African Oral Literature

AFRICAN ORAL LITERATURE II

(Lene Ododomu's copy)

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.

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?

(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.

Name and address

Place of birth, Date of Birth, Place of Rearing

(d) Incidence of immigration

(e) Education / Apprenticeship and training

(f) Occupation

(g) Religion

(h) Major events in the cause of growth

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

(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 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.

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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

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.

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

i. What is the oral performance?

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.

iii. The Audience

iv. Music

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.

Lene Ododomu

African Oral Literature

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