are improved from time to
time to make recording easy and to ensure they do not
fail. The most recent moving camera is the camcorder, it
is more portable, it records sounds and pictures with
greater efficiency and it is digitally mastered. In a digital
recording, sound and picture being recorded are
symbolized by a series of numbers displayed continuously
which show that the recording is not only on, but it also
shows the time length of the recording. Some of these
sophisticated machines can be programmed to work on
their own and trip themselves off when the program me is
completed.

TOPIC- AFRICAN ORAL NARRATIVES: MYTHS

Introduction

Myths are the first of the traditional Africans

forms both in chronological order in the hierarchy of
African oral narratives. (as you have found in the
major topics above) Myths are so described because
they are prose narratives. However they are not the
same as prose fiction, a major genre in mainstream
literature. They are not so because the prose
narratives are true stories with the exception of
folktales which are imaginative, fantastic stories
functionally didactic.
In this lecture, we will focus on myths, attempt to
define the sub- genre, discuss its functions and the
literary features and site texts for the purpose of
illustration. Texts for illustrations may not exceed one or
two for the reasons of space and the need to change
them from time to time. Texts required for literary
analysis in class will be provided by the lecturer from
time to time. This applies to other subsequent oral narratives
to be discussed.

Myth Defined
 A myth is a pre-historical story dominated by
religious and super-natural elements and events that
are extraordinary which set out to explain ancient
and natural events, particularly the origins of the
universe. This definition is only a modest attempt as
it is difficult to define virtually every other form with
precision. This is because of their protean
nature. However a functional approach to the
definition may reveal more. A myth usually involves
the Supreme God, the divinities and spirits on one
hand, and man’s relationship to these supernatural
powers on the other hand. The plot is often
dominated by man’s encounter with the forces of
nature at the beginning and his survival of them.
Myths do link man with his past particularly his
origin which becomes the foundation for his belief
system particularly with the dominance of
supernatural forces. It is on this emergent belief system
that man’s future is anchored. Man is seen to be at
the receiving end of the supernatural, benevolent or
non-benevolent forces. The recurring elements in
most myths are the creation of the world, the
advent of the divinities and the spirits, the spheres,
the rites of passage namely predestination, birth,
marriage, death and regeneration.

Functions of Myths

Myths are very superior stories of man’s origin

and in fact they are treated so in some cultures.
For example among the Ashanti of Ghana, myths are
not narrated by just any person but elders only. This
is because they consider myths as sacred stories
that should be protected from desecrations by way of
unwarranted editing or exaggeration which may
hinder then less authentic.
In the study of myths, religion is prominent. It
will surprise students that the ancient stories of the
Holy Bible (the books of old testament in particular)
of the Holy Koran and those of the other world
religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism are by
classification regarded as myths. This is because
they were events that preceded the world of literacy
and they were preserved through oral transmission
from one generation to another over centuries before
they were finally documented. This is not to say
that any recorded story is superior to myths in
terms of authenticity. History can be biased if
the historian is biased. Take the Nigerian Civil War
for an ex ample. The memoirs of the direct
participants of the war such as Obasanjo, Ojukwu
amongst others exhibit a lot of contradictions. This
ugly situation justifies the restriction placed on myths
by the Ashanti.
Myths are the main source of man’s knowledge
of his origin and of the origin of the entire
universe. Without myths it will be impossible for man
to trace his past and how the world came to be.
Most religions have clearly documented it that God
created the world, created the divinities, the spirits
and the natural phenomena for the sake of man.
The benefits man derives from the universe and the
supernatural forces depends on his ability to relate
to them and understand them.
Myths explain to man his being and the essence
of his existence. The first sharp difference between
man and the supernatural forces is that whereas he
is mortal and has a limited life span, the supernatural
forces are permanent entities. Thus the description
of the Supreme God as Omnipotent, Omnipresent,
and Omniscient. These attributes are not only diverse,
they are everlasting. These attributes naturally dwarf
man and place a sense of reverence on him in his
relationship to the immortal forces.
Myths resolve the contradictions in existence and
justify extraordinary natural events. Let us consider
the seasonal changes for example. The wet and the
dry seasons are the regular ancient events that man
cannot explain. The simple explanation is that they
are pre-ordained. Science, particularly astronomy, has
probed extensively into space but cannot trace the
origin of seasonal changes. American scientists have,
for instance, attempted to create rain in a dry
season by spreading carbon particles in the sky, But
its scientists have cautioned that if a deluge occurs
it cannot be stopped or created by man.
Have students realized that the entire universe
is based on the law of pairs and binary
relationship ? There is the natural law of reproduction
which multiplies living organisms and even inanimate
things like the flora; consider these examples, heaven
and earth, man and woman, good and bad, land
and water, day and night. These are words that
illustrates the logic of contrastive binary pairs that
sustain the world. They were so from the beginning,
long before science came to be.
Myths are the foundation for morality. Man’s
realization of the superiority of the supernatural
forces have forced him to derive a code of conduct
that guides existence. This is because he is
accountable to God and must observe moral rules in
order to live in peace. To do otherwise is to invite
the wrath of the supernatural forces who are agents
of divine justice. In any society therefore, there
taboos and totems. Myths are therefore didactic in
function . This is why the primary aim of religion is
to inculcate moral rules. Even atheists and agnostics
do not claim any exemption in the enforcement of
moral values. Killing of fellow humans, perjury, rape
and stealing for illustration cannot be justified acts in
any society.
Myths also play the role of entertaining man as
a repertoire. In tradition societies, this is usually a
regular occurrence at night in village squares and at
different homes.

Textual Analysis

The need for us to analyze a text at least

arrives from the that a theoretical study is
incomplete without a practical illustration. It is more
imperative to do this in view of the fact that oral
literature does not feature regularly in literary
studies, and students rarely come in contact with
live texts. The suggested text for analysis in this
lecture is a Yoruba myth of the origin of the world,
it is entitled “The Descent from the sky” Other titles
that students can seek and analyze on their own
are: “The Hausa, An account of their origin” ,Life and
Death” (Hausa), “Creation and Death” (Mensa) and
“The Worship of Twins’’ (Yoruba)

‘’The Descent from the Sky’’

The story in that of the origin of the world based

on Yoruba mythology. The statements reveal this
point:
In ancient days, at the beginning
Of time, there was no solid
Land here where people now
Dwell. There was only outer
Space and the sky far and far
Below, an endless stretch of
Water and wild marshes

The quotation above corroborates the first function of

myths as a source of the origin of existence. The idea of
the world being a void at the beginning is a parallel to the
biblical story of origin in the first chapter of Genesis. So
Olorun the supreme deity directed Obatala the arch-divinity
to go to earth with other divinities and create land from
water. Obatala was given some sand and a hen for that
purpose. The land was to reproduce itself by multiplication,
the hen was to serve as a catalyst. This as the sand was
thrown on the void, it was solidified, as the hen spread it, it
multiplied and large part of the universe became a hard
surface.
The idea of the sand and the hen (not a cockerel)
reinforces the point of reproduction theoretically stated
earlier. Other instances of reproduction in the tent deserve
to be mentioned. The first plant on earth was the palm. “It
matured and dropped its palm seed. More palm trees came
in to being” Obatala felt uncomfortable with the situation of
the entire earth inhabited by only the divinities. He therefore
“dug clay from the ground and out of the clay he shaped
human figures …he called out to Olorun, Olorun heard
Obatala’s request and he put breath in the clay figures” and
they became people.
The myth was as well explains to us the essence of
man’s existence. Man is created to live in comfort and
enhance the glory of God. He is not born to suffer as God
always puts in place all solutions to all problems. The
descent of the divinities was affected by a chain that linked
the sky to the earth. Olorun made available the gold that
was used for the chain and gave the gold divinities their
different portfolios for the good of man. So that human could
farm, Ogun was assigned to fabricate the iron blades for
hers.
It is believed that by the time students have blood
contact with the full tent will have been thrilled. This is
because the plot will stun the sense of expectation as it
sounds irrational in orthodox thinking. But what about
miracles in the Bible and magic in present day life?
Note also that man is at the receiving end in this myth.
The supreme God, the divinities, the spirits are at work,
making man the main recipient, under their whims and
caprices of the super characters.

The Myth of How Emedike Has no Stream

The myth narrates how Emedike in Mbaise in Imo

state failed to have a stream. The myth has it that
Emedike failed to have a stream a long time ago
because of ignorance. In the olden days, Emedike people
suffered from acute shortage of water. They then pleaded
to the giver of stream- Imo with a ritualistic song:
Onwass -na – agba n’ogo gba n’egedepe
Zagbari-m
On wa n-agba n’ogo gba n’egedepe
Zagbari-m

Mighty Imo give us a stream

Mighty Imo give us a stream
Mighty Imo give us a stream
Mighty Imo saw their affliction and decided to give them
a stream. On one bright Eke afternoon water surged out
from an area of land called Ogwugwu Nnabe between
the boundary of Emedike and a neighboring town of
Mbutu. The stream dug a very deep rift. The stream
stayed for four days, Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. The
Inhabitants of Emedike sent to the town crier to summon
everyone to the village square because they had an
important visitor who had come for good.
They were very happy to see the stream. But the stream
said it would only stay if they could bring two day old
white and black living creatures. This baffled the people
and they argued among themselves about who will bring
his two-day old child for sacrifice.
The argument dragged on for a long time, until the
stream shifted and surged up in a neighboring village
called Ife also in Mbaise. The Emedike people lamented
and consulted the god, Alugbagbe on what to do.
Alugbagbe laughed at them and told them that the
stream did not ask for any children. What it demanded for
were a two-day old white chicken. The people Emedike
blamed themselves for consulting the god late. People of
Ife provided the sacrifice and had the stream. Emedike
people always went to fetch water from Ife amidst insult,
taunting and laughter against their ignorance.

In this discussion, we have attempted to define

myths, enumerate their function and make effort to
test for these features by analyzing a myth or two.
Student are expected to carry out independent
analysis of other texts in order to appreciate the role
of myths in our society.
AFRICAN ORAL NARRATIVES: LEGENDS

Introduction.

In lecture we started the discussion of African

Oral narratives with special focus on myths which is
the first hierarchal order follows myth. Our mode of
discussion will be the same pattern as we have
done in myths. The two oral forms are very identical
in thematic focus and in content. The narrative
technique is also similar: we will endeavor to
distinguish between the two identical forms so that
students are no confused. However the overlapping
nature of both forms is not usual as they are
parallel to be drawn from mainstream literature for
example, The short story, the novelette and the
novella are three identical sub-genres of prose
fiction. In fact the novella and the novelette are
different only in the sense of literary provenance
while the novelette is English the novella is Italian.

The Legend is a traditional story or narrative

transmitted from generation to generation orally
showing the life of a hero and his people in times
of struggle for physical-social survival.
There seems not to be any different between myths
and legends but they can easily be distinguished
from each other using characterization as a
yardstick. Whereas myths parade mostly supernatural
characters- the supreme Go, the divinities The spirits
which occasional reference to human figures, legends
portray mainly human characters some of whom
seek intervention from the supernatural forces from
time to time while the event last- Legends are more
locally believed than myths because the stories are
directly related with their forebears and can be
corroborated by physical or oral evidence. Legends
do not deal with cosmic and unseen forces as myth
because most of the events are human.
Legends are not temporally remote as myths
because in some cultures, relics of the events they
portray still exist in the presence of the Oranmiyan
staff (Opa Oranmiyan) in Ile-Ife centuries after the
events surrounding the legendary figure who is still
believed to be an unseen force today. This brings us
to Okpe who’s classification of legends in to two
types. There are mythical legends still reinforce the
argument on the similarity between myths and
legends. Mythical legends are more remote than
historical legends. Two legends among the Yoruba
can be used for illustration here. The legend of
Sango and Afonja are not the same in chronology.
The story of Sango is farther in time of the extent
than one school of taught believes that he was one
of the primordial divinities. By virtue of being
worshipped today as the god of thunder, the
argument on the mythical nature of his legend
becomes stronger. The Afonja legend best fits in to
the historical legend type because the story is
not distant and it is even documented in most books
of the Yoruba history.
The contents of legends can be a distinguishing
factor between them and other oral forms of
literature. The plots usually centre on war,
immigration or diaspora often leading to the collapse
of old settlements and the founding of new ones.
Legends concentrate on geologies royal succession
and the exploits and escapades of ruler, and heroes.
The Congolese Nkundu have narratives portraying the
life and achievement of their cultural hero Lianja.
Among the Sudanese, the legends in their repertoire
are very identical in content, values, and context. In
addition there is a high influence of the Arabic
culture on them. The same applies to the Swahili
legends that are either Islam or Christianity-laden.
There is also a high degree of overlap between
epics and legends in content and context in function.
Those sub-epics are poems, legendary heroes are
also epical heroes.

Functions of Legends

Legends are the sources of information on the

Origin of a people, a dynasty, a lineage etc. Among
the Sonninke the e.g Legend of Samba Ghana and
the discovery of Wagadu reveal the history of the
tribe. The “Sau Hunter” legend speaks a lot of the
background of Kanuri. The legend of “Seidu the
brave” complements greatly the attributes of valour
among the Hausa. The “Orugbo and Oko” legend
among the Idoma reveals the greatness of Onugbo
who transmuted in to a bird for killing his own
brother without justification.
The accounts of origin contained in legends
enable the present generation to know the attributes
and values of their predecessors upon which may
now develop certain character traits and modes of
behavior which become cultural attributes the story
of legendary figure of Sango shows his rare valour
of subduing the Owu insurgents who had deliberately
set out to take from the Oyo kingdom, its leadership
position the strongest as military stronghold among
the Yoruba sub-ethnic groups. The proverb, that Oyo
is a model to be copied by other was derived from
the legend.
Legends, like myths, also portrays high level of
didactism. The “Onogbo and Okro” legend of the
Idoma warns against envy and encourages people to
own up to their miss-deeds. Among the Yoruba the
Aigberi lineage are notorious for wicked charms. This
trait scared other Yoruba from associating with them
and marrying their daughters, a reason for which
many of their subsequent generations have
abandoned the black magic art.
Legends are a thrilling sub-genre among
traditional youths when narrated in the context of
entertainment for the audience is usually left in
wonderment.
It is now proper to use our knowledge of the
form and functions of legend to do a texture
analysis of a typical legend. Our text for analysis is
a Sonnike legend entitled “The Discovery of Wadugu”.

“The Discovery Wagadu” is the story of a lost

maiden, Wadugu. She had been lost for seven years
initially and reappeared. When she got lost again she
had to be found. She could only be found if a
mystic drum was beaten. The drum itself had been
stolen by evil spirits called djinns from the palace of
the king mama Dinga who was its custodian. The
blind king has a bondsman and six children. Five of
these children were wicked to the bondsman when
the king was to die he ordered his bondsman
brought the youngest son Lagarre who had been
kind to him. The secret of finding the maiden. He
was to wash himself in eight jars after which after
which the nine jar would show him where to find
Wagadu the maiden. Lagarre went through the
rituals, and re-discovered Wagadu - He was eventually
crowned and in addition acquired supernatural
powers for discovering Wagadu.
In characterization, the legend is dominated by
human characters such as Mama Dinga Lagarre and
his five brothers, bondsman and Wagadu the maiden
who was lost and found. The legend there fore
passes the test of human characters being a
dominant feature in Legends.
Lagarre and Wagadu according to the story had
encounter with the celestial world and in the process
were bestowed with super-human powers For
example, Laggare would have faced a succession
battle to be crowned because traditionally, the eldest
brother was the heir to the throne. But by the time
he returned from the adventure of finding Wagadu,
he had received extraordinary powers to dwarf his
siblings.
There is also the intervention of the supernatural
at certain intervals of the legend. The first is the
theft of the Tabele drum which they glued to the
sky invisibility and out of the reach of humans.
There are nine jars. In eight of them. Lagarre must
have actual bath to be qualified to encounter the
ninth one that was bearing the secret of Wagadu’s
discovery.
The didactic element is the need to be humble,
kind and respectful so as to earn greatness. Lagarre
repected the bonds man and his age, unlike the
older brothers who treated him like a rare
Lagarre also succeeded in establishing a new
mode of succession and a dynasty with an attribute
of the super human which is another major feature
of legend.
“The Discovery Wagadu”

Sango and the Medicine of Esu

 The Orisa Sango ruled firmly over all of Oyo, the city
and the lands that surrounded it. He was a stern ruler,
and because he owned the thunderbolt the people of Oyo
tried to do nothing to displease or anger him. His symbol
of power was a double-bladed axe whish signified, “My
strength cuts both ways,” meaning that no one, even the
most distant citizen of Oyo, was beyond reach of his
authority or immune to punishment for misdeeds. The
people of Oyo called him by his praise name, Oba Jakuta,
the stone Thrower Oba.
But even though Sango’s presence was felt
everywhere in Oyo, and even beyond in other kingdoms,
he wanted something more instill fear in the hearts of
men. He sent for the great makers of medicine in Oyo
and instructed them to make jujus that would increase his
powers. One by the medicine makers brought him this
and that, but he was not satisfied with their work. He
decided at last to ask the Orisa Esu for help. He sent a
messenger to the distant place where Esu lived. The
messenger said to Esu: “Oba Jakuta, the greatest ruler of
Oyo, sends me. He said: Go to the place where the
renowned Esu stays. Tell him I need a powerful medicine
that will cause terror to be born in the hearts of my
enemies. Ask Esu if he will make such a medicine for
me.’”

Esu said: “Yes, such a thing is possible. What kind of

power does Sango want?”
 The messenger answered: Oba Jakuta says, ‘Many
makers of medicine have tried to give a me a power that
I don’t already have. But they do not know how to do it.
Such knowledge belongs only to Esu .If he ask what I
need, tell him it is him alone who knows what must be
done .
What he prepares for me I will accept.’”
Esu said: “Yes, what the ruler of Oyo needs, I shall
prepare it for him. In return he will send a goat as
sacrifice. The medicine will be ready in seven days, But
you, messenger, do not come back for it yourself. Let
Sango’s wife Oya come for it. I will put in her hand.”
The messenger went back to Oyo. He told Sango
what he had heard from Esu. Sango said, I will send Oya
to receive the medicine.”
On the seventh day he instructed Oya to go to the
place where Esu was living. He said: “Greet Esu for me.
Tell him that the sacrifice will be sent. Receive the
medicine he has prepared and bring it home quickly.”
Oya departed. She arrived at the place where Esu
was leaving. She greeted him. She said: “ Shango of Oyo
sends me for the medicine. The sacrifice you asked for is
on the way.”
Esu said: “Sango asked for a great new power. I have
finished making it.”He gave Oya a small packet wrapped
in a leaf. He said : “He said take care with it. See that
Shango gets it all .”
Oya began the journey, wondering: “What has Esu
made for Sango? What kind of power can be in so small a
packet?” she stopped at a resting place. As Eshu had
presumed she would do, Oya unwrapped the packet to
see what was inside. There was nothing there but red
powder. She put a little in her mouth to taste it. It was
neither good nor bad. It tasted like nothing at all. She
closed the medicine packet and tied it with a string of
grass. She went on. She arrived at Oyo and gave the
medicine to Sango.
He said: “What instruction did Esu give you? How is
the medicine to be used?”
Oya was about to say “He gave no instruction
whatever.” As she began to speak, fire flashed from her
mouth. Thus Sango saw that Oya had tasted the medicine
that was meant for him alone. His anger was fierce. He
raised his hand to strike Oya but Oya fled from the house.
Sango pursued her. Oya came to a place where many
sheep were grazing. She ran among the sheep thinking
that Shango would not find her. But Sango’s hanger was
hot. He hurled his thunderstorm in all directions. He
hurled them among the sheep, killing them all. Oya lay
hidden under the bodies of the dead sheep and Shango
did not seen her there.
Sango returned to his house. Many people of Oyo
were gathered there. They pleaded for Oya’s life. They
said: “Great Sango, Oba of Oyo, spare Oya. Your
compassion is greater than her offence. Forgive her.”
Sango’s anger cooled. He sent servants to find Oya
and bring her home. But he still did not know how Esu
intended for him to use the medicine. So when night
came he took the medicine and went to a high place
overlooking the city. He stood facing the compound
where he lived with all his wives and servants. He placed
some of his medicine on his tongue. And when he
breathed the hair out of his lungs an enormous flame
shot out from his mouth, extending over the city and
igniting the straw roofs of the palace buildings. A great
fire began to burn in Oyo. It destroyed Sango’s houses
and granaries. The entire city was consumed, and nothing
was left but ashes. Thus Oyo was leveled to the ground
and had to be rebuilt. After the city rose again from its
ashes. Sango ruled on. In times of war, or when his
subject displeased him, Sango hurled his thunderbolts.
Every stone he threw was accompanied by a bright flash
that illuminated the sky and the earth. This, as all men
knew, was the fire shouting from Sango’s mouth.
The sheep that died while protecting Oya from
Sango’s stones were never forgotten. In their honor,
the worshipers of Oya have refused to eat mutton
even to this present day.

AFRICAN ORAL NARRATIVES: FOLKTALES

Introduction.

Folktales are a sub-genre oral narrations but

where there is disparity between it and the fast two
sub-genre discussed in our last lecture. Myths and
legends can be classified as true; Folktales are
simply tales in the right sense of the word,
imaginary stories that are far removed from real life
in selling, in characterization, in thematic focus and
in logic. This is why our discussion in this lecture
is sure to be a watershed. It is most probable that
the skepticism and often accompanies students
reading of oral literature is informed by the level of
fantasy that dominates the folktales sub-genre. The
chances are that if folk-tales are mare fiction, then
other oral forms could be so. Students should
consciously avoid this misconception.

Defining Folktales

Folktales have often eluded precise definition like

other oral forms. It is mostly thought of as an
imaginary story of oral prose narratives to bordering
on actions that are fantastic, involving animals which
assume human attributes and performing human
roles. In some folktales animal and humans are
involved in joint actions as if they were biologically
the same.
If a man were to use a talisman to rid himself
of an enemy, that would be plausible. But this
contrasts to a situation in which he gets rid of his
enemy by turning him in to mere breath. It is also
implausible to say that m an animal which does not
belong to the class of avis, flew, folktales, are
generally far-fetched fiction and the effects they
have on the audience depend on the sense of
humor of the performer. In the literary sense one of
the marked features of the folktales is the frequent
occurrence of the hyperbole or exaggeration.
 Attention should be given to two identical
terminologies in spelling but contrast in meaning the
words are “folklore and folktale”. Perhaps the
principle of inclusion in semantic will enable us to
distinguish we make consider folklore as a super
ordinate of all the sub-genre of oral literature
whereas folklore is a co-hyponym or an off shoot of
folklore. Folklore and folktale are similar in the sense
that they share an identical root “folk” which means
they both belong to the grass root or the traditional
populace. ‘Lore’ and ‘Tale’ are not the same
however. ‘Lore’ refers to the collection of oral forms
that have survived with the origins of man and that
have transmitted over time by the words of mouth.
These include myths, legends, epics and even
folktales. Folklore in other words embraces both
factice- the forms(like folktales) of oral literature.
Emphasis is being laid on this differentiation because
student often take them for synonyms, or get
confused when these two terms.

Folktales: Types

Folktales can be classified into three:- dilemma

tales, moral tales and Fairy tales.
In terms of content they are often synonymous.
They are also structurally not too different until they
reach their conclusion when issues for which the
tales are told are raised’
 Dilemma Tales are usually concluded by placing
before the audience a puzzle of chokes, one of
which must be taken in order to resolve the conflict
in the tale. Question such as the following are
raised: who would you have supported among the
warring brothers? How would you feel if you were if
you were in the heroes position? Who deserves the
contestant?

Moral Tales are easily distinguished by their

overt feature of didacticism. As moral laxity is
condemned, moral rectitude is upheld very clearly
children who are the primary or target audience of
folktales are made to feel that if they nod the path
of the anti-hero, they will suffer punishment the
same way.

Fairy Tales are easily distinguished by their

mode of characterization. Spirits, Apparitions and that
cannot be found in the Animal kingdom known to
humans. Animals feature greatly in such tales and
are given human attributes.

Functions of Folktales

It must be stressed that children are the

immediate audience of folktales so the function to
be discussed mostly focus on children.
Folktales happen to be the most frequently
transmitted sub-genre in African Oral Literature. This
is because it is a frequent event at night at most
traditional homes. By moonlight children from
different homes constitute the audience at any open
space. It is of interest also that folktales are also
transmitted to children of who hive in the urban
areas through the electronic media of the radio and
the television. For more than a decade now “Tales
by Moonligth” has n remained a regular programme
on the Nigeria Television Authority on Sunday
Evening between 6:30 pm and 6:55 pm.
The first function of folktales is that it exposes
children to their traditional culture in which they are
already growing or are far removed from as a result
of urbanization. This is because customs, traditions
and other similar practices of the folk culture
conscious, common features.
Folktales do expose children to the traditional
African view of life or African philosophy. This
includes, the creation of the universe and the forces
behind this, such as the supreme God and the
primordial divinities, the spirits and the need for
men to relate to these forces in a particular manner.
Folktales deliver to children the traditional moral
code, the taboos and totems and emphasize the
repercussions of breaking them as we find it in
moral tales.
By virtue of the geographical setting of the
tales, which is essentially rural children are educated
on the flora and fauna of the rural world of the
remote African world.
 Folktales are also a major source of traditional
education because the performer of folktales who is
usually an adult primarily sets out to educate and to
simultaneously entertain them. Education in any
context is enlightenment and does not have to be
western education ; the sharpening of intellect.
Folktales evoke in education a high sense of
responsibility towards others- most stories that
portrays actions that are negative to humanity.
Characters involved usually bear the full weight of
poetic justice or social justice at the end. This
measures teaches children that they ought to be
their brother’s keeper and that harmony in the
society can be sustained only if the principle of live
and let live is adhered to.

Textual Analysis

In most cultures, the folklore repertoire, is

dominated by folktales. One of the reasons for this
dominance is that they are imaginative stories whose
creations cannot be restricted. In any folktales, there
is usually the trickster anti hero whose tricks or
intrigues can render foolish, the wisest of beings.
Whereas this trickster is found across diverse
cultures, the animal type that plays this role differs
from culture. Among the Akan of Ghana and the
Hausa of Nigeria, the spider is the trickster. The
spider is called Anansi by the Akan and Gizo by the
Hausas. Among the Yoruba of Nigeria the tortoise
plays this role. Among the tribes in the central
Africa, The hare is this animal villain are “Anansi
Proves He is the Oldest”, Anansi owns All Tales that
are told”, “Anansi’ Rescue from the River” (AKAN);
“Gizo and the crowns”, spider deals with famine
(Hausa), Ijapa cries for his Horse”, Ijapa and the
Oba repair Ruf” (Yoruba).
In this analysis, our text is a Hausa folktale,
“Gizo and the Crows”. In a typical folktale, the
following features are obtainable, there is the
trickster hero or villain whose size, even as an
animal, cannot be reconciled with his present action
and other human actions in the story. There are also
the folktales motifs, the adventure of the trickster,
usually sustained by deceit, craftiness, informed by
greed. There is the borrowing of body parts by the
trickster from other animals who are victims of his
dishonesty. There is also the shedding of crocodile
tears for the purpose of gaining sympathy.
In the tale ‘’Gizo and the Crows’’, the story
centres on famine and the weathering of it by the
spider. As there was not food where, the crows
could fly to a far away river to pluck figs. The
spider knew this and found ways of not only
benefitting from the sweats of the crows but
stopping the crows entirely in future.
For the analysis proper, students should take
note of the following- Gizo the spider represents the
typical trickster and his role in the story is that of a
villain. Gizo’s adventures include the repeated visits
to the crow’s home in order to steal figs. The risk
involved makes this more adventurous, he plasters
his testicles with wax and places this on the figs to
get them suck. He risks losing his testicles and being
caught. Take note of the motif of the impossible
being actualized here; for example the father has
testicles like a human while in the real sense, the
human testicles are more a thousand times in size
than the whole spider. The adventure continues with
Gizo borrowing the feather from the crows to fly
with them to the figs. (another impossibility) when
the crows abandoned him by taking back their
feather because of Gizo’s greed, he is left at the
mercy of crocodiles whose eggs he steals and still
escapes with. (Two impossibilities here, the size of
eggs compared to the spider’s size even when he is
being assisted to leave the river by these same
crocodiles.)
The motif of greed is already proved, the spider
alone wants to have everything while those who
work for it can die. The motif of deceit, dishonesty
or intrigue has many instances here. The wax of
the testicles is at the cunning stealing of figs, the
artificial lighting of fire in order to deceive the crows
that it was day time, the shedding of false tears
before the crows and the crocodiles, the imitation of
the muezzin’s voice in order to give the impression
that it is dawn and the act of asking the canoe
paddler to hasten when in reality he is asked to
stop, are other examples.
 A reasonable analysis by verification has been
done above, students can do same on their chosen
folktales.

AFRICAN ORAL NARRATIVES: RIDDLES, PROVERBS

Introduction

Our discussion on African oral narratives

continues here. In the present lecture, two oral
narratives forms are to be discussed in one lecture.
The reason is that in view of the fact that both
forms, Riddles and Proverbs, are not plot based -
narrative forms, it does not require an exhaustive
teaching to explain them. Besides, a few examples
can explain the entire repertoire because the two
oral forms and formulae in nature.

Defining Riddles

Riddles are like puzzles requiring the ability to

reason very intelligent to be able to solve the
problems that they have raised. Riddles are often
based on traditional philosophy and logic, they are
difficult to perceive, and answer to them are usually
not the ones that readily come to our mind even
though they may not be identical.
Riddles are a test of human intellect or the
human sense of perception. Riddles can be seen as
an equivalent of the western concept of the
intelligence quotient. Interestingly, because riddles
are exhaustible in number and are common
knowledge to the folks, it is possible for adolescents
to master all of them. Riddles are based on obscure
cultural elements in which questions are based.
Features of Riddles.

We mentioned earlier that riddles are formulaic in

nature and the most common form of riddles is that
in which two subjects X and Y which are not directly
correlative are united to form a question and Z is
expected to be guessed as the answer. Consider the
example below for illustration:
The unlucky one entered the market
The market was deserted
The answer is rain
By our initial formula
X is the unlucky one
Y is the market
Z is rain.

Take note that in simple reasoning it would have

been difficult to think of ‘Rain’ as the answer, in view
of the fall that the idea of the unlucky one makes
you think that only a human figure could be picked
as the answer to the riddle. Riddles, generally,
require spontaneous, deep thinking and response from
the audience. Riddles are not necessarily presented in
sessions of riddles only, at times they are
complementary to story-telling or a folktale session.
Riddles derive their content from the society on
which they are based and members of the particular
society are mostly the ones that are socially inclined
to address the demands of the questions. To an
uninitiated person, the elements in the riddles are
strange combinations. This is a riddle to illustrate at
this point.
Guess what big man it is, near whom
They have the wedding talk but
He never makes a remark.
The answer is a barn.
Among the Nuer, wedding negotiations commonly
take place near a barn. Let us take a good look at
the following Njanya riddle on the fly
Who is that chief from the
North who when walking says
“where I came from is good”
“where I go to is good”
The answer is the fly, because the fly usually
rubs its front and back legs together and this is
suggestive of satisfaction.

Functions of Riddles

Riddles generally are jokes that help to start off

a serious story or to create a comic relief at the
climax of tension-laden stories.
 Riddles expose the audience to the cultural
values and the beauty of the society and they ensure
its continuity.
Riddles educate and strengthen the knowledge of
the natives in the language and the intricacies of
traditional life.
Because they are many and must be mastered,
riddles activate the mnemonic power of the folk and
sustain a sharp memory of him.

Riddles and Answers

1 The fearful woman when she is pregnant people

run away from her, when she is delivered of a baby,
they are happy.
Who is she?
Answer- Gun
2 Who is he, that knocks the king’s head often?
Answer- The shaving knife or the clipper
3 Who is it that passes the king’s palace without
paying homage?
Answer- The rain water
4 Who is he? He who eats with the king and does
not clear the table
Answer- Fly
5 The one who follows you on a visits and eats
the kolanut before you do
Answers-Your fingers
6 The companion who follows you to the bush but
will not return with you
Answer- Feaces
7 I see him when my sight in clearer when I tried
to cut him down
Answer- Your Shadow
8 The small goddess of our home, you must knee
always before
Answer- The grinding stone
9 The staff whose length touches earth and the sky
Answer-The Rain
10 My friend, when he is going on one direction he
paces it, when he is coming from the same direction
he still faces it
Answers: The double membrane drum.

PROVERBS

Defining Proverbs.

The renowned scholar and novelist Chinua

Achebe wittingly defines proverbs as ‘’the palm oil
with which words are eaten.’’Ruth Finnegan defines
the proverb as “a saying in more or less fixed form
marked by “shortness”, sense, salt and distinguished
by the popular acceptance of the truth tersely
expressed in it.
Proverbs are generally contextual expressions
meant to ease understanding and to bring attention
to the wider implication of a situation. Let us
illustrate this point with an Anang proverb. It was
reported of an Anang law case in which a litigant
who could not have been given an opportunity to
recount the antecedents of a chronic thief simply
resorted to a proverb to expose the kleptomaniac:
If a dog plucks palm fruits from
A cluster, he does not fear the
Porcupine.
The interpretation is that the thief is daring and he
can steal from the most impenetrable of places.
The ‘shortness’ of proverbs as expressed by
Finnegan in her definition above is not a constant
feature of proverbs, some proverbs are expressed in
form of anecdotes. Consider the following Yoruba
proverbs”:
1 The masquerade says he will dance
The rain says he will fall
And the Bata drummer says he will drum
We shall see who carries the day
2 Thine witch cried yesterday
The child died today
Who does not know that
It was the witch of yesterday
That killed the child?

Some Riddles from Benin Republic

The Beninois riddle is expressed with economy. Its

appeal lies not only in the hidden meaning of solution,
but more especially in its play on words that is so
important an element of that nation’s everyday
communication.
Hole within hole, hair all around, pleasure comes from
inside.( Answer: A flute being played by a bearded man.)
A thing leaves the house bent over and returns home
straight.( Answer: A water Jar.)
A thing is naked going out, but returning, the body is
covered with clothes. (Answer: corn.)
My father eats with his anus and defecates with his
mouth. ( Answer: A gun)
One throws a thing across a hedge, and it falls in one
heap. ( Answer: A frog)
One thing falls in the water with a loud voice. ( Answer: A
bottle of oil, a carrying basket.)

Some Hausa Proverbs and Sayings

One does not need to measure to know that s bridle is too

large for a hen’s mouth
If a blind man has scorched his groundnuts once, he will
eat them raw next time.
It is when one is in trouble that he remembers God.
The man who is carried on another man’s back does not
appreciate how far off the town is.
It is by travelling softly, softly that you will sleep in
distant place.
A chief is like a trash heap where everyone brings his
rubbish [i.e., troubles and complaints].
A stone in the water does not comprehend how parched
the hill is.
The man with one eye thanks God only after he has seen
a blind man.
It is not the eye which understands, but the mind
Faults are like a hill: You stand on your own and talk
about those of other people.
Bowing to dwarf will not prevent you from standing erect
again.
Lack of knowledge is darker than the night.
There are three friends in life: courage, sight and insight.
Five things to make a man cautious: a horse, a woman,
night, a river, the forest.
A woman’s strength is a multitude of words.
Do not gamble for cowries with a blind man, for he is
certain to hide one under his feet.
Where a person find a cowry is where he continues
looking.
One does not squeeze out his waistcloth before he comes
out of the water.
A conscientious man will repay every good deed done for
him except the digging of his grave.
Even the Niger River must flow around an island. (No
matter how strong one is, he must sometimes turn aside.)
When the drumbeat changes, the dance changes too.

Riddles and proverbs have much in common. Both are

based on cultural experiences. Riddles present a mental
problem while proverbs ease out knotty issues. Both sub-
forms require great wisdom to unravel. Natives find it
easier to resolve and interpret riddles and proverbs.
TOPIC: AFRICAN ORAL POETIC FORMS:
INVOCATORY CHANTS

In The first unit of these lectures, lectures 5 — 8 we

dealt substantially with oral narratives. In the first
few lectures, we will be concentrating on the oral
poetic forms which constitute the second major sub-
genre. The first lecture which is the presentation is
on invocatory chants. Invocatory chants are religious
in purpose and in content. They are often directed
towards a particular god and goddesses worship
chants or songs. In this discussion, the god whose
invocation is before us is the ambivalent god and
arch messenger and arch messenger called Esu
among the Yorubas, Agwu by the Igbo, Legba among
the Fon. He is also called the trickster god. The
choice of this god is informed by the fact that he is
worshipped in most traditional cultures. In two other
world’s religions, Islam and Christianity he is a major
negative force. In Islam he is known as Shaitan or
Iblis and he is disrepute for leading the group of
rebellious angels against Allah. In Christianity, he is
called Lucifer or Satan, the fallen Angel of evil.
Esu’s personality is of interest because he is
conceived negatively in some world religions but
construed as both good and had in most traditional
religions. It is the split nature of his personality that
has informed our choice of him for our discussion.

What are Invocatory Chants?

Invocations are words carefully put together in

poetry for the purpose of worshipping a god or
goddess and for inviting general or specific favour or
intervention from such supernatural force.
Invocations centre on the praise names of the
particular god, his life style, his achievement and his
moral disposition.
Most invocations in traditional African religion are
chanted. A chant is so called because by its
vocalization, the tempo is neither that of songs nor
that of normal speech. Chants are rendered by a
form of intoning; the adjustment of the position of
the nasal cavity. The consequent sound produced
gives the impression that the voice is shaking.

Invocatory chants are rendered to divinities without

time restriction. It could be a regular event such as in
the daily worship of the divinity, at the shrine or
during the periodic festivals in honour of the divinity.
Invocation could also be an occasional event as in
situations of emergency requiring the intervention of
such a divinity in the affairs of the worshipper or the
entire community. Invocations are often
accompanied by sacrifice during worship.

Esu Invocatory chants Features

Esu is the arch messenger of the divinities. He is one

of the primordial divinities. He is known as Agwu and
Legba among the Igbo and Fon respectively. There is
a strong affinity between Esu and god of divination
called Ifa or Orunmila. This idea cuts across most
traditional beliefs. Esu is often worshipped wherever
divination takes place.

This divinity is controversial because of his diverse

and ambivalent nature. He is ubiquitous and he is
regarded as the policeman who sees every culprit.
Esu is dual in nature, in that he creates harmony and
as well disharmony either on being invoked or at the
slightest provocation. That is why he is often seen as
the presentation of chance, uncertainty and accident.

In divination, Esu is indispensable because he is

believed to be
keeping the seal to every divination and sacrifice. He
is often regarded as the bearer of the sacrifice for
which he is entitled to at least five cowries in every
sacrifice offered at a time, He is equally versed In
medicine. In every divination priest’s shrine, Esu is
represented by a big stone regularly bathed with
palm oil. At his own shrine he is represented by an
eerie-looking human figure with extra-ordinary
genitals, aimed with a knife and faced by a huge rock
and immersed in palm oil. Even in palaces of Yoruba
Obas, Esu is worshiped at regular intervals. Whereas
all other divinities have particular clays each
associated with them, Esu asserts that all days are
his and this is logical because his services are
obligatory to other god divinities.
Esu’s favourite menu must be given when he is
worshiped. These are a black hen, maize, raffia wine,
palm oil and any other item revealed by the oracle.
Esu has totems and taboos also. He must not be
offered palm nut oil. Thus when a worshipper wants
him to fight an enemy, he offers Esu palm nut oil on
calling name of his enemy as the giver.

The time of invoking Esu’s wrath is restricted to

either midnight or high noon.
Esu chants are performed without chorus or musical
instruments, it is a taboo to do this and it is peculiar
to Esu only. The attributes dominate the chants to
him as we shall find out in the chant below. Esu
chants are not performed in secular contexts, it is
forbidden. It is the belief that the divinity is not
invoked for nothing. Priests of Esu who invoke him to
fight enemies of their clients are also very cautious.
When the invocation is completed with the pouring of
 palm kernel oil on his shrine, he must take to his
heels because he could become the victim of Esu
whose mood cannot be trusted when he is blind to
anger.

The chant below is a typical Esu Invocatory chant

rendered in awe and in reverence. You are expected
to study this and identify those attributes of the
divinity discussed above.

An Esu Invocatory Chant

This chant was performed after all rites obligatory to its

performance had been carried out:
Akin kehinde, father hasten
And collect money from your child
Ole kayode, possessor of the big cudgel
The short one on the street
Who farms at the outskirts?
When he has collected the sacrifice
He makes ready his fist
The trouble of heaven
Who awakes to foment trouble
The omnipresent offspring of the dyer

The divinity who dresses weirdly to the market

Akinfenwa, possessor of fourteen thousand batons
He who deserves to be appeased
Like ones guardian angel
Do not let my favorite garment tear up
If the Muslim worships Allah he is rewarded
If the slaves worship his master, he is rewarded
The potsherds that face the wall
They are showing allegiance to the war
He who uses the straw-sieve to buy palm oil
The dogged ward divinity
He who attains a height at will, short or tall
He who has a border in heaven
The courier of death to man
He takes over farmsteads including the palm
It was Esu who tempt another head of masquerades
Who abused his revered office
By using young masquerades to extort money
Esu, do not tempt me
But you can tempt another man’s offspring
The fierce fellow who resides on one mat
He who infests the town like locusts
Esu, save me from the wrong- headed fellow
The happening that would make us sorrow
God save me from encountering it
The dreadful divinity
He journeyed to Ibadan
And he returned with many fowls
My father did not buy them
My father did not steal them
My father did not pick them on the way either
Esu, do not beat me with your cudgel
He who apprehends repeatedly
He who beats a child repeatedly
This lecture has given the background to invocatory
chants in general and Esu chants in particular. The
chant written above is an abridged version. In order
to save space it will not be auspicious to print the
entire text. The important thing is for students to
have a glimpse of it and this can be complemented
in private studies if necessary.

;
 TOPIC: AFRICAN ORAL POETIC FORMS:
FUNERAL DIRGES

INTRODUCTION

This lecture is the second of the series on African oral

poetic forms. In the previous lecture, we discussed
the significance of invocatory chants which are
primarily meant for the worship of the supreme God
and the divinities. By virtue of that it can be said that
we have attempted to deal with a poetic form that is
anchored on the beliefs in the Supreme God and the
divinities. That is strictly religious worship. In this
lecture, we are addressing the issue of funeral dirges
which is a frequent performance that accompanies
the announcement of death and the funeral rites that
follow it. Funeral dirges can be anchored on the idea
of the second aspect of African cosmology, the cycle
of life or the rites of passage which starts with
predestination and is completed in death and
hereafter.

Background to Funeral Dirges

Funeral dirges are logically the manifestation of

death, they announce death, mourn the dead and
celebrate the dead also. It is proper to discuss the
idea of death before we come to funeral dirges
because it is death that is the source of their content.

Death is an event between one mode of existence

(life) and another mode of existence (hereafter)
Death is also the elimination of life through time by
inches, by which it is meant that the human body
expires by installments. Time becomes a dreadful
companion therefore.
This is how far the idea of death can be expressed
philosophically. In traditional African society, time
dues not only kill gradually, it also does not inform
when death will strike. It is the idea that informs the
common proverb that if man could tell when and
where his death bed would he, be would prepare it
well.

From the perspective of the social implication of

death, it marks the abortion of his ambition and life’s
achievement. Religion often tries to rationalize all
happenings that man cannot comprehend; death is
one of these happenings. This we have discussed
earlier in the second lecture of the first unit. Death is
of two kinds, natural death and unnatural death. This
however does not contradict the claim of medical
science that death is a natural occurrence. The idea
of natural and unnatural deaths can he re-expressed
as death at prime age and death at old age. It is the
sharp difference between Tue two that determines
the kind of burial rites accorded the dead. In many
traditional African societies, death often attracts
profuse mourning because the victim is likely being
mourned by those he should have survived for
example, his parents. He is likely leaving a young
family behind. This kind of death does not call for
celebration or elaborate burial. Whereas, feasting is
left out in many societies, it is included in the burial
rites in some societies, For example among the Igbo
of Nigeria, a young man’s death is marked as
elaborately as that of an old man, particularly if he
already has children or he has achieved socially and
materially.

Premature death is often associated with the

malevolent forces of life for example witchcraft.
There are other forms of premature death such as
suicide, death of an expectant mother, death of an
infant, death by drowning, death by falling from a
tree top. In many cultures, deaths in this class are
given a peculiar burial. For example, death by suicide
among the Igbo’s is an abomination, such a
deceased person is not accorded a decent burial,
rather, he is thrown into the evil forest.

Death at old age is considered quite mature, because

this is the wish of everyone. In every traditional
society, it is marked by elaborate and expensive
celebration. The nature of this burial is often the
result of the belief that the deceased is only in
transition to another life and he should be well
 prepared for it. He is also being prepared for a new
role of an ancestral spirit who becomes a pillar of
protection and an agent of favour for his children and
relations.

B. Features of Funeral Dirges Performance

A funeral dirge is simply a valedictory performance

for the dead portraying his character and his
achievements, avoiding his failures and short
comings. Besides the fact that it is primarily meant
for mourning, a funeral dirge is often dominated by
praise. This, in others words, means that a funeral
dirge performer needs to have a strong knowledge of
praise poetry. By this it is obvious that funeral dirges
are often performed by professionals of the sub
genre.

The dirges are sung or chanted depending on the

culture. The performance starts as soon as the death
is announced. The announcement differs from place
to place. Among the Igbos, the announcement of
death is mar ked by loud cries and gun booms.
Among the Yorubas, the booming of guns is reserved
for only old men. In most cultures funeral dirges are
the repertoire of women. The dirges are rendered
right from the moment the death is announced till
the interment is done. The performance is formally
done when the deceased is lying in state. The lying in
state is a rite that cuts across most societies. The
 deceased among the Yoruba is dressed in his best
garment. Among Ivorians, there is usually shopping
for the most expensive material the child of the
deceased can afford. Among the Tiv, the ceremony
does not exceed twenty four hours. The body is
bathed by relations and smeared with cam wood,
wrapped in a large cloth, sewn into a mat and then
rewrapped by another cloth.

The singing of dirges begnis by the placing of two

pieces of kola nuts and a coin on the chest of the
deceased. The corpse is then flanked by the singers
who perform solo one by one. It is also the rule that
performers must not be older than the deceased
person. Dirges formally performed when the
deceased is hardly accompanied by musical
instruments. As for songs rendered by other
mourners, or members of his peer group of the
deceased drumming is involved.

C. A Funeral Dirge

Kindly greet him

My husband he is
The dark rich man
He who brought the mat of goodness
The first born of Eso
My husband went home
He now feeds by the wall with lizards
In what slumber have you fallen?
That you cannot rise anymore?
All the children are mourning you
Your departure to heaven
Is sure to favour us greatly
Prop me up in time
Prop me up in time
Abenro’s father has fallen to rise no more
I pleaded with death
Death did not listen
We pleaded with death, death refused
Into what slumber have you fallen?
That you cannot rise?
Akindele has become an ancestor
I wish that you come back to earth
But it is farewell
Death has done havoc
Death has taken the virtuous man
I have not come across a better man
With the eyeballs of kindness
The father of Mopelola
I say when you get there
Greet a particular person
Heaven is where I have many relations
That home you have journeyed to
You will meet your household in peace
Father I wish you were on earth again
If Olugbon did not die
I would say death was not justified
If it were true
That Araba did not die
 I would say death was not justified
But it was true
Olugbon died indeed
Who is it death cannot kill
I say death killed Aresa
Who is it death cannot kill
Death killed the Ifa priest
As if he never divined
Death killed the medicine man
He is dead and cannot rise
I say do not eat earthworms
Whatever they eat in the bliss of heaven
Eat with them also
I would have invited the drummers
Invited the masquerade acrobat
Invited the koso drummer
Invited the Rara Offa chanter
I would have invited the good dancer
Death has done havoc
Death has taken away a virtuous man.

We have concerned ourselves with discussing the sub-

genre funeral dirges. We have also relied heavily on the
idea of death which indeed informs the songs and
dominates their contents. You are expected to appreciate
the sample poem above and do verification as we have
done previously.
TOPIC: AFRICAN ORAL PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION

In our lectures on the epic, we alluded to the poetic sub-

genre as a combination of prose, drama and poetry. The
statement is still sustained here because we are coming
into contact with what authenticates the statement in this
lecture. One thing that distinguishes oral literature from
main stream literature is the art of performance. The art
of performance is the actualization of the oral form that is
the point of focus at any moment be it prose, be it poetry
before an audience as if it were a stage performance.

A. What is the oral performance?

The significance of any form, whether it is a prose

narrative or it is a poetic form, is the performance of
it. The performance does not mean the type of
formal staging of play before an audience in the
proscenium theatre. The performance is the art of
demonstrating in concrete terms the text of the oral
form using speech and action. A nursing mother
singing a folk lullaby to pacify a weeping baby is
already doing a performance. A narrator of a folk tale
by moonlight before a couple of children in any
traditional home, on the farm, at the village square,
is already doing a performance. Any of the oral forms
 that is not in print is considered dormant if it is not
performed. This is the essence of oral literature.

B. The Performer/The Oral Artist and The Text

The remarkable difference between the oral poet and

the literate poet is the medium of delivery. While the
literate poet leaves the word to be decoded by the
reading public, the oral poet realizes the words
through concrete actions thus bringing directly to a
watching and listening public, the enlightened
audience. Scholars of oral literature like Isidore
Okpewho, Dan Ben Amos, Alan Dundep Makward,
Zuon, Mvula Sekoni are agreed that the oral
performance is the life blood of the oral art. Another
prolific scholar, Ruth Finnegan expresses the
situation in an aphoristic manner as follows, “The
bare words cannot be left to speak for themselves”.
All the scholars are of the opinion that the essence of
the oral text is its verbalization by the oral artist. 1he
resourcefulness of the oral performance is in the fact
that every performance of a particular piece of oral
form produces a new text. Variation in the
performance of the same text does not lie in the
word content but certain unconscious factors of
performance by the artist. This is because every
additional performance adds a new thing.
The oral performer is not the actor who is on stage to
render his memorized lines after which he leaves the
stage. The place of performance is the proscenium
building in which the curtain is drawn between the
actor arid the audience. The oral performer is that
traditional artist who performs certain ceremonial
rituals as a priest or who is involved in a spiritual
action as a devotee. The traditional performer is also
the poet who uses the vast material of his culture as
his repertoire.

The idea of the text is very important. Who is the

owner of the text? Is it the oral artist? Is it the
community? The importance of the question is better
understood when we consider the elasticity or
malleability of the text in the hands of artists. The
text is not fixed because of the double role of the
artist who is the performer of the text and a critic or
an admirer of me distinguished members of the
audience at the same time, In the course of
performing this role, he is expanding the text. Does
the artist own the text as a result of the roles he
performs in the course of performing it? The
performer is not the owner of the text, he is not the
author, the traditional communicator is the owner or
the author of the text. Have you heard a folk saying
that his father owns a proverb? All oral forms belong
to the community. These additions to and subtraction
from the text by the artist are mere digressions that
 die with the performance leaving the main text
intact.

Digression is peculiar to all performances. In any

context of performance, the necessary and
complementary deviation from the main text is
digression. Digression can be external or internal.
Internal digression is that situation in which the
chorus or the co-performer makes an input that is
not part of the text. External digression is the oral
performer’s reaction to the various comments and
actions of the audience in response to the
performance. It may be in praise or in condemnation
of the oral artist.

C. The Audience

The audience is next in importance to the oral

performer. The audience of the oral performance is a
live audience which gives an instant critique of the
poet’s performance. The audience is a product of the
Wing tradition and it has every reason to be
participatory. The response of the audience is based
on factors such as emotional appeal of the
performer, his choice of word, the logic with which he
modifies the text to suit the kind of audience and the
animation he exerts in delivering the text. The
audience as of necessity reacts positively or
 negatively to the performance. The size of the
audience is determined by the kind of performance,
some performances by virtue of their purpose may
require a limited audience.
For example, the performance of an incantation
involves a little audience, may be the victim of the
incantation itself who may be directly face to face
with the performer of the incantation. It may be
without an audience at all if the text is performed in
secret in which the audience/victim is at a remote
location, in divination, the audience is the client.
Whereas in a masquerade performance, an entire
community may be the audience.

D. Music
The oral performance may turn stale without music.
Music is the soul of any oral performance. Music is
the refuge for a straying poet. It is a face saving
device for a faulty performance. Music is as
indispensable to the oral performer as rhythm is
essential to written poetry. Music is obligatory in
some performances for example, in invocatory
chants in which the performer must fall into trance.
Without music, this will be impossible.
-
Music, when used in a performance, could be a solo
or responsorial. Where there is a single performer,
songs are performed solo although the audience may
choose to play the role of the chorus where it is
 familiar with the song. A chorused song surely
enlivens the performance.

Another mode of music is the one that involves the

use of musical instruments particularly drums. In
totality, African musical instruments have been
categorized into namely membranophones such as
drums, aero phones such as flutes, chordophones
such as harps and idiophones such as shakas or
gourd rattles. Some oral forms have their
instruments of origin which enable the audience to
identify the kind of performance even without the
knowledge of the verbal content. However, the
situation is open-ended because many oral forms
have borrowed from other subgenres in the course of
their temporary artistic growth.

E. Histrionics

Extra linguistic gestures are also surrogates of verbal

expression. Histrionics means the use of body Parts
to express messages related to the performance. The
performer employs them as a device of mime.
Eyewinks, contrasting facial expressions and
manipulations of the body express the mood and the
emotion of the characters. The peculiarity of
histrionics as a device is its restricted relevance to
the verbal art only.
 The lecture has been concerned with the
indispensable role of the oral performance in the
delivery of the oral form. The verbal art is so
described because it is performed. The oral artist,
the text, the audience, music and histrionics are the
variables of the oral performance.

TOPIC: AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 1

Introduction

In most of the past lectures, we have concentrated on the

diverse oral form with a view to defining them, identifying
their features and discussing their functions in the society
and indeed their significance to literary criticism. This
lecture and subsequent ones will be dealing with the
various devices used in actualizing these verbal arts. This
particular lecture will centre on the musical aspect of
African oral literature. All over the world, one of the
things Africa is known for and accorded commensurate
respect for is our music. For example, the drum as used
in Western world today is a cultural import from Africa.
We will endeavour to examine the musical instruments in
this lecture.
I. What is African Music?

In traditional African societies, music is a significant

event. It is a social event that features in public
performances and social gathering for both religious and
secular matters. When Africans think of enjoying
themselves or having recreational activities, music is the
first thing that is made available. At festivals, worship. at
community clearing of parts, even music is employed
either as an obligatory thing or as a catalyst to leisure.
Music is not the same thing as noise. Music is organised,
rhythmic and purposeful sound. Community life
encourages group music rather than solo performance
because of the cohesive nature of our culture. The actual
music that may be performed at a social gathering is
dependent on the occasion. Music, like language, is a
means of communication conveying moods, feelings and
ideas.

Music in Africa is accompanied or unaccompanied. By

accompaniment we mean the use of musical instruments
in the presentation of music except rare occasions of
some form of shrine worship and solo past time singing.
Music without musical instrument is very rare in the
African society. Even in churches where drumming was
for a long time dismissed as an instrument of black ritual
and forbidden, musical instruments of all sorts are not
allowed and their significance to the process of worship is
seen in their ability to kill the motion in worship. No
member of the congregation sleeps off when drums and
other musical instruments perform their role.

II. African Musical Instruments

The significance of African musical instrument is first

realised in their influence on Western music. For
illustration, very many musical styles in the American
music today have African roots. This was the African
legacy planted there by African sIaves. Jazz, blues, funk,
and rap music are forms of Africanism in Western music
The range of African musical instrument s is not only
high, it is also diverse; it is a demonstration of African
ingenuity and technological prowess, The drums, the
percussion instruments such as the viols, harps, lyres,
lutes, flutes, trumpets, horns, gongs, xylophones and
thumb pianos are an affirmation of African inventiveness.
Archaeological research has revealed that the making of
instrument started more than
5000 years ago, in East Africa just as homo sapiens
originated there.

III. Classification of African Musical Instruments

African Musical instruments are distinguished either by

their structure or by the peculiar sound they produce.
Because of the diverse nature of the musical instruments
to be discussed and their large number, a way by which
we can simplify our discussion is to do a group
classification of these musical instruments and then
describe them accordingly. We will also endeavour to
describe them structurally as they are not being given
graphological representation here, in addition, the
provenance of these instruments is important, so their
places of origin will be included wherever possible. This is
not an exhaustive alI-culture classification; students
should consider it obligatory to inform us on the stock of
instruments in their own culture to enrich the lecture.

Musicologists have classified all instruments employed in

accompanying African music: into a convenient group of
four namely membranophones, aerophones
chordophones and idiophones. However, before we go
further, it is important to stress that no meaningful
discussion can be had on African musical instrument
without referring to the factor of religion. A good number
of these instruments have religious origins because they
are strictly employed in the worship of particular gods
and goddesses. For illustration, in the Yoruba culture,
some drums are considered sacred and are associated
with some divinities. The lgbin drum is used in the
worship of Obatala, the arch divinity, hata is for Songo
the god of lightening or thunder, Ogidan is for, Ogun the
god of iron and Ipesi is for Orunrnila or Ifa, the god of
divination, In the worship of these gods, the particular
drum must be present notwithstanding the fact that other
instruments may or may not accompany the sacred
drum.
Membranophones

Membranophones are drums particularly those with

parchment heads. Membrane drums are in shapes and in
sizes — conical, cylindrical. They can also have shapes
like a goblet or a bottle or an hourglass. The skin
parchment may appear at one end or at both ends. The
ones that have two are called double membrane drums.
The body of the drum is carved from a log of wood by
custom. But some are also cut of strips of woods bound to
form a barrel. Modernization has also had its effect on
drums also. Drum boches are made of metal today by
Western innovation. However, the African drum has its
peculiar vibrating or buzzing tone. Drums are at times
referred to as members of a family. Among the Yoruba for
example, there is the Dundun family of drums often made
up of five. They are the lya llu, the Gangan, the Kanango,
the Kerikeri and the Gudugudu. All the first four are
regarded as talking drums or surrogate of the human
speech. The lya Ilu (mother drum) which is the biggest
and the lead drum is about 20 inches long and 10 inches
in diameter. It is played by the master drummer. The
mother drum also carries bells which shiver and jingle
when handled.

Other skin drums are like the Emoba (Edo), the lgba
(lgbo), the Nsing Obom (lbibio), the Ibid Ekpo (Ibibio) and
the Tambari (Fulani). All these drums have restricted
function. The Emoba is drummed in the palace of Oba of
Benin. The same applies to the Fulani one which is struck
twelve times when a new Emir of Katsiha is turbaned. The
lbibio ones are used for the Obon and Ekpo secret
societies respectively.

Outside Nigeria, there is single membrane drum of

Senegal, also used in Guinea called “Jembe”. Jingle metal
rings adorn the rim for percussion effect like the Yoruba
Dundu. The Gbagyi of Nigeria Federal Capital Territory
also have the Jembe drum but it is double membrane and
it has a taut snare fitted to both heads which vibrates
against the drum head. In the East and Central Africa,
there are friction drums. On the single membrane of
these drums, a stick or a cord runs through the centre for
the peculiar sound to be produced when it is rubbed with
wet palms. This can produce the sound that imitates the
panther for which this same drum is used by the Baule of
Cote’d’Voire. The Mande drummers, Mali and Senegal
carry their single membrane drum by harnessing round
the neck by a sling so that they can move round as they
play it. In Ghana, there is the drum of Atumpan. Some
come in a group of five played by a single drummer.
Among the Buganda of Uganda a row of drums are played
by six drummers accompanied by a xylophone. The
Kenyans and Tanzanians have the same ensemble.

Drums that are not played with the palm are struck by
drums sticks which are either straight or curved with a
knob at the end. The Yoruba hour-glass talking drums are
played he same hut are placed under the armpit so that
the longitudinal cords that connect the membrane can be
easily manipulated for sound effects

We have discussed the African music in this lecture; we

have also introduced the diverse musical instruments
which have been classified accordingly. In the lecture that
follows, we will continue with the identification and
descriptions of aerophones, chordophones and
idiophones

TOPIC: AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 11

Introduction

This lecture is the continuation of the previous lecture.

We have defined African music at instruments and
started off the classification of the musical instruments. In
this lecture, we shall continue our discussion on
classification by discussing aerophones, chordophones
and idiophones. The function of the musical instruments
will not be discussed as a sub-topic in this lecture for two
reasons. The first is that in identifying and classifying the
instrument we have been alluding to their functions.
Secondly, the role of music in performance is to be
formally dealt with as a subtopic in the next lecture
entitled “African Oral Performance”.
i. Aerophones

Aerophones are wind instruments or are instruments that

depend on the air to be able to function. The air as the
primary sound producer vibrates as it hits the instrument,
Aerophones are in four sub groups. There are whistles
which cannot Sound more than one note and only
function as an instrument of punctuating other
instruments that produce music in an ensemble. Reedless
flutes and ocarinas — Reedless flutes are made from
plants such as bamboo, rush or millet stalks. Ocarinas are
made from fruit shells, wood or baked clay. The third
group is dominated by reed pipes such as clarinets (which
are single reed) and oboes (which are double reed). Reed
pipes are generally exclusive instruments of Islamic
traditions. The Fulani have the teekuluwai also known as
the bobal. The Dendi people of Benin Republic have a
similar clarinet but theirs is fitted with calabash resonator
at both ends for peculiar sound effect. The Hausa have
the alghaita which has been rated as the best oboe in
Africa. Most of the instruments in the three categories
above are blown by the inflating of the cheeks.

The fourth group of aerophones is called Widespread and

is made of animal horns and elephant tusks and they
function as trumpets. At times bamboo with long
cylindrical gourds does produce trumpets. Some trumpets
are carved from wood. Others are metal trumpets usually
very long especially the Hausa royal Kakaki which
measures up to nine feet. There is Malakat from Ethiopia
which is not as long as the former. Widespread generally
produce notes and function as procession instruments.

Flutes are end-blown and are for this, regarded as

vertical. They are side blown also and are described as
traverse. Flutes are also distinguished by the number of
stops. There are five stop flutes such as the Hausa/Futani
Algait and the Yoruba Lara. The three — stop flutes
include the Tiv amada, the lgbo Oja. They function better
in music to be danced to.

Horns are called different narnes by the different ethnic

groups, Opi (lgbo), Eyin Erin (Yoruba), Oduk (lbibio, lkpe
Ziken (Edo). Elephant tusk horns are restricted to royal
use in most cultures.

In Zimbabwe, the chiyufe and the gorive which are vessel

flutes or ocarinas made froni hollowed fruit sliels, The
Ngororombe is an end blown pipe which is called nyaga in
Mozambique.

ii. Chordophones

Chordophones are stringed instruments as musical bows,

lutes, viols, zithers, harps, and lyre. The sound of a
chordophone is produced by vibration of one or two
strings or wires which are plucked with the fingers or with
a rigid object. There a clear difference between the zither
and the lute even though both of them consist of parallel
strings. Whereas a lute is like a guitar and has a neck and
a resonator, the zither has no neck but has other
components. The simplest and earliest chordophone is
the mouth bow which produce its sound when the mouth
is placed across the string of a hunting bow and a string
is plucked.

Most African chordophones are quite elaborate. There is

the twenty-one stringed Kora used by the groits of
Senegambia. It is regarded as the most spectacular in
Africa. The sound box of Kora is large hemispherical
calabash over which a skin is stretched. A long wooden
neck is inserted into the sound box and the strings run
the length of the instrument (see Ndige, 13).

There is a nineteen-stringed variant of the iKora in Guinea

called the Seron. The Hausa have the goge, a single
stringed fiddle object the bow of which is made from
horse hair. The Tuareg of Niger call the same instrument
inzod. There is a three stringed chordophone called bolon
by the Malinke of Guinea, there is a ten stringed one,
ngombi owned by the Mbaka of Gabon.

The home of the lyre seems to be East Africa. The lyre is

an instrument with strings running from a yoke to a
resonator. Uganda dominates other East African
countries. It has a variety of lyres, the Kibugander (five-
strings), the Litungu (seven strings), the Luo or Thum has
eight strings.
In Nigeria, there are the Raft zither and the thumb piano
which are played by the two thumbs. The lgbo call the
piano Ubo aka, the Yoruba name it agidigbo. In making, a
hollow is made on a circular gourd (lgbo) or on a wooden
box, and then strips of metal are made on the objects
which are plucked to give the deserved sound. The zither
is called rymoka by the Birom and it is made of bamboo
with tuned strips.

Iii. Idiophones

Idiophones are self-sounding instruments. They are

described as self sounding because they can produce
sounds without the addition of a stretched membrane,
without a vibrating string or a reed. Idiophones are also
all-embracing instruments because diverse percussion
and melodic instruments are involved. They are shaken,
struck, stamped, scraped and tuned instruments. There
are container rattles such as seepod, gourd and wicker.

The Yoruba have the large flask-shaped gourds covered

all over with a net of cowrie shells or a net of beads.
There is also the struck idiophone made of hollowed log
slit-gong or slit drum. it could be as small as one foot and
as long as twelve feet. They have a longitudinal slit and
two lips of different tones and are beaten with two
wooden strikers using the two hands.

Stamped idiophones’ mean, stamping sticks and

stamping tubes. The dikgambo from Benin Republic is an
example of stamping sticks. The Ga women of Ghana use
the stamping tube type adenkum. Among the Hausa
women, shantu is another example. The thum piano is
known as sanza, mbira and kalimba among a reasonable
number of tribes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Xylophones are tuned wooden bars struck with rubber-

tipped wooden mallets. The big xylophones’ are made of
three or four wooden bars placed cross-wise on the legs
of the musician. The log-xylophones are made of two long
banana trunks laid on the ground on which are placed
fifteen keys which are resonators. Players of xylophones
usually carry two mallets. This has been made popular in
Nigeria by the lbibio. It is a national instrument in
Zimbabwe.

Idiophones are instruments which vibrate within them

when struck or shaken. They are definite (timed) or
indefinite (unturned)

The lecture has concerned itself with three groups of

instruments, aero phones, chordophones, and idiophones.
We had discussed the first group membranophones in the
previous lecture. The list of musical instruments made
available is no exhaustive.

TOPIC: AFRICAN ORAL PERFORMANCE

Introduction

In our lectures on the epic, we alluded to the poetic sub-

genre as a combination of prose, drama and poetry. The
statement is still sustained here because we are coming
into contact with what authenticates the statement in this
lecture. One thing that distinguishes oral literature from
main stream literature is the art of performance. The art
of performance is the actualization of the oral form that is
the point of focus at any moment be it prose, be it poetry
before an audience as if it were a stage performance.

i. What is the oral performance?

The significance of any form, whether it is a prose

narrative or it is a poetic form, is the performance of it.
The performance does not mean the type of formal
staging of play before an audience in the proscenium
theatre. The performance is the art of demonstrating in
concrete terms the text of the oral form using speech and
action. A nursing mother singing a folk lullaby to pacify a
weeping baby is already doing a performance. A narrator
of a folk tale by moonlight before a couple of children in
any traditional home, on the farm, at the village square,
is already doing a performance. Any of the oral forms that
is not in print is considered dormant if it is not performed.
This is the essence of oral performance, the spirit of oral
literature.
ii. The Performer/The Oral Artist and The Text

The remarkable difference between the oral poet and the

literate poet is the medium of delivery. While the literate
poet leaves the word to be decoded by the reading
public, the oral poet realizes the words through concrete
actions thus bringing directly to a watching and listening
public, the enlightened audience. Scholars of oral
literature like Isidore Okpewho, Dan Ben Amos, Alan
Dundes, Makward, Zuon, Mvula Sekoni are agreed that
the oral performance is the life blood of the oral art.
Another prolific scholar, Ruth Finnegan expresses the
situation in an aphoristic manner as follows, “The bare
words cannot be left to speak for themselves”. All the
scholars are of the opinion that the essence of the oral
text is its verbalization by the oral artist. 1he
resourcefulness of the oral performance is in the fact that
every performance of a particular piece of oral form
produces a new text. Variation in the performance of the
same text does not lie in the word content but certain
unconscious factors of performance by the artist. This is
because every additional performance adds a new thing.

The oral performer is not the actor who is on stage to

render his memorized lines after which he leaves the
stage. The place of performance is the proscenium
building in which the curtain is drawn between the actor
arid the audience. The oral performer is that traditional
artist who performs certain ceremonial rituals as a priest
or who is involved in a spiritual action as a devotee. The
traditional performer is also the poet who uses the vast
material of his culture as his repertoire.

The idea of the text is very important. Who is the owner

of the text? Is it the oral artist? Is it the community? The
importance of the question is better understood when we
consider the elasticity or malleability of the text in the
hands of artists. The text is not fixed because of the
double role of the artist who is the performer of the text
and a critic or an admirer of me distinguished members
of the audience at the same time, In the course of
performing this role, he is expanding the text. Does the
artist own the text as a result of the roles he performs in
the course of performing it? The performer is not the
owner of the text, he is not the author, the traditional
communicator is the owner or the author of the text.
Have you heard a folk saying that his father owns a
proverb? All oral forms belong to the community. These
additions to and subtraction from the text by the artist
are mere digressions that die with the performance
leaving the main text intact.

Digression is peculiar to all performances. In any context

of performance, the necessary and complementary
deviation from the main text is digression. Digression can
be external or internal. Internal digression is that
situation in which the chorus or the co-performer makes
an input that is not part of the text. External digression is
the oral performer’s reaction to the various comments
and actions of the audience in response to the
performance. It may be in praise or in condemnation of
the oral artist.

iii. The Audience

The audience is next in importance to the oral performer.

The audience of the oral performance is a live audience
which gives an instant critique of the poet’s performance.
The audience is a product of the Wing tradition and it has
every reason to be participatory. The response of the
audience is based on factors such as emotional appeal of
the performer, his choice of word, the logic with which he
modifies the text to suit the kind of audience and the
animation he exerts in delivering the text. The audience
as of necessity reacts positively or negatively to the
performance. The size of the audience is determined by
the kind of performance, some performances by virtue of
their purpose may require a limited audience.
For example, the performance of an incantation involves
a little audience, may be the victim of the incantation
itself who may be directly face to face with the performer
of the incantation. It may be without an audience at all if
the text is performed in secret in which the
audience/victim is at a remote location, in divination, the
audience is the client. Whereas in a masquerade
performance, an entire community may be the audience.
iv. Music
The oral performance may turn stale without music.
Music is the soul of any oral performance. Music is the
refuge for a straying poet. It is a face saving device for a
faulty performance. Music is as indispensable to the oral
performer as rhythm is essential to written poetry. Music
is obligatory in some performances for example, in
invocatory chants in which the performer must fall into
trance. Without music, this will be impossible.

Music, when used in a performance, could be a solo or

responsorial. Where there is a single performer, songs are
performed solo although the audience may choose to
play the role of the chorus where it is familiar with the
song. A chorused song surely enlivens the performance.

Another mode of music is the one that involves the use of

musical instruments particularly drums. In totality, African
musical instruments have been categorized into namely
membranophones such as drums, aero phones such as
flutes, chordophones such as harps and idiophones such
as shakas or gourd rattles. Some oral forms have their
instruments of origin which enable the audience to
identify the kind of performance even without the
knowledge of the verbal content. However, the situation
is open-ended because many oral forms have borrowed
from other subgenres in the course of their temporary
artistic growth.
iv. Histrionics

Extra linguistic gestures are also a surrogate of verbal

expression. Histrionics means the use of body Parts to
express messages related to the performance. The
performer employs them as a device of mime. Eyewinks,
contrasting facial expressions and manipulations of the
body express the mood and the emotion of the
characters. The peculiarity of histrionics as a device is its
restricted relevance to the verbal art only.

The lecture has been concerned with the indispensable

role of the oral performance in the delivery of the oral
form. The verbal art is so described because it is
performed. The oral artist, the text, the audience, music
and histrionics are the variables of the oral performance.