coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma gabriel oche ukah department of english language and literature, alvan ikoku federal college of education, owerri ochesonforreal@gmail.com 08065360497 abstract the origin of drama in its written form, right from the ancient times of the greeks and the romans has always been in the ritual performances of the unlettered man. the idoma alekwu dramatic performances are a series of dramatic activities among the idoma people which can also be considered to be ritual because, of course, they are embodiments of observances aimed at being carried out obligatorily in order to avoid negative consequences on the community. the structure of the alekwu ritual drama is such that while it can be said to be one long drama covering many seasons and years as the case may be, it is as well segmented into four parts; independent of one another. we used prerecorded videos and audios of alekwu chants. live performance of alekwu ohoweklokwu has also been viewed for the purpose of this research. we examined, one after the other, the various dramatic elements in the performance and discussed their implications. our findings are that (a) the idoma alekwu ohoweklokwu is a complex and ancient art which has remained relevant until today (b) like its written counterpart, the idoma alekwu oral performances have all the dramatic elements and features which qualify them to be drama; (c) besides the entertainment value of the idoma alekwu performances, the alekwu ohoweklokwu is didactic and as well as informative (d) the performance shouldn't be jettisoned as a result of westernization. instead, it should be modernized to reflect contemporariness. keywords: dramatic, features, alekwu, ohoweklokwu, ije uchulo, performance, dirge. introduction before western civilization came with the written literature, comprising of drama, prose and poetry, the oral literature had existed among the people. this ancient artwasnot just practiced orally, in fact, orality was its source of preservation. oral literature was handed down from generation to generation by the word of mouth. the dramatic forms, right from time, originated from religious rites among the people. when we use the term oral literature, we are interested in the type of literature which exists orally as against the type of literature that exists in the written medium. commenting on the origin of oral literature, myeong do hyeong posits that oral literature, “… dates back to the earliest human society; however early had they lived, people created stories, sometimes to entertain themselves, sometimes to educate others, and sometimes for several other purposes” (6). hyeong's position is true even today in the sense that the literature was oral in nature and therefore there was no document which the earliest oral literary forms could have been documented in. in fact, orality was the only form of documenting the literature at that time. for instance, oral epic such as gilgamesh, iliad, odyssey, onugbo and oko, beowulf, sundiata and chakathezulu existed orally long before they were, at one point or the other, written down as literacy spread across the world. before the invention of writing skill, the stories mentioned above, and many others like them which cannot all be mentioned, had been transmitted orally from one generation to the other. so, as literacy was introduced, and literacy skill began to replace oral skill, such oral literatures were written down for posterity sake. while some cultures were lucky to have come in contact with literary civilization in the early times, which eventually led to the documentation of their oral literatures in good time, other ethnic groups like the idoma people of benue state only got attention in the 1950s when researchers like professors roy clive abraham and robert g. 111 112 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma mailto:ochesonforreal@gmail.com armstrong became interested in both the language and literature of the idoma people. roy clive abraham and r.g armstrong carried out series of researches in idomaland in idoma language, culture and literature at various times. r.g armstrong built on the legacies r.c abraham had left, and their efforts put together, drew great attention from both idomaland and the global community to idoma language and oral literature. professor shamsudeen amali, a revered idoma oral literature scholar, throwing his weight behind the above argument once said: “abraham laid a solid foundation for the promotion of the idoma language, literature and culture” (13). it is upon the legacies of abraham and armstrong that professor shamsudean amali and professor idris amali anchored their intellectual bases which made them become the foremost intellectuals in the field of idoma oral literature and alekwu literature in particular. in fact, shamsudeen amali's and idris amali's interest in idoma oral literature began when they served as research assistants to professor r. g. armstrong. alekwu ohoweklokwu performance the alekwu ohoweklokwu drama is a performance that serves as a funeral service and a rite of passage among the idoma people. in order words, this performance is to the idoma people what funeral mass or requiem mass is to catholicism or christianity. it is a performance conducted by the idoma alekwu masquerade along with a group of women called ichicha right before the dead lying in state. this performance precedes the burial of the decease. after going through all the rites of the alekwu obueche (the making of alekwu), the alekwu ohoweklokwu is one of the most important functions of an alekwu on earth. since death is inevitable, it is therefore the duty of the alekwuofa community to ensure that the funeral rites are performed each time a member of the community dies. without this performance, it is believed that the soul of the dead shall continue to wonder aimlessly without rest. the dead is supposed to rest in peace upon death which makes it worrisome when a dead person's spirit is left to hover around without the deserved peace after death. picture of alekwu, obiaflete and oluba source: research's pictoral record of alekwu artists the alekwu, having been a human being once upon a time, an ancestor and then becoming an alekwu who now lives with the living, has the capacity to convey the dead from this world where he or she, the dead, knows and has lived and no longer belongs, to the world of the dead where he or she has never lived and therefore is not familiar with. the role of the alekwu in this alekwu ohoweklokwu drama is to help the dead to reach their next destination. the alekwu does this because of his familiarity with the destination the dead is about to head to. this drama sustains and confirms the delicate nature and cyclic nature of life. any alekwu can perform the above rite except an alekwu that was a king in his life time as a human being. this is because as a king he is above certain ordinary tasks in the community. this funeral rite is not for every person in the community. just as an afia oluba (the guide) obiaflete 113 114 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma ancestor has to meet certain criteria in order to be made an alekwu, members of the community also have to meet certain criteria to qualify for this dramatic performance by alekwu. one must not have died a bad death in order to qualify for the performance. a bad death in idoma world view is to have died a mad man, to have been killed by thunder or lightening, to have died of an unknown illness and to have committed suicide. secondly, one must at least have a child to qualify for the performance. the alekwu ohoweklokwu ritual dramatic performance can be divided into five parts of the same scene; these parts are hereby represented in the diagram below: structure of alekwu ohoweklokwu climax owe oheklokwu exposition resolution alekwu's arrival silent departure source: research's diagramatic description of structure of owe oheklokwu the five parts of alekwu ohoweklokwu ritual drama are further divided into two parts in accordance with the interactions established by the alekwu during his performance. the first two parts of the performance which are the alekwu's arrival and the dirge are categorized under the level of human interactions while the last three parts which are the owo oheklokwu, inviting the dead and silent departure are categorized under the level of spiritual interactions. in other words, after the first two parts, the performance witnesses a transition from the human level of alekwu's interaction to a spiritual level of alekwu's interaction. the above transition can be interpreted thus: in the first two parts the alekwu interacts with and performs with human beings. during the alekwu's arrival as indicated in the diagram above, the alekwu engages human beings with chants as he makes his way to the itakpa (reception hut) where the corpse lies in state. in the second part which is tagged ije uchulo (dirge) as indicated in the diagram above, the alekwu performs the idoma official (fixed and sacred) dirge with the ichicha age grade and the audience joining to sing the choruses. the second level, which is the spiritual level, sees the alekwu performing in the last three parts of the entire alekwu ohoweklokwu ritual drama with spirits. in the first part of the last three parts, the alekwu summons, one after the other, all the lands upon which the community had settled in the course of their migration from apa to the present homeland. he calls on the lands to come and help him take the child (the dead) to emaidu (land of the dead). after summoning the lands, he begins by summoning all the fore-fathers of the deceased, one after the other, in a genealogical and descending order to come and take the child to emaidu. 115 116 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma in the second part of the second level, the alekwu in a dramatic and symbolic fashion touches the legs of the dead with his afia saying: “gwo kele gwo, gwo kele gwo, gwo kele gwo”. this means: “stand up let's go, stand up let's go, stand up let's go.” in the third part of the second and spiritual level, it is believed that the spirit of the dead actually gets up and follows the alekwu. at this point, the alekwu departs swiftly in what is a drama of silence. according to idris amali, the alekwu ohoweklokwu is a historical reconstruction because each time it is performed, the origin, genealogy, history and migration of the idoma people are investigated in a beautifully performed poetry chant. in other words, when all alekwu ohoweklokwu in idomaland are put together, the entire history of the people is almost told. the performance of ije uchulo (dirge) it is f.b.o. akparobaro's view that “the most basic characteristic of oral literature is that it is a performed expression, by this, we mean that an oral literary expression exists as a performance” (4). in fact, ruth finnegan puts it more succinctly as she says “there is no mystery about the first and most basic characteristic of oral literature” (qtd in akparobaro4). it is safe then to say that the soul, mind and body of oral literature lie in performance. the idoma dirge (ije uchulo) is official and fixed in the sense that that the performers are under strict obligations to follow certain rules and perform the dirge in its exact content and manner of composition. discretion on the part of the performers is highly limited in order to avoid missing the fixed stanzas or violating the rules. the dirge is still intact in its archaic form especially in its language and thematic preoccupation. the performance of the dirge is done in an antiphony manner between the alekwu and ichicha group throughout the twentyone stanzas. below is the nature of the performance of the idoma dirge. source: research's tabular description of dirge performance during the dirge performance, the alekwu and the ichicha group move their bodies in a rhythmic manner to the beats of the songs and musical instruments. some members of the audience also join in the body movement, clapping of hands and stamping of feet. all these create magical, visual and audio effects which at the end enhance the performance of idoma dirge. also in the course of the performance of the dirge, the tripod of the performance: the alekwu, ichicha and the members of the audience imitate actions of certain elements or objects mentioned in the antiphonic dialogues between the alekwu and the ichicha. a scene of dirge performance in the itakpa the roof of the itakpa ichicha lead singer ichaka musical instrument the dead man 117 118 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma source: research's pictoral record of dirge performance the alekwu takes the first stanza thus: idoma language english onyodoma klikpa barren woman covers calabash onyodoma klikpa o barren woman covers calabash bege ne l' ikpa bobo backs calabash like baby onyodoma klikpa barren woman covers calabash the alekwu bends backward, throws his afia backward with the multicoloured ropes on the afia touching his back to demonstrate the way a woman backs a baby on her back. this demonstration creates a pictographic effect and creates a beautiful imagery in the eyes of the audience. the imagery further adds and buttresses the issues being raised in the song. the members of the audience who have chosen to side with the alekwu in the antiphonic dialogue touch their backs with the hands. in response to the alekwu's first stanza of attack, the ichicha group sings: idoma ichicha: ekwu nyababo onyukpanu nyabo nyabo audiene: ekwu nyababo onyukpanu nyabo nyabo english ichicha: death and bareness are ancient and alekwu knows audience: death and bareness are ancient and alekwu knows their rebuttal is to the effect that death and barrenness have been part of human existence and the barren women are not to blame. while they sing this they keep placing the back of their hands on their palm interchangeably. the members of the audience who have chosen the side of the ichicha join the ichicha to respond in same gesture. the gesture is emphatic in their pronouncement of the meanings embedded in the songs. the third stanza has the first line “a wu gbe ne gbene gbene ka cha l' aje” which means “you bailed the water to the extent that you met the floor”. this stanza refers to a communal practice of fishing where a section of the river is left with water and during the dry season all members of the community come out with their bails to scoop the water in order to expose the fishes trapped in there. the alekwu in this stanza tells the barren women to behave like the community. he tells them to keep trying and their efforts will pay at the end just like the community gets many fishes that are trapped in the pond or river. for the alekwu, if the barren women keep trying, like the trapped fishes are revealed, their own children will eventually come to them. in response, the ichicha women in their stanza four sang about someone who has done her best and cannot be blamed for doing nothing. in their words “a w' enyi enyi na du a kw' ebe ni e …” which means when “you bail water again and again and you do not catch fish…” both the alekwu and the ichicha women demonstrate the bailing of water while they sing their stanzas. the ichicha women hold calabashes which they use to show efforts in scooping water. this demonstration or gestures of scooping water is meant to depict the fact that the barren have tried and did not just fold their hands. conclusion in conclusion, the idoma alekwu ohoweklokwu and ije uchulo ritual are dramatic performances rich in all the features found in dramatic 119 120 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma literature. dramatic features such as audience, action, actors, stage, costume, story, etc are all contained in both performances. also, dramatic techniques are employed by both alekwu and the human characters. techniques such as use of music, gestures, lighting, dance, suspense and others are employed to make the performance lively. we also discovered in the research, that the performance has a-five-part plot namely the arrival, dirge performance, alekwu ohoweklokwu (the climax), inviting the dead and silent departure. we also discovered that the performance enhances the knowledge of the people's history in the sense that each time alekwu ohoweklokwu is conducted, both the history of the deceased's settlements down to the present and the genealogy of the deceased are traced to a place and a putative father in the ancient past. it is also interesting to note that the ije uchulo employs the antiphony style which makes the dirge performance, from stanza one to stanza twenty-one, a dialogue between the alekwu and the ichicha group. the audience at the arena of performance serves as the chorus. works cited akporbaro, f.b.o. introduction to african oral literature. princeton publishing company, 2006. amali, idris. “alekwu poetry as a source of historical reconstruction: the pursuit of idoma-otukpo origin, genealogy and migration”. (h�ps://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt4v834 83q/qt4v83483q .pdf?t=mnj800&v=lg) ufahamu: a journal of african studies, 1997. --“praise poetry in idomaland: a critical examination of alekwu stpraise poetry”, a paper presented at the 1 annual conference on idoma literature, language & c u l t u r e a t c o l l e g e o f theducation, katsina-ala, benue state-nigeria, 14-17 may, 1986. amali, shamsudeen. the amalian two theories on cultural creativity and change. kamel publications, 1999. amali, samson. an ancient nigerian drama: the idoma in quest .stuttgart: franz steiner verlag wiesbaden gmbh, 1985. anyebe, ted. “reincarnation in ritual display: a discourse of the alekwu mythopoeia in idoma traditional dramaturgy”, international journal of social science and humanities, vol. 5, no. 6, june 2015, pp. 578-582.77 armstrong, robert. “a west african inquest”. american anthropologist. american anthropological association, vol. 56, no. 6, part 1, 1954, pp. 1051-1075. --“music of the idoma of nigeria: edigwu sings the ancient songs of otukpo, nigeria”. journal of institute of african studies, university of ibadan, 1962. atu, james alachi. “the alekwu festival among the idoma of central nigeria”, anyigba journal of theatre, film and communication arts, vol. 1, no. 1, 2012, pp. 210-218. myeong, do hyeong. “history of oral literature and its codification: the textualization of epics and legends in their historical c o n t e x t . h�p://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/1213/jeannedarc/mdh4.html2 011 okoye, chike and asika, ikechukwu. “negotiating boundaries: performance partitions in the mmonwu theatre.”ideal international journal of igbo scholars forum, nigeria. volume 1, no 2, june 2015, pp. 229-241. — “totems and pantheons: paradigmatic muses in achebe's poetry.” nile journal of english studies, vol 1, no 1, december 2015, pp 47-58. 121 122 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 gabriel oche ukah: the dramatic features of alekwu ohoweklokwu/ije uchulo (dirge) performance among the idoma https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt4v83483q/qt4v83483q https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt4v83483q/qt4v83483q http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/1213/jeannedarc/mdh4.html2011 http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/1213/jeannedarc/mdh4.html2011 page 56 page 57 page 58 page 59 page 60 page 61 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr origin of the reason behind the observance or discontinuance of certain customs. the paper also looks into the methods of styles of delivery. it observes the differences in delivery of fictional and non-fictional narratives. the teachings these folktales convey were also analyzed. the paper suggests that society should use the knowledge from the folktales/folklores in raising their children/wards. introduction igbo folktales are confused greatly with igbo folklore. many scholars are still not at home with the striking differences between the two terminologies. folklore and folktales are oral/written literatures of which had been handed down from generation to generation. they are associated with the cultural needs of the community being recited on social occasionsweddings, funerals, work periods, religious occasions, masquerade ceremonies etc. folklore has been described by many authors. for instance, while the new standard encyclopedia dictionary describes it as “the tradition, beliefs, customs, sayings, stories etc that are preserved among the common people, shiley (1970) says “it is normally confined to spoken or written traditions of people, to traditional aesthetic expressions”. folklore based on the definition of new standard encyclopedia (1978) involves traditions, beliefs, customs, sayings, stories etc prescribed among the common people. this implies that it deals with different aspect of life in a community of which depends on what people believe in. for instance, the igbo belief that a pregnant mother who eats snails (ejula) would deliver a child that spits salvia in infant stage; that the patches on the skin on the back of the tortoise is because of his greed when the animals visited heaven and he cunningly ate up the food presented to them that he was dropped from heaven and got his back broken into pieces which later healed and gave him patches at the back. there is also this belief the igbo's have that the reason mosquitoes fly around the ear is that it begged the ear to of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the sociocultural ethos of igbo folktales anselm nnamdi achebe department of linguistic/lgbo chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, lgbariam & clara oluchukwu azichoba department of linguistic/lgbo chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, lgbariam & ruphina chibugo orizu department of linguistic/lgbo chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, lgbariam abstract this paper interrogates themes and styles in igbo proverbs as well as the socio-cultural ethos enshrined in them. it also intends to look into the two terminologiesigbo folktales and igbo folklore to further showcase their various uses and differences in a society. it will go further to discuss some notable features of themes and styles in igbo folktales. the themes were classified into three major themes – oral stories, tortoise stories, and “why” stories. in case of the moral stories, the constantly recurring themes are those of jealousy among co-wives, exhibition of wickedness and vices especially to an adopted child. it also includes treachery, theft, greed, cruelty, ingratitude, envy etc. the main purpose of the story in each case is to show a character guilty of any of those vices. and, for every vice there is a punishment. the second noticeable theme is tortoise stories. most of these stories are concerned with the display of cleverness and mischief. sometimes, the tortoise is shown as treacherous, greedy, ungrateful, untrustworthy and wicked. most times, it escapes before it is caught. then the why stories are designed to explain some natural phenomenon like the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 49 50 in stories that have this theme, there is usually a sharp contrast between the, good and the bad wives. most often the senior wife led the group of the bad wives.the senior wife generally does something wicked such as stealing the other wife's child or even killing it. sometimes, if she cannot steal or kill the child, she parades ugly rumours against the junior wife who had such a child. the enmity between the wives most often is extended to hatred for their children. she may starve them, poison them or give something belonging to them to her own children. in all this rivalry, the husband cannot influence the course of events. most times, he is not mentioned in the tale, since the purpose is to exhibit the rivalry. achebe, (2012). in the theme of rivalry between wives, the wicked wife is always punished; she dies or is disgraced or her children accidentally die mysteriously. many folktales (lgbo) have as their main theme children exhibition of wickedness and other vices especially to a step-son. the purpose of the story is to show how a woman maltreats a child that does not belong to her. all sorts of wickedness and maltreatments exhibited in this story are all directed to the adopted child by her step mother. other lgbo folktales have as their main theme the exhibition of some vice or wickedness such as treachery, theft, greed, cruelty, ingratitude, jealousy etc. the main purpose of the story in each case is to show a character that is guilty of these vices. for example, the tortoise ate up the hunters food and defecates into the pot to cover up, the lion killed his fathers rabbit and blamed it on the cat, the fowl ate up a farmers corn and was caught by the farmers trap and, finally the mouse killed his only son for food and never had a son and so on. for every vice, there is a punishment. moral stories in the moral world of the folktale, wickedness does not go unpunished. this is why the theme of retribution is found in any story in which any wrong has been committed. in the theme of vice, the guilty character is exposed and punished. the themes of marry him but the ear refused saying that he will not live long, so mosquitoes now visits the ear assuring that he is still alive. the definitions goes to involve the customs of the people. for instance, the igbo true sons separate themselves from the osu, ohu and the chimas accusing them of either being bought as slaves, sacrificed to idols and other negative vices. britain has its beliefs system too which despise no. 13. they claims that it attracts witches wherever they are written. folktale according to shipley, (1970) is “a story of giants, gods, heroes etc which has been handed down from father to son for hundreds of years”. it went further to say that the quality that determines whether a particular story is a folktale or not would seem to be the fact that it is handed down traditionally, whether by word of mouth or on the written or printed page. an animal tale or creation myth of a central african tribe, a fairy tale like snow white, the ugly duck etc provided they keep being told. folktales like igbo proverbs enhance the language that is greatly respected. they present larger real life stories but are hidden in folklore of igbo people achebe, (1958). however, the thrust of this work is to identify the features of themes and styles in igbo folktales. in other to do this, folktales will be classified into three major typesmoral stories, tortoise stories and why stories. amongst the moral stories, the constantly recurring theme are those of jealousy: co-wives quarrel, wicked stepmother, trial by tasks, the beautiful girl and her suitors, etc. the theme of jealously is found repeatedly most commonly among co-wives. these tales are used for the socialization of the young and therefore embody the mores of the society. the murder of a woman by a co-wife is recounted in several tales. co-wives, it would appear are constantly on the lookout for any sign that their husband is favouring one of them and are quick to react whenever they think they can detect such favouritism. a typical example is in a polygamous family where one wife usually, the youngest bears a male child which others were unable to be get any. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 51 52 or one belonging to the humbles perfection the moral in these stories is that no one should be deposed. the poor and weak may succeed where the rich and strong fail tortoise stories the tortoise features prominently in igbo folktales. most of the tortoise stories are concerned with his display of cleverness. for example, he tricked the elephant and brought; him to be killed, with the impression that he had drunk boiled water when in the actual fact, he had passed the water round showing it to several people by which time the water was already cold. he tricked the birds and borrowed their feathers to a banquet in heaven and later denied them of the meal. he made the elephant and the hippopotamus engage in a tug-of-war with both of them thinking that they were being pulled by him. it sometimeshappens, however, that the tortoise who claims to be too clever is outwitted. for instance, he was outwitted by nwaebuleako in his maternal home. he admitted a murder he had committed after seeing the person wrongly accused of the murder ride on a horse and given a royal reception, by the king whose daughter was killed. he was tricked by the pigeon (who had buried a horse head in the middle of the road) into thinking that ice were growing in the earth; he yam porridge in his hat, and although his head was being burnt he could not remove that hat for his greed, and a host of other tales. most other tortoise stories are concerned with the exhibition of some vice or mischief. he is shown as treacherous, greedy, ungrateful, untrustworthy, or wicked. unlike the moral stories, the tortoise sometimes gets away with wrongdoing. most times, he escapes before he is caught, or when caught, he successfully puts the blame on someone else or gives a plausible excuse. when he is punished (in accordance with the theme of retribution), the punishment is often linked with his anatomy. like in the case earlier mentioned where he borrowed feathers from birds, built up wings for itself and went with the birds for a banquet in heaven. after tricking them and eaten up the food that was served them, they collected back their feathers and he was left to his fate. he trial by task test the strength, character or endurance of a person. the reason for giving the tasks may be sheer wickedness on the part of the person setting the task. for instance, wicked mastermay set a very difficult task for his slave. such tasks might range from picking a coin that fell into the river, digging a tunnel with ordinary hand, or even producing a lost object that had long been forgotten. in such cases, an external agency usually intervenes to help the character perform the task. the character returns victorious to the discomfiture of the wicked person who has set the task. this is seen in the theme of a beautiful girl and her suitor i.e when several suitors contend for a particularly desirable wife, a difficult task is set for them by their would-be in-law. for instance, the suitors may be asked to look for a rare object which would involve a very long journey. the tasks are given to several characters to test their prowess, perseverance, sincerity, or love. the idea being that true; love will brave many difficulty to achieve his objective asking suitors to make yam heaps and promising the girl to the first person that finishes in some cases, the test can be quite suitable like the king who pretended that his daughter had died and sent for her suitors to take back the presents they had given him in anticipation of marring her the one suitor that refused to take back his present was then given the daughter in marriage. the theme of tasks is often linked with that of the beautiful girl and her suitors. it usually involved an only daughter usually the king's daughter most times, it is the father who determines who the daughter shall marry but occasionally, the girl herself is able to accept or reject suitors. in such a case, the girl may be presented as proud person who eventually gets an undesirable person as her husband. for example, the beautiful girl who refused to marry princes, kings and rich men and eventually married two fishes akum and okpo (onanwaobiaraene). the suitors were coming from all walks of life and almost invariably, the successful suitor was the least expected one like, the youngest of three brothers, theweakest of a number of animal character, the poorest character coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 53 54 end in a set phrase indicating that it was from such and such a time that such and such a phenomenon or custom came into existence achebe (2012) features of style there are stylistic ways of rendering lgbo folktales. for instance, there is a difference in style of delivery between nonfictional and fictional narratives. the former are delivered as historical narrative, with little attempt at dramatization; they usually contain little, if any, direct speech, and no songs, and are not heightened by audience participation. the stylistic features above are peculiar to non-fictional narratives. for the fictional narratives, lgbo folktales enjoy introductory and closing formulas. the folktales are usually introduced or concluded with conventionalized formulas which vary from place to place in lgbo land. in parts of imo state, the tale may be introduced by the would be narrator saying twice one of the following words which seem to have more sounds than sense: chääkpii; chääkpii; tääkwii; tääkwii; ootii; ufetu, eduulelue. the audience then responds with one of the following words which is also said twice: yoo, hää, woo; oyoo; iyaa. after this follows an interesting type of 'inverted' repartee between the narrator and the audience. the repartee is interesting and 'inverted' because rather than the comments of each of the two speakers cancelling out each other, they complement each other. in actual fact, what happens is that the narrator gives one part of a proverb of some such saying, which the audience completes eventually fell from heaven and crashed to pieces. this is attributed to the reason for the nature of his back-shell. the why stories the third major type of lgbo folktales is the “why” stories. they are stories designed to explain either some natural phenomenon (especially in the animal world) or the origin of the observance or discontinuance of certain customs. the natural phenomenon may be connected with human anatomy, animal anatomy, animal behavior, animal noises, plants or general physical or metaphysical questions. there is a story showing that mosquito goes to the ear because the ear rejects marrying the mosquito believing that it will not live long because of his nature. there is also another story which explains “why” women do not grow beard because a certain woman hid the kings ring in her beard, she was caught and after sharing clean, tortoise excreta was rubbed on her jaw to prevent beards from growing on it. another story explains “why” tortoise got bald head (he put hot porridge in his hat) etc. different kinds of animals behaviour are accounted for: why does the kite prey on chicks? it does because of a pledge broken by the fowl. why does the hen scratch the ground? it is looking for a lost coin. why doesn't the bat come out in the day time? it is ashamed of an act of treachery previously committed. why does the cat eat mice? the first mouse was disloyal to it, etc. this offers explanation to general phenomena like the question about the origin of death, why the dead don't mix with the living? why the sun appears in the daytime and the moon in the night etcetera. the “why” stories are not concerned with moral attitudes of animals or living things. there are folktales incorporating both the moral element and the “why” element. a folktale about the tortoise may even incorporate the three major types. there is no question of learning a lesson from it. that is why “why” stories coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 55 56 narrator: there is a tale i have for you. audience: tale about what? narrator tale about the tortoise and his wife audience: tell the tale again and again so we may know if you are lying another stylistic feature of lgbo folktales is that it normally starts with a sentence like-once upon a time, a king married four wives... there was once a village. in this village, people were not allowed to kill monkeys … a young man who was a magician once lived... chorus is another stylistic feature which lgbo folktales enjoy. most igbo folktales are chorused. this is mostly achieved through the audience participation. this very essential in lgbo folktales. the audience choruses the opening formula, they chorus the songs in the tale and at the same time, they provide answers to the questions asked in the folktale. they even go to the extent of correcting an incompetent narrator. the story is not known by one person but the artistry lies on the creative ingenuity of the narrator. pathorne (1969). the language of the narrator is another stylistic feature that needs to be discussed. the language of the narrator of igbo folktale is direct and intimate. he, as far as possible, talks directly to the audience in his own words. he makes little or no use of dialogue in his narration. the language of folktale is simple and straight forward by the fact that the composition of the audience are mainly children and women who natively are not conversant with a complex figurative language, we may also mention that ideophones are lavishly employed by the folktale artist's e.g. the arrow is shot “fiam”. the lightening flashed, “viam” etc. for instance: narrator – nkịta nyara akpa, audience nsiagwu n'ohịa. narrator agụ baa n'ọhịa, audience mgbada achịrịume n'aka. narrator mmiri riri ụgbọala, audience anaghị egwu ya egwu. translate narrator: if the dog hangs a bag, audience: it collects all the faeces in the bush. narrator: if the lion enters the bush, audience: the antelope will not beat ease. narrator: a river that drowns the eagle, audience: nobody swims in the river. at times, in some places, when the narrator indicates that he has a story to tell, the audience could ask; a story about what and the following dialogue ensures: narrator: o nwere akụkọ m ga akọrọ ụnụ. audience: akụkọ maka gịnị? narrator: akụkọ maka mbe na nwunye ya. audience: kọọkọọkọkwasị , anyị na-egentị ka anyị mara ihe ị ga-ekwu ma ọbụntụka ị na-atụ, ma ọ bụ asị ka ị na-asị. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 57 58 the folktale has themes like – greed, disobedience to an instruction, and lust for things of the world. one could simply notice the evil consequences of the traits. the girl lost her beauty and was left with the ugliness of the demon. another good lesson will be learnt from another tales of “how the tortoise got bumpy shell”. achebe told this story to represent the invasion of colonizers into the igbo society. he saw the colonizers as representing tortoise while the igbo people were the welcoming birds. on a further analysis of the folktale, there are other teachings like (i) greed begets evil consequences (ii) the dangers associated with borrowing (iii) the dangers of welcoming unknown people. conclusion from the above analysis, it is clear that folk-tales are very simple stories in which only thesimplest device is employed in the plot, theme and even the style. the language too issimple and contains a lot of expressions. in general, the emphasis is on the story, themes, and the moral lessons they teach. there are also stylistic ways of rendering these tales. although, this paper limited its analysis on the theme and styles, most of these features are to be found in varying degrees in lgbo novels. finally, every folktale has a lesson it conveys to the society which when adhered to strictly helps to clear some of the societal ills. it should be encouraged as one of the means of bringing up the youths. metaphoric language is made less use of. a good story-teller also makes use of simile as another linguistics device which helps him to achieve his objective. they also develop a different manner of speaking for each protagonist so as to make his tale lively and entertaining. finnegan (1970). mimicry is also another stylistic feature of lgbo folktale. for instance, while imitating the tortoise, the narrator talks in a nasal twang, because the tortoise talks in that way. sometimes also in the song, the narrator employs the first person pronoun i e singing as though, he was the character involved. in one lgbo tale, it makes serious use of repetition of words, phrases or even sentence, for example gagagakata. further teachings folktales try to teach lessons about right and wrong which are called morals. this often involves fight between good and evil. some noticeable lessons folktale teaches includesincerity, honesty, acceptance, harmony and patience. the moral lessons include the importance of good prevailing over evil, the value of hardwork and honesty and consequences of corruption. a very good instance is the popular folktale obaredo. she was instructed by her parents before embarking on their trip to remain within the confines of their home and eat just yam and snail when hungry. the parents asked her to roast the yam first before roasting the snail as the snail would eventually quench the fire. unfortunately, the girl being greedy, having a strong lust for meat, roasted the snail first and fire went off. still hungry, she set out of her home, in disobedience to her parents, to get matchstick from neighbours. on her way, she encounters a demon that steals her beauty and leaves her with his own ugliness. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 anselm nnamdi achebe, clara oluchukwu azichoba & ruphina chibugo orizu: of themes and narrative styles: interrogating the socio-cultural ethos of igbo folktales 59 60 references achebe, c. (1958). things fall apart. heineman ltd achebe, n. (2012). some features of themes and styles in igbo folktales in ọja: an international journal of igbo. african and asian studies. nnamdiazikiwe university, awka dathorne, o.r. (1969). african poetry for schools and colleges. canada macmillan and company limited. finnegan, r. (1970). oral literature in africa. great britain, oxford press. shipley, j.t. (1970). dictionary of world literary terms. london: george atten and unwin ltd. standard educational corporation (1978).new standard encyclopedia. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 61 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 chapter three.cdr and chi-square statistic. findings from the study show that folktale has the potency to provide students with diversity of cultural experiences, values and societal norms; the ability to learn a second culture, understanding the basics that need not be ignored as a good language teacher or instructor, inculcating the virtues needed by the society and discouraging vices, and so on. recommendations were also proffered among which are: students should try not to mistake folktale with story-telling; they should try to adapt themselves to any culture they may find themselves and respect their cultural heritage. keywords: folktales, receptive abilities, second language enhancing, cultural diversity. introduction folktale is a form of traditional oral literature that utilizes story telling as a technique or medium of communication. folktales are usually stories told by grandpas and grandmas especially during moonlights. these stories are not only didactic, but culturally relevant as well as culturally bound in their interpretations. according to babalola et al (2012), folktales have important values for the community in order to maximize their strengths and to be able to live comfortably in cultural diversity. folktales are targeted at inculcating virtues and discouraging vices. the characters in folktales may be animals, birds, mountains, forests, the earth or even water that have assumed the role of human beings. such as the tortoise in nigerian folktales is known as a clever trickster, whose stock in trade is selfishness and deception, like the ananse in marriage of anansewa in ghanian folktales.in english as a second language (esl) environment, the second language (l2) learner is charged with the responsibility of learning a second culture. over the decades, it has been observed that some language teachers still find it quite cumbersome to create enabling environment to the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state okoro, ngozi anchor – lee ph.d department of english language and literature alvan ikoku federal university of education, owerri, imo state, nigeria email:anchorlee54@yahoo.com phone number:08034983670 & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d department of english language and literature alvan ikoku federal university of education owerri, imo state, nigeria email:onuegwunwokeadaeze@gmail.com phone number:08037675151 & enwerem, chioma loveline department of english language and literature alvan ikoku federal university of education, owerri,imo state nigeria email:chiomashedrach@gail.com phone number : 08065999837 abstract this study focuses on the potency of folktales in enhancing students receptive skills especially in secondary schools in orlu metropolis of imo state. the descriptive survey design was adopted for the study that had three research questions formulated to guide it. adopting the krejcie and morgan formula, a sample of 186 respondents were carefully sampled from a target population of 1860 students, instrument for data collection for the study is a researcher made questionnaire that contains 11 items. data collected for the study were analysed using the simple percentage 12119 120 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state mailto:chiomashedrach@gmail.com teacher looks into the eyes of the students and together they pay attention, and rehearse the story. the teacher facilitates the learning by recreating the actions through voice modulations, body gestures, and series of mental images. the students' responses from the onset of their listening signals to the teacher whether to step up or step down, elaborate or even round off. corroborating the above stance, amadi (2001) in okoro et al (2017) highlights the benefits of story-telling as an instructional technique thus: listening to and telling stories, act as springboard for active participation and creativity – producing the desired stimulus and ideas for explaining characters and events. however, ahukanna (2001) identified some pitfalls associated with story-telling method thus: value attached to a good story depends on the maturity of the audience and individual differences, in order words, what is good for the goose may not be good for the gander if the teacher is not careful enough to identify her target audience before choosing a story for a given topic. students may have difficulties in comprehending what they have listened to, and resolving the conflict that may arise from their cognitive schema over what they have already internalized.time management to avoid loss of interest. how folktale can be used to enhance students' receptive skills the language skills are grouped into productive skills (speaking and writing) and the receptive skills (listening and reading).the hallmark of every linguistic transaction irrespective of context is to achieve mutual understanding and reciprocate appropriately. in the context of listening and reading which is our focus, the participants aim at absorbing information unlike in speaking and writing where the language users give out stimulate learners' interests in some topics such as listening and reading comprehension. a good language teacher therefore ought to be conversant with the basics that need not to be ignored. in that case, listening skill becomes the primary language skill to be given adequate attention if academic progress must be recorded. moreover, there are some 'active learning instructional strategies (alis)' such as think –pair share, prediction, brainstorming and collaboration among others that can be used by the teacher to engage, improve and minimize boredom in the classroom in addition to folktale as a sure-bet for enhancing the students' receptive abilities. the nature of folktales folktales and story-telling are two sides of a coin. folktales as the name implies are traditional oral history reflecting diverse cultural stories that have existed for centuries from one generation to another. oral rendition is one of its numerous peculiarities. in our contemporary age, the advent of technological devices have made life easy in that other peoples stories could be adapted either for the purpose of acting it out on stage or oral rendition as poetry whether as an individual or group activity asynchronously. folktales by their peculiarities provide diversity of cultural experiences, values, beliefs, norms and mores to the listeners (mantra et al 2018). folktales by their nature celebrate diverse cultural backgrounds. by listening to and reading stories across cultures, students discover valuable insights about other people's way of life. ezeala (2015) in okoro et al (2017) states that story telling as a method of teaching is often mistaken for explanation or forklore. in the story-telling method, the teacher creates a story which is similar to the topic to be taught or which is suitable to illustrate a particular concept in the subject and topic at hand (p. 158). the 121 122 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state why it should be taught (the rationale). how to achieve the stated instructional performance objectives (methodology). in a classroom setting, the teacher having planned his lesson comes into the classroom and sets the following ground rules: listen attentively. no noise. no loitering. no executive meditation (no sleeping). keep it short and simple (kiss). be ready to answer questions put to you (turn taking). by way of introduction and set induction, the teacher poses the following questions. do you agree? what do you think is responsible for poor reading culture and how do we resolve that? task 1: she reads a comprehension passage entitled “the missing flute”. teacher: once upon a time! class: (chorused) time, time! teacher: in the land of umueze, there lived a widow, nkechinyere and her only son, chimdindu. chimdi as she often called him was an obedient child, respectful and humble. he was the best companion of his mother and the mother bought him a flute as a gift due to his supportive roles in the family. chimdi would always help his mother in house chores and farm work. he cherished that flute so much that it became his own companion too. anywhere he went, the flute was in his hands. one day, nkechinyere and her son went to farm. chimdi hid his flute under a palm tree. when it was getting late, the mother hurriedly gripped him by the hand and they started going home. it was when they got home that chimdi realized that he forgot his flute. he told his mother of his intention to go back to the farm and collect his flute, but the mother discouraged him because it was information. opara et al (2016) observe that “despite the significant roles reading plays in one's intellectual attainment, most students do not read at all”. one must be able to comprehend what one reads if one's interest is properly aroused. it is a common saying these days that the reading culture among students in nigeria has dwindled. unesco (2013) recorded about 774 million global adult population that are illiterate in the world. most students suffer from alliteracy. they lack the desire to read. alliterate people can read, but they tend to avoid engaging themselves in practical reading.eze (2007), comments that the poor performance in many examinations is always a product of poor reading abilities and comprehension. when effective listening skill is developed in students, effective reading culture will be guaranteed. inadvertently, when effective reading culture is developed, students' linguistic and communicative competence in their use of language will also reflect in their academic achievements. by implication, the potency of incorporating folktales to improve their listening skill which is supposedly the first language skill becomes imperative. obviously, it will in turn facilitate the mastery of the other skills. whereas a skill can be referred to as the ability or developed aptitude to do something well by using one's knowledge readily and maximally to achieve high performance. listening and reading skills in the context of this discourse refer to the ability of the language user(s) to comprehend and interpret meaningfully a given text, situation or even semiotics which it is composed. when students recognize that they will be tested after a listening and reading passage, it will inform their decision to pay rapt attention. in that regard, a resourceful teacher creates the enabling environment by deciding; what to teach (choosing the topic). 123 124 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state spirits: you stubborn child, go! ikem sighed and left. on his way back, the spirits stopped him and handed him three bags. he left rejoicing not knowing the content. when he got home, he didn't let anybody in even his mother. he locked himself up with the hope of enjoying the treasures all alone. contrary to his expectation, when he opened the bags; he was overwhelmed by deadly reptiles, scorpions, bees and the likes. teacher: hello students. class: hello auntie. teacher: did you listen attentively to the reading? class: (chorused) yes auntie. teacher: (the teacher divides the class into groups and gives them questions to answer in groups. they will choose their group leader after brainstorming, making predictions, think and pair their answers). in three sentences explain why ikem and chimdi were rewarded differently. identify four moral lessons you have learnt from the passage? teacher: divides the students into groups to collaborate, brainstorm, predict, think – pair and share their ideas as they engage in the activity. class activity: read the passage carefully and answer the following questions. 1. explain briefly how the spirits rewarded ikem and chimdi? 2. what do you think made the spirits to reward them differently? 3. list and explain at least three moral lessons you can derive from the passage. 4. in three sentences, summarize the passage. statement of the problem taking into consideration the continued handicaps and night already and besides the spirits would be out by such a time of the day. he told his mother that he would go and come back successfully and left in search of his flute. when he got to the junction where four parts meet, the spirits stopped him. chimdi first of all greeted them. spirits: where are you going? chimdi: please, i forgot my flute, and i want to go and collect it. spirits: it's okay, you can go! chimdi: thank you sirs. as soon as he left, the spirits started planning good things for him because he was courteous. chimdi got to the place he forgot his flute, collected it and started running back home. on his way home, he met the spirits the second time, and they stopped him. chimdi: good evening sirs! spirits: did you see your flute? chimdi: yes sir, i have collected it. they gave him three bags containing different treasures. when he got home, he called his mother and they opened the bags one after the other and they discovered the hidden treasures in various bags. that was how their days of sudden abundance became a news. when one of their neighbour's son, ikem heard about what happened, out of envy and jealousy, one day followed the mother to the farm and deliberately dropped his flute while going home. as soon as they got home, he told his mother that he would go back and collect his flute, but the mother insisted that he would not go because of the spirits. he paid a deaf ear and rushed out to go and collect his flute with the intention of receiving the same reward as chimdi's. eventually, when he met the spirits, they stopped him. spirits: where are you coming from and where are you going? ikem: infuriated with the question, shouted 'get out of my way, i'm going to collect my flute'. 125 126 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state strategy or method.activity theory highlights the learning complexity that could be resolved by the adoption of mediated interactions rather than passivity or something opaque which happens in students' minds. vygotsky does not see learning as transmission of ideas rather as transformation of other lives.hashim et al (2007), proponents of activity theory postulate that the activity theory is a conceptual framework for the analysis and understanding of human interaction. activity theory aligns itself with the integration of folktales as potent tools for engaging students' in participation, hence its transformational benefits. task 2 the teacher assumes the role of a narrator, narrates a folktale entitled 'ahia uya' meaning the 'uya market' in a background information, she explains that there was a scenario where the tortoise exhibited greed and craftiness by feigning ezemuo (king of the spirits) due to famine in the land, but unfortunately was caught in a web after a frenzy success. narrator: once upon a time. class: (chorused) time, time narrator: in the land of the animals, there was famine to the point that many prominent animals started dying of hunger. the tortoise devised a survival strategy by feigning 'ezemuo' every eke market day, terrorizing the community by carting away their goods. he would bring out his 'oji' (iron digger), decorated with beads, feathers and other metals before proceeding to the market square. the people in the market would take to their heels, abandoning all their goods running for their dear lives at the sound of the oji and his spirit-chanting thus: narrator: ahia uya sue sue class: (chorused) uyaaa, uya mbele uya (2x) narrator: egbe gbawa onwe ya class: (chorused) uyaaa, uya mbele uya difficulties, often faced by students in their receptive skills on learning english as a second language for instance, it would be interesting to understand if some active learning instructional strategies (alis) which often help to engage, improve and minimize boredom in the classroom have been put into use in the past. it is against this backdrop that this study targets to ascertain the potency of folktales in the enhancement of students receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metroplis of imo state. objectives of the study the main objective of this discourse is to investigate the potency of folktales in enhancing students receptive skills in our secondary schools. specifically, the study seeks to: 1. ascertain the nature of folktales present in our environment 2. determine how folktales can be used to enhance the receptive skills. 3. find out the extent to which identified benefits of folktales as key teaching method enhances students' receptive abilities in the school system. research questions the following research questions were formulated for the study 1. what is the nature of folktales experienced in our society? 2. in what ways can folktales be used to enhance students' receptive skills? 3. to what extent does the identified variable of folktales as a key teaching method in the school system enhance students' receptive skills? theoretical framework this work is anchored on the activity theory postulated by vygotsky (1978). he visualized how the activity theory can be utilized to achieve transformational learning depending on the 127 128 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state analyzed using simple percentages and chi-square analytic methods. results the results of data analysis using simple percentages and chisquare statistic are presented in the tables below research question one: what is the nature of folktales experienced in our society? table 1 the results on table 1 revealed the outcome of percentage analysis of respondents' opinions on the nature of folktales experienced in the society. narrator: agwada kuwa onwe ya class: (chorused)uyaaa, uya mbele uya . narrator: ahia uya sue sue class: (chorused) uyaaa ,uya mbele uya. narrator: the tortoise did that successfully on two eke market days. all the sages in that community consulted and hazarded a solution to that problem. it is said that every day is for the thief, but one day is for the owner of the house. the elders brought out a doll-baby (toy) at the centre of the market decorated with 'erontuochi' ,masking the doll-baby with a permanent smiling face and a goat meat leg all glued in her hand . on the d-day, the tortoise came begging the baby some portion of the meat, but when the baby didn't give him; but kept smiling the tortoise got infuriated and slapped the baby and became glued. the tortoise pleaded for mercy yet the baby kept beaming with smile. eventually, the villagers gathered and discovered with utter dismay that tortoise was the monster terrorizing them. the story ends. narrator: now, what do you think should be done to the tortoise? mention three character traits that every good child should avoid based on the story. method the study adopted a descriptive survey design on how folktales could assist to enhance students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis. three research questions were formulated for the study. a sample of 186 respondents randomly selected from a population of 1,860 students in orlu metropolis in line with krejcie etal (1970) formula for determination of sample size, was used for the study. the instrument for data collection was a 11 item questionnaire designed using the modified four point likert scale that had crobach alpha reliability index of 0.83. data collected were 129 130 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state table 3: result of chi-square analysis on male and female respondents' perceptions on the extent to which the identified variables above enhance students' receptive sills. the result on table 3 revealed the outcome of the chi-square analysis of male and female students/respondents' perceptions of the extent to which identified variables of benefit of folktales use enhance the receptive/abilities of students. discussion of findings the result on table 1 revealed that respondents have high percentage acceptance of the four statements made in items 1-4 on the nature of folktale experienced around their environment. this goes to be in line with the position of mantra et al (2018) when they stated that folktales have the peculiarities of providing diversity of cultural experiences, values, beliefs, norms and mores to the listeners. furthermore, the table 2 results revealed the existence of a high percentage (79.7%) acceptance by respondents on the ways folktales could be used to enhance students' receptive skills in schools thereby talking about the benefits as stated in item 5-11 of the table. the findings to support the varied opinions of lwin, 2009; mantra et al (2018) regan (2009) and westland (2003) who perceived that through folktales, students can learn about new vocabulary, grammatical or tenses and generic structure of the research question two: in what ways can folktales be used to enhance students' receptive skills? table 2 the result on table 2 revealed the outcome of the percentage analysis of respondents on ways or benefits of folktales on students' receptive abilities. gender 131 132 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state the students' use of the language, listening as a primary skill must not be ignored. · granted that comprehension is the hallmark of any linguistic transaction at all times, therefore, to benefit maximally in a learning context, psychological, physiological, and environmental indices that can pose distractions must be put at bay. references alukanna, j. (2001). language in the education of the child. problems associated with the development of language competence in children. in : r. amadi (ed) language education issues and insights. vantage press. amadi, g. (2001) classroom communication process. in : r amadi (ed). language education issues and insights. vantage press. ayo, k. (2010). folktale and values to nigerian child. journal of social and cultural studies.13 (1).36-45. babalola, e, t. & onanuga, p. a. (2012).atrophizatior, of minority languages: indigenous folktales to the rescue. international journal of linguistics, 4(1), 158-173. ekah, m.h (2015). approaches to english language teaching nd (2 edition).inela ventures and publishers limited. ezeala, r.a.m (2015). effective teaching methods for basic and post basic schools. amah press, 59. hashim, n.h and jones, m.l (2007).activity theory.a framework f o r q u a l i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s . a c c e s s e d f r o m ro.uow.edu.au/ei/view content article = 1434. h�p://www2.meriam-webster.com accessed 25th july, 2023. krejcie, r.v & morgan, d.w (1970).determining sample size for research activities. educational and psychological measure 30, 607-610 longman dictionary of contemporary english text; they can learn to tolerate other people's cultural heritage and make inferences or predictions in matters of urgent attention, among others. conclusion in this discourse, the potency of folktales for enhancing the receptive skills of students in orlu metropolis was highlighted based on activity as propounded by vygotsky ( ). findings revealed that if the active learning instructional strategies (alis) were earlier adopted by the teacher and folktales incorporated during lesson delivery especially comprehension exercises, chances are that the stated performance objectives of the lesson will be achieved and students' academic achievement in the receptive skills improved. recommendations · teachers should upgrade themselves through conference and workshops so as to be abreast of the current trends in teaching stprofession in this 21 century. · students should avail themselves the opportunity of listening before speaking because if you are not a good listener, you will not be a good judge. so listening as the first language skill should be given priority attention in its development. · students are encouraged to develop interest in listening in listening to and reading good stories especially those that remind us of our cultural heritage and practices for didactic purposes. · since learning a second language by implication is learning a second culture, students should widen their horizon by reading voraciously to be in tune with diversity of cultures. · it is highly important that students' receptive skills be developed through folktales so as to awaken a lively reading culture among them. · to be able to establish effective communicative competence in 133 134 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 okoro, ngozi anchor lee ph.d & onuegwunwoke, cynthia adaeze ph.d & enwerem, chioma loveline: the potency of folktales in enhancing students' receptive skills in secondary schools in orlu metropolis, imo state http://www2.meriam-webster.com lwin, s. m. (2009). revisiting a structuralanalysis of folktales: a means to an end? the buckingham journal of language and linguistics, 2(1), 69-80. mantra, ibn. (2017). promoting the students' writing skill through folktales based learning activities. isolec proceeding. faculty of letters, universitas negeri malang. lingua sciential 87 okoro, n.a, akueshi, n.n and okoroafor, e (2014).teaching literacy skills using jolly phonics. uyo, online journal. okoro, n.a, ikediashi, n.n and okonkwo, a.j (2017).story telling as active instructional strategy for developing creative writing among children for sustainable development.in :journal of omep.13 (1 and 2).157-164. onukogu, c (2003). towards the understanding of reading.in : c.e. onukaogu (ed), teaching reading in nigeria : a guidebook to theory and practice. initial reading association, 64-74. opara, c and anigbogu, n (2016). integration of technology into classroom instruction : impact on reading comprehension skills of undergraduates. in : review of arts and social sciences, quarterly journal of inter-university friendship association 4(5). 107-113. 135 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 page 60 page 61 page 62 page 63 page 64 page 65 page 66 page 67 page 68 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr 43 44 b e t w e e n o r a l a n d w r i t t e n l i t e r a r y f o r m s : (re)understanding the dichotomy dele maxwell ugwanyi department of english and literary studies enugu state university of science and technology, enugu & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani department of english and literary studies enugu state university of science and technology, enugu abstract arguments about the contradiction of oral and written forms of work of art generally known as literature have been posited by many scholars. however, there are hardly studies on what primarily constitutes oral literature and the correctness and appropriateness of the phrase and the literariness of those constituents. the seeming negligence on this critical perspective may be motivated by the fact that folklore, orality and oral heritage are mistaken to mean oral literature by many scholars which is an obvious misconception of the discipline. even though early researchers on the field of oral literature were not literary scholars, it is pertinent that the misconception about the field is corrected and the record set straight. this paper, therefore, concerns itself with proper categorisation of what oral literature is not with keen conceptualisation of the literariness of what constitutes oral literature; attempt is also made to invite scholars to a consideration of a universalised categorization of genres of african oral literature. drawing insights from classical literary theories and hermeneutics, the core of oral literature is established thereby filtering out what were hitherto mistaken to be oral literature. fur thermore , ora l l i te ra ture i s cont ras ted wi th i t s patrick, charles alex. “the role of anxiety and anger in wole soyinka's samarkand and other markets i have known.” iafor journal of arts and humanities, vol. 6, issue 2, november 2019, pp. 93 – 101. soyinka, wole. a shuttle in the crypt.methuen, 1971. --idanre and other poems.methuen, 1967. --madmen and specialists. university press limited, 1971. ---mandela's earth and other poems.random house, 1988. ---ogun abibiman. rex collins, 1978. --samarkand and other markets i have known.methuen, 2002. wilson, roderick. “complexity and confusion in soyinka's shorter poetry”, journal of commonwealth literature, vol 8, no 1, 1973, pp. 69. dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 45 46 writtencounterpart to critically establish that the only difference is that the former is transmitted by “word of mouth” while the latter is written. keywords: literariness, folklore, orality, oral heritage, orature and oral literature introduction in discussing what oral literature is not and to put more succinctly, the many misconceptions about oral literature and the inherent contradictions often associated with classification of oral and written forms, attempt is made to bring our understanding to the etymology of the phrase 'oral literature'. some scholars and students alike use folklore and orality interchangeably with oral literature. these scholars assume both terms to be conceptual synonyms. those scholars who perceive these terms as the same may have got their orientation of oral literature from early researchers who were not literary scholars.while they are not entirely wrong for using these two terms to mean the same thing, it is important that we clarify these misconceptions by dissecting these words from the general to the specific. to do this, let us look at instances from the critics that have used this term interchangeably and the contexts in which they have used it. for instance, f.b.o. akporobaro (2012) is one of the scholars who seemed to have used folklore interchangeably with oral literature: …folklore provides a vast tapestry which are woven in terrifying images and colours, many actions and incidents which can chill, terrify, depress and or excite the human imagination. whether written or oral tales and lyrics are in a significant sense “creative refractions” of human condition into its varied colours to express vividly the realities of good and evil inherent in the soul of man (426). similarly, m.h. abrams and geoffrey harpham (2012) whose work a glossary of literary terms has been instrumental in the definition of some critical terms especially for students of literary studies also used folklore interchangeably with oral literature. in the entry for folklore, they defined it as “…sayings, verbal compositions, and social rituals that have been handed down solely, or at least primarily, by word of mouth and example rather than in written form…folklore includes legends, superstitions, songs, tales, proverbs, riddles, spells, and nursery rhymes” (135-136). in the above excerpts, it is glaring that folklore has been used to mean oral literature. to think of oral literature as folklore is a myopic way of looking at the entire lore of a folk. oral literature is an aspect of folklore and not folklore itself. according to the website of the world oral literature project, established by the university of cambridge in collaboration with yale university, a canadian encyclopedia suggests that "the term oral literature is sometimes used interchangeably with folklore, but it usually has a broader focus. the expression is self-contradictory: literature, strictly speaking, is that which is written down; but the term is used here to emphasize the imaginative creativity and conventional structures that mark oral discourse too” another term that scholars have used to designate oral literature is orature. the term was coined by piozirimu, a ugandan linguist. zirimu seems to have coined this term to evade the use of the phrase oral literature because of its misconceived contradiction. according to andré kaboré (2007) piozirimu proposed the term “orature” to palliate the alleged contradiction in the phrase “oral literature” or “spoken literature”. in another paper, kaboréfurther argues thus: many terms or phrases have been used to refer to literature that is not written. femi abodunrin in his critical appreciation of such a literature in africa says that “oral literature, orature, traditional literature, folk literature or dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 47 48 folklore” have been used to describe this specific type of literature (29). the term oraturewhich is mentioned in this list was coined by the ugandan linguist pio zirimu as a substitute for oral literature because, at the opposite of the german word “wortkunst” (literally, art of words) which includes both oral and written forms, the term “literature” privileges writing, leading those who have a book-bound definition of literature to see a contradiction in the phrase “oral literature”; in their mind literature is nothing but written. (14) to clarify these misconceptions, we do not intend to use a particular theory with rules and methods of analysis, rather, we shall use a sequence of logical objective interpretation to elucidate this age-long scholarly oversight. oral and written forms and the dichotomy for isidoreokpewho (1992), “the word folklore implies much more than just literatureand some quarters underplay the literary aspects of what folk do” (4).folklore is the entire body of culture of a group of people. it includes their customs, tradition, legends, history and art. thus, we can say that folklore is a hypernym with the following hyponyms: customs, tradition, legend, epic, history, and art. oral literature is not mentioned here as one of the hyponyms because it is subsumed in art, that is, it is one of the hyponyms of art. to put this more succinctly, art is a hypernym of the following hyponyms: music, painting, sculpting, literature and perhaps architecture. literature (poetry) according to aristotle is the only form of art whose manner of representation is language alone. for the linguists also, language is a semiotic code with double significationoral and written. so that we can now have oral and written forms of literature. using the two terms interchangeably is synecdochical. okpewho gives credence to this in his clarification of the term: sometimes the use of the term folklore and oral literature is a little confusing. in many cases, the latter is used when the former is meant, i.e, a scholar may praise a yoruba or kibuyu proverb as an example of the quality of the people's folklore. this is something of a generalization. for if we examined the various aspects of the material culture of same people (their traditional architecture and weaving), there might be nothing so 'poetic' about them. such generalizations, in which a part is used to represent a whole, are quite frequent in literature and perhaps excusable. whatever errors may have been made in the early history of this subject, however, it is important to note that the folklore of a people consists of two kinds of activity: what these people intentionally say (e.g. songs, proverbs and tales) and what they traditionally do (weaving, dance, ritual) (5). similarly, orality is not the same as oral literature, even though oral literature is subsumed in orality. orality, however, is a complex whole that includes things that are literary and things that are not but are verbally expressed. paul bandia (2018) has given credence to this by stating that “orality has shed its negative image as primitive, unwritten, non-literate and exotic and grown into a major field of scientific interest and the focus of interdisciplinary research” (125). this paper also agrees with walter ong (1982) in his categorization of orality according to the different contexts that produced them. he termed orality of cultures untouched by literacy as primary orality while orality that has come in contact with high technology, he termed secondary orality. in his words, i style the orality of a culture totally untouched by any knowledge of writing or print, primary orality. it is primary by contrast with the secondary orality of present-day hightechnology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television and other electronic devices dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 49 50 another important question on the ongoing scholarly debate is what constitutes oral literature. if we define it exclusively as literature of the illiterate folks, we risk relegating this form of literature to the preliterate past. it could be argued that in those cultures where we hitherto found illiterate folk, we can now find greater percentage of the population of those folk to be literate. then do we now say that since this literature, which should be oral, is coming from literate folks they should not be termed oral literature because of its old kinship with illiteracy? or should the language define which is oral literature and which is not? will a text become oral literature because it is written in, say, igbo, yoruba or hausa?or any language that is not european? oral literature scholars should, as a matter of necessity, be able to clearly distinguish oral literature from other fields of study like anthropology, music, archaeology and history. even though these are forms of art, they are not literature. aristotle has clearly distinguished between history and oral literature in his poetics; this distinction should not only be viewed vis a viz written literature only if we agree that literature is literature whether oral or written. he noted thus: it is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen —what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity. the poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose. the work of herodotus might be put into verse, and it would still be a species of history, with metre no less than without it. the true difference is that one relates what has happened, the other what may happen. poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history in particular. by the universal, i mean how a person of a certain type will on occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print (11). however, for panagiotis roilos (2011), 'orality' should be understood as a more flexible notion than 'oral traditional literature', since it may refer to all or any combination of the following processes of the creation and communication of verbal art: composition, performance, or transmission (233). orality involves all patterned verbal expressions whether literary or nonliterary. like our earlier analogy of folklore, orality has so many hyponyms of which oral literature is one. having clarified these misconceptions, let us now attempt a re-evaluation of the term, oral literature and also take a review of the ongoing scholarly debates on the term. for many scholars, oral literature is an oxymoron that literally contradicts its meaning. it is the fear of falling prey to this seeming contradiction that have pushed many critics to prefer the use of such terms as folklore, orature, orality, oral tradition and oral heritage. amidst these debates, isidoreokpewho, perhaps influenced by, ruth finnegan, has posited that this literature (oral literature) is the kind that is transmitted by word of mouth (1); so that the adjective oralbefore the literature is merely telling us the kind of literature it is. to further clarify this contradiction, it is important to reiterate aristotle's position on the term, literature; even though he never mentioned the term, literature, outright; he avers that literature (poetry) is the form of art whose manner of representation is language alone-it is the study of things that can matter only to creatures that possess language. as we have earlier stated, language is a semiotic code with double signification-oral and written. this presupposes that we can have oral and written forms of literature. oral literature is simply literature minus writing. dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 51 52 okpewho has earlier pointed out that those who started the study of oral literature were not literary scholars so their interest was not centred on the literariness of the oral art forms. for instance, the chants, sung poems, masquerade performances, folktales and proverbs or other veiled forms of language meant no more to them than a sociological tool through which the folk were entertained. the biased focus of their research informed the many non-literary elements introduced into oral literature. one of such elements is oral history which has been unbundled into legend, myth and ethnology. even though those insights helped the informed knowledge in the discipline, the researchers have come to realise, after a thorough critical study, that the cores of oral literature have been strangely twisted. this is mainly because we have allowed those who are not literary scholars to theorize on oral literature and designate the primary objects of the discipline hence the infiltration of so many non-literary elements in the field. even though some of these elements can be transmuted into oral literature, basic oral literary terms should be clarified to set boundaries between the discipline and other disciplines that have affiliations with folklore. it should be stated in strong terms that folklore, oral heritage, oral tradition and orality are not the same as oral literature and should not be used interchangeably. however, oral literature is subsumed in each of these terms. in view of this, okpe who noted that the major breakthrough in the field of oral literature started when african scholars began to undertake research into the oral tradition of their own people (4).even though literature has resisted a watertight definition from the classical times, it is important to have a universal categorization of genres. it evident that oral literature has no defined genres perhaps because the supposed genres are strangely twisted with their elements so that those terms that are supposed to be devices/elements in the discipline are elevated to the status of genres. for instance, in or necessity; and it is this universality at which poetry aims in the names she attaches to the personages (11). the above position by aristotle has been widely held by literary scholars. howeverit is viewed, there is no defence for not according african oral literature the many similar qualities it shares with its written counterpart. almost every discipline in the humanities lays claim to oral literature because the early scholars failed to unbundle it from folklore. the object of what is known to be oral literature should be clearly distinguished so that scholars and students would understand that the enterprise oftheir field is not questionable. besides okpewho, g.g. darah,another scholar who realized that the field of oral literature is threatened by disciplines in the humanities and social sciences noted that folklore studies during its developing period followed trends set by evolutionist and anthropologists; for him, these scholars concentrated on the usefulness of the product and not on their artistic qualities (4). as far as evidence has allowed us to see, we have had more archaeologists and anthropologists theorize and philosophize on oral literature than literary scholars themselves. this has greatly affected the comparative categorization of oral literature and its written counterpart. for instance, an anthropologist has this to say about oral narrative: (1) it allows humans beings to escape in fantasy from repressions imposed upon them by society. (2) it validates a culture, justifying rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them. (3) it educates those in need of education, children in particular. (4) it maintains social control by encouraging conformity to accepted patterns of behaviour. (poetry as social praxis, 68). dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 53 54 the etymology of the word literature means 'writing' so that the word'oral literature' is a kind oxymoronic violence that should not be tolerated in scholarship should also understand that there is a hypocritical contradiction staring them in the face in the etymology of many words of english language. the word language, just like literature, is from latin origin (langue) which literally means 'tongue'. language does not mainly function a means of communication, its primary function is for the production of thoughts and not merely communication. if language which draws its etymology from 'tongue' is now flexibly receptive to accommodate some other forms like the written form and sign language, then how is oral literature a contradiction? if 'written' can stand as a participle before language and 'sign' can stand as an adjective before language, then are we not recklessly negligent and guilty of the same nomenclatural oxymoron about which we accuse scholars who argue that oral literature is the literature that is transmitted by word of mouth? as panagiotis roilos posited, the corpus of verbal art defined as 'oral literature' is distinguished from written literary forms on the basis of its 'orality' (225). to further buttress this position, if we take a brief look at the history of some words, what is called, in linguistics, etymology; we would find out that some words do not have any kinship with their etymology. they, are therefore, arbitrary with their etymologies. if we take a look at the origin of the word, language, we find out that it is of latin origin, langue/lingua, which means tongue. similarly, the origin of the word salary is quite arbitrary to its usage nowadays. salary actually drew its origin from the word salt.for instance, the word mouse does not have any relationship with its etymology. the meaning was attached to the word because of technological advancement. some have argued that computer scientist came about the name because of the device's resemblance with the rodent, mouse. if the meaning african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory, olaniyan and quayson(2007) enumerate the following as genres of oral literature: storytelling, proverbs, epics, incantations, panegyrics, occasion-specific poetries and dramatic performances. as noted by panagiotis roilos, oral literature constitutes a conspicuous nomenclatural oxymoron (oral literature, 225). proverbs, riddles, tongue twisters, adages, retorts and other epigrammatic configurations should not be categorized as genres of oral literature since these things are also found in literature but are not classed as genres of literature. they are, no doubt, figurative but they cannot be grouped under the three major genres of literature. panagiotis roilos further poses this as a research question here: should the concept of 'oral literature' include all types of verbal discourse (e. g. tales, spells, proverbs, riddles) that deviate from the communicative norm of everyday speech in terms of form (aesthetics) and 'function' (performance)? if, as is indicated by scholarly practice in a number of fields, a positive answer to the last question seems to enjoy a significant consensus among researchers, approaches to the two other issues are more controversial and certainly more demanding, since they presuppose systematic investigations into specific synchronic textures of sociocultural interaction (229). it should be noted primarily that language is the only manner of representation of the art form called literature; and in language, there is the oral and written modes of transmission. this presupposes that there are oral and written forms of literature. if literature is universal, there should also be the universal categorization of the genres of literature-the oral and written forms. scholars who argue that oral literature is a contradiction because dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 55 56 change during the digital revolution”, thus: researchers often refer to two different types of factors that cause semantic change: linguistic and extralinguistic. daiu (2015) discusses some of the linguistic factors, for instance, the influence of other languages, where borrowed words can cause older expressions to fall out of use. furthermore, the existence of homonyms can cause semantic change. if two words appear the same but denote entirely different things, one of the meanings might be used less in order to avoid misunderstandings (daiu, 2015). extra-linguistic factors range from human psychology to the environments we live in. one example of how human psychology works as an extra linguistic factor is discussed by crowley (1992). another extralinguistic factor is technological advances. for example, riemer (2010, p. 373) mentions the verb fly. today fly can denote being a passenger on an aeroplane, which would have been impossible before the invention of the aeroplane. given that the speed of technological advancements has been much greater during the past few hundred years than ever before it should entail that many new meanings have been added to the english language. harris (2014) maintains that technological advancements create new environments for people. new environments, in turn, cause semantic change(1). conclusion we can see that trends in technology, for want of creating new words, have invested meanings on existing words which do not have any etymological kinship with these associated meanings. however, metaphorical relationships are forced on them so that they embody these meanings without any need for holding any word conference by linguists. if these words can embody these meanings without much scholarly arguments, why came about as a result of this resemblance, how do you explain the wireless mouse? the arbitrariness of language has allowed meaning association to many words. for instance, the words mouse, web, window, page, cloud, application, key and many other words have undergone a grave semantic shift since the th middle of 20 century till now due to advancement in technology. to accept that all these words mentioned here do not have any clear etymological relationship with the recent semantics they embody will be very startling to scholars who still perceive oral literature as a contradiction. in view of this, how do we explain that these words do not have any kinship with their origin? what accounts for thisaccording to linguists is semantic change. for traugott: since language is a communicative activity, semantic change is inevitable (1). linguistic approaches to semantic change have addressed the outcome of meaning change and analysed the types of change, such as meaning broadening and narrowing, metaphoric and metonymic extension, and the developments of positive and negative meaning or what is referred to as amelioration and pejoration…words change their meanings overtime and acquire new semantics. (hock & joseph 2009; paradis 2011; traugott 2012qtd in “the semantic change of positive vs. negative adjectives in modern english”, 1). since words are arbitrary, any word is capable of encoding an infinite number of meanings without the meaning necessarily having any relationship with their etymology. however, semantic change does not just occur, there are reasons that account for the shift even though linguists have not come into unanimous conclusions on the motivations for these changes. johan andersson has summarized some of the reasons that account for such changes in his paper, “bug report: a study of semantic dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 57 58 ong, walter. orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word. methuen, 1982. paul bandia. “orality and translation”.1st ed. taylor and francis, 2018. roilos, panagiotis. "oral literature, ritual, and the dialectics of performance".medieval oral literature, edited by karl reichl, berlin, boston: de gruyter, 2011. would literary scholars have issues with the word literature capturing its written and oral forms? works cited abdel rahman mitibaltakhaineh. the semantic change of positive vs. negative adjectives in modern english. the poznań society for the advancement of arts and sciences, 2018, pp. 25-38. abrams, m.h. and harpham, geoffrey galt. a glossary of literary terms. wadsworth, cengage learning. 2012. akporobaro, f.b.o. introduction to african oral literature. princeton publishing co. 2012 andersson, johan. “bug report: a study of semantic change during the digital revolution”. t h e s i s . s t o c k h o l m university, faculty of humanities, department of english.2020. aristotle. aristotle's poetics.new york:hill and wang, 1961. darah, godini g. “creativity and performance in oral poetry” the palgrave handbook of african oral traditions and folklore, edited by akintundeakinyemi andtoyin falola. springer nature switzerland ag.2021 kabore, andre. “orature as the characteristic of the literature of werewere-liking and pacere”.international journal of studies in english language and literature, vol. 2, no 4, 2014, pp. 13-30. . “ p a c e r e a s t h e d e m i u r g e o f o r a t u r e ” tydskrifvirletterkunde.issue 1, 2007. niles, john. poetry as social praxis". homo narrans: the poetics and anthropology of oral literature. university of pennsylvania press, 2010. okpewho, isidore. african oral literature: backgrounds, character, and continuity.indiana university press, 1992. olaniyan, tejumola, and atoquayson. african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory. blackwell pub, 2007. dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 page 22 page 23 page 24 page 25 page 26 page 27 page 28 page 29 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou's novels chiemela imelda ibeku, phd federal university oye-ekiti, ekiti state nigeria 07032786331 chiemela.ibeku@fuoye.edu.ng melabeks@yahoo.com or abstract folklore covers too many territories that prompt one to be specific about the kind of folklore and where it is drawn from. using the congo region as a sample of african folklore culture, this paper examines how alain mabanckou depicts the disharmonious behaviour of the congolese in his novels (demain, j'aurai vingt ans (2010), (translated as tomorrow i' ll be twenty) and memoirs de porc-épic (translated as memoirs of a porcupine) and petit piment (translated as black moses) through folklore and the presentation of the vices of some persons in the region, their belief in traditional superstitions as it relates to the progress of the region under study. through the lens of folk narrative theory, this paper examines how folktales serve not just as an entertainment but also as vital tools to critique the anomalies in a given society. mabanckou's use of folklore in his narratives succeeded in creating a vivid portrait of rural congolese society, their values, ways of thinking and behaving, how they learn, who they are and how they make meaning out of the world around them. this paper centres on folklore as a tool for addressing the negative activities of the congolese as well as their beliefs in traditional superstitions which have hindered development in the congo region. the findings reveal that greed, power and human nature are interconnected and that he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. this paper concludes that folklore is not just body of expressive culture but also a tool to correct the anomalies in a given society. keywords: alain mabanckou, traditional superstitions, folklore, congo region, cultural practices chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 116 introduction african culture shares historical and cultural experiences which shape how they share and exchange intellectual concepts, material goods and cultural traditions. the term “folklore “ was first used in 1846 by an english scholar, william john thoms, who molded his ideas for studying expressive culture on the work of the grimm brothers (oring, 1986c,6). folklorists looked for references to traditions and beliefs in other to locate folklore within a certain ethnic, social or cultural framework, and to trace the migration of texts as people moved from one geographic region to another and transmitted texts within and across generations or social groups. taking note of the significance of words, symbols or references, as well as looking for literary patterns in oral and written texts, anchored this approach in academic and literary study, which reinforced the idea of a text as an object that could be studied separately from settings of the people who shared and created the texts (sims, m. and stephens, m. 2005, 23). literature is a part of people's culture and language. the examination of alain mabanckou'sdemain, j'aurai vingt ans(translated as tomorrow i' ll be twenty),memoirs de porc-épic (translated as memoirs of a porcupine) and petit piment (translated as black moses) looks at literature and it's role as a mirror of the society. folklore is a widely used term that is adopted in reframing a holistic picture of grief, archetypes, identity, myths and factual picaresque form of originality and oppression (p. hoideiniang and b. evangeline: 2023). the selected novels uses folklore as a mechanism to portray the price of power in the society while shading light on the level of greed in the congolese society. folklore is an arrangement of expressive culture like those of oral history, customs, music and so forth, which transfigured itself into an assessment of information and tradition of various social fields (zou and b, 2023). coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 117 mailto:chiemela.ibeku@fuoye.edu.ng mailto:melabeks@yahoo.com following the definitions of great scholars in folklore such as alan dundes, mary hufford and william wilson, folkloreplays important roles in every day life of the people in the society. it shapes every day experiences in stories and also helps in the way they discover and express who they are and how they interact and fit into the world. in the novels under study, mabanckou passed through the roles of folklore to denounce the backwardness of the congo region without outright confrontation. mabanckou personified an animal – the porcupine who has a human double to achieve this in memoirs de porc-épicand petit piment. while belief in traditional superstitions is used in demain, j'aurai vingt ans as a vehicle to denounce the actions and activities of the congolese in the face of their plight. the novels under study touch what folklore does and what it means to the society that shares it in a bid to expose the greed, power tussle and unhealthy competition in the congo region. many definitions illustrate the ways that folklore is part of unofficial, non-institutional knowledge and experience. for jan harold, “folklore is the traditional, unofficial, non-institutional part of culture. it encompasses all knowledge, values, attitudes, understanding, assumptions, feelings and beliefs transmitted in traditional forms by word of mouth or by customary examples (1978,4). the process of folklore is a combination of both changing (dynamic) and static (conservative) elements that connect with a group's past and present in ways that evolve and change through sharing, communication performance (toelken, 1996,). folklorists such as mabanckou go into the field in contemporary societies to observe, record and write about people, what they do, what they believe in and how they communicate not just to shape or preserve culture but also to convey political message through animal characters. alain mabanckou passed through traditional knowledge systems and cultural practices to mock the congolese for being responsible for the backwardness in their region. chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 118 memoirs de porc-épic is mabanckou's folk narrative that personified a porcupine who has a human double and serves as a source of terror for the local population. the porcupine is known for its intrigues and enormous capacity to outwit bigger opponents, including supernatural beings. the porcupine is more of a trickster and culture bearer. the novel presents the character of the porcupine not as a creator but a destroyer who failed to fulfil his promises and who dupes others at will. mabanckou in demain, j'aurai vingt ans and petit piment made references to the congolese reliance on traditional superstitions to make progress in life. this paper affirms that mabanckou passed through his folk narratives not only to teach a lesson but also to convey a political message about the state of affairs in the congo region. folk narrative theory theories complement the social functions and educational values of the folktale. tales are the mirrors of the society which validate culture; it can entertain, educate and also critique the state of affairs in a given region. this paper deploys folk narrative theory for the analysis of the message that mabanckou tried to pass to the congolese in relation to the state of affairs in their region.folk narrative theory is the best tool for this analysis as mabanckou paid close attention to literary elements such as character roles, structure and moral lessons inherent in the texts under study. mabanckou's character choice helps to shed more light on societal expectations and conflicts in the region. folk narrative theory is a framework used to interpret and analyse oral literature and traditional stories passed down through generations within specific cultural groups (world literature, 2024). the theory is more concerned about the role of storytelling in shaping values, social norms and cultural identity as well as its function in community bonding and historical preservation. folk narrative theory is very relevant where references are made to how folktales serve not just as a tool for entertainment but also for correcting the societal ills that hinder development. it is coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 119 also necessary where the storyteller is seen or considered as a pivotal figure in maintaining the dynamic nature of oral traditions through performance. folk narrative theory is very relevant for cultural studies as it shows themes that revolve in narratives across different societies while reflecting unique cultural contexts. folk narrative theory is the right tool box for the analyses of the novels under study because it helps us to appreciate the significance of oral traditions within a given society or region. the personification of a porcupine in memoirs de porcépicreveals the level of greed in the society and how the congolese hide under the umbrella of superstitions to inflict pains against one another. folk narrative theory provides valuable insights about the role of oral traditions in the preservation of cul tural ident i ty and shared values within specific groups.mabanckou's exploration in the novels under study reflects the region's social norms, history and moral lessons. mabanckou's role in the narratives fosters a sense of belonging and continuity in the culture. the author's involvement in the most exciting developments of knowledge on folklore and cultural studies were made manifest in the publications of the novels under study. in today's society, folk narrative theory remains relevant because it helps to highlight diverse experiences that contribute to the global cultural diversity while preserving core values. literature review existing literature that relates to the present study is available both in english and french languages. however, the existing body of works leaves scope for reading mabanckou's demain, j'aurai vingt ans, memoirs de porc-épicand petit piment through the perspective of folk narrative theory. below is a brief literature review concerning the present study. chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 120 sims, m. and stephens, m. (2005) affirm that folklore is a way of understanding people and the wide-ranging creative ways we express who we are and what we value and believe. mitra (2007) attempts a reading of selected bengali folktales in his book methodologyoffolklorethrough the perspectives of historical materialism and psychoanalysis. the study reflects the nature of a feudalistic society, its forms of oppression and subsequent class struggle. tagore (2018) maintains that folktales reflect the resistance of common people against the forces of social oppression, economic exploitation and unjust sufferings experienced in indian society. this study is very relevant to the present study from the perspective of alain mabanckou in the selected novels as they relate to the congolese society. nath(2023) examines the themes and characters of two selected tales, namely tejimola and panesoi, from the collection of assamese folktales entitled burhiraair sadhu, in the light of historical materialism and freudian psychoanalysis respectively. the paper affirms that the body of folk literature is the symbolic representation of the class struggle itself. folklore: a representation of reality in the congo region folk literature stands as oral narratives among the people of a particular nation or community. this paper examines mabanckou's depiction of the state of affairs in the congo region through folktales and the region's belief in traditional superstitions. the expectations and desires of a given society find expressions in items such as music, myths and folktales. thus, the read ing of mabanckou ' s demain , j 'aura iv ing tans , memoirsdeporc-épicand petit piment through the lens of folk narrative theory provides valuable insights to repression, social problems, anxieties as well as people's responses or reactions in the face of their plight. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 121 memoirs de porc-épic is the tale of a porcupine who has a human double, kibandi. the main character is just an ordinary porcupine in the congo region until papa kibandi performs a ritual that transformed him into the harmful double of his son : a vrai dire, je n'ai rien a envier aux hommes, je me moque de leur prétendue intelligence puisque j'ai moi-même été pendant longtemps le double de l'homme qu'on appelait kibandi et qui est mort avant-hier ...... (memoirsdeporc-épic, 2006:8). to be honest, i would not want to be a man, they can keep their so-called intelligence, for years i was the double of a man named kibandi, who died two days ago ... (memoirs of a porcupine, 2011:11). according to greene, l and burke, j. (2017), myth offers us a vast array of stories about parent-child relationships. the human imagination founds solace and enlightenment in creating tales about mothers, fathers, sons and daughters and the mystery of what binds them together through unbreakable emotional cords. family myth revolves around how parents expect nothing less than success and progress from their children. mabanckou passed through the character of papa kibandi to make sense of how parents go to the extreme for their children to succeed in life. in memoirs de porc-épic, the porcupine reveals that papa kibandi performs a ritual to transform him into a harmful double of his son in a bid to secure his future and make him more powerful in the society. kibandi is a symbol of a common man in the society whose actions and activities (killing innocent people with the help of his animal double, the porcupinethrough fetish means) have indirectly caused many families the joy and happiness they deserve : ... mama kibandi ne sut rien de plus sur l'affaire , le père et le fils savaient de quoi ils parlaient et il y avait ces décès qui se multipliaient à mossaka, des décès qui ne s'espacaient plus, les enterrements se suivaient, on avait à peine fini de verser des larmes sur un mort qu'un autre attendait son tour, papa kibandi ne se rendait pas à ces funérailles , cela suscita des interrogations dans un village où tout le monde se connaissait ... (memoirs de porcchiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 122 épic, 2006:51). mama kibandi knew nothing more about it, father and son understood each other and there were so many deaths in mossaka, one hard upon the other, nose to tail burials, you had no sooner finished lamenting one dear departed, and there was another one lined up, papa kibandi did not go to the funerals, which got people asking questions in the villages, where everyone knew everyone ... (memoirs of a porcupine, 2011: 54). folklore draws all participants into highly active roles. the characters of kibandi and papa kibandi play active negative roles in the society. they both had animal doubles that terrorised the local population and caused them their peace of mind. kibandi has a porcupine as an animal double while papa kibandi has a rat with abnormal tail as the animal double. mythodological stories often describe events which occur outside of the human experience with non-human characters and events that cannot be proven to be true or false. mabanckou deploys folklore as a self-help psychology to explain the mysteries of life and shed more light on human nature as they relate to the state of affairs in the congo region. mossaka which formed part of the settings of memoirs de porc-épic is presented as a deadly environment where people died in numbers. the high number of deaths occurred not as a result of environmental degradation or pollution but as a result of man's inhumanity to man. mabanckou through memoirs de porc-épic retold the stories of humans with animal doubles, exploring the psychological themes associated to it with insights on how the stories apply to the lives of the congolese in the face of their plight. from mans inhumanity to man, to corruption, exploitation, oppression, wickedness family conflicts and ambition, to ultimately facing the responsibility and roles of the individual in the society. mabanckou passes through folklore and traditional superstitions to expose the darkness, challenges and loss in the congo region due to the negative actions and activities of the people. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 123 the depictions in memoirs de porc-épic seem to represent a denouncement of the date toll emanating from incessant killings in tribal wars in the congo region. mabanckou's characters were used as symbols to represent the evil that exist in the society, in relation to the ethnic crisis that claimed many lives as a result of greed, anger, envy and jealousy among the ethnic groups: sans doute étaient-ce la frustration et la révolte qui avaient conduit mon maîtreà vouloir s'occuper de cette famille parce que, je dois le préciser, mon cher baobab, pour qu'un être humain en mange un autre il faut des raisons concrètes, la jalousie, la colère, l'envie, l'humiliation, le manque de respect, je te jure que nous n'avons en aucun cas mangé quelqu'un juste pour le plaisir de le manger, … (mémoirs de porc-épic, 2006:77). i expect it was frustration and fury that drovemy master to take on this family, because, let me make it quite clear, dear baobab,for one human being to eat another you need concrete reasons, jealousy, anger, envy, humiliation, lack of respect, i swear we never for once ate someone just for the pleasure of eating, … (memoirs of a porcupine, 2011:81). mabanckou deploys folk narrative to ridicule the level of anger, hatred, frustration and jealousy in the society. the congo region has been known as a resource-rich country, but sadly, the region has been facing a major rebel attack and has been ravaged by tribal conflict with high number of deaths for so many years. although many have condemned and denounced the silence of the international community in the face of perpetual crisis in the region. alain mabanckou, as the son of the soil shows his chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 124 engagement and commitment in the literary arena of central africa through the publication of memoirs de porc-épic to denounce corruption, tribalism, power tussle, mismanagement, greed, terror and other societal ills that lead to loss of lives in the region. although mabanckou passed through folklore and traditional superstition to achieve this, but he made success through his characterisation, settings, themes, plots and other literary devices deployed in the novels under study. consequently, the character of amédée is regarded as a symbol of light in the society but this light was deemed as a result of the level of jealousy, envy and hatred inherent in the society: d'un type qu'on appelait amédée, si je parle de lui au passé, c'est qu'iln'est plus de ce monde, paix à son âme, il était ce que leshumains appellent un lettré, un homme cultivé, il avait fait de longues études, on le respectait pour cela, en plus il avaitbeaucoup voyagé, il était monté à plusieurs reprises dans l'avion, cet oiseau bruyant qui déchire le ciel et manque chaquefois de trancher ton faîte, il paraît qu'amédée était le plus intelligent des gens du sud, pour ne pas dire du pays entier, eh bien, nous l'avions quand même mangé comme tu l'apprendras bientôt, (mémoirs de porc-épic, 2006:81). … from a guy called amédée, and the reason i speak of him in the pasttense is because he has passed on to the next world, may his soul rest in peace, he was what humans called an educated man, a cultivated man, who had studied for many years, he was respected for it, he had travelled widely, he had been up in a plane several times, one of those noisy birds that rip the sky in two, every coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 125 time you think it's going to take your head off, apparently amédée was the most intelligent man in the entire south, not to say in the whole country, but that did not stop us, we still ate him, as you will soon learn, …(memoirs of a porcupine, 2011:85). the death of amédée is an allegory of how the actions and activities of the congolese have caused the region the progress and development they so much desire. the narrator made reference to amédée being the most intelligent in the society but was killed out of envy because he was respected by all in the society. tradition and superstition the population's incorrigible faith in magic is seen as one of the reasons why the congo region is lagging behind. the novels under study made reference to beliefs based on superstition and how they were sources of misery and sorcery in the society. traditional beliefs in the congo region as the novels depict them led to irrational decisions that cost the society the peace and sanity that is needed to live a normal life. moses, the narrator of petit piment (2015) reveals how superstition and traditional beliefs lead to a high number of abandoned girls in the orphanage because there is a belief that having a girl child as your first child is a sign of failure: en ce temps-là, mon petit moïse, les enfants m'appelaient « maman l'animatrice » et nous n'avions à p e i n e q u ' u n e t r e n t a i n e d e pensionnaires, pour la plupart des filles dont une bonne dizaine avaient été abandonnées par leurs pa ren t s devan t l a por te de l'orphelinat parce que dans les coutumes de ceux-ci, c'était un chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 126 échec d'avoir comme premier enfant une fille (petit piment, 2015:66) 'back then, my dear moses, the ch i ld ren ca l l ed me “mama organiser”, and there were just thirty orphans, mostly girls, a good number of them were cast aside by their parents at the gate of the orphanage because in thei r customs, it was considered a failure to have a first child who was a girl. (black moses, 2017:54) mabanckou deploys flashback to denounce superstitions and traditional beliefs that have hindered development in the congo region. superstitious and traditional beliefs of this kind reduced the affected girls to victims of a stagnant traditional belief in a society whose citizens suffer from extreme deprivation, precisely the one from the family that is meant to protect and care for them. the narrator of demain, j'aurai vingt ans (2010) michel, affirms that the fetisher accused him of being a child during the day and an old man with white hair at night, who meets up with a gang of other old people that hates the mother to plot against the mother: c'est pour ça que tu as bien fermé le ventre de maman pauline. quand les enfants veulent venir, ils trouvent la porte fermée et ils meurent juste devant cette porte. or la clé qui ouvre le ventre de ta maman c'est toi qui l'as avec toi (demain, j'aurai vingt ans, 2010:189), “so it is because of that, that you closed up maman pauline's belly. when children want to come, they find the door shut and they die just in front of the door. so you are the one that has the key to your mother's belly” (tomorrow i'll be twenty, 2012: 188). coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 127 mabanckou further reiterates the place of superstition in the congolese society through the story of the president of the republic. the narrator alerts this study that people book appointment to see the fetisher in their region just like you do when you want to see a white doctor. mama pauline while pleading with the husband to give her a chance to go and see the most powerful fetisher in their quarter because of her childlessness affirms that, their president also has a personal fetisher, who is also regarded as the most powerful among all.mama pauline rejected the idea of papa roger to go and see a white doctor for being childless because she believes that their president was able to bear a child through the help of the great fetisher, sukissa tembé: il y a un féticheur qui vient de s ' ins ta l l e r dans l e quar t i e r voungou, juste sur l'autre rive de la tchinouka. tout le monde dit du bien de lui. il a guéri la stérilité de la femme du chef du quartier. il a même fait parler un enfant de dix ans qui n'avait pas prononcé un seul mot depuis sa naissance. — comment qu'il s 'appelle, ce féticheur? — sukissa tembé. il vient du nord du pays et il paraît qu'il était le féticheur personnel du président de la république. si le p rés iden t e t s a f emme on t maintenant un enfant c'est grâce à lui, sukissa tembé (demain, j'aurai vingt ans, 2010:156). 'there is a fetisher that comes to work in the voungou district, just across the tchinouka. everyone says he is very good. the wife of the local chief was sterile and he chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 128 cured her. he even got a ten-year old child who had never spoken a single word to talk.' 'what is he called, this fetisher?' 'sukissa tembé. he is from the north. apparently he was the personal fetisher to the president of the republic. that is the only reason the president and his wife has a child, thanks to sukissa tembé.' ( to m o r ro w i ' l l b e t w e n t y , 2012:156). consequently, the superstitious beliefs inherent in the society draw attention to the fact that the population's incorrigible faith in superstition could be one of the reasons why the congo region is still underdeveloped. the society replaced hard work with superstition as demain, j'aurai vingt ans highlights: tout le quartier le consulte, même ceux qui cherchent du travail et ceux qui veulent que leurs enfants réussissent aux examens scolaires. sans compter ceux qui ont d'autres maladies comme la diarrhée chronique, les règles douloureuses, etc. c'est un long travail qu'il va faire pour nous, et il faut que je prenne rendezvous pour toute une demi-journée au moins (demain, j'aurai vingt ans, 2010:157). everyone round there goes to see him, even people looking for work and people who want their children to do well in their exams. not counting the ones with chronic diarrhoea or painful periods and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 129 the rest. it is a difficult thing you are asking; we will need a half-day appointment, at least.' (tomorrow i'll be twenty, 2012:157) the narrator's worry increased when mama pauline stopped crying because papa roger reassures her that they will book an appointment with the fetisher as regards her childlessness. confused by the emotional state of the mother, whom he believes attends saint-jean bosco every sunday and professes her faith, the narrator questions the society in what seems to be a rhetoric question: est-ce qu'un féticheur est capable d'attraper les enfants qui foncent directement au ciel sans passer par la terre? est-ce qu'un féticheur est plus fort que dieu? (demain, j'aurai vingt ans, 2010:157), “can a fetisher be able to catch children who go directly to heaven without stopping off on earth? is a fetisher more powerful than god? (tomorrow i'll be twenty, 2012:76). for the narrator, superstitious beliefs can only lead to disappointment, hopelessness and failure as no nation develops through magical means. in petit piment (2015), superstition was also shown in the narrator's belief that the sharks in the atlantic ocean were evil spirits whose wickedness was stirred up by the sorcerers of pointenoire. the narrator affirms that the sorcerers hide under the superstitious belief that the water goddess (mami water) usually kills children who go to swim at the côte sauvage to perpetrate evil against the people. the sorcerers kill minors and put the blame on the water goddess who they claim turns to a shark to complete her task. demain, j'aurai vingt ans (2010) demonstrates the population's belief that every human being has an animaldouble. the character of little pepper affirms that the lone cockerel in his grandfather's house is the grandfather's animal double. mabanckou personified the cockerel by attributing human characteristics to it to show that humans have animal double. the chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 130 character of little pepper in petit piment confirms that the grandfather warned him never to play with the lone cockerel if he truly loves him the day, he tried to throw a piece of wood at the cockerel. the narrator also affirms that the moment he gave up his war against the cockerel and started feeding it, the cockerel started following him round the compound which also brought him breakthroughs: chaque fois que je traitais avec respect ce coq, la chance me souriait tellement que lorsque j'allais à la pêche je ramenais plus de poissons que mes camarades. à l'école du village mes résultats étaient les plus brillants, j'étais le meilleur élève de la région, premier au certificat d'études primaires. il me suffisait de penser à ce coq pour que tout ce qui paraissait compliqué aux autres élèves devienne pour moi aussi clair que l'eau de roche ( d e m a i n , j ' a u r a i v i n g t a n s , 2010:197). whenever i showed the cockerel respect, fortune shone upon me, so that if i went fishing i would bring back more fish than all my friends. at the village school i came top in every subject; i was the best pupil in the whole district, with the highest marks in the primary school certificate. all i had to do was think about the cockerel, and everything that the other pupils found complicated became as clear as spring water to me. (tomorrow i'll be twenty, 2012:196) coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 131 the population's traditional belief in the idea of humans having an animal double is a clear critique of the congolese incorrigible faith in superstition. if showing respect to an animal double of a grandfather could bring all the breakthroughs as the character of little pepper affirms, there will be no need for struggles and hard work. mabanckou in this analysis reveals that one of the reasons why the congo region is still struggling economically is because of their faith in traditional superstitions. conclusion mabanckou explores folktales and tradit ional superstitions as they relate to the various stages of life and the necessary challenges all human beings encounter. rather than following the familiar format of real-life situations, which gives direct interpretation of the state of affairs in the society, he used folktale around fundamental human experiences, beginning with family relationships and ending with death as the final mythic journey. the novels touched every area of life and the characteristic conflicts and joys we all encounter. the novels under study deploy myths to illustrate positive and negative issues relevant to every sphere of life. they passed through tales and traditional superstitions to expose internal conflicts. the congo region has been a resource-rich area but internal conflicts, greed, power tussle and other societal ills have changed the story and reality of the region. mabanckou's engagement and commitment in the novels under study give insights on the fact that beauty, talent, wealth and power bring their own forms of suffering; and that in the darkness of loneliness, failure and loss, we have always discovered light and new hope. myths do not give easy solutions to family difficulties but they portray family dynamics just as they are, with all their joys, sorrows and complexities, yet there is a mysterious and transformative power which lies embedded in these stories. mabanckou uses folklore to denounce the cycle of wickedness in the congo region and the failure of development. chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 132 work cited asika, ikechukwu and akabuike, ifeoma. “cooking with one's firewood: myth as a conflict generator and conflict resolver in flora nwapa's efuru and idu.” published in afrrev ijah. an international journal of arts and humanities. vol 1 (1), february, 2012. pp 164-178. dundes, a. 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(2023) two theoretical frameworks of folklore studies and two selected tales from the collection of the assamese folktales entitled burhiraair sadhu: a discursive analysis. department of assamese, dibrugarh university, asam: india. doi: . h�ps://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.31.1.02 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 133 http://www.redwheelweiser.com https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.31.1.02 journal of social sciences and humanities 25 – 40. sims, m. and stephens, m. (2005) living folklore: an introduction to the study of people and their tradition. utah: utah state university press. world literature ll. (2024) folk narrative theory. fiveableinc. world literature ll. (2024) folk narrative theory. fiveableinc. zou, p.h. and priscilla, b.e. (2023). folklore: an identity born of shared grief. cogent arts and humanities10(1). doi: 10.1080/23311983.2023.2249279. chiemela imelda ibeku, phd the representation of the congolese and their traditions in alain mabanckou’s novels 134 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs chioma f. emelone nwafor orizu college of education, nsugbe, anambra state 08063830898 emelonechioma@gmail.com & christiana o. udogu, phd nwafor orizu college of education, nsugbe, anambra state 08035488988 christieobiageli@gmail.com abstract this study is based on a type of song rendered by ụmụada, a collective name for daughters of a particular clan of the igbo ethnic group of nigeria. it exposes this type of poetry to scholars of african literature and assesses the elements of satire and other poetic qualities in the songs. it, as well, analyses their themes. out of a good number sung by ụmụada, four are selected for the purpose of this study. thematically, the songs deal with laziness, failure in civic responsibility, sexual immorality, pretence and hypocrisy. they possess a feature present in every satiric work and that is to ridicule and expose a folly. they are simple in nature with few words and lengthy presentations. the selected ụmụada songs are studied using the sociological theory because they treat social issues. interviews and library research are used in carrying out this study. it is found out that the selected songs possess all features of satirical poetry and so should be regarded as such. keywords: ụmụada, satire, poetry, satirical poetry and oral forms introduction the traditional african society sees poetry as an effective instrument for interpreting life because it is a means of pleasure and a tool for criticism. poetry surfaces in virtually every aspect of their lives from birth to death. activities such as naming, marriage and funeral ceremonies are embellished with different forms of poetry. other serious issues that take place in the society are also often addressed using poetry. the poetic genre is used for a variety of purposes and on occasions which could be religious, political and for pure satiric purposes. this study focuses on the satiric purpose of ụmụada songs in igboland. when a work of art is aimed at exposing or ridiculing the abnormal characteristics of institutions or individuals in the society in order to deter others from such, it is a satire. this form of art has found a solid ground in the genre of drama and contains a great deal of humour (akwanya 133; nwabueze 86). it is a literary art that ridicules vice in a society in order to expose or correct some anomalies. it evokes attitudes of scorn, contempt or amusement. the objects of scorn are generally familiar and contemporary to the age. they are usually taken for granted and perhaps ignored. the satirist, therefore, does the duty of bringing, to the consciousness of the people, these follies with the intention of correcting them. satire can be prosaic, dramatic or poetic. the concern of this work is with its poetic form. okoye's definition of poetry as “the verbal form or expression of strongly felt, beautiful and, or inspired emotion, thought, idea or imagination in concentrated or rhythmical language usually but not always with a metrical pattern” (8) buttresses wordsworth's classical definition of the genre as the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility. poetry can possess or present many things. philosophies, emotions and sentiments can be embodied in poetry which can have lyrical, reflective, descriptive or narrative qualities. it can as well, be “satirical, or funny, or political or just informative” (wolosky 3). although all these features stated by 35 36 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs mailto:emelonechioma@gmail.com mailto:christieobiageli@gmail.com wolosky are possessed by poetry, they are not specific to the genre and so do not differentiate it from other forms of literature. according to okpe who, poetry has two basic requirements. one is its ability “to touch us emotionally so that we feel either delight or pain” (10); second is that it stirs “our minds deeply so that we think intelligently on some concepts or aspects of life” (11). okoye summarily puts it thus: “poetry is felt and cannot be completely or satisfactorily defined or described” (8). it can be divided into two broad parts based on their modes of transmission. first is oral poetry, that which is chanted, and often improvised by the performer in a community. this form predates the second one which is written poetry – that which is put down in lines and verses, produced by a poet in a literate society. both oral and written forms of poetry have a purpose. according to chukwueloka and asika, poetry is: a tool for criticism with which poets mock and satirize societal actions, values and attitude in the hopes of correcting and instilling in the people the right and ethical moral values which in no small measure will institute a more harmonious, idyllic and tension free society as well as engineer a more appreciable peaceful co existence among individuals in society (354). it is in the above assertion that the social relevance of poetry lies. although many writers see satirical poetry as different from lyric, its form presents it as a lyric poem which is comparatively simple and musical in diction. it could be described as a lyric poem because it “expresses feelings and emotions…and contains a single theme” (okoye 85). just as an elegy expresses mourning of the dead in serious manner and an ode praises someone, a satirical poem mocks someone or an institution. according to ogene, “the lyric poems are generally short without fixed forms. the varieties include: the elegy, the odes and nearly all other poems written” (8). it is on this premise that a satirical poem could be said to be a lyric as well. satirical poetry, therefore, consists of derisive songs that are used to ridicule perpetrators of evil in the society. it gathers some obvious human vices and follies and ridicules them with the aim of correcting them. satirical poetry has a long history which dates to the romans. it is also an african oral form. other forms of african oral poetry include the panegyric, elegiac, religious, special purpose poetry like war songs, political song and lullabies. ụmụada songs can be seen as an example of satirical poetry. these songs are rendered in igboland. the igbo people are found in the south – east geopolitical area of nigeria which comprises of abia, anambra, ebonyi, enugu and imo states. the concept of ụmụada is a strong union which unites all daughters of a particular clan, village, town or state, whether old, young, single, married, separated or divorced. this group is a powerful socio-political institution in igbo society, a very useful organization for women. it helps in conflict resolution and organizes some activities which help its members to lessen certain economic burdens. they have ways of exerting influence and moral authority. the ụmụada's most important ritual function is at funerals of a lineage member, since no one could have a proper funeral without their participation. it is mostly at funeral ceremonies that the ụmụada sing and dance. the position of women in the rendition of poetry in african society is not negligible. finnegan states that “certain kinds of poetry are typically delivered or sung by women” (98). nwoga also is of the view that “women song/dance groups continue the satiric strain” (231). kolawale agrees that “women's voices remain audible, as we see in satirical songs and poetry which are women's domain” (92). the ụmụada sing different types of songs, some of which are satirical in nature. their songs are accompanied with musical instruments and dance. some of the lines are often demonstrated. fictional names are usually mentioned in such songs and their themes are varied. the songs are oral in form and are performed for various purposes. the obvious among them is their ability to entertain the audience. they lighten the mood of mourners at funeral ceremonies. interwoven with the purpose of entertainment is that of 37 38 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs correction. in addition to the earlier-stated functions of the songs, their presenters just like any other singing group “may acquire a material profit” (finnegan 101). ụmụada's performance is almost synonymous with monetary rewards. because they perform at funerals of their relatives, they expect other relatives to appreciate their display. they value this to the extent that praise songs are sung for those who recognize their presence in a special way. their songs not only touch the audience emotionally so that they feel either delight or pain, they also embody some imaginative, sensuous and intellectual dimensions (okoye 11; okpewho 10). ụmụada songs are simple in nature because they make use of simple clear sentences. finnegan has it that their verbal content “tends to be short (though the actual performance may be lengthy)” (235). these qualities coupled with a familiar audience bring about the simplicity of these songs. okpewho explains that a satirical poet is “very much limited to the small local or ethnic environment with which he was familiar” (27) and so his audience is easily amused. satirical poetry is usually functional, serving a specific purpose in specific times. it is not usually presented for its beauty; it is tied up to social activities. the performance of ụmụada songs is not different from other satirical poems. finnegan lists the variegated aspects which contribute to the effectiveness of the performance of an oral piece and they include: “expressiveness of tone, gesture, facial expression, dramatic use of pause and rhythm, the interplay of passion, dignity, or humour, receptivity to the reactions of the audience, etc,” (5-6). she further adds that “…the performer has various visual resources at his disposal. the artist is typically face to face with the public and can take advantage of this to enhance the impact and even sometimes the content of his words” (7). the songs perform the functions of satire because the genre, in whatever form it is expressed, has the same objective “in all cultures, and that is, to degrade a subject” (darah 21). these songs use poetry as their vehicle and satire as the idea. some communities in africa have some songs which are similar to ụmụada songs in function and have been termed satirical songs and poetry by authorities in african literature. such songs include halo of ewe people of togo, udje of urhobo people of nigeria (ojaide 4), nzema songs of ghana, egungun of yoruba people of nigeria (kolawale 92), zambo of hausa people of nigeria and such songs performed by the kivu of the former belgian congo and acoli people of uganda (darah 15). against the above background, therefore, there is the need to carry out a study on some ụmụada songs to assert their appropriateness as satirical poetry. the purpose of this study is to explore the veracity of ụmụada songs as a type of african poetry in oral form. this research is limited to collection and study of four songs. the collection is based on the themes of the songs and they are presented in their original igbo language and english translations. theoretical framework this research adopts the sociological theory. this theory is rooted in the idea that literature is a product of the society. it looks at literature from the perspective of social issues and its relevance to the society. the foundation for this approach to literature is the belief that art is not merely produced; it is a work of an author set in time and space responding to his community. the writer's or performer's environment helps to explain social attitudes and opinions that appear in a literary piece or performance. as ascertained by akporobaro, “the study of african oral literature has reached an advanced stage in which the literariness of the various genres is being analysed, described and evaluated” and “are most propitious to a literary artistic analysis from several perspective” (515). it is for this 39 40 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs reason that sociological approach is considered appropriate for this study. although ụmụada songs are cultural materials transmitted orally from one generation to another using the local language, they can be studied using this literary approach. sociological approach is suitable in the sense that ụmụada songs express igbo thoughts and social beliefs. ethical values and codes of conduct are expressed through them. data analyses when the beauty of a work of art is firmly fixed in images and sounds, the genre of poetry comes to mind. images are created using devices such as simile, metaphor, personification, synecdoche, metonymy and hyperbole while sounds are created using rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, consonance, refrain, repetition and onomatopoeia. these figures of speech help in bringing out the beauty of poetry. both oral and written poetry have these qualities. although there may be a problem of structural arrangement in oral poetry, the use of rhyme or refrain helps in developing the structure. ụmụadasongs possess these qualities and their presenters use images which are familiar to the audience and sound effects are achieved through the use of various devices. they can be presented in stanzas because of the presence of refrains or choruses. according to okoye, “a refrain is the repetition of one or more phrases or lines at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. the refrain often takes the form of a chorus” (26). the presence of refrains or choruses, he further explains, helps us “mark the end of a stanza, hence the end of a segment of thought,...it aids in segmenting the poem” (35). refrains, therefore, give the songs one characteristic of poetry on which all its other rudiments have to rely: the line. in the words of ojaide: the use of chorus/refrain/call-and-response affords the lead singer opportunity to relax, inhale and exhale, and at the same time have a moment to recapture from memory what is ahead. repetitions, especially in the form of refrain, is commonly used by african poets of both the older and the younger generations (25). furthermore, to achieve good sound effect, the voice plays a vital role in the performance of these songs. as affirmed by darah, “tonal variation and pitch are important if melody as a basic element of music is to be created” (xiii). also ojaide states that “in most traditional african songs, voice and not words, imposes rhyme because of the tonality of the languages. the singer/poet/performer can always end a breath-space, a line equivalent with a vowel sound such as a drawn-out o-o-o or e-e-e-” (22). this also helps in maintaining the rhythm of the songs. its presence also helps in forming rhyme schemes for the songs (ojaide 22). these features are found in ụmụada songs. another dominant feature of ụmụada songs which makes them poetic is emotion. their thoughts and their emotional response to some events or experiences are the foundation of these songs (egudu 247 – 248). the poet creates out of the feelings he has towards some societal ills such as greed and materialism, sexual immorality, failure in one's civic responsibilities, laziness and other follies and vices which the society frowns at. he, therefore, through his works, condemns such behaviour. to illustrate these features, four ụmụada songs are presented and analyzed based on their themes which include the following: laziness, failure in civic responsibility, sexual immorality, pretence and hypocrisy. laziness “nwanyị di ya fụrụ n'anya” part 1 nwanyị di ya fụrụ n'anya ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. nwanyị di ya fụrụ n'anya ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. e bute akpa rice, o richaa. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. e bute akpa beans, o richaa. 41 42 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. ebute akpa okporoko, o tachaa. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. ị nepụ anya na fridge, ọmadelu. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. e gote lipstick, ọ nyasia. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. e gote cortex, ọ nyasia. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. e gote eye shadow, ọ nyasia. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. odinara na bed, ọ ghasalụ ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. a kpa ya aka n'ọnụ, ọ murịa. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. nwanyị bia lụọ ọlụ oo. anaghị m alụ oo. na di m fụrụ m n'anya. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. translation a woman loved by her husband she is afraid of work. a woman loved by her husband she is afraid of work. she consumes a bag of rice. she is afraid of work. she consumes a bag of beans. she is afraid of work. she consumes a bag of stock fish. she is afraid of work. her fridge is stuffed. she is afraid of work. whenever lipstick is bought, she uses it excessively. she is afraid of work. whenever nail polish is bought, she it uses excessively. she is afraid of work. whenever eye shadow is bought, she uses it excessively. she is afraid of work. she lies carelessly on the bed. she is afraid of work. she smiles whenever her mouth is touched. she is afraid of work. woman, come and work. i won't work. my husband loves me. she is afraid of work. part ii nwoke be ya gbalụ gharịị ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. nwoke be ya gbalụ gharịị ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. ojee na beer parlour, ọ ghasalụ. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. o jee ebe ana-ata anụ, ọ ghasalụ. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. o jee ebe ana-aṅu nkwụ, ọ ghasalụ. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. o jee ebe anaama njakili, ọ ghasalụ. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. nwoke bịa naa be gi oo. anaghị m ana oo na bem gbalụ m gharịị. ọnye ụjọ ọlụ. 43 44 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs translation a man who is confused about his home he is afraid of work. a man who is confused about his home he is afraid of work. he goes to bar and forgets himself. he is afraid of work. he goes wherever meat is being eaten and forgets himself. he is afraid of work. he goes wherever drink is being taken and forgets himself. he is afraid of work. he goes to where jokes are being cracked and forgets himself. he is afraid of work. man, come and go home. i won't go. i am confused about my home. he is afraid of work. this song satirizes value for fashion and trivial things. it has two parts. initially, it had one part which satirizes only the women folk but lately, the women who themselves sing the song thought it necessary to satirize their male counterparts as well (felicia ezika. personal interview). the first part of this song is used to condemn women who abhor work because they feel they are loved by their husbands who afford their family needs and do not care whether their wives work or not. the second part satirizes men who are confused about their homes or families. they cannot put their houses in order and consequently they prefer staying out to staying with their families. their laziness is seen in the fact that they cannot exercise their responsibilities as fathers or husbands in their various homes. this song uses hyperbole which spurr defines as the “overshooting, where fact is extravagantly exaggerated for serious or comic effect” (375) to drive home its theme. lines 5, 7, 9 and 11 of the first part exaggerate the rate at which these lazy women eat or the extent to which their loving husbands provide them with food items. lines 13, 15, and 17 of the same part exaggerate the rate at which they pay attention to their looks and appearance. they wear excessive make-up because their husbands supply them with those items. with the use of euphemism in lines 19 and 21, the song describes how loose and careless these women can be. the use of exaggeration to elicit laughter from the audience is also achieved in the second part of the song. lines 5, 7 and 9 describe, in an exaggerated manner, how confused some men can be to the extent that they spend much of their time eating and drinking in bars and restaurants forgetting that they have wives and children at home. “nwanyị di ya fụrụ n'anya” has a rhythm of alternating successive lines which is regular enough to become predictable apart from the last four lines of each of the part where the voice of the personae is heard. failure in civic responsibility some ụmụada songs convey the theme of failure in civic responsibility. one of such songs is “naalụ m ọda”. the song goes thus: naalụ m ọda. naalụ m ọda. chorus: naalụ m ọda, ọ kwa n'omeghị gị n'ahụ. naalụ m ọda. naalụ m ọda. chorus: naalụ m ọda, na m ja-abịa m leeti. chorus naalụ m ọda na di m ga-anata. chorus naalụ m ọda na ahụ na-anwụ m. chorus ọ mee gi n'ahụ, idobe ihu ka mkpi. 45 46 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs chorus ọ mee gi n'ahụ i dobe ihu ka nsị. chorus translation obtain permission for me. obtain permission for me. chorus: obtain permission for me because it did not happen to you. obtain permission for me. obtain permission for me. chorus obtain permission for me, i will be late. chorus obtain permission for me, my husband will return. chorus obtain permission for me, i am sick. chorus if it happens to you, you will keep your face like that of a hegoat. chorus if it happens to you, you will keep your face like faeces. chorus this song satirizes those people who give flimsy excuses for their absence or lateness to funeral ceremonies. in igbo land, attendance of funerals is a very important civic responsibility. societies and groups such as churches, age grades, ụmụada, ụmụnna and other social organizations which have a fallen colleague compulsorily attend his/her funeral ceremony. relatives of the dead person are also expected to honour the dead and console the closer relatives with their presence and gifts. it, therefore, becomes a failure in one's responsibilities when one does not attend a funeral ceremony. in order not to be seen as a deviant, one who cannot attend a funeral gives a flimsy excuse so as not to be punished as prescribed by the constitution of one's association. lines 5, 7 and 9 give some examples of excuses which such people give. the song summarily informs this group of people that they give such excuses because the deceased is not very closely related to them; otherwise, they would have been in pain and sorrow as presented by the similes in lines 11 and 13. sexual immorality “ọyị m, mọnịka” chorus: ọyị m, mọnịka nwee ndidi ee mgbe a na-agwọlụ gị okpoloko, ị gwalụ nne gi, moni oo? chorus: ọyị m mọnịka, nwee ndidi ee. mgbe a na-akpọlụ gị azụ gbamgbam, i gwalụ nne gị, moni oo? chorus : ọyị m mọnịka nwee ndidi ee. ọ bịa lu ka ị dịlị ime, ị je gwa nne gị, moni oo. chorus: ọyị m mọnịka nwee ndidi ee. ị na-agwadụ nne gị oo ka ọ medụ aghaa, moni oo? chorus: ọyị m mọnịka, nwee ndidi ee translation “my friend monica” chorus: my friend monica, have patience ee. when stockfish dish was being prepared for you, did you tell your mother, moni? chorus: my friend, monica have patience ee when canned fish was being opened for you, did you tell your mother, moni? chorus: my friend, monica have patience ee now you have become pregnant you went and told your mother, moni. 47 48 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs conclusion the study embarked on the collection and analysis of four ụmụada songs. it dwelt on satire which is a poetic genre and a technique in literature that creates an atmosphere to laugh at the abnormalities or vices in a given society in order to deter people from engaging in such acts. this form of art can be present in novels, plays or poems. for the purpose of this research, emphasis is on the satire which comes in form of poems. the study has examined ụmụada songs in particular which are simple in nature with simple sentences and clear images. they have little verbal contents but their performance is lengthy. a song of few lines can be repeated over and over again and that adds to its simplicity. although the poetic qualities between the original and the translated forms of the ụmụada songs have a considerable difference, an attempt is made to preserve, as much as possible, the poetic arrangements which is achieved through the use of refrains, choruses and responses as well as the images in the songs. according to okoye, “poetry is compressed, suggesting the unknown; it is compelling; it is pictorial and filled with imagery; it is acoustic with rhythm and music” (106). works cited th abrams, meyers. a glossary of literary term. 9 ed. wardsworth cengage learning, 2009. abalogu, garba ashiwaju and regina amadi – tshiwala. nigeria magazine. 1981, pp. 230 245. akporobaro, f. b. o. introduction to african oral literature. princeton, 2012. akwanya, nicholas. semantics and discourse. acena, 1996. asika, ikechukwu. “resurrecting igbo cultural values through folklore: 'egwu onwa' and its commitment towards societal ethos.” nigerian journal of african studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2020, pp. 1-14. chukwueloka, christian and asika, ikechukwu. “words as bullets, poetry as veritable tool for social criticism and reformation: a study of akachi adimora-ezeigbo's heart songs and waiting for dawn.”african resarch review vol.5, no.21, 2011, pp. 354 – 368. darah, g. g. battles of songs: udje tradition of the urhobo. malthouse, 2005. finnegan, ruth. oral literature in africa. open book. 2012. kolawale, mary. “women's oral genre.”african theory: an anthology for criticism and theory. edited by laniyan tejumola and ato quayson. blackwell. 2012, pp. 92 – 96. nwabueze, emeka. studies in dramatic literature. abic books, 2011. nwoga, donatus. “the igbo poet and satire.”oral poetry in nigeria. ed. uchegbulam, abalogu, garba ashiwaju and regina amadi – tshiwala. nigeria magazine, 1981, pp. 246 – 252. ogene, mbanefo. literary appreciation: theory and practice. nolix educational, 2010. ojaide, tanure. “examining canonisation in modern african literature.”asiatic vol. 3, no.1. june 2009, pp. 1 – 20. ---poetic imagination in black africa. carolina academic press, 1996. okoye, chike. essentials of poetry. besing books, 2013. okoye chike and asika, ikechukwu. “totems and pantheons: paradigmatic muses in achebe's poetry.” nile journal of english studies, vol 1, no 1, 2015, pp. 47-58. okpewho, isidore. african oral literature: backgrounds, character and continuity. indiana university press, 1992. --the heritage of african poetry. longman, 1992. spurr, barry. studying poetry. palgrave macmillan, 2006. wolosky, shira. the art of poetry. oxford university press, 2001. interview thezika, felicia. personal interview. 14 december, 2020. a 73 years old woman who participates in the activities of ụmụada. she hails from alor, anambra state. 51 52 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiana o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs chorus: my friend, monica have patience ee are you telling your mother for her to do what, moni? chorus: my friend, monica have patience ee in the words of nwoga, “without doubt, the most persistent subject of the satirical comment in igbo oral traditions is misdemeanor against sexual morality” (233). “ọyị m mọnịka” satirizes a wayward young woman who eventually got pregnant. the poet addresses this young woman monica (shortened to moni), asking her a series of questions. the use of chorus in developing the structure of the song is evident. the chorus marks the end of one stanza as well as the end of a segment of thought. the stanzas of the song are in line with abrams definition that stanzas of a given poem are usually “marked by a recurrent pattern of rhyme and are uniform in the number and lengths of the component lines” (abrams 340). this is better observed when the song is sung using the correct tone variation. figuratively, the two striking images used in this song are 'okpoloko' and 'azụ gbamgbam' (stockfish and canned fish). these two items used to be the food for the rich in the forties, fifties and the early sixties. young girls who were greedy were, therefore, lured into the beds of men who were able to provide such items for them (felicia ezika: personal interview). the two items are symbolically used here for every other material thing given to these girls by their lovers which their mothers were never aware of. the song emphasizes the need for patience and self control using some rhetorical questions. pretence and hypocrisy some ụmụada songs possess these themes of pretence and hypocrisy, a case where a presented situation is not the actual situation. an example is below: “oche eze” oche eze, nwanyị mma, oche eze. oche eze, nwanyị mma, oche eze. nwanyị bịa mbụ, e bunye ya oche a na-ebunye eze. nwanyị bịa mbụ, e bunye ya oche a na-ebunye eze. o kwee ya izu naabọ, a nara ya oche eze bunye isi. onye isi eburunu oche. agbataobi e delụ nwayọọ. oche eze ee, oche eze. translation “seat of a king” seat of a king, good woman, seat of a king. seat of a king, good woman, seat of a king. when a woman comes first, she is given the seat of a king. when a woman comes first, she is given the seat of a king. after two local weeks, the seat is taken away from her and given back to the head. the head carries the seat. neighbours keep calm. seat of a king, seat of a king. this song satirizes the treatment given to women when they are newly married into a particular family. when a woman newly gets married, she is treated as a queen by her in-laws and other fellow women married into that family. but after some time, she starts being treated like her fellow women. the head of the family remains the only person who is accorded such respect and honour. this will silence those who complain about the special treatment given to a particular woman. this 'special treatment' is symbolized by “oche eze”, seat of a king, while 'izu naabọ' (two local weeks) summarizes the short time when the newly married women receive a special treatment. the repetition of “seat of a king” in lines 1, 2, and 8 add to the rhythm of the song. 49 50 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 chioma f. emelone & christiania o. udogu: satire in igbo oral tradition: the case of ụmụada songs page 18 page 19 page 20 page 21 page 22 page 23 page 24 page 25 page 26 145 146 introduction when history is embedded in literature it gives a reader a clear picture of the past. the great literary artist who must have delved into history before attempting the task ahead must be able to paint the life of the plain people, the ordinary men and women, of the time which he writes. the writer does not do these things by just quoting figures which only gives a picture of the past, it can only be done well only if he possesses the highest kind of imagination. the creative writer brings the past before our eyes as if it were the present. it is his job to make one see the hard-faced archers of agincourt, and the war-sworn spearmen who followed alexander down beyond the rim of the known world. therefore these kinds of works can be classified as historical fiction; a made up story that is based on a real time and place in history, so fact is mixed with fiction. ben okri stated that there is “a lot about the past that we can't know except by stories” (70). a story is a modest attempt by the writer to make sense of experience and the past. it represents an illumination of society's reality. it is also in this sense that we can begin to perceive literature as a national biography depicting social conditions of certain periods in our history. the artist is a conduit through which old things or issues (the past) are recovered or reconfigured. the world that the writer has created is what we want to savour and enjoy, but we cannot deeply appreciate it unless we comprehend its relevance to the other two worlds, the writer's world and our world. literature becomes a series of historical documents because the vital elements of inspiration are manipulated in such a manner that gives maximum effect to the reader. there is always a delicate and subtle connection between literature and history. literature and history can never be far apart. it is in this intricate relationship between literature and life (history) that one sees chimamanda adichie's half of a yellow fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie's half of a yellow sun dr. osita igwenagum ijeoma lena department of english, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university igbariam campus ijeomalena@gmail.com & dr. udeh bryan .j. department of english, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university igbariam campus abstract fiction does not develop in a vacuum, the writer may have been influenced by historical, sociological events in the past or present. the literary artist is therefore a conduit through which old things or issues (the past) are recovered or reconfigured. many critics and researchers focus their attention on the effects of the biafran war without paying attention to adichie's skilful interpretation of a war she didn't witness. a great literary artist is a product of books he had read in time past. the writer being an epitome of creativity does not repeat the same document, he skilfully manipulates, recreates, distorts and interprets these historical documents in such a way that there is a thin line between fiction and non-fiction. this is what distinguishes the creative writer from the historian. this paper therefore critically examines chimamanda adichie's approach to history in half of a yellow sun. it critically examines how adichie re-created and interpreted the historical biafran war. the theoretical framework adopted in this paper is new historicism. keywords: history, conduit, literature, creativity, new historicism. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun mailto:ijeomalena@gmail.com 143 144 bossan, rita. “feminist tendencies in chimamanda ngozi adichie's purple hibiscus”in gender and power in contemporary africa: essays in honour of prof. sophia obiajuli ogwude, gboyega, k, egya s. e. and ifamose, s. (eds.), bahiti and dalila publishers. p. 230. 2014. bryce, jane. 'the unheard voices': a review of female novelists of modern africa by oladele taiwo. 1993. dworkin, andrea rita. intercourse.basic books, 1987. --“i want a 24-hour truce in which there is no rape”. 1983. h�ps://www.guardian.com. --our blood: prophecies and discourses on sexual politics.g.p. putma's sons, 1976. goring, paul, jeremy hawthorn, domhnall mitchel. studying l i t e r a t u r e : t h e e s s e n t i a l companion.oxford up, 2001. harrison kevin and boyd tony.“feminism.”understanding political ideas and movements.retrieved on 30/10/2022 from manchesteropenhive.com. 2018. kolawole, mary e. modupe. womanism and african consciousness.trenton, african world press, 1998. lloyd w. brown, women wri ters in black afr ica . westport.greenwood press, 1981. neshani. andreas. the purple violet of oshaantu.heinemann books, 2001. nnolim, charles e. “a house divided: feminism in african literature”.issues in african l i t e r a t u re . tr e a s u r e books, 2009. pp. 134-147 raina javeed ahmad. “feminism: an overview”. international journal of research, vol 4, no 13, 2017, pp.3373. stratton, florence. contemporary african literature and the politics of gender.routledge, 1994. walters margaret. feminism: a very short introduction.oxford university press. 2005. conclusion this study has been able to show that literatures of arab origin also explore themes of women concerns. the two novels – evelyne accad's wounding words and neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantuare characterised by oppression and subjugation. most of the female characters live under the oppression and suppressionof their husbands. most of the male characters are portrayed as oppressors who deprive the female characters of value-defined lives. inthe purple violet of oshaantu, kauna suffers victimhood in the hands of shange, her abusive husband.when shange eventually dies, kauna refuses to mourn him because she has not recovered from the gory memory of her late husband's abusive actions. unsuspecting persons who do not really know what she has passed through in the hands of her late husband see her actions as wicked, vindictive, and unreasonable. hayate in wounding wordsassumes the responsibility of an activist going about preaching in conjunction with other like-minded women the need for women to be free from every form of oppression. abusive patriarchy is portrayed as a dangerous societal ill which must be discarded for the freedom of women and the society, to the end that thefundamental human rights of women must be respected. the authors, therefore, have successfully exploited the instrumentality of literature to protest against as well as seek amelioration for the difficult circumstances women suffer within their societies. works cited accad, evelyne. wounding words: a woman's journal in tunisia.heinemann books, 1996. aidoo, ama ata. “unwelcome pals and decorative slaves: or glimpses of women as writers and characters in contemporary african literature”. literature and society: selected essays on african literature, edited by ernest emenyonu. heinemann, 1986. pp. 8-17. dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 https://www.guardian.com 147 148 pioneers of nigerian literature written in english provided an explanation for his craft and artistry defending himself as a preservationist of his own culture “i don't want the past to die, i don't want our culture to vanish. it's not good; we are losing customs and traditions but i am still trying to bring them into memory” (410). chinua achebe has also provided an explanation to why he wrote things fall apart. according to him his culture was changing rapidly after the second world war so much so that the background material for his story was included in order that his people would have a good record of life as it once was, before it disappeared and forgotten in his most quoted and celebrated essay the novelist as a teacherhe submits: “i would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones i set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past with all imperfections was not one long night of savagery from which the first europeans acting on god's behalf delivered them. perhaps what i write is applied art as distinct from pure” (45). this accords with what kolawole mary as “a new way of historifying reality in african fiction”(21). to this extent this paper critically examines chimamanda adichie's skilful manipulation, repetition, recreation, and interpretation of history in half of a yellow sun. fact versus fiction: a historical interpretation of chimamada adichie's half of a yellow sun chimamanda ngozi adichie's half of a yellow sun is a powerful novel that addresses the emotional and personal consequences of the nigerian civil war along with the historical atrocities that accompanied it. this is a story about the nigeriabiafra civil war. it is told through the interwining perspectives of three characters: ugwu, a poor village boy who gets a job as a house boy for odenigbo, a university professor, olanna, a privileged woman from lagos (educated in london) who leaves sun.it is the happening in ones' environment that influences one to pick up a pen. no wonder it is said that “literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by social, political and economic forces in a particular society. (homecoming xv). a lot of events may attract the attention of a writer; even a mere documentation of history may inspire a writer. literature may not be hinged only on imagination but history can be recreated and interpreted in literature. factual dates can be interlaced with fictitious characters; this will even aid proper understanding of history. for e.h carr in his book first published in 1961 with the title “what is history”, he wrote that history consists of a corpus of ascertained facts. these facts are available to a historian in documents, inscriptions and so on. the historian collects them, takes them home, and returns them in whatever style that appeals to him. according to carr, following collingwood, history is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his or her facts in an unending dialogue between the present and the past. what this translates to is that the essence of history is to understand the society of the past, with a view to increasing the mastery of the society of the present. history as okonta ike has written “may be the study of past events, but it is also very much a tool to name and shape the present” (250). the present can be understood in its comprehensiveness when serious attention is paid to the past. writers especially in neo-colonial societies act as historians in special ways by distilling from the experiences of the past and narrating them in the shape of stories. the history of neocolonial society shows that colonialism undermined their development. africans as a result of their experience try as much as possible in their narration, to address issues that affect african development and how it can be sustained for the benefit of people in africa. asked why he wrote, amos tutola (1997), one of the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 149 150 explore igbo-ukwu art. jumping four years ahead, trouble is brewing between the hausa and the igbo people and hundreds of people die in the massacres, including olanna's beloved auntie and uncle. a new republic called biafra, is created by the igbo. as a result of the conflict, olanna, odenigbo, their daughter baby are forced to flee nsukka, which is the university town and the major intellectual hub of the new nation. they finally end up in the refugee town of umuahia, where they suffer as a result of food shortage and constant air raids and paranoid atmosphere. these are also allusion to a conflict between olanna and kainene, richard and kainene and olanna and odenigbo. when novel moves back to the 1960s, we learn that odenigbo slept with a village girl, who then had his baby. olanna is furious at his betrayal, and sleeps with richard in a moment of liberation. she gets back to odenigbo and when they later learn that amala refused to keep her new born daughter, olanna decides they would keep her. back during the war olanna, odenigbo, baby and ugwu were living with kainene and richard where kainene was running a refugee camp. the situation is hopeless as they have no food or medicine. kainene decides to trade across enemy lines, but does not return, even after the end of the war a few weeks later. the book ends ambiguously, the reader not knowing if kainene lives. the first critical element in adichie's novel is the use of date. this is an element that is critical to a historian's text; this is a fundamental fact that gives a back bone of veracity, truth and stability to a story. a historian will link precise dates to certain events. biafra became an independent republic on 30 may 1967, and one would assume that this date would appear in a novel that her lush life behind and moves in with odenigbo; and richard, an english journalist (in a relationship with olanna's twin sister, kainene) who receives a grant to write a novel about nigeria. life takes these three main characters into nsukka, into what will become the heart of the nigerian civil war. adichie digs into the political conflict, caused by the attempted secession of the south eastern provinces of nigeria (populated by the igbo ethnic group) as the self-proclaimed republic of biafra. the novel uses the economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tension among the various people of nigeria and draws out the emotional and psychological consequences of the conflict to construct a multidimensional version of this war. half of a yellow sun swings back and forth before even the prewar early 1960s and the conflict stricken southern region in the late 1960s. in the earlier stage, the reader can observe the intellectual community of nsukka express their ideas throughout a string of dinner parties at odenigbo's. after biafra's declaration of secession, the lives of the main characters drastically changed and were torn apart by the brutality of the civil war and decisions in their personal lives. the book jumps between events that took place during the early 1960s and late 1960s, when the war took place, and extends until the end of the war. in the early 1960s, the main characters are introduced ugwu, a 13-year old village boy who moves in with odenigbo, to work as his houseboy. odenigbo frequently entertains intellectuals to discuss the political turmoil in nigeria. life changes for ugwu when odenigbo's girlfriend, olanna, moves in with them. ugwu forms a strong bond with both of them and is very loyal. olanna has a twin sister, kainene, a woman with a dry sense of humour, tired by the pompous company she runs for her father. her lover richard is an english man who has come to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 151 152 ikejide came up to him. 'mr richard, sah, madam say make you come. there is another coup', ikejide said. he looked excited. richard hurried indoors. he was right; madu was wrong. the moist july heat had plastered his hair limply to his head, and he ran his hand through it as he went. kainene was on a sofa in the living room, her arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth. the british voice on the radio was so loud that she raised her voice when she said northern officers have taken over. the bbc says they are killing igbo officers in kaduna. nigerian radio isn't saying anything (172). adichie intentionally avoids using precise dates for important event to make the work more fictitious. she doesn't want to be called a historian. below is the declaration of the republic of biafra with no date and also on the radio: he sat on the bed with the radio placed on the bedside cabinet. the reception had little static, as if the radio waves understood the importance of the speech. ojukwu's voice was unmistakable; it was vibrantly male, charismatic, smooth: fellow countrymen and women, you the people of eastern nigeria; conscious of the supreme authority of the almighty god over all mankind; of your duty over posterity; aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any government based outside nigeria… i do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called eastern nigeria, together with her continental shelf and territorial waters, shall henceforth be an independent and sovereign state of the name and title of the republic of biafra (200). ththis event took place in history on 30 may 1967; the master crafter intentionally omits this date. she went on to deliver the information via the radio. the peak was that there was even no revolves around biafra but the master creative writer tactfully avoids the use of this. also most of these important events are usually heard on the radio television and from characters thus: nkem! master called out 'omego! it has happened!' olanna hurried to the living room, ugwu close behind. master was standing by the radio. the television was on but the volume was off so the dancing people they were swaying drunkenly. 'there's been a coup; master said and gestured to the radio. 'major kaduna nzeogwu is speaking from kaduna' the voice on the radio was youthful, eager and confident: the constitution is suspended and the regional government and elected assemblies are hereby dissolved, my dear country men. the aim of the political council is to establish a nation free from corruption and internal strife… (156). from the above one would gather that there is no date for this coup. adichie creatively recreates history; this can also be seen; he was serving baby's porridge when the deputy president spoke briefly on the radio the voice understated, as if he were exhausted from the effort of saying, “the government is handing over to the mil i tary”. there were announcements later – the prime minister was missing, nigeria was now a federal military government, the premiers of the north and west were missing but ugwu was not sure who spoke and on what station because master sat next to the radio, turning the knob quickly, stopping, listening, turning stopping (157). this tells one how important the radio is for adichie instead of dragging one into these events, she prefers to use the radio; thereby creating a thin line between fiction and non-fiction. again information about the second coup which we all know the date thus: coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 153 154 adichie made it a primary objective; to capture her character's reaction to every important event in the novel. it seems that the way in which they experience the events is of more relevance than the event itself. the event is announced on the radio and then the characters react one by one. the novel is indeed character driven story in which the emotions and the felt history are the focal points. for example after the announcement of the coup, the elites in odenigbo's siting room gave their views: 'this is the end of corruption! this is what we have needed to happen since that general strike' one guest said. ugwu did not know his name, but he tended to eat up all the chinchin right after it was served… those majors are true heroes! okeoma said, and raised an arm … 'the bbc is calling it an igbo coup' the chin-chin eating guest said. 'and they have a point. it was mostly northerners who were killed'. it was mostly northerners who were in government; professor ezeka whispered, his eyebrows arched, as if he could not believe he had to say what was so obvious. 'the bbc should be asking their people who put the northerners to dominate everybody!' master said (158). from the above discussion the reader grabs the happening in the novel, most of it are realistic. this for example is how the secession is announced: but odenigbo didn't need to deliver the letter because the secession was announced that evening he sat on the bed with radio placed on the bedside cabinet. the reception had little static, as if the radio waves understood the importance of the speech, ojukwu's voice was unmistakable; it was vibrantly male, charismatic, smooth: fellow countrymen and women, you the people of eastern nigeria…(200). thdate for the end of the war, january 14 1970. it was not even mentioned. the writer only took note of the season: “the harmattan winds where calmer today, they did not make the cashew trees swirl, but they blew sand everywhere and the air was thick with grit and with rumours his excellency had not gone in search of peace but had run away” (492). again from the radio one gets that the war has ended: odenigbo quickly turned the radio on, as though he has been expecting the woman with this news. the male voice was unfamiliar: throughout history, injured people have had to resolve to alms in self-defence where peaceful negotiations fail. we are no exception… i urge general gowon, in the name of humanity, to order his troops to pause while an armistice is negotiated (495). this is how the reader was informed that the war had ended in the novel. it is important to note that the only markers of time the reader is given in the novel are the two major time periods in which the events take place: the early sixties and the late sixties. for nwahunanya this demarcation of time makes sure that “the events are not made to occur in vacuo but are located in known historical time” (5). the novel starts off in the early sixties; the characters are introduced, the scene is set, and their lives intersect. never is an exact date given, arguably because real people do not think or remember in terms of precise dates. but the attentive reader can deduce some precise date from the historical events that are mentioned. such as “they toasted kenya's independence” (233), kenya became independent from britain on 12 december 1963. another instance is the death of winston churchill: “richard was also relieved to learn of sir winston churchill's death” (235). thchurchill died on 24 january 1965, and again an important historical event is coupled with the character's own personal life. richard is not relieved because churchill has died, but because of its consequences: he does not have to face his lover kainene yet. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 155 156 mentioned are real, and are plausible when they are considered in the historical context. the places and names mentioned in the story are places that were important in the course of events that took place during the nigeria-biafra war, but in the novel they are important because of the presence of the character in them. nsukka is a very important city in the novel, odenigbo lives in the university campus and teaches there, olanna joins him, richard moves to nsukka too. hear olanna tell chief okonji her plans to go to nsukka “nsukka? is that right? you've decided to move to nsukka? chief okonji asked. 'yes i have applied for a job as instructor in the department of sociology and i just got it', olanna said” (46). also kainene tells olanna of richard's plan to move to nsukka too: “richard is going to nsukka too. he's received the grant, and he is going to write his book there” (51). nsukka was significant in the biafran war because nsukka was one of the first towns overtaken by the federal troops. for odenigbo and olanna it was only a matter of a week or two and the biafran soldiers will take over but the reverse was the case. “evacuate now! the federals have entered nsukka! we are evacuating now! right now!” (219). from ugwu's narrative point we see people trooping out of nsukka: dust swirled all around, like a see-through brown blanket. the main road was crowded; women with boxes on their heads and babies tied to their backs, barefoot children carrying bundles of clothes, yam or boxes, men dragging bicycles. ugwu wondered why they were holding lit kerosene lanterns although it was not yet dark (220). it was also in the university campus at nsukka that ojukwu came and addressed the students: they joined the cluster of lecturers standing by the statue of the lion…a few reporters scrambled after him, holding out tape recorders like offerings. students, so many that this is ojukwu's speech on the radio, the speech is transcribed; and then the reactions follow, each character has his or her own distinctly personal reaction to the news: this is our beginning; odenigbo said, that false softness had left his voice and he sounded normal again, bracing and sonorous. he took his glasses off and grabbed baby's little hands and began to dance around in circle with her. olanna laughed and then felt as if she were following a script, as if odenigbo's excitement would abide nothing but more excitement. she sat up and shivered. she had wanted the secession to happen, but now it seems too big to conceive. (201) richard and kainene conceived the secession this way: the day the secession was announced, he stood with kainene on the varenda and listened to ojukwu's voice on the radio and afterwards took her in his arms. at first he thought they were both trembling, until he moved back to look at her face and realized that she was perfectly still. only he was trembling. 'happy independent' he told her 'independence' she said before she added 'happy independence'. he wanted to ask her to marry him. this was a new start, a new country. it was not only because secession was just, considering all that the igbo had endured, but because of the possibility biafra held for him (208). also for richard “the nigerians would let biafrans be; they would never fight a people already battered by the massacres. they would be pleased to be rid of the igbo anyway”. richard was certain about this”(208). where the novel resembles a historian's account is in the use of place and personal names. most of the places that are coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 157 158 the character's experiences in the real world while maintaining her freedom as a literary author to use the surroundings for the development of her characters. abba is another real town mentioned in the novel. it is odenigbo's home town. after the fall of nsukka they all moved to abba: “when they finally arrived at abba, it was dusk, the wind screen was coated in ochre dust and baby was asleep” (221). the next town was umuahia and finally to orlu. port harcourt was an important city and its fall was very significant in the war. the loss of port harcourt meant the loss of oil and sea ports. it is significant in the story because richard and kainene lived there. the worst happened to kainene when port harcourt fell. there was shelling she had to pack all things to the car but when the shelling was getting closer they ran out of the house to the orchard but unfortunately for ikejide he kept running instead of taking cover. his head was ripped off his neck and his lifeless body was still running: “ikejide's head was gone. the body was running arched slightly forward, arms flying around but there was no head. there was only a bodied neck. kainene screamed. the body washed down near her long american car” (386). kainene couldn't bear this gory sight, she cried all night when she got to orlu. like history always has it that people of the southsouth were saboteurs during the war chimamanda was able to reflect this: richard said again 'port harcourt is safe, isn't it?' there was a pause on madu's end. 'some saboteurs have been arrested and all of them are non-igbo minorities. i don't know why this people insist on aiding the enemy, we will overcome. is kainene there? richard handed kainene the phone. the sacrilege of it, that some people could betray biafra. he remembered the ijaw and the efik men he saw spoken to at a bank in owerri, who said the igbo would dominate them when biafra was established (383). richard wondered how they had congregated so quickly, began to chant 'power! power!'... 'i came to ask you a question', he said. his oxford accented voice was surprisingly soft…'what shall we do? shall we keep silent and let them force us back into nigeria'…'if they declare war; he said 'i want to tell you now it may become a long drawn out war. are you prepared? are we prepared?' 'yes! yes! ojukwu, onye anyi egbe! give us guns! iwe di anyi n'obi! there is anger in our hearts!' (211). street names are also mentioned in the novel. the street odenigbo and olanna lived in is called odim street which is a street that exists near the university in nsukka. in this way it would have been possible for this couple to have lived there. “they went past a sign, odim street, and ugwu mouthed street, as he did whenever he saw an english word that was not too long” (13). adichie invented fictive places, some of the places mentioned were not real. f+or example she invented a train station in nsukka, invented a beach in port harcourt, changed the distance between towns but adichie never invented the major events. this train station is seen in pages 179 and 180: “some of our people are coming back now. the lucky ones are coming back. the railway stations are full of our people. if you have tea and bread to spare, please take it to the stations. help a brother in need'. master leapt up the sofa. 'go ugwu', he said 'take tea and bread and go to the railway station ” (180). adichie explains how she handled the geography of nigeria in her novel: “i invented a train station in nsukka, invented a beach in port harcourt changed the distance between towns… but i did not invent any of the major events”. adichie treats the geographic reality differently than a historian would; this enables her to frame coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 159 160 ugwu heard the sound just before they cut their cake in the living room, the swift wah-wah-wah roar in the sky. at first it was thunderous and then it receded for a moment and came back again louder and swifter. from somewhere close by, chickens began to squawk wildly. somebody said, 'enemy plane! air raid' 'outside!' master shouted, but some guests were running into the bedroom, screaming, 'jesus! jesus!' the sound were louder now, overheard, they ran …they spurted hundreds of scattered bullets before dark balls rolled out from underneath, as if the planes were laying large eggs. the first explosion was so loud that ugwu's ear popped and his body shivered alongside the vibrating ground. a woman from the opposite house tugged at olanna's dress. 'remove it! remove that white dress! they will see it and target us!' (248). just as she seemed to let the emotional response to the announcement of the secession take preference over the event itself, here the running of the wedding is more important to the characters than the occurrence of the bombing. these two events will always be remembered together by them, just because the bombing occurred at a moment of pivotal importance in their lives. by combining the personal and the political or historical in this way, adichie makes the political developments of the characters felt personal history. conclusion conclusively, one must recognize that half of a yellow sun is a historical novel. as chinyere nwahunanya points out “the historical novel combines the technique of the historian (documentation) and that of the novelist (imaginative recreation of events) in the fictional evocation of the past” (2). in the novel there is careful attention to fiction writing as an art. this can be recognised in the way in which the plot is built up, the way in other real places that were mentioned include lagos, orlu, owerri etc. the names of important historical figures are maintained in the narrative, gown and ojukwu are frequently mentioned, churchill, tafawa belewa, harold wilson, who was the british prime minister at the time. ojukwu and gowon's voice are always heard on the radio, except when ojukwu came to the university campus: 'i came to ask you a question,' he said. his oxfordaccented voice was surprisingly soft; it did not have the timbre that it did over the radio and it was a little theatrical, a little too measured. 'what shall we do?' shall we keep silence and let them force us back into nigeria? shall we ignore the thousands of our brothers and sisters killed in the north? (211). according to white, the historian and the fiction writer come together when the historian must transform his study into a written form. the historian has to “employ the same strategies of linguistic figuration used by imaginative writers to endow. their discourse with the kind of latent, secondary, or connotative meanings that will require their works not only received as message but read as symbolic structures” (8). this is an idea which he derives from roland barthes. this latent meaning is “it's interpretation of the event that makes up its manifest content” (8). this interpretation is what separates the historical discourse from a list of chronological ordered events, and what approximates it to a narrative fiction. this also refers to what white calls 'emplotment' the events are integrated into a plot structure. this relates back to the way in which the personal events punctuate and parallel the political ones in the novel. adichie uses the personal to make the political felt. olanna and odenigbo's wedding, for example is also the moment of the first bombing of the town of umuahia: coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. olisa igwenagum ijeoma lena & dr. udeh bryan .j.: fact versus fiction: a historical reading of chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun 161 which the dialogue is constructed, and how each character is drawn with careful attention to each detail. adichie documents the nigerian biafran war, but the story revolves around how this particular time in history was experienced by the characters. adichie uses the different characters to demonstrate that there are as many versions of reality as there are people to interpret it; she uses her novel to show these different dimensions of one and the same period in time. furtheadichie combines history and literature to keep the past in the present, to keep it alive, and also to make the historical and political history felt. works cited achebe, chinua. morning yet on creation day. heb, 1975. adichie, chimamanda. half of a yellow sun. farafina, 2006. alaba-isama, godwin.the tragedy of victory: on the spot account of the nigerian-biafra war in the atlantic theatre. spectrum books, 2013. amuta, chidi. “the nigerian civil war and the evolution of nigerian literature”.canadian journal of african studies, vol 17, no 1, 1983, pp. 85-89. brady, patrick. memory and history as fiction: an archetypal approach to the historical novel. new paradigm press, 1983. carr, edward. what is history? penguin, 1981. collingwood, christopher. the idea of history.oxford university press, 1946. de groot, jerome. the historical novel.routldge, 2010. emenyonu, ernest. war in african literature today.hebn, 2008. okigbo, christopher. labyrinths.heinemann, 1971. orie, chibueze prince. the curio in phenomenality and competence.samdrew, 2011. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor nwangwu c. ephraim department of languages general studies unit federal polytechnic oko 08037587417 ephurios@gmail.com abstract this research delves into the intricate layers of mystery and suspense present in nnedi okorafor's novel what sunny saw in the flames. through a comprehensive analysis, the research aims to unravel the complexities that contribute to the enigmatic nature of the narrative. the theoretical framework adopted is the theory of narratology and postulations of tzvetan todorov to explain the narrative structure is equilibrium, disruption and resolution. by examining the author's use of mystery and suspense, this paper seeks to shed light on the mysterious suspense that keeps readers engaged from beginning to end. the research also highlights the importance of understanding the cultural and historical context of the novel in order to fully appreciate the mysterious and suspenseful elements. it is important to consider the african mythology and folklore that are woven into the story, as well as the historical and social elements that contribute to the atmosphere of uncertainty. keywords: mystery, suspense, unravel, complexities mysterious suspense. introduction there are speculations about the existence of ghosts, mystic beings and powerful masquerades which is assumed to the embodiment of half spirit, half human. so many complexities are associated with mystery fused with suspense specially because it nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 34 relates to sacred topics and even though not sacred is obscure. the presence of mystery genre in nigerian literature dates back to when written literature started making waves in the country. from the mid-twentieth century, peculiarly in the genre of fiction, supernatural and unusual events have been part of imaginative creations in nigerian literature. this is an interesting connection to make between folklore and gothic literature. folklore being a significant part of nigerian literature can add an element of realism and tradition to a story, making it more engaging and atmospheric. in the case of what sunny saw in the flames, the presence of juju practices and references to the past help to create a gothic atmosphere that is both familiar and unsettling; it explored dark and mysterious themes. the combination of folklore and gothic elements can make for a compelling, mysterious and unique reading experience. in different cultures around the world, there are many different versions of the "monster" trope. in africa, for example, there are tales of ogres, giants, devils, and nameless creatures. nigerian oral narratives describe these creatures as being voracious, invincible, and capable of returning from the dead to cause even more destruction just as ekwensu came back to cause more destruction in what sunny saw in the flames. the concept of the monster in africa is thus complex and multi-faceted, with each culture having its own unique take on the idea. this can be a useful tool for examining human fears and anxieties, as well as our desire for power and control. nigerian oral narratives are rich with fantastical elements, such as magical creatures, mischievous spirits, and other supernatural beings that live alongside humans. this folklore is often full of mysteries, superstitions, and monsters, which make it well-suited for the world of gothic fiction. the fantastic worlds created by these narratives are ripe for exploration in the context coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 35 mailto:ephurios@gmail.com of the gothic, as they provide an intriguing backdrop for tales of terror and the supernatural. okorafor's novels like zahra the windseeker (2005), who fears death (2010) and what sunny saw in the flames (2015) depict a world where masquerades, flying people, invisible people, flying reptiles, magic, shapeshifting creatures, sorcery and battles between humans and spirits all coexist alongside traditional nigerian societies and modern technologies. the fusion of old myths and legends with futuristic elements creates a unique and memorable setting. nnedi okorafor's article “organic fantasy” (2009) outlines her guiding vision for her literary works. she acknowledges that she infuses her life experiences, cultural heritage and personal perspectives into her narratives. she credits her nigerian and american background as well as her magical world view, as key influences on her writing. nnedi okorafor's works have shown unwavering trend towards gothic genre through her adoption of salient gothic motifs and conventions. this concept of re-forming the world through storytelling is seen in okri's own work, as well as in the work of other african writers such as nnedi okorafor. by re-imagining the world through their words, these authors challenge the status quo and create new possibilities. okri believes that stories have the power to create new realities and inspire change meaning that a story works from the inside out, through the imagination, intuition, and the emotions to re-form a world in the process of telling. this is reflected in his statement to charles henry rowell, in which he said: story is more than just a way to pass the time. it is a fundamental part of the universe and of our existence. when lightning strikes a mountain, when the wind blows, when the stars are born and die these are all stories. we exist within the story of the universe. when we tell stories, we are tapping into something greater than ourselves. we are shaping the world around us and creating a new nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 36 reality. we are creating a moral framework, setting boundaries and establishing an ideal world. every story is an act of creation, an act of shaping the universe itself. (219) from the above statement it is worthy to note that okorafor and okri both believe that stories can do far more than simply entertain; they can change the world by shaping the way we see and experience it. this is similar to what adichie calls the “danger of a single story,” and aware of what okri refers to as “the framing of a world through narratives” (219). it refers to the idea that when we only hear one perspective or narrative, we miss out on the possibility of more nuanced or diverse experiences. in okorafor's stories, she uses the limitless potential of storytelling to explore different perspectives and create new worlds. while there is optimism for cultural change, the past remains an important tool for interpreting the present in nigerian literature. many nigerian writers believe that it is necessary to look to the past in order to understand the present and prepare for the future. this re-validation of the past demonstrates the importance of tradition and heritage in contemporary nigerian culture. okorafor brings about the ambivalence of juju practices as opposed the way people describe everything juju related as evil. there has been a lack of serious academic study of mystery fiction in africa, particularly in nigeria to the best knowledge of the researcher. additionally, the genre of mystic literature has yet to be fully explored or appreciated in nigeria. villains in mystery fiction are often characterised as having antisocial, self-centered, and sexually perverted tendencies. these traits are not typically associated with heroes in literature, and it's interesting to see how these qualities can be used to create complex and engaging characters. the novel unravels the mystery behind some transcendental practices; it goes beyond unraveling the mysteries coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 37 to simplify the actions of the leopard people. nnedi okorafor through her story telling explained that although the culture of the leopard people seemed complicated, it is quite easy if one can follow the rules. everything that occurred in the spiritual realm of the leopard folks had a cause and an effect attached which made them apply caution. it is quite risky that one might die from the failed attempt of a juju trial manifestation. mystery and suspense mystery refers to something that is unknown or not fully understood (oxford advanced learner's dictionary). it can also refer to a genre of fiction that involves a problem that needs to be tackled. mystery can be anything is not easy to comprehend and difficult to explained. mystery and suspense go in pari passu; sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish them. suspense is vital to mystery because the author in trying to make things appear mysterious will hold back some information thereby making the readers follow up the story in a bid to unravel the mystery. one cannot successful write a mystery genre without suspenseful moments. mehriniso ochilova views suspense as “an intense feeling which an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events” (168).he is of the opinion that without suspense, readers would quickly lose interest in a book because there is nothing to make them hold their breath in want for more information. ochilova classifies suspense depending on the strength of it; hidden suspense is the suspense that is not easily noticed or felt. the micro suspense is the one that starts from few pages of the novels and ends shortly after. the macro suspense which is assumed to be the strongest suspense starts from the title of the novel till the last paragraph of the novel. suspense is a feeling of anxious uncertainty about what will happen next. in fiction, suspense is usually created by raising questions or presenting obstacles that need to be overcome. nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 38 suspense is often found in stories that involve a race against time, magical beings and creatures, a hidden danger or a threat that is not yet known. it creates a feeling of excitement and interest and can keep the readers captivated. nnedi okoroafor employs the macro suspense in writing of her novel what sunny saw in the flames, readers were lost and needed to find out what sunny actually saw in the flames. when they finally obtained the information, the kept reading to see if her visions finally turned into reality. the phrase “mysterious suspense” is a used to describe the creation of an atmosphere of tension, anticipation and uncertainty in a story usually fiction by introducing elements of mystery and intrigue. it is often used to describe stories or movies that keep the audience guessing, with twists and turns that keep them anxious. there is a prevalence of enigmatic situations, characters or events that keep them guessing and eager to unravel the truth. complexities in literature complexities in literature refers to the nuances, intricacies and layers of meanings in a text that give a text depth and richness. complexities serve several purposes in a story. first, it makes the characters more realistic and relatable. complex characters are often more interesting and engaging than flat characters. second, complexity creates tension and conflict, which drives the plot forward. third, complexities in a character's thoughts, actions and speech often reflect the story's central themes and messages. finally, the complexity of character helps the audience understand them more deeply. when the audience understands the motivations behind a character's actions, it helps the audience feel empathy for the character and understand how the character impacts the story as a whole. those things readers consider as complexities are purely techniques employed by the writer to make the story fascinating so as to hold the attention of the readers. when dealing with suspense laced with mystery, people get to read or witness weird characters and situations beyond realities of human existence. now, to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 39 unravel those extraordinary situations, one has to think beyond human comprehension to understand the occurrence of mysterious suspense. mysterious suspense often occur in fiction because the twists sometimes go beyond what was expected. theoretical framework the theory adopted in this study is the the narrative theory of equilibrium derives from “ ” (felluga). tzvetan narratology todorov analysed the structural properties of narratives and developed a general theory that could be applied to all stories. he called this new approach narratology or science of the narrative. todorov was a literary critic and theorist who developed his theory of narrative structure in the 1970s. his work was influenced by structuralist and semiotic theories which focus on the underlying patterns and structure of texts. this theory suggests that all narratives follow a three-part structure: equilibrium, disruption and resolution. in a mystery novel, the equilibrium will be calm, the normal state of affairs at the beginning of the story. the disruption would be the event or events that upset the balance and create suspense. the resolution would be the final outcome of the story, where the mystery is solved and the equilibrium is restored. he avers that this pattern is found in all stories, from mythological tales to modern novels. unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames (published under the title akata witch outside of nigeria and the united kingdom), okorafor writes the coming-of-age story of sunny nwazue, a thirteen-year old albino born in new york who relocated with her family to live in aba, nigeria. her american background, coupled with the pigmentation of her skin, makes her an easy target for ridicule by her classmates. in nnedi okorafor ' s novel , mysterious suspense plays a significant role in shaping the story and captivating readers to keep reading till the end. the narrative follows the journey of sunny nwazue, a young girl with magical nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 40 abilities, as she navigates a world filled with supernatural forces, ancient traditions, and hidden dangers. through the use of mysterious suspense, okorafor creates a sense of unease and curiosity that propels the plot forward and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. one of the key aspects of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames is the enigmatic nature of sunny's powers and the world she inhabits. from the opening chapters, readers are introduced to sunny's unique ability to see into the future through the flames. this mysterious gift sets the stage for a series of cryptic visions and prophetic dreams that drive the narrative forward and raise questions about sunny's destiny and the events that lie ahead. prior to each chapter, there are short descriptions that give insight into what will happen next. these descriptions are like encyclopedic entries. the prologue at the of chapter four reads, “now that you are a leopard person, know that your world has just become more real. creatures are real. ghosts, witches, demons, shape-shifters, and masquerades, all real. masquerades are always dangerous. they can kill, steal your soul, take your mind, take your past, rewrite your future, bring the end of the world, even. as a free agent you will have nothing to do with the real thing, otherwise you will face certain death” (39). one who knows only the denotative meaning of free agent will be confused on why they will face certain deaths; this is because free agent simply means one who can act the way he/she wants as he/she is not responsible to anyone or for anyone. the contextual meaning is a leopard person who is not privileged to be born of parents with leopard's bloodline; they are at disadvantage because they probably will not get to know about their identity on time which makes it difficult for them to find a mentor. in a conversation with chichi, the mystery behind the name “lambs” and “leopard people” was cleared. chichi said to sunny “lambs are people who have no juju. you were never a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 41 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/narratology lamb, but you have to be initiated to become a functioning leopard person” (40). leopard people are people who possess supernatural gifts and powers which is meant to be used for positive things although some do misuse it. the readers see signs of sunny's magical nature before her initiation, for example, when she sees strange images in the fire. when she finds solace staring in the flickering candle flame, she sees the vision. this mysterious and curious vision is a doorway to a magical universe and it foreshadows her journey throughout the novel. her character is a combination of things that seem to oppose each other: she is both visible and invisible, possible and impossible, and has a mixture of traditional nigerian and modern western values. this mirrors the state of nigeria, which is both traditional and modern. while sunny, orlu, chichi, sasha with anatov were on their way to leopard knocks, anatov disappeared like a mist when it was time to cross the bridge which was quite unusual. chichi seeing how unsettled sunny was explained certain things about the leopard people to her. she talked about how she can make mosquitoes stay away, warm her bathing water, call music and send masquerade but what shocked sunny most was the tale about how chichi wore her spirit face for seven days when she was born. sunny assumed chichi was on drugs and termed her statements as “what a crazy old man would say” (41). it was quite difficult for her to believe and understand such things due to complexities associated mystic beings. in this magical universe, the leopard people perform incredible rituals. sunny explores the leopard people's customs through her friendship with her friends orlu and chichi. although they are different, they still remember and honour their ancestors. so, even in modern nigerian society, there is still a connection with the past. as sunny learns more about her identity as a leopard person after her initiation, she becomes more aware of the spiritual world around her. she sees the connection between this nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 42 spiritual world and her everyday life in the society. she also discovers that her skin colour is not just accepted but also celebrated amongst the leopard people. leopard knocks is a magical place that can only be reached via a bridge that connects to the spirit world to the physical world. this bridge is described as “a 'link' between the two worlds. it is the link that allows the spirits to come to leopard knocks. it is a place where anything can happen. leopard knocks is an island created by the ancestor, so you have to call on your spirit face to reach it. “every leopard person has two faces a human face and a spirit face” (41). when the characters call on their spirit faces, they are able to shape-shift and access the magical properties of leopard knocks. many of the magical events in the novel took place within the contexts of the leopard society. one cannot talk about the leopard people without talking about juju. they have a substance called “healing hands powder” (123) which anatov poured into the hands of sunny and her friends to help them heal after the injuries they sustained. the powder can heal but can also cause cancer if one holds unto it for long. there was this ominous suspense that will hold readers who will definitely keep reading to know whether sunny and others will succeed at the attempt to use the powder or if their cases will worsen. when the researcher started reading the novel, something was quite amiss with chichi's mother who lived in an old hut amidst better houses. she was unmarried too regardless of being very beautiful and intelligent. okorafor unraveled the reason through telling that the mother is a nimm priestess. “nimm priestess are women who are chosen when they are born and sold to a female spirit who lives in the wilderness” (134). one unfathomable things is that they are never allowed to marry and they reject wealth too. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 43 anatov and sugar cream, two mysterious scholars who are versed in the knowledge of the leopard people, perform unbelievable rituals. anatov is the defender of frogs and all things natural the characters use strange money called “chittim”, which they earn by learning the ways of the leopard people. the leopard people are shown to be able to use juju, or magic, to do supernatural things as seen in the character, sasha, who sends a masquerade after three boys for insulting his parents, and the horrible experience traumatised the boys afterwards. now, it is mysterious that a human can comfortably call masquerade to torture people. what was even more shocking is that orlu can undo things. an event occurred in school one day which led to a fight between sunny and jibaku, sunny brought forth her spirit face which scared life out of her opponent who ran away crying. immediately, a car pulled up to pick sunny for her punishment. readers were quite surprised at the level of power the leopard people wielded. as she entered the car to be driven to the place of punishment, readers were gripped with fear as orlu mentioned that her action was very stupid coupled with the driver that heightened the suspense by replying “i can't discuss that with you” (113). during the wrestling match at abuja, the commentator brought out her juju knife, it made sunny scream with horror when she dragged it across her throat. “then she remembered where she was. there was no blood , not even a cut” (146)”. on that same day, a leopard person who lost the wrestling died. “he gazed up at the sky as brown feathered wings unfurled from his back. he crouched down and then leaped, shooting into the sky like a rocket” (150). they all claimed that he was still victorious as he will now be privileged to become a guardian angel. one might be wondering the mystery behind the two varying situations. if one leopard person can slice her throat and not die, why then will another be capable of dying? to unravel nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 44 such complex knits, readers and audience must understand that leopard people are mysterious and are bound to have obscure circumstances around them coupled with the fact that their abilities differ based on spiritual level, years of practice and certain innate gifts. in a verbal power tussle between the audacious chichi and the arrogant yao, yao changed her outfit to gold material which wowed everyone. chichi in turn created a barrier and locked him up with juju. they both refused to surrender till chichi dared to call masquerade which frightened the other children; they know the consequences of doing that. “maquerades are hard to control even when they are successfully called. they can force their freedom” orlu said, when he advised her not to as she could end if she fails to call it successfully and it can kill humans if it gets called successfully. mysterious suspense was prevalent during the arrival of the masquerade which scared everyone, it forced them to run helplessly screaming for their lives. orlu handled the situation well as he had the ability to control masquerade whereas chichi cannot. the vision sunny saw in the flames which held the readers spellbound to the novel was about the “end of the world in its flames, raging fires, boiling oceans, toppled fallen skyscrappers, ruptured land, dead and dying people” (2). she and her friends were tasked with ensuring that her vision which was on its way coming does not become a reality. they kept wondering why the seniors of the leopard society did not give the task to people more experienced. it was later clarified the four of them representing “oha covens” were chosen for the task. they are to rescue two toddlers and stop black hat (a powerful evil master from the leopard society) from bringing disaster into the world. the weakest sunny took the bravest decision to stand to challenge ekwensu, she was ready to pay for victory with her life because she knew that death was inevitable. that was the climax of the novel, she spoke a language she did not even know existed; coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 45 she commanded the spirit to return and it did. she met orlu who restored life to the toddlers that were previously dead. at this point, every mystery and suspense leveled down, readers can now be able to say that they successfully unraveled the ending which was like a gift to those who patiently followed up till the very end. after her fight with black hat otokoto, sunny is surprised to find that school is still the same. she is still interested in normal subjects like algebra, literature, and biology. this is an important part of the novel because it shows how sunny is able to balance her traditional african identity with her modern, western education. she is still able to learn and use her special powers to help her friends. this is how okorafor's mythological story interacts with modern life. by comparing the idea of traditional initiation to the modern technology of computers, okorafor shows how traditional african beliefs can co-exist with modern western values. anatov, who is an expert in traditional beliefs, is described as having both a traditional igbo background and a modern american accent. this shows that individuals and communities can have both traditional and modern values. okorafor shows that it is possible to blend the two without losing either side. one unique aspect of okorafor's villains and heroines is their ability to use magical or supernatural powers in their battles. black hat otokoto is skilled at using juju magic. by incorporating nigerian spirituality and mysticism into her fiction, okorafor aims to create “a deeply rooted nigerian cultural perspective” (wabuke, 27). the use of magic in her characters can be seen as a form of empowerment, giving them access to greater strength and abilities. this serves to add a powerful and memorable element to her work, as well as reinforcing her themes of identity and cultural belonging. conclusion okorafor uses mystery and suspense to create a complex and fascinating world. the novel is filled with references to nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 46 nigerian culture and mythology, as well as supernatural elements. these create a sense of wonder and curiosity, inviting readers to explore the hidden meanings of the story. the sense of mystery and suspense builds throughout the novel, creating a feeling of anticipation and suspense. this keeps readers engaged and interested in the story, wanting to discover what will happen next. the magical world that okorafor creates exists alongside the everyday realities of school and family life in nigeria. this suggests that there are other, unseen realities that exist beneath the surface of daily life. the author explores this idea further in her novel lagoon, which brings together science fiction and african mythology. this fusion of different traditions shows how nigerian literature can borrow from western genres while remaining true to its own heritage. rather than distorting the existing styles of nigerian literature, this integration creates new possibilities for social critique and commentary. juju practices is often associated with evil but okorafor here finds a way to tell the world that some people with juju powers are not evil as they are being stereotyped but it does not take away the fact that some misuse theirs. some practice dark and forbidden juju which is detrimental. sunny with her juju powers and leopard friends were able to restore stability and balance to the world. by introducing endless possibilities into her style of storytelling, okorafor creates a new genre: afro-science fiction. this genre is uniquely suited to nigeria, as it embraces the future while maintaining a strong connection to the country's past. the gothic element of nostalgia is particularly relevant to african literature, as oral culture and mythology are still important parts of the cultural imagination. references to traditional beliefs and practices create a sense of nostalgia for the past, when these elements were more present in everyday life. the key elements of mysterious suspense are usually plot twists, a lack of clear information and an underlying feeling of unease or tension. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 47 works cited felluga, dino. “general introduction to narratology”. i n t r o d u c t o r y g u i d e t o c r i t i c a l theory.h�p://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/narratology/i ntroduc�on.html/ accessed february 27, 2024. ochilova, mehriniso. “suspense as a literary device in english literature”. international journal on integrated education, vol 3, no 1, 2020, pp. 168-172. okri, ben. & rowell, charles.“an interview with ben okri”.callaloo, vol 37, no 2, 2014, pp. 214-21. okorafor, nnedi. what sunny saw in the flames. a cassava republic press, 2015. oxford advanced learner's dictionary.oxford university press, 2022. todorov, tzvetan. & weinstein, arnold.“structural analysis of narrative”. novel: a forum on fiction, vol 3, no 1, pp. 70-76. a c c e s s e d https://doi.org/10.2307/1345003. 23rd february, 2024. wabuke, hope. “afrofuturism, africanfuturism, and the language of black speculat ive li terature”.los a n g e l e s r e v i e w o f b o o k s , 2 7 a u g u s t 2 0 2 0 . h�p://www.lareviewo�ooks.org/ar�cle/afrofuturismafricanfuturism-and-thelanguage-of-black-speculativeliterature . . . “nnedi okorafor is putting africans at the center of science fiction and f a n t a s y . ” t h e r o o t , h�ps://www.theroot.com/nnedi-okorafor-is-pu�ng-africansat-the-center-of-sci-1790862186.accessed february 15, 2024. nwangwu c. ephraim : unraveling the complexities of mysterious suspense in what sunny saw in the flames by nnedi okorafor 48 http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/narratology/modules/introduction.html http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/narratology/modules/introduction.html https://doi.org/10.2307/1345003. http://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/afrofuturism-africanfuturism-and http://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/afrofuturism-africanfuturism-and https://www.theroot.com/nnedi-okorafor-is-putting-africans-at-the-center-of-sci-1790862186. https://www.theroot.com/nnedi-okorafor-is-putting-africans-at-the-center-of-sci-1790862186. page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr religion that was considered an obsolete pagan way of life. likewise, in the midst of christianity, shadrack initiated a form of voodoo tradition, called national suicide day in which he encouraged people to sacrifice their lives. in addition, morrison depicted ajax's mother as a powerful conjure woman who was capable of performing rather unbelievable magic. thus, in both sula and the saint exposed the prevalence of syncretism in nigeria and america in the twenty first century. works cited adegbindin, tade. the saint. ibadan: extension,2012. akin-otiko, akinmayowa and abbas, aremu rahman. “return to african traditional religion after conversion to christianity or islam: patronage of culture of religious conversion?” ilorin journal of religious studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 2019, pp. 211—704. american folklife preservation act. public law 94-201. u.s. congress, 1975. asika, ikechukwu.“folklore is life: interview with odili tony ujubuonu.” journal of arts and contemporary society, vol 5, no. 1, 2013, pp. 89-109. babajo, ahmad kofa. orature: meaning, nature and forms. slimline communications, 2016. freud, sigmund. the future of illusion. hogarth press,1933. hansberry, lorraine .raisin in the sun. vintage,2011. morrison, toni.sula. vintage international,1972. newport, francis “percentage of christians in u.s. drifting down but still high”. in gallip, 2015. oduah, comeh. nigeria under cover atheists in their words. www.aljazeera.com th,(18 september), 2018. ojoolatunji.“slavery and human sacrifice in yoruba land.” journal of african history,vol. 46, no. 3, 2005, pp.379 – 404. thpew research center. atheists. in the pew charitable trusts(13 dec),2105. pew forum us decline of christianity. in , 2019.www.pewforum.org oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism olatunbosuntaofeek mountain top university department of languages jostadele@gmail.co & oyeyemi abigail mountain top university department of languages jostadele@gmail.co abstract the aesthetic quality of man, especially africans lies in the fact that they are a group of people who hold certain principles, opinions, beliefs and values connecting them to their environment. this can be historiographical exuded as a panegyric imitation expanding the horizon of myth and realism in yorúbà praise poetry. thus aiding socialisation as well as cultural appreciation of indigenous value system. our concern is africa; precisely, the oríkì of the yorúbà extraction in southwest nigeria, westafrica. etymologically, from the primitive societies the yorúbà entrenched their beliefs system from one generation to another in the form of folktales, myths, story-telling, and dance as a modified oral system known as oríkì. this is to keep sacred realities employed in engineering socio-conditioning and cosmological interpretations. oríkì as a concept captures the whole essence of an individual's personology in both terrestrial and celestial domains. this is further regarded as the whole essence of a person in connection with his/her origination, hence, if you want to know “someone ideological individualism as well as collectivism as related to an environment” then you have to understand his/her oríkì, premier facie. the quest to know this was motivated by the desire to access the extent to which myths and 163 164 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism http://www.aljazeera.com https://www.researchgate.net/journal/the-journal-of-african-history-1469-5138 https://www.researchgate.net/journal/the-journal-of-african-history-1469-5138 http://www.pewforum.org realism are embedded in yorúbà oríkì and subsequently how it contributes to the element of assessment in praise-poetry. for possible investigation, archetypal criticism is employed to investigate the relationship between yorúbà worldview of oríkì, praise-poetry, and its relevance to contemporary realities wherewith to interpret the philosophy, psychology and sociology of individual/collective existence. keywords: oríkì, oral,yorúbà, myth and realism introduction oríkì can reveal the history, psychology, sociology and the philosophy surrounding an individual, clan, family, community or generation. the system of oríkì transcends time by emerging from primordial times to serve as a way of reflection on the nature of a character as well as recounting his/her ancestral patrimonies which become an oeuvre to be traced to/from the individual. this is mostly done in an epistemological style of literary conversation known as oríkì. the sensitivity and inquisitiveness to the world around us give the wherewithal to existence and purpose by formulating stories (myths), which arise from given occurrences in an environment and thus attributing praises as a historical corpus. these stories help philosophically, psychologically and sociologically to develop the humanistic repertoire that frames the socio-structure of an individual as well as collective. it provides the bases for caution and rewards for life whether to be rejected or accepted as a norm to educate the mind as a backdrop to realism. these uniqueness are apparent in the behavioural patterns of humans which can be seen in their daily relationships. to explicate more on this, abimbola sees myths and realism from the angle of communal culture and hence, he states that: “communal culture is at the level of group psychology which i hereby define as the set of beliefs, doings, and practices that make up the communal bank of a group's achievement” (129). this establishes the fact that the communal psychology can be related to the mental characteristics of a group about certain conceptual framework on their existence, whether through assimilation, imbibing or absolving which can be seen in the peoples' socio-biographical studies. in this, we can find myth and realism projected as media of conveying the communal conception of space, time, and thought about individual, family or community. it is a normal phenomenon that every society transcends the tenets that have been the straw that binds them together as well as helping them to survive. over the years, values and expected behavioural patterns are being shaped into the minds of people, following how they are nurtured by their parents and guardians in oral form. most common is the folklore in africa that has been an intrinsic part of the yorúbà society. in essence, the emergence of myths can be attributed to folklore which gives rise to stories used to buttress realities used by the older generation to the younger generations to keep the continuum of such realities. it is expedient to say that different cultures have various myths attached to their existence. thus, we can have greek myths, roman myths, english myths, and african myths. however, in this research we are concerned with the yorúba ̀ myth, as enshrined in the reality of oríkì. defining oríkì oríkì refers to the praise poem that is used to honour an individual in relation to his/her existence. akporobaro says, like panegyric, praise poetry is “a public speech or written composition that is devoted to the prolonged, effusive praise of some person, group of people, or public body.” also, he adds that oríkì, praise poetry, is a form of poetry that is specifically designed for the eulogistic portrayal of the virtues of a given subject. the subject of the praise may be a king, a chief, a war leader, an animal or plant (56).” mostly, this is done 165 166 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism through a succinct use of metaphors, symbols, and allusion. oríkì is so essential that praise-singers use it as an opportunity to gain the favour of those being praised. olatunji olatunde says oríkì is, “the most powerful of yorúbà poetic forms. every yorúbà poet therefore strives to know the oríkì of important people in his locality as well as lineage because every person, common or noble has his own body of utterances, by which he can be addressed” (97). barber karin regards, “oríkì and its variants as essential oral forms which cuts across most african cultures” (1991). oluwole coker opines that “as an aspect of yorúbà poetry, oríkì relies heavily on the knowledge and mastery of its subject by the performer” (2). ullibeier, a distinguished and pioneer yorúbà researcher adds that “oríkì is a poetic phrase that is used to describe or praise a god or a person. every yorúbà has his own oríkì, which he inherited in the course of his life.” sometimes, the oríkì may be sung by professional bards or played by drummers. for instance, a set of drummers could be placed at the entrance of the gate, who announces the presence of a visitor to the king by chanting their oríkì. this means that the drummers must know the praise names of every family in the town. beier adds that 'on certain days, they go about the streets, addressing each passer-by with his oríkì.” then those being praised give the drummers an amount of money. this act of singing the praise names of individuals by these singers also serves as a means of livelihood to them and as entertainment for the listeners. examples of musicians that benefitted from such acts are shina peters, ebenezer obey, sunny ade, amongst others. oríkì in yorúbà land is performed by different categories of people for various occasion. okpewho (1990) observes in his comprehensive study of the audience that, “performance relationship in oral performance affirms this constitutive value of oríkì in diverse performances.” furthermore, instances abound in the rendition made by ìjáláorìrèmòjé(hunters chant/dirge) as the exclusive preserve of the lineage of the hunters. we also have the iyere ifá rendered by the worshippers of the ifá oracle. there is also the ẹkún ìyàwó sung by brides and is handed down from generation to generation. coker notes that, “yorúbà, like any other human society, believe not only in celebrating humanistic achievements or landmarks, they also attach great importance to human innate tendencies for praise singing.” here, oríkì then becomes a means of personally appreciating a person for the good deeds that is been done. most times, the person being praised utters that “his head is swelling” as a result of the delights he gets form the oríkì. another dimension of oríkì is also seen in religious situations. akinyemi notes that “besides major yorúbà deities likeògún, ṣàngó, ifá, oríkì serves ́ as the basis of the religious chant used in the worship of the òrìsà in yorúbà communities.” oríkì is also used as a way of describing a character. olatunji suggests that “naming is a significant factor in oríkì. this is because a name assigned to an individual transcends identity but extends to other pedants as the situation warrants” (68). coker also observes that in contemporary times, a name often becomes the easiest way to describe and celebrate a person. oríkì is used as well to describe the personal traits or physical appearance of a person. to this, babalola opines that: there are various oríkì of people of diverse classes therefore for every individual, there is likely to be an oríkì that describes him in totality, taking into account physical, structural and even the natural construct or mien of the person. in contemporary times, names which are part of a person's identity usually reveal individual's traits (125). amongst the descriptions used in identifying a person includes, 167 168 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism agùntásoólò used to call a person that is very tall. ìbàdíàrán for a beautiful lady. abólóunjẹkú used to call an individual that is a glutton. abìwàtútù for a calm and cool-headed person. abifèrèsélénu for an individual with a gap-tooth. ọkùnrinméjì for a volorous person. coker adds that “these descriptions are essentially direct assessment of the individuals concerned as oríkì employs descriptive metaphors in doing this.” he also attests to the fact that “oríkì is also used as a worthy tool of satire and social reformation. contemporary social and political developments have been subjects of folk musicians' approach to praising individuals involved in identifiable scenarios.” barber describes oríkì as “attributions or appellations: epithets, elaborated or concise, which is addressed as subject and which are equivalent to, or alternatives to, names”. she also adds that: all entities in existence are said to have their own oríkì. oríkì are felt to capture and evoke the essential characteristics of the subject: to have the most profound and intimate access to its inner nature. in utterance, therefore, they evoke the subject's power, arouse it to action, and enhance its aura. they are always in the vocative case, and in utterance the performer always establishes an intense, one to one bond with the addressee as long as the utterance lasts (315). thus, the value of oríkì among the yorúbà be it at home or in diaspora is part of their humanity, value that is upheld by their offspring as a source of interpretation to their existence. myth as a contemporary issue myth means false stories that are recounted from generation to generation. the survival of myth despite its proposition as false makes it thrive more and deeper in contemporary times, because of its values and relevance to race, class and tradition. myths remain a part of our daily values as it forms part of our consciousness. some myths are stories about beings that existed long ago and in the bid to strive to achieve some extraordinary feat, the lives of these beings are recalled and emulated. we cannot push aside or rule out myths from our contemporary times because they are old or archaic, it will only mean an attempt to shy away from the foundation/fundamental of our thought level which forms the microcosm of various ideologies. in primordial times, some cultural practices that were regarded as important and necessary are now being put aside by young people in contemporary times. one of the areas is marriage which has continued to survive despite various odds and demands for change. in contemporary times there is an opposition that a woman should be duly committed to her husband despite being ill-treated. thus, the contemporary woman believes she can be a single parent or even adopt a child without being necessarily joined to a man or woman in holy matrimony. on this, idang opines that: a look at the african reveals that marital rites and practices are usually carried out in line with the custom of the society concerned. the polygamous marriage was more preferred; not because the african is naturally polygamous as some would say, but because it was associated with wealth, power, influence, social status and the strong african desire to be surrounded by many children and relations (108). in view of the above, it was expected that the woman should give birth to as many as she could. some of the children would assist their father on the farmland as farming was the means of survival and sustenance. hence, polygamy is encouraged as more children implied wealth, power, authority and strength. however, over the years, with the present economic condition, polygamy has been put under check as contemporary people have embraced monogamy as a way of life. ologundudu posits that although yorúbà men were mostly polygamous, the teaching of the ifá stresses that it is suitable to keep one wife (97). 169 170 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism to this end, marriage is seen as an integral institution of the society because it is from there we have individuals who would change other institutions such as financial, career, health, etc. there are series of activities that are carried out before, during and after the marriage ceremony. for instance, in the yorúbà parlance, the bride to be has her own oríkì chanted by her to separate her from singlehood. saliu suggests that, “nuptial weep (ẹkúnìyàwó) is an epitomic and nostalgic repertoire of joy and sorrow. the bride, in her euphoria, feels highly elated as she attains the crucial stage of marital recognition (38).” in ẹkúnìyàwó, the bride expresses her feelings of being relocated to another place entirely different from her parents' home. such chantas serious poetic ritual which signifies a rite of passage in a woman's life. in essence, the bride has little or no knowledge of the family she is about to go to and all the uncertainties that go with marriage. but in contemporary times, the couple to be are privy to the affairs they share and they interact freely without restriction to reduce uncertainties. in fact, the 21st century lady does not need to sing the ẹkún ìyàwó before she moves in with her husband. she is a self – dependent and never sees any significance in pre-marital cultural ethos. another integral aspect of the society that also distinguishes man from animals is bodily garment, which appear in various style. in primordial times,yorúbà garments were ò�, kampala, ìró and bùbá, and the apparel of the king as well as the warriors were different amongst others. but now in contemporary times, the relevance of the garments have dropped. clothing has been an important part of daily lives and apart from it being a way of avoiding nudity, it also portrays the spirit of togetherness and depicts cultural essentialities among a set of people. ajani suggests that, “one of the cultural traditions that have endured despite modernization among the yorúbà in nigeria is the aṣọ ẹbí practice (108).” precisely, the aṣọ ẹbí is a local and traditional sowed garments in various style. he adds that, “at the onset of the practice, aṣọ ẹbí was originally meant to be a family uniform, among the yorúbà people to enable the guest to identify members of the family during an occasion. however, in recent times, it has become a medium of economic transaction and diffused into other groups in nigeria” (116). there is hardly any social ceremony such as wedding, naming, birthday, burial and more recently clothing in political campaigns, etc., that does not warrant the aṣọ ẹbí practice. this practice has also spread to other cultures in nigeria such as the igbo who call it ashebi, and hausa where it is known as yaye (vogue), znkooor aṣọ ẹbí; and more notable to other african cultures such as ghana, gambia, and liberia amongst others. this actually is an extraction from the yorúbà mythical philosophy of togetherness and semblance. in the oríkì of anike we are told that sometimes the clothes men put on, though used to cover up their nakedness becomes a snare and discomfort to them. the contemporary line of clothes has gone to the extreme that all forms of crazy designs are formed to the extent that it bears similar resemblance to that of a naked person. clothes we humans wear tend to conceal transparency and become a form of bondage. yet without these clothes, without the expensive double strings of waist and hip beads. the buttocks will be exposed. unlike you, others derobe and they resemble the fast and playful red colobus monkey. some others derobe and behold resemble a plain monkey (oríkì àníke)́.̣ the above oríkì of àníkeśhows the attempt humans make in clothing ̣ themselves. it is likened to that of dressing like a monkey, even though humans use beads around their hips and waist so as not to expose their buttocks. 171 172 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism also, it is necessary to state that the act of avoiding nudity may be the reason garment is worn, but there are several garments that connote a particular symbol. it could be in the form of rags as seen in the oríkì of ṣàngó, where he is clothed in rag like that of a widow: if you do not share your maize gruel with him. he will slip under your finger nail and take share. ṣàngó takes by force! if you do not offer him a seat he will sit on top of your nose! he takes his neighbour's roof and covers his own head. he lends money and does not ask for it in return. his cloth is ragged like that of a widow. ṣàngó does as it pleases. if he likes, he can make maize gruel from bananas. if he likes, he can wear his torn garment (oríkì ṣàngó). the above oríkì depicts ṣàngó as a person with authority and a philanthropist who does as he pleases, yet he is clothed in rags like that of a widow. also in the oríkì of èṛinlè: he owns something that cannot be found in the king's house: his cloth is full of lice! he refuses to pay for the beer, he refuses to pay for the kola. but we do not ask him for the money (oríkì èṛinlè). this oríkì shows that èṛinlè is dignified to be cloth with lice, possibly because he has some things in his possession that even the king does not have, and so he refuses to pay for some of his purchases because his fame/honour/integrity can stand for him. another contemporary issue that cuts across the society is the treatment of women. in primitive times, women were laden with the burden of child bearing and care of the family. most importantly is the restriction on them to voice out their inadequacies. but it took the effort of some women who fought relentlessly to prove their worth. a notable example is olókun, the goddess of the sea: come! come! come unto me. all you that need wealth. and i will give you the best. i am the goddess of the seas and oceans; olókun, the very first woman to wear a crown. olókun, three quarters of the earth, is mine. olókun, infinitesimally small is earth's treasure, when compared to mine. olókun, millions of yet undiscovered chest. precious, i preserve for mankind. olókun! you know the atlantic; i was there as olókun sprawling the beds of the atlantic. i am still olókun millennia ago. i was senior to olókun but i was created by your olorun. organism living organism, non-living. all in my bosom. precious stones, gold and corals, cowries, black gold and emeralds, all in my bosom. come to me! come to me! (oríkì olókun) this oríkì depicts the fact that women cannot be excused from the affairs of the society. olókun as a woman describes her territory, the sea, as having a vast amount of resources such as beads, precious stones, cowries, black gold, emerald and corals in her possession. and so, she speaks authoritatively, that anyone who needs wealth should come to her. furthermore, as part of the values in yorúbà existence, the reverence and worship of gods and goddesses is held in high esteem and that is why despite the advent of christianity and islam in the 15th century, the worship of gods and goddesses is still much viable. acquah observes that: for many africans and ghanaians, in particular, it is religion more than anything else that shapes their worldview and participation in social life. the african traditional religious belief is that human beings do not live in this world alone; there is a sense of human beings' close relationship with nature. humanity, animals, and plants have their own existence and place in the universe as independent parts of a whole. there are also spiritual beings that are more powerful than humankind and this opens up the african to the divine and to seeking affinity with these spiritual powers. religious belief is thus diffused in all spheres of life filing them 173 174 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism with meaning and significance (10). in the process of rendering the oríkì for a particular god, the worshipper is prone to making several promises and affirming their dedication to them. the worshipper profusely begs ṣàngó as he makes his request known. profit is seen as a source for wealth. in other words, anyone can be wealthy such as the madman referred to in the oríkì below. if a madman could be made wealthy, it means anyone could attain riches and wealth as long as life is concerned. this is synonymous to contemporary time where wealthy people are often children from poor homes, destitute, etc., who wrestle their ways to the top. this philosophy of life is like the laissez faire economy where anyone is capable of being wealthy to become anything in any society. this oríkì shows that the contemporary position of capital-democratic nature of wealth is possible and there is no exclusion to success as long as the person involved is ready for the visitation of àje:̣́ àje ̣gave light to the waŕ of the city àje ̣gave thé light to the boa àje ̣you gave the light to onipàsánòwèrè́ he went to the madman's house and made him a character àje,̣ i greet you, ...́ ifá so that you can come with me àje ̣please,́ come to me, stay with me and do not leave me. in the contemporary world, profit usually comes to those who strive and work hard and not to idle people who prefer to sit and do nothing. so, it is always profitable to be hardworking as there is a reward attached to being hardworking. yorúbà worldview in relation to contemporary realities the yorúbà beliefs can be described as a rich cosmological endowment that has been active since the primordial times. the yorúbà cosmology beliefs exude some of the tenets that are used to distinguish them as a people and such as are germane to sustaining a unique race. soyinka captures this essence in the following lines: for the yorúbà, the gods are the final measure of eternity, as humans are of earthly transience. to think, because of this, that the yorúbà mind reaches intuitively towards absorption in godlike essence is to misunderstand the principle of religious rites, and to misread as many have done, the significance of religious possession. past, present and future being so pertinently conceived and woven into the yorúbà world view, the element of eternity which is the gods' prerogative does not have the same equality of remoteness or exclusiveness which it has in christian or buddhist culture. the belief of the yorúbà in the contemporaneous existence within his daily experience of these aspects of time has long been recognized but again misinterpreted. it is no abstraction (144). as part of the cosmology of the yorúbà worldview, there are three worlds known to them. they are the world of the unborn, the world of the dead and the world of the living. soyinka opines that “the past is the ancestors, the present belongs to the living, and the future to the unborn” (148). the world of the unborn refers to the world of the future where the existence of life springs from. this world is likened to the world of the innumerable germ cells that abound in the loins of a man. at the time of copulation, the cells are released and the race for the egg begins, upon which, despite their innumerable amount, only the lucky cell is enclosed and life begins. this is the world of the unborn. in soyinka's fourth stage, he explains that “it is necessary to recall that the past is not a mystery and that although the future (the unborn) is yet unknown, it is not a mystery to the yorúbàbut co-existent in our present consciousness(149)”. 175 176 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism the second world is the world of the dead which in the yorúbà world view refers to the departed ancestors who are still ever present to provide assistance to the living. the yorúbà believe the departed do not die but only ascend to the world of the ancestors to rest. thus each individual's orí, destiny, comes with uniqueness in relation to the family, clan and community he/she is born. this uniqueness in relation to his/her ancestry forms an oríkì for that individual, the family or the community. conclusion this study has examined the reflections on yorúbà socio-cultural realities of oríkì as a panegyric exposition revealing the unique fluidity of praise-poetry between the past and the present. thus expanding the horizon in myth and realism as embedded in oríkì. it is no doubt that contemporary times seem to be delineated from the activities of the primordial times and one of the ways to investigate primordial time from the yorúbà perspective is in oríkì which is an ancient philosophical, psychological, historical and literary corpus of an individual and collectives. hence, some of the ancient and traditional values of socializations are embedded in oríkì to encourage appreciation and integration and intergration of cultural heritage into modern systemic existence. works cited akachi-ezeigbo, theodora. facts and fiction in the literture of the nigerian civil war. university press plc, 2019. adediran, biodun (ed). ife: annals of the institute of cultural studies. institute of culturalstudies, obafemi awolowo university. 1995. adegbola, adelegan. ile-ife: the source of yoruba civilisation. oduduwa international communications. 2009. a dictionary of the yorùbá language. university press ibadan. 2008. ajani, ayodele.“aso ebi: the dynamics of fashion and cultural commodification in nigeria.”the journal of pan african studies, vol. 5, no.6, 2012, pp. 123-134. akintoye adebanji. a history of the yoruba people. dakar. 2010. akinyemi, akintunde. oríkì: the essence of yorùbá religious literature. yoruba ideals, vol. 1, 1997, pp. 184-188. akinyemi, akintunde. “the yorúbà royal bards: their work and relevance in the society.” nordic journal of african studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 2001, pp. 90-106. akporobaro, friday.introduction to african oral literature. princeton publishing co. 2012. al-haidari, ali. “meaning, origin and function of myth: a brief survey.”international journal of social science tomorrow, vol. 1, no. 3. 2012. ali, taghizadeh. “a theory of literary realism.” theoryn andpracticeinlanguagestudies, vol.4, no 8, 2014, pp. 1628-1635. babalola, adeboye.awonoríkì borokini. nigeria publishing service. 1961. barber, karin. “oríkì: women and the proliferation and merging of òrìsà”. journal of the international african institute, vol. 60, no 3, 1990, pp. 313-337. biobaku, saburi. (ed). the origin of the yorùbá. 1965. coker, oluwole. tradition dies hard: the case of oriki in yoruba popular folksongs. african note, vol. 39, nos. 1&2, 2015, pp. 120128. dobie, ann. theory into practice: an introduction to literary criticism. the minneapolis institute of arts, minneapolis. 2002. fadipe, nathanie. the sociology of the yorùbá. ibadan university press. 1970. okpewho, isidore. the oral performance in africa. spectrum books. ltd. 1990. olatunji, olatunde. features of yorùbá oral poetry. university press limited. 1984. ológundúdú, dayo. the cradle of yoruba culture.: us library of congress. 2008. 177 178 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism oluwole, sophie and ṣófolúwe,̣ jolo. african myths and legends of ̀ gender. ark publishers, 2014. oyebola, ayeni and adepeju, oti. yoruba culture of nigeria: creating space for endangeredspecie. cross – cultural communications, vol. 9, no 4. 2013. saliu, kolawole. “a pragma – syntactic analysis of traditional nupital weep (ekuniyawo) among people of shoa, kwara state. nigeria” in international journal of arts and humanities, vol 2, no. 2, 2016. salami, segilola. orikiaje: praise poetry for the goddess of w e a l t h a n d p r o s p e r i t y . r e t r i e v e d f r o m www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-ofwealth. 2018. scheidenhelm, carol. realism. loyola university chicago. schrempp, gregory and william hansen. myth: a new symposium. indiana university press. 2002. segal, robert. myth: a very short introduction. oxford university press. 2015. soyinka, wole. myth, literature and the african world. cambridge university press. 1976. tim, gillespie. archetypal criticism for students: finding the mythic resonance. stenhouse publishers. 2010. performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs ovie-jack matilda eyituoyo delta state school of marine technology, burutu. ebonnyt@yahoo.com, ebonnyt03@gmail.com 08037226601 abstrat moonlight plays and their performances are major art forms still existing in most african societies. among the itsekiri people of nigeria, the several genres of oral performances that have been researched and documented include the ife, owe, the itsekiri language and umale okere. however, very little attention and studies have been committed to the oral performance of itsekiri moonlight plays. moonlight plays expose the participants to realities of human situations, problems, feelings and relationships. moonlight plays are performed by children as well as teenagers whose ages fall between 3 and 17, adults often make up the audience. it is a game that consists of several creative activities that serve as veritable mirror and cultural preserver in itsekiri communities. this paper therefore investigates the style and evaluates the artistic importance in the oral performance of itsekiri moonlight plays with the aim of exploring its significance in the life of the people. the sociological approach to literature is employed in this paper to examine the ethical and moral values of these plays as a means of cultural reintegration of the young to the society. the paper concludes that more researchers need to be involved in study in goral traditional performances by children. especially, how the oral enactments in african traditional societies propagate, sustain and preserve the cherished social norms of the african people in the face of contemporary challenges especially the new media. keywords: moonlight play; performance; itsekiri, songs, player. 179 180 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-of-wealth.%202018 http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-of-wealth.%202018 mailto:ebonnyt@yahoo.com, mailto:ebonnyt@yahoo.com, page 82 page 83 page 84 page 85 page 86 page 87 page 88 page 89 page 90 2023 ccou focus journal.cdr the choice of this play out of several written by asika anchors on the fact that these plays, more than the other plays of asika, make use of igbo cultural background and proverbs. the playwright made use of igbo setting. there are proverbs, idioms and practices that exemplify the igbo culture and igbo worldview. oral aesthetic is highly portrayed in asika's omalinze in his constant use of songs, proverbs and other oral traditions. the paper did a textual analysis of the play using primary and secondary data. the theoretical framework for the study is cultural criticism, which is the study of literature at a work in a social context. they believe that cultural studies must be inter-disciplinary in its tendency. making use of insights from anthropology, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy and other field. the cultural critics typically make no distinction between high and low culture. the study concludes on the various aspect of oral tradition in order to portray the unique quality of being african in the use of proverbs and creates deep meaning and exploration of african situation in the worldview. keywords: proverbs, oral tradition, culture, folklore introduction african literature consists of a body of literary works in different languages and genres, ranging from oral literature to literature written in african and colonial languages. in most culture of the world, folklore has always been the earliest type of literature. folklore which can be called oral literature is as old as man. it is a type of literature disseminated in a particular community as an intrinsic part of their existence. the literary works that were written in african languages as well as the traditional oral texts went virtually unacknowledged until the late 20th century. this increased the acceptance of oral traditions in african literature. therefore, the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs, riddles, songs, folktales, oral narratives and poetry the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze ezennadiri chukwudi samuel department of english chukwemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam, anambra state samuelschukwudi@gmail.com 07031312879 & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o. department of english language and literature. nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. dn.paschal@unizik.edu.ng 08032788838 abstract the african system of communication thrives on proverbs which help in driving salient points home. a study of this nature encourages other scholars to probe into the imagery of writers in africa, nigeria and the igbo race since proverbs help to explore the situation the writers are portraying. this paper explores the use of proverbs as an aspect of oral tradition in asika's omanlinze. proverb is the form which has proved itself to be of great continuing relevance to modern man. proverbs are often identified with elderly members of the society. the study discovered that the playwright used his artistic power through proverbs to give an insight in what the culture of igbo was, through the dramatic setting of iduu kingdom. the aim of this study is to explore the use of igbo proverbs in asika's omalinze.the plays to be used for the critical illustration of how asika uses igbo proverbs in omalinze. 23 24 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze constitute the forms of his social, moral and spiritual communication. nigerian writers writing in english are more selective than those writing in nigerian languages in the use of oral traditions like proverbs, riddles and anecdotes in their creative works. often, the nigerian writers who write in english relate the use of oral traditions in their works largely to the stylistic aspects of oral literature. consequently, most of their works, with a few exceptions, make use of proverbs for purposes of localizing their works. moreover, this relationship between oral tradition and written literature found in contemporary nigerian literature can be said to be consistent and seminal. udenta in in revolutionary aesthetics & the african literary process agrees to the claim above when he asserts that: modern african literature and the critical response to it are a consequence of two distinct cultural and aesthetic forces: the received traditionalist aesthetic imagination and the aesthetic o v e r d e t e r m i n e d b y colonialism. the interplay of these two c u r r e n t s sometimes cripples african creative productions and critical practice by either confining the literature to the dictates of an immutable traditionalist aesthetic injunction or by foisting on its bastardized forms of euro-centric aesthetic thinking (24). the aesthetic-artistic qualities of folklore lie in the context of performance. the most basic characteristic of folklore is that it is a performed expression. fbo akporobaro in his book introduction to african oral literature agreed on this as he expressed. by this, we mean that an oral literary expression exists as a performance, as a speech accentuated and rendered alive by various gestures, social conventions and the unique occasion in which it is performed. in effect, oral literary forms have their existence and qualities in the act of performance. it is a speech act or discourse whose persisted and generally influenced contemporary african literature (drama, prose and poetry). ezenwa-ohaeto in contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality once remarked “the exploitation of oral tradition through a synthesized creative crucible enables the modern nigerian writer to produce fresh, exciting and artistic poetry” (23). ezenwa-ohaeto's assertion here clearly expressed the ability of oral traditions such as proverbs, tales, myths etc. to sustain works of african literature. certainly african literature consists of the orality of verbal communication and absorbs extensively, several cultural elements to communicate and to give african literature a local content. interestingly too, this consciousness exhibited by most african writers shows the need in the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs in creative works. also, folklore can differ from one culture to another in form, text, and context. it exists as a basic component of these cultures where they are transmitted orally from generation to generation. ngozi chuma-udeh in her book trends and issues in nigerian literature, once expressed that: the oral literature of a people is an embodiment of their ways of life, their culture, and beliefs. through this medium, these societies ensure the continuity of their cultural heritage. the oral literature therefore comprises of all values, beliefs, and generation of a community of people. these are passed down generation lane through face-to-face contact between the elderly and custodian and the younger generation. (11). man is a storytelling being, who loves singing, dancing and religious worship as source of pleasure and mode of being. his aesthetic creations in stories, folktales, songs and myths and proverbs are like today's modern stories, novel and drama 25 26 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze generosity, patience, wisdom, and common sense… point to moral through songs, sayings, legends, myths and proverbs… make people, especially younger members of the society, aware of their ethos, their cultural heritage, tribal history, mores, laws… african folkways and their oral tradition dealt with man's dilemma in his existential being and tried to grapple with man's dilemma and adventures in life (110). nnolim's assertion above is valid in all ramifications. this is because for the nigerian writer, africa has the tradition he needs. as he views at what seems to be different in geographical boundaries, he sees, essentially, the same african people, the similarity of ideas, of patterns, of thoughts, of modes of behaviour. he, thus, tries to put together the relevant ideas and thoughts in his writing. this view, though gradually transforming as a discipline of folklore develop over centuries in africa and are seriously moving studies of folklore or oral literature in general towards a global perspective. these writers rise up to dispute the erroneous view of the west. proverb according chinua achebe is the “palm oil that people use to eat words.” proverbs are an embodiment of the people's smartness. they are mnemonics encompassing the intelligence of people's philosophy. africa continents always view conversation filled with proverb to be linguistically rich and eloquent. they are prerogatives of the wise. they express the truth of african personal and social experience. proverbs have used by many writers to ascertain some certain facts about life. through proverbs, one can have deep thought into some philosophical view about life. achebe in most of his literary works, well used proverbs as means of driving out his point in a concise way. the traditional african drama, like asika's omanlinze dramaturgy, often associated with rituals, oral traditions and social beauty of form and aesthetic effects derived from the process and act of its articulation or recreation orally (3). one of the most compelling trends in african literature today remains the constant use of african oral traditions by literary artists. with particular reference to nigeria, many nigerian creative works so far produced are steeped in the oral traditions of their indigenous communities, with a strong emphasis on oral performance. there is always a performer in folklore. to arouse and maintain audience responses and interest is one of the major functions of the oral performers as an artist. also, ngozi chumaudeh in her book trends and issues in nigerian literature, explains: nigeria has a rich and thriving oral tradition which has existed as long as there was life in the numerous ethic communities. however, intensive attempts have been made by several uninformed white writers to establish some pointless, even useless hypothesis, namely that the black man has little or no significant oral literature. this assumption that the oral literature is an inevitable by-product of a general western prejudice regarding some other cultures (11). the folk tradition in african literature has thus become part of the essential qualities of its literary expression, for the value of work of art transcends its documentary functions as the artist gives expression to perception of which he may not entirely know. nnolim, on his part, in issues in african literature brilliantly argues that: to whatever society (secret or communal) that our traditional folkways and oral tradition appealed, they did have the appreciation of the beautiful in mind beauty surprised at its own arrival, in addition to performing the following functions: impart practical wisdom… provide some didactic purpose by teaching lessons in prudence, 27 28 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze an imaginative piece that evokes emotion and promotes the beauty of african oral tradition. proverbs are common features of conversational eloquence to in african cultures and are of difference according to societal language involved in african society, proverbs are the means by which the people of the society base their arguments and activities of life. these proverbs were rendered orally in the society, most especially by the elders. nwafor, john onyema et al succinctly states that: these proverbs were rendered orally in the society especially by elders. the culture of the people rendered orally like: “our people say that” our elders said that, or “our fathers said that” or our elders said that”. this has been a bond between the people and their concise statement and an oral tradition loses its originality prior to the influence of western culture. (108). the value of proverb to us does not live only in what it reveals of the thought of the past. african proverbs are literary forms which offer the traditional writers, speaker a medium for the projection and accomplishment of varieties of goals, in every conversation or formal conversation. he further says: thus, proverbs are used by elders in order to educate the young ones, but unlike folktales, proverbs do not have predictable patterns. they are amusement for intelligence and excellence, especially to the children. it exercises the mind and cause the children to think intuitively. proverbs are very closely related to riddles. they are expressed briefly and concisely. they involve analogy whether of meaning, sound, rhythm or tone(110). events emphasizes mime, dance, music and costume rather than verbal art alone. verbal art according to william r. bascom in verbal art”. delivered at the sixty-six annual meeting of the american folklore society, was proposed as a term to distinguish folktales, myths, legends, proverbs and other „literary forms‟ from the other materials which are commonly considered as folklore, where folk refers to a group of people with common culture.” the verbal art, such as proverbs, has influence on contemporary african drama and is particularly significant in asika ikechukwu's play. oral literary forms continued to develop for radio and popular usage despite being new in african plays. nevertheless, oral traditions including tales, drama, riddles, histories, myths and legends, songs, proverbs and other expressions are frequently employed to educate and entertain african people. legend story, myths and proverbs additionally serve to remind every community of their ancestors‟ heroic deeds, their past and the precedents for their customs and traditions. essential to folklore, most times, is a concern for presentation and oratory. rems umeasiegbu in ask the storyteller: tales from northern nigeria assesses this notion by accepting that oral tradition is an important aspect of african life. „proverbs are used in daily intercourse even in the judicial process; tales are told daily and talented storytellers are in high demand” (7). in submission to this, f.b.o akporobaro in his book posits proverbs are essential ingredients in african speech and culture. they are powerful carriage of traditional wisdom, social mores, and are effective means for moral education of all members of the society. proverbs are humorous, delightful and aesthetically pleasing to the hearers(78). these critics whose opinions have been projected here are of the view that african proverbs have played a crucial role in giving the literature of the continent african identity, especially as it remains 29 30 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze does not help very much in our search for definitions. every adult knows the meaning of the word, but only few of such people are able to say what makes a statement an ilu. another meaning of ilu is “bitterness”. the ilu adds some bitterness to a speech. just as anything bitter is accessible to a few who can withstand the bitterness, proverbs are inaccessible to most people since their meanings are not apparent to the uninitiated (9). despite this difficulty in arriving at a proper definition of igbo proverbs, certain factors can serve as the origin of igbo proverbs. these are igbo tales, customs and traditions, beliefs and religion. speaking about the nature of igbo proverbs, egudu says the characteristics of most igbo proverbs possess “epigrammatic symmetry and pithiness, balanced structure and poetic rhythm” (77). african believes if one uses proverbs for the knowledgeable, he will be led to deeper knowledge (etta 2012:198). while obiechina posits that “igbo proverbs supply a substratum of meaning and interpretation (and) are so much a part of igbo oral tradition” (14). proverb is a form of oral tradition, expressed as coded language of a particular culture but remain an indisputable source of all human wisdom in africa and among other culture (etta 199). in many years ago, african proverbs have gain attention in branding world as a powerful tool for connecting with audience. the significance of african proverbs lies in their ability to convey complex ideas and concepts in concise and memorable way. they are used to express the importance of life and teach lessons of life, moral values, and cultural life to the younger generation. in many african cultures, proverbs are also used to express emotion, solve conflicts and offer advice for a deeper level. use of proverb in ikechukwu asika's omalinze the use of igbo proverbs in asika's omalinze is to advise the society against taking rash decision and to embellish the plot. in most proverbs teach in social contexts. they are didactic – impart moral lessons. away from the adorning roles, proverbs exhibit enormous socialization potential. in most african communities like the igbo, elders use them to teach the young wisdom about the world and how to behave. regarding the educational dimensions of proverb, finnegan, again comments as follows “now proverbs often imply some general comment on the way people do, or should, or should not behave” (413).there is need for the infusion of proverbs into the literary works and adoption of various indigenous rhythms in the use of verbal tropes and concepts of space and time to structure quality essence in nigerian literature. in both traditional and modern context, the proverbs accomplish its social and communicative function in a very delicate form. proverbs express culture, beliefs and social psychology that it may be agreed that proverbs constitute the genius and life of the people. jasper onyekwusi also says: a proverb is about a man as he interacts with fellow men, with objects, animals, and plants in his environment. it is a truth derived between man and all phenomena in his environment and indeed between the various elements in the environment and themselves. some examples of proverbs will be useful in our understanding of characteristics of proverbs (17). proverb does easily change overtime. proverbs are unique to africa. they may sometimes give an indication of the moral ideas underlying native attitudes. proverbs have become a popular saying among people which is meant to advice, teach or warn. to be precise, igbo proverbs are pithy verbal expressions that express the philosophy and the wisdom of the igbo. it also embodies the culture and traditions of the igbo. umeasiegbu in the palm oil of speech states his own definition of igbo proverb further: the igbo word for the proverb is ilu. however, this word 31 32 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze one salient feature of asika's plays is his sense of historical and cultural authenticity especially in her language. though he writes in english, she also devises an african vernacular style of proverbs which strengthens the idiom of igbo, his native language. it is, therefore, the contention of this study that asika, a dramatist, achieves an appropriate language for each of his plays, largely through the use of igbo proverbs. asika's use of proverbs can function as clues to an understanding of his play because he uses them not merely to add touches of local aesthetics but to sound and reiterate themes of human concern, to embellish the plot of his plays, to castigate or admonish the characters in his plays, to clarify conflict, and to focus on igbo cultural values. igbo proverbs provide syntactic values by which the deeds of a tragic hero can be evaluated and measured. understanding asika's use of igbo proverbs can lead to a better appreciation and evaluation of her artistic value to the igbo community and africa. in iduu kingdom, king kanayo and his cabinets' conversation often include proverbs. the proverbs are used by them to shorten their rigmarole conversation and saves time. king kanayo: …….if a snake does not behave like a snake, then the children will use it the firewood (42). this igbo proverb shows the courage displayed by king kanayo to fight a cause against all odds. in establishing the theme of rebellion; a major aspect of the conflict situation in omalinze is the contest between king kanayo representing a strand of the political class and the omalinze representing poor people of the society whose rights were being denied. we live in the world in which when you are always gentle and quiet, people like to bully you around. and unless you show people that you're being gentle does not mean that you are a doormat, people will take advantage of you. snake is a very wise animal, hence the old saying “as wise proverb use, the important things are the massages conveyed. the vehicles which convey the messages and the appropriateness of both message and vehicle move according to the context. in the play, there are proverbs, idioms that portray igbo world view. his works promoted igbo proverbs and aesthetic expression of igbo nation. proverbs express and beautify the culture of a given society. the igbo proverbs in asika's omalinze, points out the themes; that of heedlessness, stubbornness, pride and raw determination. in conversations, they lubricate dialogues and equally form warnings as well as guides which lead the protagonist to the prorogations and resolution of the conflicts. proverbs are vital in omalinze as every acts of the play contains a proverb or a wise saying usually considered folk knowledge, which intend to be either advice or say some general truth about the world. the playwright started with the narrator who made use of proverbs and wise saying. he upholds the value of proverbs in igbo folklore. war, they say, is an enemy of mankind. yet men of all ages have lived and courted this enemy to their doom. and like the foretold death that forbids the doomed dog to perceive even the smell of excreta so have many men followed this pathway to their doom (11). the barrage of proverbs reflects the narrator's sophistication as well as points to the great tragedy that happened to iduu kingdom – each activity is imbued with danger and difficulty. this proverbs implies the ugly situation that occurred in the kingdom. the narrator opened the play with the word 'war' that suggests that there was war in the land before the main story started. and the effect of this war in the kingdom of iduu, and how the king odumegwu iii perish in the cause of the war. the proverb expressed the lamentation of the narrator over the tragedy of war in iduu kingdom. 33 34 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze proverbs, moral values, even in myth. a lay man denotatively can interpret this as a mother hen will surely meets her husband tomorrow and also takes the kporo-kpoto as an animate object. proverbs are connotatively interpreted. one must have critical thinking in order to understand proverb. it is common way to say “goodnight” in igbo culture, but was said in proverbs. the use of proverb in ikechiukwu asika`s omalinze showcase his aesthetic creativity in the literary works. proverbs promotes the existence culture and its mode of expression. it also believed in africa, that one who in the affairs of society. asika`s use of proverbs also infuses the play with a uniquely igbo perspective on a range subjects. asika places many of these proverbs into the mouth of the narrator, who uses them to comment on the play. a powerful example occurs at the end of the play, when the narrator concludes. narrator: indeed, there is no happiness when there is no wisdom. wisdom is like a skin bag and we all carry ours. he who has ear let him hear (78). this proverb expressed the bitterness of the narrator over the sad ending of the story. yet this proverb is ominous. here the proverbial expression tells us about the sorrowful death of omalinze, hamachi and egodiniru. with omalinze, asika uses proverbs to hint the audience of the things going on in the society and cultural view of the society, with relation to the main characters of the play, king kanayo. through proverb, king kanayo normally expresses this feeling about a particular situation in anger, in argumentative conversation with omalinze, he said. king kanayo: when an nza bird burns its legs and arms in fire, it as serpent “. to be wise in the sense to have understanding of people and situation and to know what is best to do. snakes only bite people in selfdefense which their lives is threatened. otherwise, they are gentle creatures minding their own business. in the same way, ourdefault approach to life should be gentleness, but when people wants to exploit or mistreat us, we muststand up for ourselves. the elders uses proverbs are used among them, it is believed that they understand themselves than layman in their midst. they fondly communicate in proverbs asika capacity to recreate and project african worldview and sociocultural values by means of english language. whatever one does as dramatist is done in and through language. as a dramatist, asika employ language to create a literary world, project characters and situation and situations, give credibility to the narrative and sustain the attention and readership to his audience. the success of his literary work is dependent on his capacity to creatively manipulate language to achieve his purpose. in omalinze, asika adapt the english language as means of access to igbo indigenous culture and aesthetics view. in his drama, the use of proverb by the elders contributes to linguistic competence of the characters and their overall level of proficiency in the art of conversation within the sociocultural context. chief udeh: …tomorrow, the mother hen will surely find a new husband tomorrow, i believe kporo kpoto will display itself before the gaze of cow (43). it can generally be agreed that proverbs are word of wisdom. they are established in concise statement. they are also a product of cumulative knowledge and experience of the society. that is why proverbs are often with elderly members of the society. for the igbo, the concept of truth has continuous significance in their lives hence it has been characterized in various ways: in wise sayings, in 35 36 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze typical case of madness (69) anyone who toys with his god, toys with his destiny. as a dramatist, asika uses this igbo proverb to castigate and admonish and character of king kanayo as a man who was headstrong to the gods. on the other hand, such an igbo proverb depicts the values of igbo society, values by which king kanayo lives and dies. this is still pointing of the warning of the king to listen to the instructions of the gods to avoid their calamity. also, in igbo culture, proverbs are commonly used by elders on themselves especially in conversation and the elders use them on children as advising tool or to encourage them. it is forbidden that children use proverbs to elders. they consider a child using proverbs to elders as a rascal. this was seen in the dialogue between omalinze and the king, and the reaction of the elders. omalinze: after all, a person who kicks the toad only aids his journey (45). chief agumba: (irritated) she uses proverbs for the king. how dare you use proverbs before the king? ah! child, why not beg for your life. the drunken mother hen will soon meet with the mad willy cat. king kanayo: a child uses the same proverb as his father should be willing to pay the debt his father owes. when a maiden learn how to talk tough, she should also learn how to provide fish for the soup pot. chief odilora: ah!, when you warn the ear they will not listen. but when the head goes off, the ear follows it. omalinze used proverbs on the king, and there was reactions from the king's cabinets. chief agumba was irritated and furiously will foolishly think it is producing oil…(45). the mood of the character determines his use of proverbs. they are mythical and personified. denotatively nza bird is smallest bird among others. but hence it is used as a myth, trying to explain the impossibility of life. it is believed that ̀ `nza bird`` cannot burn his legs and arms to produce oil, the “nza bird” is personified as a child, who thinks by his growth and development, he can have enough strength to challenge his elders. in this play proverbs have an important impact on the storyline. all proverbs have some kind of deeper meaning behind them, and is part of igbo culture .proverbs are used by people of all ages and statures to tell others about importance of something. the igbo tribe use proverbs everyday as they are an important is regarded very highly through the clan. use of proverb makes difficult truth more understandable, for children and adult alike. otagburuagu: you must wedge this water now that is still at feet level. you must remove monkey`s hand from soup pot before it turns into human hand … (66). … the forest that detests a basket should not grow mushrooms. my king this what your fate has taken away from you. pride is what it has buried inside you. lack of wisdom and pride, two sword of opposing edge; one edge must cut you no doubt and you will wish by heavens that you had listened…..(67) otagburuagu as a great seer, used proverbs to warn the king of great calamity that is about to fall on the people of iduu kingdom to his disobedience to the gods. in igbo tradition, it is believe there is tendency to end calamity at the small level than to tight it at bigger level. this attributes to this proverb ̀ `you must wedge this water” warning proverbs that was understood by the elders there. another proverb of warning is the proverb used by chief udeh… our people say that when gbala gbala become excess it becomes a 37 38 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze the younger generation of the value when proverbs are used in their conversation. and when they frequently use proverbs in their communication it will define their true identity and as well promote and uphold african tradition in the world view. works cited achebe, chinua. things fall apart. heinemann, 1958. ---.the role of a writer in a new nation g.d. killam (ed.) african writers on african writing. heinemann, 1973. akporobaro, f.b.o: introduction to african oral literature. princeton publishing, 2012. asika, ikechukwu: omalinze (an igbo antigone). noirledge publishing, 2023. bascom, william r. “verbal art”. delivered at the sixty-six annual meeting of the american folklore society, 29 december 1953. chumaudeh, ngozi: trends and issues in nigerian literature (prose). base 5 press. 2007. copper, et al: timeless voices and themes literature of finnegan ruth. oral literature in africa. ruthledge press, 1992. egudu, romanus. “nature and function of igbo anecdotes” in onwuejeogwu, angulu m and manfredi, victor b. (eds). odinani. tabansi press ltd: 1977. ezenwa-ohaeto. contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality: bayreuth african studies breitinger, 1998. finnegan, ruth. oral literature in africa. oxford university press, 1970.nnolim, charles: approaches to the african novel: essay in analysis. ihem davis press, 1992. nnolim, charles ekwusiaga. issues in african literature. treasure resources communication limited, 2009. nwafor, john and emmaagbiri, nneka: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo's the last of the strongones, scolded omalinze for such a disgusting attitude. the playwright here expressed through his character that it abomination in african culture for children to use proverbs on elders. the reaction of the elders and the king shows their detestable expression over omalinze who rascally speaks to the king. in the response of the king, “a child uses the same proverbs as his father should be willing to pay his father owes” when a child considered himself as a grown man, it is believed that he bears the consequences of his action. the king furiously expressed his action on omalinze's contempt in the midst of elders. moreover, an igbo proverb also serves as a thematic statement to remind one of the major motifs in the plays; for example, the value of genuine achievement, where no evil done by man will go undetected and unpunished and the idea of man as the architect of his own destiny. thus, on a general note, the igbo proverbs employed by asika in omalinze plays a major role in setting the tone of the story appropriately, the embellishment of the plot of the story as well as development of characterization. conclusion african proverbs are rich source of wisdom, cultural heritage and knowledge. they reflect the values and belief of african societies, and give guidance, inspiration and advice. the significance of african proverbs in african culture cannot be over emphasized and their use in educating and empowering the younger generation in african level. asika's creativity of diction with use of proverbs on his characters, expressed the beauty of literary creativity in art. in the play, asika's aesthetic view in african literature promotes african literature promotes african culture and educates the society. his audience are put in suspense over the use of proverbs in his play. this oral tradition defines our identity as africans. the playwright through the play, will educate 39 40 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & paschal-mbakwe, doris. o.: the use of proverbs as essential ingredients for communication in igbo culture: a critical approach to ikechukwu asika's omalinze chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu journal of folklore and cultural studies vol 2, no 1, 2022, pp. 106124. obiechina, emmanuel. “transition from oral to literary tradition.” presence africaine 63, 1967. 141 – 161. okoh nkem: preface to oral literature. african first publishers, 2008. onuekwusi, jasper: fundamental of african oral literature. alphabet nigerian publisher, 2001. templeton, alice: cultural studies: theory praxis pedagogy. vol 19, no 2.pp 1930john hopkins university press, 1992. udenta o. udenta. revolutionary aesthetics & the african literary process. fourth dimension publishing co. ltd, 1993. umeasiegbu, rems n. ask the storyteller: tales from northern nigeria. koruna books publishers, 2008. ---. the palm oil of speech: igbo proverbs. koruna books, 2003. 41 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 page 12 page 13 page 14 page 15 page 16 page 17 page 18 page 19 page 20 page 21 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr establish how these women were displaced from their homelands and the impact of migration with its attendant racism, identity crises, and discrimination on these women. the study revealed that migrant african women leave in droves owing to societal stereotypes, patriarchal structures, poverty, and unemployment in search of independence and financial freedom in foreign lands. intending migrants can benefit from this as it equips them with knowledge of what holds for them in their intended host countries. keywords: displacement, survival, migrant, women, stereotypes. introduction migration literature often explores the struggles faced by individuals forced to leave their countries of origin due to poverty, unemployment, and limitations among other political, economic, or social factors. displacement and quest for survival are central to this issue of migration, which often involves the emotional, cultural, and practical struggles migrants face in adapting to new environments. this study examines the displacement, dislocation, and survival struggles of migrant african women in the world of bulawayo's we need new names and aworanti-ekugo's lagos to london. in we need new names, the heroine, darling, experiences physical and emotional displacement as she leaves zimbabwe due to hunger, poverty, political instability, and economic collapse. her migration to the united states exposes her to cultural alienation, discrimination, and the trauma of being uprooted, as she struggles to belong to a society that does not fully accept her. similarly, in lagos to london, remi's migration from nigeria to london was triggered by her desire for better opportunities, coupled with issues of patriarchy, societal stereotypes, leadership failures, and other socio-political conditions in the african displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo's we need new names and aworantiekugo's lagos to london ewuzie, felix ewuzie chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus. faculty of arts, department of english email: olisaco4u@yahoo.com tel: +2348038173828 & prof. chukwueloka, christian c. chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus. faculty of arts, department of english email: chukchch@yahoo.com tel: +2348035485725 abstract this study examined the displacement and survival instinct in migrant african women in bulawayo's we need new names and aworanti-ekugo's lagos to london. it explored the displacement push and pull factors that propel african women into forced migration to europe and other continents as well as the survival quests of these women that propel the navigation of their ways in their host countries. the paper employed a qualitative research approach, involving close reading and analysis of the two novels to probe stereotypes, patriarchal structure, poverty, unemployment, and leadership failures in african society which make these african women leave the shores of africa for greener pastures in foreign lands. the postcolonial feminism theoretical framework was employed in interrogating the selected novels to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 95 96 mailto:olisaco4u@yahoo.com mailto:chukchch@yahoo.com for self-identity and better life. conceptual framework displacement in migration literature, displacement refers to the forced or compelled departure from one's homeland due to various factors such as conflict, economic hardship, political instability, environmental disasters, or social unrest. it encompasses both the physical and emotional aspects of migration, particularly the sense of losing one's place of origin and the challenges of adapting to a new environment. displacement is often explored in terms of its psychological and cultural impacts on the migrants, focusing on feelings of alienation, loss, and identity crisis as individuals encounter unfamiliar cultures and landscapes. it also highlights the trauma of leaving behind home, family, and community, and the ongoing struggle to forge a sense of belonging in a foreign land. in many migration narratives, displaced characters grapple with the tension between their past (countries of origin) and present (host countries), often reflecting on issues such as nostalgia, cultural differences, racism, and the challenges of assimilation or integration. in this way, displacement serves as a metaphor for the broader human experience of loss, transition, and the perpetual search for a place to belong and survive. quest for survival in migration literature, the quest for survival refers to the journey and efforts of migrants as they face the physical, emotional, and social challenges of life in the host nations. this journey involves going through the hardships of migration, whether voluntary or forced, while striving to improve their circumstances, meet basic needs, and preserve their dignity, identity, and sense of self amidst adversity. society. her experiences underscore how displacement is shaped by internal and external pressures, pushing her to migrate in search of new possibilities in her quest for self-identity in the face of adversity in the host nation. the two main female characters in both novels face the challenges of finding a sense of nostalgia and that of recognition in their host countries. while darling yearns for her home in zimbabwe, she must also find a way of circumventing the racial and cultural differences in the u.s. similarly, remi endures the emotional weight of homesickness and racial discrimination in london while struggling to achieve self-actualisation. their experiences underscore the deep psychological struggles of displacement, which involve not just physical relocation but also the complex negotiation for identity, acceptance, and belonging in their new worlds. in both novels, the survival instinct involves managing the complexities of life in foreign lands, where migrant african women must overcome physical and emotional challenges. darling's survival instinct involves adapting to the american society while maintaining her cultural identity and resisting the erasure of her roots. likewise, remi faces practical struggles such as securing employment, managing legal status, and fitting into a new society that marginalizes her as an african woman. both women were determined to succeed and they find strength and solidarity in their communities, as their relationships with fellow migrants provide a sense of belonging amidst their struggles. ultimately, these novels explore how migrant african women's survival is shaped by their resilience, identity negotiation and the challenges they face in the diaspora. the stories of darling and remi offer a nuanced portrayal of the intersection of migration, gender and identity, highlighting the complex emotional and social battles women face in their quest coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 97 98 are compelled to leave their home countries due to war or persecution. migrants can be voluntary, forced, seasonal, or labour migrants, and their experiences vary, with many facing challenges such as adapting to new environments, facing legal obstacles, dealing with discrimination, or coping with economic instability. the oxford advanced learner's dictionary (7th edition) defines migration as "the movement of large numbers of people, birds, or animals from one place to another." the cambridge dictionary provides a more focused definition, stating that migration is "the process of a person or people traveling to a new place or country, usually to find work and live there temporarily or permanently.” further, migrant african women are african women who leave their home countries in search of better opportunities, safety, or a new life, either within africa or outside it. their migration is often shaped by factors such as patriarchal stereotypes, economic hardship, political instability, armed conflict, environmental changes, and social inequalities. these women face unique challenges due to the intersection of their gender, migration status, and socio-political context. many migrant african women take on low-wage, informal, or exploitative jobs, particularly in domestic work or factories. this economic vulnerability exposes them to exploitation, including poor working conditions, low pay, and lack of legal protection. they are also at risk of sexual and physical abuses during migration and in their host countries. migrants in precarious situations, particularly those without legal status or work permits, often experience social exclusion, and limited access to healthcare, education, and legal rights, which heighten their vulnerability. migrants face more than just survival problems; they must confront the challenges of cultural adaptation also. this includes adjusting to the social, political, and economic systems of their new country, overcoming language barriers, adapting to cultural norms, and confronting prejudices or discriminations. the emotional and psychological impact of migration is a key part of the experience, often involving homesickness, alienation, and a loss of identity. dealing with trauma, either from the migration process or the circumstances that led to it, is also a vital aspect of emotional survival. a key component of the quest for survival is the migrant's struggle to preserve or reconstruct their identity in the new environment. this process involves negotiating between two identities: one rooted in their homeland and the other shaped by the culture and expectations of the host country. the quest often revolves around finding a sense of belonging and reconciling these conflicting aspects of self. ultimately, the quest for survival in migration literature highlights resilience. migrants frequently endure numerous challenges, driven by the hope for a better life, safety, or future opportunities. this resilience and survival instinct are major concerns in the migration novels explored in this paper: bulawayo's we need new names and aworanti-ekugo's lagos to london. migrant african women a migrant is an individual who moves from one place to another, often across borders, either temporarily or permanently, in search of better living conditions, employment opportunities, safety, or to escape hardship. migration can occur either within a country or between countries, driven by reasons such as seeking better job prospects, fleeing political instability or conflict, reuniting with family members, or escaping environmental disasters. some migrants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 99 100 discourses (1984), bulbeck chilla's reorienting western feminism: women's diversity in a postcolonial world (1997), chris weedon's key issues in postcolonial feminism: a western p e r s p e c t i v e ( 2 0 0 2 ) , a n d b e l l e a u m a r i e c l a i r e ' s “l'intersectionnalité”: feminisms in a divided world (2007). other prominent postcolonial feminists include gayatri spivak, yvonne vera, and radhika mohanram. as a subset of feminism, postcolonial feminism arose as a response to the exclusionary tendencies of western feminism. it advocates for the visibility of women in developing countries and asserts that their stories, often distinct from those of western women, deserve to be heard. the theory rejects the notion of a universal female experience, instead calling for gender activists from diverse cultures and regions to pursue gender equality on their own terms. as bulbeck (1997) suggests, the west must "learn about the other woman," not as a stereotype shaped by popular media, but as a real, complex individual. postcolonial feminism seeks to expand the feminist discourse to be more inclusive, acknowledging the voices of those who have historically been marginalized (fisher, 2013). postcolonial feminism also emphasizes the roles of race, class, gender, culture, sexual preference, and colonial oppression in the subjugation of women in formerly colonized nations. in the narratives analysed in this study, the protagonists are women from the african continent, and their experiences are central to the plot. these stories are a form of the african version of global women's experience with the forces of "othering" and oppression. the theory asserts that there is no single, homogenous female experience; instead, all experiences, especially those that differ from mainstream narratives, are valid and worth telling. ultimately, postcolonial feminism redefines the feminist movement from a narrow, western-focused struggle to a broader, more inclusive one that embraces differences and individuality. chimamanda adichie collaborated with this view in her article, cultural dislocation is another significant challenge as migrant african women who battle language barriers, unfamiliar social norms, and the pressure to integrate into a new society. these challenges can lead to feelings of alienation and confusion about their identity. additionally, racial and gender discrimination in host countries can limit their opportunities for independence and financial stability, further complicating their survival. migration also imposes an emotional toll, with issues such as homesickness, separation from family, and trauma from fleeing violence, stereotypes or conflict affecting their mental wellbeing. despite these difficulties, migrant african women demonstrate remarkable resilience, often forming support networks with fellow migrants and learning to confront the complexities of their new environments. in migration literature, migrant african women are frequently depicted as both victims of their circumstances and resilient agents of change. works such as we need new names by noviolet bulawayo and lagos to london by lola aworantiekugo selected for this study, explore the displacement, quest for survival and pursuit of a better life for these african women, highlighting themes of identity, belonging, and the emotional impact of migration. these narratives shed light on the struggles and triumphs of this marginalized group, emphasizing their strength and resilience in the face of adversity. post-colonial feminism: a theoretical clarification postcolonial feminism can be understood as an exploration of the enduring impacts of colonialism and neocolonialism, particularly in relation to women. it examines how these historical forces continue to affect women, with a particular focus on the intersection of race and gender. key works in postcolonial feminist theory include cherrie moraga's refugees of world on fire (1983), chandra mohanty's under western eyes: f e m i n i s t s c h o l a r s h i p a n d c o l o n i a l coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 101 102 fulfill its responsibilities has led to many young people becoming idle at home, with some giving to crimes. it is also important to note that the two authors selected for this study emphasize strike actions as one of the key factors driving the mass migration of young people from africa. in her novel, aworanti-ekugo pointed out that the prolonged strikes by the academic staff union caused nnamdi and other youths significant stress, leading them to lose hope in achieving a better future in nigeria. she observed that 'nnamdi often spent time at a nearby cyber café, where, through yahoo news, he kept up with news about the united states and the united kingdom, constantly searching for information on how he could relocate there. he needed a way out” (117). the author's assertion that the young undergraduate, emeka, needed an escape, underscores the reality that many young africans are caught in a cycle of hopelessness and poverty, largely driven by poor governance across the continent. this pervasive sense of despair is pushing many young people to take control of their own future by migrating out of africa. both remi and nnamdi in lagos to london symbolise the countless young africans who, knowing their future is uncertain due to corruption, mismanagement, and a lack of strategic planning, choose to leave in search of a better life. the prolonged strikes and the absence of scholarships for students were pointed out as contributing factors to the issue of migration. the government's lack of vision only intensifies the hopelessness and fuels the desire to leave among young people. nnamdi expressed this sentiment when he confided in his friend emeka, seeking to borrow money from him for his escape, “… my life has been a disappointment, can't you see it? staying back in this country won't help me.” (39). on the other hand, aworanti-ekugo crafted remi as a character with a strong survival instinct that enabled her to successfully deal with the numerous challenges she faced in her migratory experience in london. this survival quest allowed remi to rise above the displacement factors in her home country we should all be feminists when she wrote, “gender matters everywhere in the world. and i would like today to ask that we should begin to dream about and plan for a different world. a fairer world. a world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves” (23). displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo's we need new names and aworantiekugo's lagos to london aworanti-ekugo,in lagos to london, examined the factors inducing displacement and migration, exploring the reasons why many africans, men and women, seek better opportunities in europe and other continents. she highlighted how inadequate funding in nigeria's education system has severely impacted the quality of education, leading many young people to lose hope in achieving their dreams of quality education and employment. according to her, this lack of educational opportunities is a fundamental cause of displacement and migration for many young nigerians. in the novel, the author not only delves into the exilic experiences of migrants but also investigates the underlying issues that serve as push factors, driving these young individuals toward forced migration. according to her: the asuu strikes were fast becoming every student's nightmare as they seemed to be spending more time at home than at university. it was a complicated situation: lecturers were unhappy about their wages and condition of service, and there were allegations of outstanding earned academic allowances… this meant that the students could be home for anything from weeks to months doing nothing (14). aworanti-ekugo used her writing to highlight the government's misplaced priorities, particularly, its neglect of critical issues such as education and infrastructural development. through this, she demonstrated how the government's failure to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 103 104 forging any available alliances in your field and interests will be important” (234). through this, the author not only underscores how female african migrants can overcome challenges in their host countries but also illustrates how any migrant, regardless of gender or nationality, can succeed in his journey. through remi's advice, the author conveys that migrants can alleviate the burden of their experiences by making the most of their time and opportunities. as she advised, “make the most of your time in the uk. take advantage of opportunities when they come. visit places. make friends. at the end of the day, life is all about experiences” (234). in essence, the steps highlighted by the author as key to a successful migration journey were the qualities that drove remi's survival quest. the character's resilience and resourcefulness made it nearly impossible for her to break under any circumstances as a female african migrant. additionally, the author emphasizes how migrants, particularly women, can solve the problem of identity crises and the complexities of double consciousness while pursuing a better life, remi further advised her book launch audience: … always remember where you are from and stay true to your roots and values. this is important because, in an environment where the culture and values are different when things get tough, this will be critical to your success and survival (234). aworanti-ekugo also emphasized that migration to europe and other continents does notguarantee success or prosperity. as she puts it, “life abroad isn't meant for anyone. don't be a pauper in another man's land when you can be a king in your own” (235). this statement implies that the same displacement issues and challenges that push migrants to leave their countries of origin can also be found in the host nations. therefore, migrants should and helped her overcome the mixed reception, hybridity, discrimination, and culture shock she encountered in her host country. remi's success as a migrant was as a result of her resilience and determination. she abandoned the course chosen for her by her parents and switched to english and comparative literature to find fulfillment and give expression to her talent for writing and passion for blogging. she went on to publish her first novel, detailing her experiences as a migrant. she also embarked on publicity tours across the uk, engaging with her fans and online followers who admired her work. the author portrayed remi as a highly successful and accomplished woman, a role model for women striving to challenge stereotypes and break through patriarchal structures in african society. through remi, aworanti-ekugo demonstrated that african women can attain independence, financial freedom, and live life on their own terms. when asked during an interview at her book launch in t h e u k a b o u t t h e k e y t o h e r s u c c e s s , remi reflected: “focus, dedication, and hard work pays…you need to be very clear on your goals from the start, then work tirelessly towards protecting that goal and accomplishing it. arriving in the uk is just the start of the journey ...” (233). in the statement above, remi emphasized the importance of overcoming societal stereotypes and achieving both independence and financial goals for migrant women. from the very beginning, remi was determined to succeed. her resilience, discipline, and decisiveness helped her endure and steered through some of the most frustrating and dehumanizing experiences. she remarked, “it can be difficult being far away from home and integrating into a new culture. networking is key; coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 105 106 like haiti, like sri lanka, and not even this one we live in – (zimbabwe) who wants to be a terrible place of hunger and things falling apart?” (49). the countries she mentions share common struggles: hunger, poverty, unemployment, and the neglect of women and children issues that are prevalent across many african countries and act as push factors for migration. by calling these countries “rags of countries,” darling underscores the severity of underdevelopment, poverty, and suffering, particularly, in africa. these countries represent many african nations where the basic needs and welfare of citizens remain unmet. as a result, migration becomes the hopeful escape for those seeking better opportunities. darling's reflections further emphasize that people, driven by aspirations and dreams, migrate because their political leaders are exacerbating their difficulties. darling also expresses her hope for a better life in the united states, stating, “if i'm lucky, like today, i get to be the usa is the big baboom of the world? i feel like it's my country now because my aunt fostalina lives there in destroyedmichygen. once her things are in order she'll come and get me and i will go and live there also” (49). darling's friend, stina, traced the root cause of displacement in her country to the greed and poor leadership of those in power. she pointed out that some african presidents, driven by greed, refuse to relinquish power even when they are old and inactive. these power-hungry leaders continue to vie for political positions well into old age. as she remarked, “...you have to be an old, old man to become president” (60). she further added, “i saw a picture of the president in a magazine. he was also with the president of zambia and malawi and south africa and other presidents. they were all old; you have to be like a grandfather first” (61). carefully consider the risks and difficulties associated with migration before making such a life-changing decision. in this light, aworanti-ekugo used lagos to london to explore the migratory experiences of african women and their struggles to overcome stereotypes and patriarchal power structures. she used the work to show that women should not die in silence but consider all the options available to them for selfidentity and independence. through her central character, remi, she challenges african women to rise above societal limitations and create their paths to success. similarly, the displacement factors that drive migrants away from their home countries inlagos to london also resonate in bulawayo's we need new names. structured as a personal experience, we need new names follows the story of darling, a young girl who grows up in a shantytown in zimbabwe before migrating to the united states. the ravaging hunger in zimbabwe and the hopelessness that enveloped her country pushed darling to seek escape from these dire circumstances. the narrative is divided into sections that capture her life in both zimbabwe and america, providing a rich portrayal of african female migration. while aworanti-ekugo's novel focuses on the migratory experiences of adults, bulawayo's work delves into how poverty and economic collapse psychologically affect children, making them lose hope at a young age and dream of migrating. in we need new names, bulawayo uses darling's firstperson perspective to convey the migration experience through personal involvement. this technique allows her to capture detailed nuances and reflect on what may mirror her own experiences, much like her fellow author's, aworanti-ekugo, who also experienced migration. darling highlights how hunger and poverty have made zimbabwe seem uninhabitable. she reflects, “nobody wants to be rags of countries like congo, like somalia, like iraq, like sudan, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 107 108 explained, “you all don't get it, do you? is this what i went to university for? is this what we got independence for? does it make sense that we are living like this? tell me! ... all i know is that i'm certainly not clamoring to go across the borders to live where i'm called a kwerekwere” (92). this statement highlights the discrimination faced by zimbabweans and, by extension,african migrants in south africa and other countries. the term “kwerekwere” is a derogatory label used to refer to foreigners, often blamed for social issues like crime and disease, reinforcing harmful stereotypes. this form of racial discrimination frequently leads to xenophobic attacks. the author used darling's father's experience to capture the discrimination, racism, and dehumanization migrants endure in their pursuit of better opportunities abroad. ironically, despite witnessing her father's painful return, darling still dreams of migrating. bulawayo uses this narrative to show that the inherent displacement factors in african countries, along with the associated risks and challenges, are often more devastating than the struggles migrants face in host nations. the implication is clear: unless african governments address the root causes of migration, the negative impacts of migration on countries of origin will continue to worsen, with migration rates rising further. bulawayo buttressed this when she wrote: look at them leaving in droves, the children of the land, just look at them leaving in droves. those with nothing are crossing borders. those with strength are crossing borders. those with ambitions are crossing borders… those in pain are crossing borders. moving, running, emigrating, going, deserting, walking, quitting, flying, fleeing – to all over, to countries near and far, … they are leaving in droves (145). bulawayo used this to illustrate how the recycling of elderly leaders in positions of power contributes to the stagnation of various african countries, prompting citizens to migrate in search of better opportunities abroad. the author crafted a scene in which darling and her friends, while giving chipo first aid and mimicking what they had seen doctors do on tv, discussed how their country was far from having standard hospitals and qualified doctors, as long as old men continued to lead. sbho commented, “i saw it on tv in harare when i visited sekuru godi. er is what they do in a hospital in america. in order to do this right, we need new names” (82). the author derived the title of the novel from this statement, using it to highlight how poor infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, and systemic failures in zimbabwe lead to a loss of hope, pushing people to migrate. she pointed out that her father had migrated from zimbabwe to south africa when migration became widespread, even against his wife's wishes. as she noted, “mother had not wanted father to leave for south africa to begin with, but it was at that time when everybody was going to south africa and other countries, some near, some far, some very, very far. they were leaving, just leaving in droves, and father wanted to leave with everybody and he was going to leave and nothing would stop him” (91). though darling's mother did not want her husband to travel abroad, he insisted that migration seemed the best option due to the overwhelming challenges they faced in zimbabwe. by justifying migration through darling's father's relocation, the author critiques the government for failing to meet expectations and underscores the displacement issues that make life uncomfortable for those in the country. justifying his decision to migrate to south africa for better opportunities, darling's father coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 109 110 could not go to hospitals. we swallowed every pain like a bitter pill, drank every fear like a love portion, and we worked and worked (244). the migrant african women endure all of these to avoid returning home, where they would face greater challenges unemployment, patriarchy, and the limiting stereotypes that confine them to domestic roles as mothers or wives. additionally, these migrants traveled, intending to become saviours for their impoverished families, and sending money home to support their well-being. as darling noted, "every two weeks we got our paychecks and sent monies back home by western union and money gram. we bought food and clothes for the families left behind, we paid school fees for the little ones" (244). bulawayo further observed that it was primarily the youth who migrated in larger numbers. this observation aligns with united nations reports, which stated that young people were more likely to migrate from africa to europe and asia in search of better opportunities. according to bulawayo, “it was mostly the youth who came, leaving behind old people and children. they came in droves, abandoning the tatters that were our country. we did not think about mending the tatters, all we thought was: leave, abandon, flee, run-anything, escape (245). this highlights how african governments have failed their young populations by not fostering an environment conducive to job creation. as a result, these young people are forced to migrate to other continents for survival, rather than facing starvation at home. the author also pointed out that, due to their migrant status, most of these individuals rarely return to their countries of origin. darling highlighted this when she said that, “we did not go back home to visit because we did not have the papers for our return, and so we just stayed, knowing that if we went we would not be able to reenter america. we stayed, like prisoners, only we chose to be prisoners and we loved our prison; it was not a bad prison” through this, the author illustrated the chaotic circumstances, hopelessness, unemployment, and poverty brought about by leadership failures in africa, which drive people to cross borders in search of better opportunities. she pointed out the negative impact of brain drain on the country of origin, noting, "those with strength are crossing borders. those with ambitions are crossing borders.” furthermore, bulawayo examined the jobs these migrants take up abroad to survive. often, african migrants end up doing menial jobs, reflecting their struggle for survival and migration status. many are unable to access quality, high-paying jobs due to factors such as racism and the limitations of the education they received in their home countries. darling, narrating this experience, said: and the jobs we worked, jesus – jesus jesus, the jobs we worked. low-paying jobs, backbreaking jobs. jobs that gnawed at the bones of our dignity… we cleaned toilets. we picked tobacco and fruit under the boiling sun until we hung our tongues and panted like lost hounds (244). migrant african women take on these jobs to survive. despite the tough nature of the work, these women, fully aware of how stereotypes and patriarchal structures have relegated them to second-class citizens in africa, endure the hardships and challenges of working abroad. by illustrating how these women accept these jobs despite the uncomfortable working conditions, the author emphasizes the harshness of the displacement factors that push the migrants to take such risks. darling observed that they worked with dangerous machines, "holding their breath like crocodiles underwater, their minds on the money and never on their lives." this highlights the determination and resilient spirit of african migrant women. she further added: we cut ourselves working on meat; we got skin diseases. we inhaled bad smells until our lungs thundered… we got sick but did not go to hospitals, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 111 112 nwapa's efuru and idu” published in knowledge builders journal. vol. 6. no 1, august, 2011. pp 165-173. asika, ikechukwu, ifechelobi, jane and akabuike, ifeoma. “words made flesh” a formalist reading of helon habila's waiting for an angel.” international journal of english literature and culture. volume 3 (4), april, 2015. pp 96106. asika, ikechukwu, madu, ngozi & akabuike, ifeoma. “language as trope in chimamanda adichie's americanah: a stylistic (de)-coding.” nigerian journal of african studies (njas)vol. 4, no. 1, 2022. pp 1-10. . cho, lily. the turn to diaspora. topia: canadian journal of cultural studies. 2011. “migration.” oxford advanced learners english dictionary h�ps://www.oxfordlearnersdic�onaries.com/defini�on/ameri can_english/migra�on #:text=noun ,noun, the % 20 migration%20routes%20of%20birds gbaguidi, célestin. "the representation of the african woman in male-dominated society: a study of chinua achebe's things fall apart and amma darko's beyond the horizon," ininternational journal of arts and humanities.vol. 7 (2), s/no 25. 2018. mohanty, chandra. under the western eyes: feminist scholarship and colonial discourses.feminist review 30: 61-88. 1984. said, edward. orientalism: social theory rewired. routledge. 362 374 shire, warsan. conversations about home (at the deportation centre). “teaching my mother how to give birth.” flipped (246-247). conclusion bulawayo and aworanti-ekugo used their works selected for this study to demonstrate that large-scale migration in africa results from man-made push factors such as poor leadership, poverty, stereotypes, patriarchy, and unemployment. they highlighted how these factors disproportionately affect african women, who face multiple hardships in their host countries due to three key reasons: being women, being black, and being migrants. these female writers criticize governments for failing to fulfill their responsibility to ensure the welfare of their citizens. they also draw attention to the urgent need to address displacement issues, which in turn, will help tackle the challenges faced by african women. works cited adichie, chimamanda. we should all be feminists. harper c o l l i n s p u b l i s h e r s , 2 0 1 7 . cambridge dictionary. definition of migration. h�ps://dic�onary.cambridge.org/dic�onary/english/migra�on. asika, ikechukwu and akabuike, ifeoma. “cooking with one's firewood: myth as a conflict generator and conflict resolver in flora nwapa's efuru and idu.” published in afrrev ijah. an international journal of arts and humanities. vol 1 (1), february, 2012. pp 164-178. asika, ikechukwu & akabuike, ifeoma. re-kindling the travails of the past: the dreams of the poet in the quest for national integration and global reconciliation published inansu journal of language and literary studies (ajlls) vol.1. no. 4, december, 2017. pp 145-156. asika, ikechukwu and akabuike, ifeoma. “the flora and fauna of folklore in african literature: myth as a plot generator in flora coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ewuzie, felix ewuzie & prof. chukwueloka, christian c.displacement and quest for survival in migrant african women in bulawayo’s we need new names and aworanti-ekugo’s lagos to london 113 114 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/migration https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/migration https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/migration eye publishing. 2011 spivak, gayatri chakravorty. “can the subaltern speak?” marxism and the interpretation of culture. eds. cay nelson and lawrence grossberg. london: macmillan. tyson, lois. critical theory today. routledge. 2006. united nations. global issues: international migration. h�ps://www.un.org/en/global-issues/migra�on weedon, c. key issues in postcolonial feminism: a western perspective. genderforum: an internet for gender studies 1:1-5. 20. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 115 https://www.un.org/en/global-%20%09issues/migration page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr meanings and thoughts thrown up by the actions and inactions of umuofia clan in their encounter with the white missionaries which invariably inflamed the destruction of their cherished cultural values. the paper draws a conclusion that the mission of the white men should not have been a complete success if not for the complimentary actions of the people of umuofia as the study reveals. keywords: hermeneutics, culture, disintegration, society, values. introduction chinua achebe (1930 – 2013) is probably both the most widely known and the most representative african novelist. he is regarded as the father of modern african literature, and he came to canonical prominence owing to the impact of his first novel, things fall apart (1958) the best-known work of african literature in the world. his indictment of colonial discourse in the essay “an image of africa: racism in joseph conrad's heart of darkness,” originally delivered as a lecture at the university of massachusetts in 1974 created awareness about true african identity contrary to the european view of africa. while things fall apart was neither the first african novel nor the first to capture the trauma of the colonial encounter, achebe's transliteration of the igbo language its beauty, philosophy, and cadences of speech in clear, eloquent prose, and his intimate knowledge and subversion of the western literary tradition moved literary critics around the world, and inspires generations of african writers. he further helped shape the direction of african writing in editorial roles most notably as the founding editor of heinemann's african writers series and through his manifold critical and biographical essays, many of which preempt ideas at the core of postcolonial theory, with a more accessible and mellifluous idioms. the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam email: asikaikechukwu@yahoo.com mobile phone: +2348038679214 & ewuzie, olisa felix department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam. email: olisaco4u@yahoo.com mobile phone: +2348038173828 abstract this paper examines chinua achebe's things fall apart using the theory of hermeneutics to establish the point that the cultural disintegration which the umuofia people suffered during the imperialistic conquest of africa arguably succeeded not because of the determination of the white men to upturn the cultural values of umuofia but owing to insensitive and preposterous attitude of the umuofia people. while many critics have often noted that the white men caused the disintegration of igbo society and values, this paper elects to take a contrary dimension through a hermeneutical re-reading of achebe's classic, things fall apart. the study contends and through hermeneutical lenses, offers critical explanations and justification that the umuofia people should be blamed primarily other than the white men for the culture disintegration and subjugation which their society went through during the colonial incursion. the paper, through a hermeneutical re-reading of things fall apart via historical, cultural and intellectual contexts of the text, engenders a critical position on the novel through a decoding of some underlying coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 1 2 mailto:asikaikechukwu@yahoo.com mailto:olisaco4u@yahoo.com achebe was determined to take the modern african literature to greater heights as well as to prove to the europeans the value of the african culture. the novel was published during a period when a lot of writers emerged from nigeria; among them are wole soyinka and ben okri. these writers all play an influential role in modern african literature, both in their countries and internationally. however, achebe was the most successful writer of the lot because he “has been critical of the role of christianity in africa, his criticism has been regarded generally as moderate and his creative work has won almost universal praise for its objectivity and detachment” (sharma 85). in fact, he is “one of the writers of his time with fluency in the english language” (jiffynotes.com 1). based on the descriptions of africa and its people by both conrad and cary, it comes as no surprise that achebe and other african writers began to emerge and tell their story of africa and its people. not only were conrad and cary's novels a misrepresentation of africa, they were also humiliating to its people. it is through the insights of things fall apart that the world became more appreciative of africa and its people and at the same time the truth surrounding the stereotypical ideas that once existed about africa which began to appear in a much clearer light. according to alimi, things fall apart is all about the “collapse, breaking into pieces, chaos, and confusion” (121) of traditional igbo culture that suffers at the hand of the white man's arrival in umuofia along with his religion. the views about life that the white men have are totally different from the views that the igbo have. what seems utterly appropriate and acceptable in traditional igbo culture does not appear so to the white missionaries. they are quick to want to change certain elements of traditional igbo culture which according to them are inappropriate and unacceptable. however, in so doing, the white missionaries fail to see that these inappropriate and unacceptable elements of traditional igbo culture are what keep the igbo together. the white men subtly engaged the support of many igbo when things fall apart was first published, achebe announced that one of his purposes was to present a complex, dynamic society to a western audience who perceived african society as primitive, simple, and backward. unless africans could tell their side of the story, achebe believed that the african experience would forever be mistold, even by such well-meaning authors as joyce cary in mister johnson. in an interview published in 1994, achebe explains that his anger about the inaccurate portrayal of african culture by white colonial writers does not imply that students should not read works by conrad or cary. on the contrary, achebe urges students to read such works in order to better understand the racism of the colonial era. beyond using literature to correct misconceptions formed by foreigners about africa, achebe kept in mind his own nigerian people as an audience. in 1964, he stated his goal for writing thus: “to help my society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement. . . . i would be quite satisfied if my novels . . . did no more than teach my (african) readers that their past — with all its imperfections — was not one long night of savagery from which the first europeans acting on god's behalf delivered them.” this is to say that achebe's primary purpose of writing things fall apart is because he wants to educate his readers about the value of his culture as an african. things fall apart provides readers with an insight into the igbo society right before the white missionaries' invasion on their land. the invasion of the colonising force threatens to change almost every aspect of igbo society; from religion, traditional gender roles and relations, family structure to trade. nothing was spared. consequently, achebe blames the white missionaries for colonial and postcolonial subjugation of igbo culture; this subjugation can be seen in terms of the oppressed social coherence between the individual and their society. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 3 4 in view of the foregoing, m.h abrams opines that “hermeneutics originally designated the formulation of principles of interpretation that apply specifically to the bible; the principles incorporated both the rules governing a valid reading of the biblical text, and exegesis…. since the nineteenth century, however, “hermeneutics” has come to designate the theory of interpretation in general – that is, a formulation of the principles and methods involved in getting at the meaning of all written text.…”(127). chris baldick adds that hermeneutics “involves basic problems such as the possibility of establishing a determinate meaning in a text, the role of the author's intention, the historical relativity of meanings, and the status of the reader's contribution to a text's meaning.” (112). this theory also seeks to uncover issues beyond what the author might not have intended in his text but they are embedded especially when looking at different parts of the text as against the whole vis-a-vis cultural and historical background of the text. rodney frey buttresses this point that: to hermeneutically interpret is to first dwell in the words of the text, as if, as an archaeologist, you are using your trowel and brush to bit-by-bit remove the earth encasing an ancient shard... a hermeneutical interpretation of a text can thus reveal more clearly the meaning of the words of the text, as well as the cultural and intellectual contexts in which it was formed, providing a means to better understand and share the original experiences and ideas of the author of the text. gadamer further adds to this view well when he writes that “… to understand an author was not the same thing as understanding writing and speech perfectly. the norm for understanding a book is not the author's meaning. for, 'since men cannot be aware of everything, their words, speech, and writing can mean something that they themselves did not intend to say or write.” (190). people in the disintegration of igbo culture and values. at the time the igbos realized that their culture has been disintegrated, it was too late. hermeneutics: a theoretical clarification the term hermeneutics is an interpretative concept which a reader uses to dig into author's intention in any given text for both verbal and non-verbal meaning using some established principles of interpretation. in the general sense, it is simply an art of interpretation and understanding. according to guilherme figueiredo “if we look at its etymological roots, we can see that the name 'hermeneutics' comes from the greek word hermeneuein (which means 'to interpret') and the noun hermeneia (interpretation).” (1). palmer collaborates this view when he notes that “traced back to their earliest known root words in greek, the origins of the modern words 'hermeneutics' and 'hermeneutical' suggest the process of 'bringing to understanding,' especially as this process involves language, since language is the medium par excellence in the process.” (13). hermeneutics is initially developed as a religious tool with which bible scholars conduct exegesis of the scriptures for critical explanation in their quest to arrive at the intention of biblical texts. its origin could be traced to the greeks. the word itself derives from the greek god, hermes, the son of zeus and the nymph maia. hermes is the herald of the olympian gods. one of his roles is to get messages from the gods and convey and interpret for the people who find it difficult to understand the language of the gods. this is to say that hermeneutic theory seeks the interpretation of a text using determined approaches to achieve a maximum understanding in line with the author's intentions. this approach to uncover author's intended meaning involves delving into the cultural, historical and intellectual contexts of the world of a given text. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 5 6 fact that the umuofia people were basically responsible for the cultural disintegration they suffered in the hands of the white men other than the white men being the sole cause of the cultural subjugation that umuofia town went through during their incursion. therefore, this paper will explore several aspects of the text through the lenses of hermeneutics, highlighting the cultural implications of certain actions of umuofia people to prove this point that the umuofians are the architect of their own downfall. umuofians as architects of the cultural pollution of umuofia it is a popular perspective in achebe's things fall apart that the whiteman who introduced his religion and western system of government caused the disintegration of the traditional igbo society. many aspects of the novel favoured this perspective that the whiteman overpowered the umuofia people and imposed his religious beliefs and culture on them. many who held this view believed that the umuofia people had little or no option in defending their land against the invasion of the whiteman in that the whiteman came with superior fire power to subdue anyone that rises in opposition against them in their imperialistic quest to take over africa at all cost. it was against this background that many readers and critics justifiably quote obierika in things fall apart that the whiteman “…has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. he has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” (141). one of the critical questions achebe's things fall apart continues to raise is whether it was the colonial invaders who caused the disintegration of the umuofia society. a close hermeneutical reading of the text, things fall apart, reveals that even though the whiteman may have put a knife on the 'things' that held umuofia people together and made them fall apart, nonetheless, the argument holds that the umuofia people had given the whiteman the said knife with which he used to tear them the key proponents of hermeneutics are friedrich schleiermacher and wilhelm dilthey and they shaped the thoughts around th th hermeneutics during the 19 century. in the 20 century, martins heidegger and hans-georg gadamer added their thoughts to widen the theory of hermeneutics. heidegger coined the expression 'hermeneutic circle' which he used to describe the process of deep understanding of a text. hermeneutic circle therefore, refers to the notion that one's understanding of the text as a whole is derived by reference to the individual parts and one's understanding of each individual part is derived by reference to the whole. not even the whole text nor any individual part can be well comprehended without reference to one another, and hence, it is a circle. nasrulla in his critical study of friedrich schleiermacher, explains that schleiermacher offers a “formula” for interpretation, whereby we can identify with the author's overall situation, a formula which includes: objective historical reconstruction, which considers how a given utterance relates to language as a whole, and how the knowledge in a text is the product of language; objective divinatory reconstruction, which conjectures how the utterance or discourse itself will contribute to the language's development; subjective historical reconstruction, which examines a discourse as a product of an individual writer's mind; and, finally, subjective divinatory reconstruction, which assesses how the process of composition affects the writer. nasrulla further captured the thoughts of schleiermacher as having asserted that the task of hermeneutics is to understand the text or utterance “just as well and then better than its author.” (1). it is against this background that this paper examines the chinua achebe's things fall apart with a view to establishing the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 7 8 in the internal and external dimensions of igbo culture. though many scholars blame more the external (white men) agency in the change that pervades igbo culture, the internal agents who are igbo natives are potently more active. of course, no culture crumbles from without but from within. in other words, no society falls on its own for there must be prior internal condition hatched by internal agents, which makes the culture vulnerable to external pressure. (1). recall that in the novel, things fall apart, the earliest town the whiteman invaded was abame, a neighbouring village to umuofia. as it was the custom, the abame elders consulted their oracle and were told that “the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them.” (111). the oracle further warned that “other white men were on their way. they were locusts…and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain.” (111). these revelations, arguably, are demonstrations of clear insights the gods offered to the abame people which significantly was early enough to elicit collective action and resistance from them against the onslaught of colonial conquest. the saying “to be forewarned, is to be forearmed”, which finds equivalent in the igbo people proverbial thought that “eme ngwa ngwa emeghalu odachiif one acts fast, one can prevent a tragedy”, ought to have applied here in the case of abame people and their outcome of their consultations with the gods. the gods played their parts by revealing the invasion of the white men early enough. but umuofians, on hearing the news did not take any action until when it was too late. their actions further collaborate the popular igbo proverb that igbo people do not hurry to take shelter when they notice signs of rain until their bodies are drenched. so many umuofians out of bewilderment, threw their doors open to the whiteman to come and settle among them. and this infiltration began the process of their downfall. achebe apart by embracing him and his religion without discretion. this resonates with obierika's admittance that the whiteman has won [his] brothers. “the white man is very clever. he came quietly and peaceably with his religion. we were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. he has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” (141). umuofia people were not united to confront the whiteman when he was conducting his evangelism throughout the length and breadth of umuofia. they abandoned their belief system and their gods to embrace the strange teachings of the whiteman. obierika also observes that “our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. they joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. if we should try to drive out the white men in umuofia we should find it easy. there are only two of them. but what of our own people who are following their way and have been given power?”(140-141). some people of umuofia who joined the white man's church emboldened him towards realising his mission of imposing his own culture and values on umuofia clan. umuofia people aided the white man to succeed. they upheld his government. just like the igbo proverb rightly observes that the domestic rat informed the wild rat that there is fish in the basket in the roof. without the various assistance rendered to the white men by the people of umuofia, white men would not have succeeded in the incursion of umuofia and by extension igbo land. obierika further notes in the novel that some people of umuofia joining the church of the white men made it difficult for the umuofia as a town to consider the idea of fighting the white men for fear of endangering the lives of their own brothers. in other words, umuofia opened the door for the white men to invade them and settle comfortably which adversely affected their cultural values. chinwuba and ezeugwu collaborating this view, observe that: a critical study of igbo cultural change reveals the reality of agents as change catalysts. these agents are in fact replete coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 9 10 their land. “the missionaries had come to umuofia. they had built their church there, won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages…but many of them believed that the strange faith and white man's gods would not last.” (115). it was this assumption that the white man's god would not last that made the elders and warriors of umuofia not to rise to tackle the advances and excesses of the white men. okonkwo appeared a lone voice hence could not resist the white men alone. chris shepherd agrees with this view when he opines that “…we witnessed the challenge and weakening of igbo spirituality, as well as the death of the tribe's livelihood. …their own religious doctrine and passivity played a significant role in allowing the initial infiltration of an alien religion, and the final dissolution of a once prosperous culture.” (1) chinweuba and ezeugwu add to this view when they classified the role of umuofia people that enabled the white man to successfully upturn their cultural values as internal agent role while that of the white man they regarded as external agent role. according to them: …change is one of the basic facts of human experience, the internal agent first made it significant in igbo culture. they were the first to challenge the status quo. this internal significant role is what taiwo calls 'a crack in the wall, which ushers in lizards.' (taiwo, 2008:1) for such internal role opens, the door for the external agents who cashes into the existing cultural rift and opportunistically operate successfully.(1). besides, many people in umuofia perceived western education as the basic tool for survival hence they competed to send their sons to school. their exposure to western education captured this thus: “they were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them.” (117). the whiteman in his characteristic manner, was not violent at first. he was busy engaging those the society rejected as 'efulefu' thereby gaining ground in umuofia. the umuofia people laughed at the foolishness of the whiteman for engaging the inconsequential people in their society but little did they know that ideology spreads like a wild fire. those regarded as efulefu were not banished by the society. they were only regarded as unserious set of people due to their laziness and laissez-faire attitude to life but they still mingled with the rest of the society. thus, by not ostracizing those that went to listen to and embrace the whiteman's religion early enough, umuofians were corrupted by these first set of people that interacted and commingled with the white men. (139). umuofia did not consult their gods for guidance on how to tackle the invasion of the white men. they assumed that their gods would naturally wipe out the white men. on their own, they allocated the evil forest to the white men to build their church without consulting the oracle thereby allowing a foreign god to compete with their own ancestral gods in their land. umuofia committed a sacrilege but never saw it as such. thus, one could assert that their gods they abandoned for a 'foreign god' equally abandoned them to sort out themselves in the hands of the white men whom they welcomed without consultations. no igbo man survives a fight without his chi or personal god fighting along his side to defeat the enemy. the gullibility of the people of umuofia made the settling down of the white men so easy for him. the unsuspecting umuofia was busy laughing at the gullibility of the white men while the white men were strategic in their approach, planting churches and schools and embarking on serious evangelistic works. these were captured in the words of obierika when he narrates to okonkwo in exile, the extent the white men have established themselves in coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 11 12 the umuofians with the whiteman and desecration of their land with the preaching of a strange god must have provoked the neglected gods and ancestors who left them to fight for themselves. achebe captured the mood of the gods umuofia people abandoned through the speech of okika in the village meeting. “all our gods are weeping. idemili is weeping, ogwugwu is weeping, agbala is weeping, and all the others. our dead fathers are weeping because of the shameful sacrilege they are suffering and the abomination we have all seen with our eyes.” okika went further to add that “… our brothers have deserted us and joined a stranger to soil their fatherland.”(162). the people of umuofia did not consult their gods in the matters of the whiteman hence various gods in igbo land left them to their fate to face the whiteman alone. mere accepting the religion of the white men amounts to desecration of the land hence their gods were weeping and turned deaf ears to umuofia clan when they needed their help. a warrior like okonkwo could not restrain his son nwoye from following the ways of the whiteman. the implication of this is that okonkwo had already lost the battle in his own house and should not expect to win the white men who armed themselves against the rebellion of umuofia people. the clan did not act as one and they were fighting alone without the support of their gods. the white men divided the people of umuofia made them disregard their gods. in the course of evangelism and preaching of the whiteman, he had told them that 'all the gods you have named are not gods at all. they are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children.”(117). this was part of the scheme the whiteman deployed to destroy the psyche of an average umuofia person in order to introduce his own god to them. the whiteman had earlier told them that his own god killed his only son to save mankind yet he accused the gods of umuofia of brought about hybridity and complexities in the lifestyle of umuofia people as an average umuofia person that experience western education sees umuofia culture as being inferior to the western culture and values. many joined the white man in upholding his religion and government in umuofia while betraying the umuofia culture. the egwugwu was considered the peoples ancestors who have risen as immortals to visit the mortals. this masquerades are revered and should not be unmasked publicly, but during an egwugwu festival, enoch who had joined the white man's religion, boasted that the egwugwu dare not touch a christian, a boast that brought scuffles between him and the egwugwu where he unmasked one of them. (149). furthermore, people getting their children to study the white men's ways of life at school was seen as a thing of pride by the igbo people without knowing that it was a direct attack on their own culture which they later realized but rather too late. one of the great men in umuofia, akunna, had given one of his sons to be taught in the white man's knowledge in the white man's school. (142). afigbo collaborates this view when he noted that “…it was the quest for literacy that made many an african family send their children to school even after having sworn to live and die by the traditional culture. but literacy and school merely served to open the floodgates of many far-reaching social changes.”(141). besides, in things fall apart, the igbo people were excited to have the white men settle among them. this excitement of seeing a man with a different skin colour and strange behaviour blinded the sense of judgment of umuofia and all their neighbouring villages. according to achebe, at mbanta, the people were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them.”(117). the whiteman settled and preached and made them believe that their gods are false and should not be worshipped. they condoned the whiteman's false teachings and blasphemy against the oracle of hills and caves and amadioha and chukwu. the romancing of coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 13 14 white people. the kotma equally took bribe to pervert justice as they served as both police and court messengers. this is to say that in decoding the text through the hermeneutical lenses, the igbo man was actually the architect of his own problem as he yielded himself as a willing tool in the hands of the whiteman for the subjugation of his own people. the white men made him believe that everything about him was inferior and has to be rejected for western way of life. who would believe that a warrior like okonkwo will be put in prison, shaved and beaten with a stick by small boys whom the whiteman empowered as kotma. the igbo society was silent when the whiteman began relegation of its culture and activities to the background. the umuofia people lost their voice in fraternity and romance with the white men. thus, it would be quite subjective to entirely blame the white men for the subjugation of the umuofia society during their invasion. the umuofia clan was not united in purpose. they sabotaged themselves and by so doing undermined the igbo spirit that advocates that one should be one's brother's keeper. the solidarity, oneness and synergy expected among brothers with a common enemy was lacking hence it was easy for the white men to take advantage of umuofia people and upturned their cultural values. further, it is noteworthy to point that one of the ploys of the colonial masters that made the religion of the white men to quickly flourish among umuofians and beyond was the acceptance of twins and their mothers by the white men. based on the custom and traditions of umuofia, twin babies are taboos are not meant to live. but the white men changed the narrative by imposing sanctions on those that killed twins. the ignorance of umuofia people and their open condemnation of such act made women who lost their twins to find solace in the new religion of the white men. not only that the twins were killed, the society in its naivety did not placate their mothers and these women held grudges against them which they vented when the whiteman arrived. achebe killing people. in trying to counter the argument of the whiteman, one of the men of umuofia asked the whiteman, “if we leave our gods and follow your god …who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?” this is to say that they knew their gods were angry yet they did not pacify them by retracing their steps from following the whiteman. it is also important to observe that if the umuofia and other neighbouring towns did not provide interpreters for the whiteman, the whiteman would have been powerless. thus, the whiteman is his craftiness made western education look so attractive that virtually every family eventually wanted to send their sons to schools to learn the ways of the whiteman. in the bible, the building of the tower of babel purportedly crashed immediately god confused their language, and that shows that language is a unifying force among people and that was the weapon the umuofia people armed the whiteman with by providing him with interpreters. if the whiteman did not succeed in getting interpreters, he would have been frustrated and leave within a short time. it is noteworthy that the whiteman did not learn igbo language but introduced and set up a school to make his language of oppression to flourish in a foreign land. the second class place the whiteman placed the igbo language from the period of colonization is still lingering till today and igbo nation and africa by extension may never recover from it. the umuofia town aided and abated the subjugation of the african society by making everything about the invasion and operation of the white men easy. the kotma or local soldiers the white men used were the igbo people and not white men. in other words, igbo man arrested his fellow igbo man during the reign of the whiteman in igboland and in the other african society. they were used as instrument of oppression and led the way to the safest places where the igbo man would have escaped to in the time of crises and conflict with the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 15 16 so one sunday two of them went into the church.” (125). the whiteman was subtle in his invasion of umuofia. he preached gospel of peace but held a gun in his hand. the warriors of umuofia were indifferent as the white men polluted their land and culture out of fear of unleashing terror on them if they protested. the likes of okonkwo made fruitless efforts to rouse them from their slumber to no avail. by the time the people of umuofia realized that the white men have completely taken over the administration of their land and wanted to revolt, it was too late for them. when okonkwo and some town's men were taken into detention was the time the umuofia people realized that it could be any of their town's men turn any day to be humiliated but it was already late. not even the spirit of all the masked egwugwu could change the narrative. when the town went with egwugwu to challenge the white missionary for the sacrilege the whiteman commits and to destroy his church, it was more or less an empty threat. the spirit of their ancestors had abandoned the umuofia people. the egwugwu roared “but this shrine which he built must be destroyed. we shall no longer allow it in our midst. it bred untold abominations and we have come to put an end to it.” (p.152). they never succeeded because they acted quite late. the instances abound in the text where the umuofia clan did not think through their actions in their dealings with the white men. they sacked their gods by taking actions which ordinarily they should not have taken without proper consultations of the goods of their land. but their action of acting independent of their gods demonstrated the igbo proverb that when a person outruns his personal god in a race, such a person will run into his death. conclusion this paper examines achebe's things fall apart using hermeneutical approach. in this discourse, it was obvious that the umuofia people were lukewarm in taking many actions that were to timely. highlights the ignorance and hostility the igbo society held against the mothers of the twins when he writes that, “nneka had had four previous pregnancies and childbirth. but each time she borne twins, and they had been immediately thrown away. her husband and family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the christians. it was a good riddance.” (121). the white men used all the opportunities they had to divide the umuofia people including taking advantage of the ignorance of the locals about killing of twins. those that left the traditional religion for the white man's church left out of frustration, not knowing that this will have serious adverse effect on the igbo culture and religion. lame maatla kenalemang buttresses this point further when he opines that: the decision to follow christianity by some members of the igbo society is greatly influenced by the suffering they had incurred from their own culture. because they are so eager to get out of the pain and misery that igbo religion had put them through, they do not realize that by joining the white missionaries, they are actually making things harder for themselves in the long run.” (16). this is to say that the white men capitalized on the loopholes in the culture of umuofia to introduce his own. they made the igbo society look wicked hence succeeded in setting the women who lost their twin babies against the society. the action of the white men here no matter how good it seemed, was carried out with some ulterior motives to their advantage. the white men did not only put to an end to the killing of the twins but also welcomed the outcasts whom the society looked down on as second class citizens. in the novel, “these outcast, or osu, seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations, thought that it was possible that they would also be received. and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 17 18 works cited th abrams, meyer howard. “the glossary of literary terms.”7 ed., thomson learning, inc. 1999. achebe, chinua. things fall apart. oxford, heinemann educational publishers, 1996. alimi, s. a. “a study of the use of proverbs as a literary device in achebe's things fall apart and arrow of god.” international journal 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society. the umuofia people were carried away and the white men took advantage of umuofia people taking them lightly hence, they introduced their cultures and equally subverted theirs simply because the umuofia clan permitted the white men and invariably partnered in the process of the slowly but painful cultural subversion and annihilation that remains till date, the collective woes of africans as a continent and a people. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ikechukwu emmanuel asika, phd & ewuzie, olisa felix: the enemy within: a hermeneutical re-reading of chinua achebe's things fall apart 19 20 http://www.philosophia-bg.com/archive/philosophia-18-2017-2/cultute-and-change-a-critical-analysis-of-igbo-cultural-alienation-in-chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart/ http://www.philosophia-bg.com/archive/philosophia-18-2017-2/cultute-and-change-a-critical-analysis-of-igbo-cultural-alienation-in-chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart/ 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http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:648320/fulltext01.pdf https://literariness.org/author/nasrullahmambrol/ http://www.literariness.org/2017/12/23/literary-criticism-of-friedrich-schleiermacher http://www.literariness.org/2017/12/23/literary-criticism-of-friedrich-schleiermacher http://www.web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/students/shepherd.htm http://www.web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/students/shepherd.htm page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr 87 88 ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god are sources of health care delivery services that are available to the sick in the selected texts. it indicates that there is marginalized presence of the education on african medical culture which seems to undermine the use of african traditional medicine in the texts.our finding is that the two systems of medical practices are represented in african literary texts but the choice of the system represented and explained in a particular text depends largely on the author's vast knowledge of any or both of them. keywords: representation, medical, practice, african, comparative. introduction literature and medicine are two different disciplines but have appreciable relationship. in literature, the writer, or poet, or novelist, or drama artist diagnosis, warns, and treats social vices at individual or national level. in medicine, the doctor or medical practitioner is concerned with the maintenance of and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of diseases. he diagnoses and treats the soul, spirit, and body of the sick. as writers use different literary forms to diagnose and treat social vices so also african medical practitioners use two main systems of medicine to diagnose and treat the sick. these are modern system of medicine and traditional system of medicine. these two systems of medical practices are used in africa to treat sicknesses and ailments as represented in the corpus. analyzing the practice of medicine in literary texts is what we term medical literature or medical humanities. this form of literature dates back to the period of light in europe and france as( aja 45) noted.''l'intérêt des écrivains littéraires pour la médecine est antérieur à la période des lumières en europe et en france notamment parce que le médecin malgré lui et le malade imaginaire (1673) de molière et la peste d'albert camus (1947) témoignent de la relation entre littérature et representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo's en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe's arrow of god ndu augustina orie department of modern european languages nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. ao.ndu@unizik.edu.ng 08075065710 abstract medicine is as old as man. for centuries, medicine has increasingly come under closer scrutiny in literary text due to the fact that literature proves suitable means for addressing patients' illness concerns. literature as a mirror of society reflects all life's endeavor of man, his fortunes and misfortunes. one main objective of medicine is the relief of human suffering, and the softening of the symptoms that cause distress to humans. in the other hand, literature aims at describing elements that cause concern or suffering to humans. in africa, the practice of medicine has been from the beginning. before the arrival of colonialists in africa, roots, barks, herbs, and animal materials were used for curative purposes. this type of medicine is what is referred to as traditional medicine. this type of practice of medicine is most often embedded in african cultural beliefs. africa coming in contact with the western world through slave trade and colonialism embraced another type of medicine that we term modern medicine. this paper investigates the representation of medical practice in african literature using veronique tadjo's en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe's arrow of god. it describes how african writers explore the ontological nexus between medical practice and literary studies, and deploying the postcolonial theory, specifically achille mbembe's argument, it contends that both the orthodox and traditional medical practices coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 89 90 africa through literary criticism in order to correct the social vices inherent in this practice through this medium, but we observe that many critics are yet to take up this all important responsibility hence this present work seeks to fill this gap. this role becomes very crucial as it forms part of human sciences which plays important role in the development and preservation of human culture. medicine is the practice concerned with the maintenance of and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease. according to dictionary.com/browse/medicine online source, ''medicine is any substance or substances used in treating diseases or illnesses: it also sees medicine as the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operation or appliances or manipulations''… traditional medicine according to (ezekwesili and okaka 80348) is viewed as a ''combination of knowledge and practice used in diagnosing, preventing, and eliminating disease''. this may rely on past experience and observations handed down from generation to generation either verbally, frequently in the form of stories, or spiritually by ancestors or, in modern times, in writing''. pallipedia free online palliative care dictionary observes that ''traditional medicine refers to the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement, or treatment of physical and mental illness''. traditional medicine covers a wide variety of therapies and practices that vary from country to country and region to region. in some countries, it is referred to as "complementary" and "alternative" medicine (cam). according to medical news today.com online source, ''modern medicine is that field of health and healing which the interest of literary writers for medicine dates back to the period of light in europe and france, noting the work of moliere's le medecin malgre lui et le malade imaginer and albert camus's la peste shows the relationship between literature and medicine. our translation. from the perspective of medical literature, the chosen corpus describes different sicknesses and the different therapies used by the two medical systems known and practiced in africa for health care delivery. it is worthy of note that writers for ages have always included medical discourse in their literary works. according to squier: “writers take part in suffering, in sympathizing and also are spectators of sicknesses, epidemics and pandemics. they therefore have the responsibility to represent them either in fiction or nonfiction because fiction plays the dominating role in the articulation of biomedical imaginary, the zone that articulates the contribution of psyches in biomedicine'' (124). it is important to note that it's not only writers that exercise their creativity towards medical write ups, medical doctors are equally involved in medical humanities.( louis 177) defined medical humanities as ''programs that seek to re-introduce human and social sciences, visual arts and literature into medical field”. despite the fact that writers have contributed a lot in medical literature, literary critiques seldom find it a subject of discussion, therefore many literary critics have not really paid attention to the analysis of traditional and modern medicine, and they only view it as the enclaves of medical practitioners thereby relegating their responsibilities of societal cure through criticism to the background. today having acknowledged literature as all encompassing, touching every aspect of human life, few critics have seen the need to evaluate medical activities and practices in ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 91 92 smuggled her out of the hospital but invited a traditional medical practitioner to treat her traditionally. in leonora miano's contours du jour qui vient, the protagonist suffers an incurable blood disease. according to the protagonist, they have spent all that they had in paying for drugs. que depuis que papa était mort, tout ce que nous possédions passait dans le paiement de mes soins médicaux. ( cjv10). she also received treatments from kwedi, a woman who gave her decoctions to drink. the population in this novel seeks the help of priests and pastors to receive divine healing. papa and mama bosangui affirm that they have through their prayers healed old ebabadi of paralyses as the old ebabadi testifies to the healing by walking to the front of the alter herself without support. in fatou diome's le ventre de l' atlantique, the author describes how her grandmother uses her experience of traditional way of delivery to help her daughter in labor. in describing the african cultural heritage through her grandmother, she exposes how this woman with her experience uses herbs to treat childhood diseases thereby making the new born fit to survive in their new environment. in chinua achebe's things fall apart, the author also describes the rich cultural heritage of the igbos of nigeria, opening the eyes of her readers to the traditional ways of curing sicknesses in igbo land. when ezinma was sick of iba, okonkwo gathered herbs, roots, and barks of tree for the treatment of ezinma. we also note okagbue in the same novel that the author describes as medicine man, which was believed to specialize in healing infertility and also putting an end to any form of maternal misfortune through his divine powers. many and more novelists' have treated the issue of medicine in their works but many critics are yet to emerge to throw more light on this very important part of life. includes nurses, doctors, and various specialists. it covers diagnoses, medical research, and many other aspects of health. it is also sometimes called allopathic medicine which involves the use of drugs or surgery, often supported by counseling and lifestyle measures''. for britanica.com/science/medicine online source, ''modern medicine is also called allopathic medicine. modern medicine involves the use of drugs and surgeries to help and cure the disease or solve the problem of the patient''. the goals of modern medicine are to help in the prevention of diseases, promote the health of every individual in society and improve the quality of life of individuals or groups. in literature therefore these two systems of medicine is always accounted for, either when describing africans socio-cultural heritage in the case of traditional medicine or when describing societal problems of ill health as it affects individuals and the society at large as in the case of epidemics or pandemics and the therapeutics prescribed for solutions. many novelists have described characters with peculiar ill health and the different therapies used in trying to find solution to their health problems through traditional medicine or through modern medicine. in behind the clouds by ifeoma okoye, the author paints the picture of the protagonist ije apia in her struggles' to overcome infertility. ije and dozie were happily married but without children. they long for a baby to crown their happy marriage. in the cause of seeking for solution to this problem, they consulted both medical doctors (mm), herbalists (tm), and spiritualists (priests and pastors). in ahamadou kourouma's allah n'est pas obligé, the mother of birahima the narrator suffers ulcer of the leg which incapacitates her, a situation which makes walking difficult for her. her relations trying to help, recommended modern medical treatment. the only solution prescribed by the modern medical practitioner, is to amputate the affected leg; this resulted to rejecting the treatment. they ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 93 94 the corpus of this work shows the dominance of western culture and values over african culture and values. medicine practice is often represented in african literature as african authors set to expose african cultural values and heritage in a bid to deconstruct the western false claim that africans had no culture and civilization before colonialism. this theory was developed in the anglo-saxon world by theorists like edward gayatri chakravorty spivak, homi bhabba. this theory makes it possible to analyze the writings produced by writers from countries with a history of colonization. this analysis examines works written or published during the colonial period. she also shows us how this situation of servitude is represented in literature. according to dobie, "post-colonialism is about third world people because whites are the oppressors of the colonized." (206).this theory is about the submission of one population to another by addressing the cultural, political and economic domination carried out by the colonial masters. he questions the superiority of european culture over african culture. she also considers the imposition of this so-called superior culture on africans. traditional medical practice and modern medical practice are well represented in african literature as the two systems of health care delivery available to africans but critiques often pay less attention to it because today africans attach less importance to the practice especially the traditional medicine because of the dominance of the modern medicine practice. comparative analysis of the representation of modern medicine in the corpus modern medicine involves the use of drugs and surgeries to help and cure disease or solve the problem of the patient. in modern medicine, every sickness is consequential to a particular pathology detected through medical analyses and consultations. three therapeutic processes are involved in modern medicine. concept of post-colonialism post-colonialism takes the post-independence era into consideration. post-colonialism began in the 1960s, when immigrants from already colonized countries arrived in american and british universities and colleges and began to analyze their history. this term results from the colonial phenomenon and its effects. it focuses on the conversation between colonizing nations and colonized societies. it is a study of the effects of colonialism on african cultures and civilizations. following achille mbembe's concept of postcolonial theory, this paper examines the representation of medical practice in african literature. according to mbembe, the post-colonial notion specifically identifies a given historical trajectory, that of societies emerging from the experience of colonization and the violence that the colonial relationship implies (mbembe102). it locates the starting point of post-colonialism at the end of imperialism. aspects of post-colonialism are found in literature, politics, culture and identity of colonizing and colonized countries. colonialism aims to explain these literary works that come from the former colonies by placing them in their cultural and socio-cultural context. gilbert notes that: postcolonial critique can be seen as a more or less distinct set of reading practices if it is understood as a concern primarily through the analysis of cultural forms that meditate, challenge or reflect on relations of domination and subordination, economic , cultural and political (and often within) nations and races or cultures, which characterize their roots in the history of modern european colonialism and imperialism and which, in equally characteristic ways, continue to appear in the presence of neo-colonialism (71). ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 95 96 this is a clear indication that though the villagers might have their beliefs on the cause of certain illnesses, they still patronized the modern medicine. consequently, the practice of the two systems of medicine co-existed from the colonial period. in as much as this encounter and presentation of modern medicine might not be lengthy enough to form a study in this particular novel but traditional system of medicine is well treated and explained as it forms part of the cultural heritage of the african people and it opens the eyes to a system of medicine that might otherwise not have been popular at that period. in our cultural studies, everything that makes up culture should be well analyzed. the case of captain winterbottom and the introduction of modern system of medicine were actually presented to buttress the belief of africans when certain actions taken are viewed as affront on their traditional religious system. the narrator observes: perhaps it was captain winterbottom that brought it on; perhaps his steward was right about the cause. but on that very morning when two police men set out to arrest ezeulu in umuaro captain winterbottom suddenly collapsed and went into delirium (afg 149 ). all that dr. savage was devoted doing during this period was to care for the sick and help him regain his health. this is the very essence of both systems of medicine in africa. although we were not eventually told the diagnoses of the doctor on the case of captain winterbottom but he already diagnosed fever from his own experience, he even prescribed a preventive solution that eventually did not materialize before he was eventually forced for cure. in en compagnie des hommes veronique tadjo tries to describe the scene the epidemic ebola created in africa and the struggles embarked by every one that was infected and those not infected by the virus but in one way or the other were affected by this deadly virus. through the use of modern medication, doctors, they include the diagnostic therapeutic process. preventive therapeutic process, and curative therapeutic process. the goals of modern medicine are to help in the prevention of diseases, promote the health of every individual in society and improve the quality of life of individuals or groups. in chinua achebe arrow of god, the practice of modern medicine was noted when captain winterbottom collapsed after giving instruction to arrest the chief priest ezeulu. before now captain winterbottom had had signs of malaria and was advice to see a doctor for treatment but he declined and put it forward: for two days now captain winterbottom had been feeling unduly tired and run down. the rains did not seem to bring the expected respite. his gums looked paler than ever and his feet felt cold. he would not be due for another bout of fever for yet a while, but these were the signs all right. of course he was not afraid as a new boy might be. fever for an old coaster was no more than an inconvenience; it laid one off for a few days that was all… you should go and see a doctor (afg 147). this was a case of treatment of modern medicine. in the case of captain winterbottom, he was already used to this ailment and could do self-diagnoses and even self-prescription. of course this didn't work as he eventually collapsed, was unconscious. here hospital, doctor mary savage, a mention of special ward where he was kept all indicate that he was receiving treatment through modern system of medicine. dr. savage was also known to be carrying out surgical operations, the villagers already knew wednesdays as the day of cutting open of bowels: captain winterbottom's delirium lasted for three days and in all that time dr. savage rarely left his bed side. she even postponed the operation which she performed every wednesday for which that day was known throughout the village as the day of the cutting open of bowels (afg 150). ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 97 98 locaux ou étranges, ils se sentent unis par un désir commun d'éradiquer ebola. il y a aussi, bien entendu, les autres docteurs, mes collègues les plus proches(ecdh 27). the majority of the workers came in minibuses. they wake up very early, leaving the house while the children are still in bed. among them are nurses, determined in their mission, the psychologists with their difficult task, team members, water team members, decontaminators, body buriers. cooks and launderers of simple but essential work also came, then the administrators and the logisticians who go quickly to their offices at the other end of the center. local and foreign volunteers, they felt united by a common desire to eradicate ebola. there were other doctors as well, my closest colleagues. (our translation). above are the medical practitioners in modern medicine. the presence of any epidemic in any society attracts the attention of all including writers who are either spectators, sufferers or those who join to find solution to the problem. therefore, the way and manner such situations are managed in the society should be the concern of all. the representation of such occurrences in literary works is a manifestation that writers are mirroring well the society. no aspect of societal life should be ignored by critiques that are saddled with the task or responsibility of interpreting these literary works and giving them life: les soins aux malades ne sont que des traitements de soutien. il n'existe pas de médicaments efficaces contre le virus. l'important, c'est de réhydrater le malade. beaucoup de liquides, autant que possible. alimenter aussi par voie orale et, si ce n'est pas possible, par voie intraveineuse. il faut donner des comprimés pour contrôler la fièvre et surveiller les problèmes gastro-intestinaux. traiter la douleur, faire diminuer l'anxiété. les patients sont devenus des proies faciles. il faut soigner les maladies nurses, care givers and volunteer workers combined medical forces to battle against the epidemic caused by ebola virus, for the medical personnel and the entire community it was a battle. this novel unravels the trauma, the panic and the fear such life treating epidemics can create in humans and it equally reveals how humans faced by a common enemy that fears no class or status can unite to fight to gain victory. from the very first page of the novel we note the commencement of ebola through two children of the same parents who had been infected after eating bats they got from their hunting expedition. one of the narrators in the novel notes: moins d'un mois plus tard, ils étaient à l ' a g o n i e . l e sang coulait par tous leurs orifices… quand l'infirmier fut alerté, … éloigne-toi, vous êtes en danger, j'appelle l'équipe … l'équipe arriva. les hommes sortirent leur matériel.(ecdh 12). in less than a month, they were in agony. blood was gushing out of their opening cavities. when the nurse was alerted… she instructed, 'stay far from them, you are in danger, i will call the team,… the team arrived. the men brought out their materials. (our translation). the nurse that was alerted who called the team, in this case the medical team indicates that the treatment received by these patients was that of modern medicine. the methods of treatment also indicate the system of modern medicine: la majorité des employés arrive en minibus. ils se sont levés très tôt, quittant la maison alors que les enfants dormaient encore. parmi eux, il y a les infirmières, si déterminés dans leur mission, les psychologues à la tâche difficile, les membres d'équipes d'eau, assainissement, enterrement des corps. arrivent aussi les cuisiniers et les blanchisseurs au travail modeste mais essentiel, et enfin les administrateurs et les logisticiens, qui se rendent très vite dans leurs bureaux a l'autre bout du centre. volontaires ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 99 100 comparative analysis of the representation of traditional medicine in the corpus the two systems of medicine have a single objective of treating the sickness that ravages man physically and morally. traditional medicine practitioners in arrow of god include; the magicians or medicine man, and divinities or chief priests. the medicine man or magician practices magic which he combines with healing. his main objective is to reestablish the unity of the soul and body of an individual. he uses appropriate therapies that he deem suitable either to cure or to prevent diseases. the man otakepkeli in our corpus serves as example (aog 148,196). a divinity or chief priest achieves this feet through rigorous and long learning. he is considered by his people as a small god whose duty is to interpret the will of the gods or ancestors and communicate them to the living. most times, their therapies are preventive, because they are expected to foresee the evil. ezeulu the chief priest is a perfect example. in traditional medicine, the same sickness may be said to have different causes depending on the medicine man or healer. sicknesses may be caused by spirits of ancestors who are angry for one offence or the other committed by an individual or community at large. it could also be caused by bewitchment or no respect for social or customary practices. the therapy for curing the convulsion of nwafo was the carving of an okposi: this is in agreement with what ayodele noted [diseases mostly revolve around witchcraft/sorcery, gods or ancestors, natural, as well as inherited. nwafo's eyes picked out the special okposi that belonged to him. it had been carved for him because of his frequent convulsions at night. they told him to call it namesake, and he did. gradually the convulsions had left him (aog 6). qui se greffent sur leurs corps atteints : i n f e c t i o n s bactériennes, paludisme, typhoïde, tuberculose. il ne faut pas s'arrêter de soigner, même quand les malades semblent être proches de la mort( ecdh 29). the care of patients is nothing but the sustaining of treatments. there is no effective treatment against the virus. the important thing is to rehydrate the patient, as much liquids as possible. feeing through oral therapy, or if not possible through the vein. tablets are given to control fever and guard against stomach problems. treating sadness, help in reducing anxiety. the patients have become easy prey. we should care for the illnesses transplanted on their suffering bodies. malaria, typhoid, and tuberculoses. we should not stop to care even when the patients are close to death(our translation). these are the therapies used by modern medical practitioners in combating the virus ebola well represented in this novel. it is equally educating as we navigate its contents. literature here performs its enlightening objective through sensitization in the society but we ask where are the critiques whose duty is to interpret the writer's motive to the populace? this is in line with what kra koffi jerome noted that literature is an arm of persuasion, of education, and a sort of preventive and curative remedy to the social vices that is suffered by the society (117). to prevent the spread of ebola virus, the author in the novel educated the populace through the invention of a communiqué by the ministry of health on how to prevent ebola. documented in a novel is an attempt to educate even the unborn population about the virus ebola. it is worthy of note that literature and medicine have preventive therapies for illnesses. ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 101 102 sicknesses were also prevented by introducing weeks of rest. certain festivals are introduced to prevent illnesses as we observed in the corpus. the introduction of new yam festivals, festival of the first pumpkin leaves were geared towards making the population to observe some days of rest (aog 64-65, 201). this is the practice in the modern medicine system where people are given bed rest in hospitals to reduce stress which has been discovered to be the cause of dangerous ailments like hypertension, stroke and paralysis. this practice had long ago been in practice by the traditional practitioners. the consultation of a dibia is also to prevent a mishap or calamity (aog 158, 217). the son of late ogbuefi amalu had to meet a dibia to find out the best way his father's burial should be conducted to avoid his wroth. couple matthew nweke consulted a dibia regularly for protection and safety. african traditional medicine practitioners combine medicine with their religious practices just as we have seen in our corpus. the methods of prevention always depend on their religious and cultural beliefs. ezekwesili and okaka remark: the traditional healer provides health care services based on culture, religious background, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that are prevalent in his community. illness is regarded as having both natural and supernatural causes and thus must be treated by both physical and spiritual means, using divination, incantations, animal sacrifice, exorcism, and herbs. the writings of achebe are preoccupied with the physical healing of an individual and equally the societal healing where the individual comes from. this societal healing is achieved through mythical celebrations which sometimes represent traditional healers' practices and major festivals in african societies. in en compagnie des hommes, despite the fact that veronique tadjo focused on the modern curative therapy of the virus ebola, she did not equally hesitate to make mention of the role played by the traditional practitioners in the combat against ebola. although ebola is a strange infection to the traditional healers yet they tried their lot in the combat against the deadly virus. this is instructive as in all african societies, the usefulness of traditional healers as the main means of providing health care cannot be over emphasized. in some asian and european countries they may be regarded as alternative medicine but in africa this is the major system of medicine. ezekwesili and okaka, agrees with this fact when they noted that ''in the continent of africa, the practice of traditional healing and magic is much older than some of the other traditional medical sciences and seems to be much more prevalent compared to conventional medicine.'’ in our corpus en compagnie des hommes, the mother of the children who were infected with the virus ebola consulted the traditional healer when the medical team of modern medicine delayed their arrival. this traditional healer or medicine man tried to give the woman some herbal mixtures to help the children. the therapy used by this healer was both preventive and curative just as in the case of modern medicine. he first of all prescribed cleaning of the whole village and purification rites to prevent the occurrence of this virus: la mère ne pouvait plus rester là sans rien faire. elle alla chez le guérisseur pour chercher les plantes qui soignent… il faut nettoyer le village, faire des rites de purification. mais il eut pitié d'elle et lui donna des décoctions pour ses enfants(ecdh 12). the mother could no longer stay doing nothing. she went to the traditional healer to look for healing plants…we should clean the village and perform purification rites. but he had pity on her and gave her some decoction for her children(our translation). ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 103 104 works cited achebe, chinua. arrow of god. heinemann, 1964. ajah, richard. '' entre orthodoxie et oralite '' : un discours medical de la femme aux pieds nus de scholastique mukasonga'' dans le caïlcedrat, vol i, no 1, 2018, pp. 45-65. --la dramaturgie du dialogue interculturel : contribotion de la medecine traditinnelle et la medecine moderne au developpement humain dans la tignassse de zaourou bernard zadi''. dans agora : journal of foreign language studies, no 5, 2019, pp. 64-78. ayodele samuel. the yoruba cultural construction of health and illness.nordic journal of african studies, vol 11, no 3, 2002, pp. 322-335. diom, fatou. le ventre de l'atlantique, anne carrière, 2003. dobie, ann. theory into practice: an introduction to literary criticism. wordsworth, 2009. ezekwesili-ofili, ozioma and okaka, antoinette. herbal medicines in african traditional medicine.open access peer review. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.80348, 2019. kra koffi. '' littérature et médecine : une relation mal perçue'' le caïlcedrat. vol 1, no 1, 2018, pp. 117. kourouma, ahmadou alla n'est pas obligé, sauil, 2000. louis -courvois ie r. . les d ig i ta l humani t ies , revue médicalesuisse, vol 2, no 5, 2002, pp. 177. leonorah, miano. contours du jour qui vient, plon, 2008. mbembe, achille. on the postcolony. university of california press. 2001. ndu, augustina, and obiora, ijeoma. 'the significance of african cultural heritage based on maryse conde's i, tituba, black witch of salem'. journal of chinese and african studies, vol 2, no 1, 2021, pp. 198. okoye, ifeoma. behind the clouds; pearson education limited. 1982. conclusion from this study, we have seen that literature and medicine are seen as two different disciplines which have appreciable relationship. while medicine seeks to heal the physical body, literature is always all about inventing, prescribing and healing because the doctor needs the right choice of words to describe the body or explain the pathologies of patients. in literature, the writer, or poet, or novelist, or drama artist diagnosis, warns, and treats social vices at individual or national level. we have noted that the two systems of medicine, modern and traditional medicine are well represented in african literature as we peruse the corpus of this study,chinua achebe's arrow of god and veronique tadjo's en compagnie des hommes the various practitioners of these two systems of medicine and the therapies they use in treating illnesses as presented to us by the authors have been examined as well. we conclude that the two systems of medical practice are well represented in african literary texts but the choice of the systems narrated and explained in a particular text depends largely on the author's vast knowledge of any or both of them. we therefore invite literary critiques to dive into the analyses and explanation of medical practices as they are presented in literary works in order to clarify, and educate the public on the happenings in these areas. perusing a literary work by authors in other countries provide the opportunity of inward journeying, a lot can be learned through this means. by so doing, we promote the education of african medical culture. (ndu and obiorah 198) is of the opinion that “there is need to understand the values of the african culture and avoid unwholesome imitations which further divide africans and make them insignificant” (198). this equally applies to our medical culture, lets develop it by all means possible. ndu augustina orie: representation of medical practice in african literature: a comparative analysis of veronique tadjo’s en compagnie des hommes and chinua achebe’s arrow of god coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 105 106 embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimoraezeigbo's the last of the strong ones nwafor, john onyema department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus nwaforjohnable@gmail.com 07037828182, 07087870380 & emma-agbiri nneka augustina anambra state civil service commission, awka. emmaagbirinneka@gmail.com 07037766554 abstract this paper explores the use of proverbs as an aspect of oral tradition. the study draws its inspiration from the observations of people's attitudes in society and attendant consequences. the novelencapsulates the vast pool of human deeds in their notorious and sublime forms—a story of all the tragic, moving, comic, boring, challenging, perturbing, and even ennobling actions and inactions of human beings. it is the narrative of four women namely ejimnaka, onyekozuru, chime, and chibuka. the study discovered that the novelist used her artistic power through proverbs to give an insight in what the culture of the umuga people was before the coming of the white men. the novelist made use of the igbo setting. there are names, proverbs, idioms and practices that epitomize the igbo culture and igbo world view. her works are linked between her and her lived experience. fic�on the major source of her stories in the novel is her own direct experience through fiction. oral aesthetics is highly portrayed in ezeigbo's works in her constant use of songs, proverbs, lullabies squier, sussan. “literature and medicine, future tense: making it graphic.”literature and medicine,vol 27, no2, 2008, pp. 124-152. tadjo, veronique..en compagnie des hommes. 2017. vamara, kone. life-writing and the precept of talking cure in african-american autobiography: a study of richard wright's black boy and rebecca walker's black white and jewish, le caïlcedrat. pp. 259, . 2018. nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 mailto:emmaagbirinneka@gmail.com https://newprojecttopics.com.ng/internal-auditing-efficiency-2/ page 44 page 45 page 46 page 47 page 48 page 49 page 50 page 51 page 52 page 53 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr other oral traditions. the paper did a textual analysis of the play using primary data from the texts (plays mentioned) and secondary data from textbooks, journals, magazines and documentaries. the theoretical framework for the study is cultural criticism, which is the study of literature at a work in a social context. the study concludes on the various aspect of oral tradition in order to portray the unique quality of being african in the use of proverbs and creates deep meaning and exploration of african situation in the worldview. keywords: folksong, music, oral tradition, culture, folklore. introduction the literary works that were written in african languages as well as the traditional oral texts went virtually unacknowledged until the late 20th century. this situation increased the recognition of oral traditions in african literature. akin to this fact, the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs, riddles, anecdotes, songs, tales, mythological narratives and poetry persisted and generally influenced contemporary african literature (drama, prose and poetry). rems umeasiegbu, a folklorist, once remarked one cannot talk meaningfully of african literature without mentioning the oral tradition. until comparatively recent times, most of the literature of black africa, south of sahara, was oral, that is transmitted by word of mouth. storytelling was popular and was at the time perhaps, the most widespread form of entertainment. (25) certainly african literature consists of the orality of verbal communication and absorbs extensively, several cultural elements to communicate and to give african literature a local content. interestingly too, this consciousness exhibited by most african writers shows the need in the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs in creative works. again, ezenwa-ohaeto in reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze ezennadiri chukwudi samuel department of english, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojuwku university, igbariam campus, anambra state. samuelschukwudi@gmail.com 07031312879 and nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie school of general studies, department of languages, delta state polytechnic, ogwashi-uku email address: temugbejie@gmail.com phone number: 08037743939 abstract: this paper explores the use of folksongs in storytelling as a way of engendering perspectives in text and reaffirming cultural values in ikechukwu asika's omalinze. the study discovers that the playwright uses his artistic power through folksongs to give an insight in what the culture of igbo was, through the dramatic setting of iduu kingdom and other settings in the plays. african literary artists create beautiful african works by incorporating african oral traditions such as folksongs into their works. african folksongs remain valid ways of engaging the audience and passing coded thematic messages that function together with the entire idea of a literary piece. therefore, it is considered a worthwhile effort to examine igbo folksongs, or put differently, songs knitted with storytelling with the belief that this effort would probably further lead us into having a clear view of how music being the vortex of african creativity can help explain other phenomena which are accompany with it. aesthetics is highly portrayed in asika's omalinze in their constant use of songs, proverbs and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 87 88 mailto:samuelschukwudi@gmail.com wrong cannot escape the conclusion that the past needs to be recreated not only for the enlightenment of our detractors but even more for our education first (killam ed. 9) chinweizu, madubuike, and onwuchekwa remark thus: the artist in the traditional african milieu spoke for and to his community. his imagery, themes, symbolism, and forms were drawn from a communally accessible pool. he was heard. he made sense. and again for the function of the artist in africa, in keeping with our traditions and needs, demands that the writers, as a public voice, assume a responsibility to reflect public concerns in his writing… because in africa we recognize that art is in the public domain, a sense of social commitment. (74) these three writers are in support of the view that an african writer should incorporate african oral lore into his work, to give it an african identity. this viewpoint led isidore okpewho to admit that traditional african art did in many instances aspire to the beautiful. that it often existed for its own appeal to the eye and that many a time it had no known ritual origin or societal, inspired functional value. in his article “the aesthetic of old african art”, he asserts that “the urge to create beauty will remain an integral impulse whatever the level the african artist may be involved in” (39). having the background of african oral lore in their works, 7 african literary artists created beautiful african works by incorporating african oral traditions such as proverbs into their works; they spoke a private language of their own and they expressed their individuality in their creative works. any song that originates among the people of a society or area, passed by oral tradition from one generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanza narrative verse can called a folksong. folksongs are songs verbally passed down from generations to generations. these songs usually carry the cultures contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality: bayreuth; bayreuth african studies argues that the younger generation of nigerian poets who started writing after the biafran war deliberately situated their poems within the cultural tradition of their home regions. themes and modes of the oral tradition of the yoruba, igbo, the niger delta or the plateau people are recorded and transformed into modern intertextual poetic idioms (back cover of contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality). (57) in the same vein, nwachukwu-agbada explains that “to understand a culture, particularly, one in which orality is still a predominant form of recording history and phenomena, one requires some acquaintance with its oral forms” (194). one of the most compelling trends in african literature today remains the constant use of african oral traditions by literary artists. with particular reference to nigeria, many nigerian creative works so far produced are steeped in the oral traditions of their indigenous communities, with a strong emphasis on oral performance. chinua achebe in his article “the role of a writer in new nation”, achebe buttresses his critical view when he states … as far as i am concerned, and the fundamental theme must be disposed of. this theme – put quite simply – is that the african people did not hear of culture for the first time from europeans, that their societies were not mindless but frequently had a philosophy of great depth and value and beauty, that they had poetry and, above all, they had dignity. it is this dignity that many african people all but lost during the colonial period and it is this that they must now regain (killam ed. 8) in his effort to make people regain their lost dignity and identity, achebe intends to expose to europeans that africans had, and still have, culture, literature and religion of great value. achebe explains further “a writer who feels the need to right this coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 89 90 people, race, region or nation handed down orally from generation to generation' (115). according to microsoft encarta premium, folk song is the traditional song that has been passed down orally. oxford advanced learners' dictionary (2006) defines folk song as 'a song in the traditional style of a country or community' (p. 576). in the same vein, nzewi in agu (1990) submits that: folk music (song) …in all its elements and application has latent psychological, psychical and spiritualizing essence; it is an ethnic community that portrays group spirit, thought, myths and aspirations. at the same time, it is a bond, the umbilical cord that links the group with the ultra-terrestrial forces whose potencies are made manifest in various awe-inspiring phenomenal and unpredictable ways in their lives (p. 80). according to collins‟ dictionary, a folksong is a song originating among the people of a country or area, passed by oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanzaic, narrative verse. it adds further that it is a song of which the music and text have been handed down by oral tradition among the common people. within the ambit of this presentation, african folksong could be defined as that song which is associated with the people in terms of text and other musical features, which is oral in nature and therefore passed from generation to generation aurally, whose origin and composers are indeterminable. such songs are often reflective of the people's folk lives in that it could tell of the people's sense of history, spirituality, culture, morality, security, political structure and gender role definitions and other peculiarities. the need to study folksongs, folklore and folk lives of the african cannot be over stressed. from a given landscape and its associated sonic space, many musical inferences could be drawn and customs of the place they originate from and authorship is not tied to a particular individual most often, but rather belongs to the community. euba in his work, music a symbol of royalty. the heritage african guardian defines folksong as “the pivotal tool that connects the past to the present by giving a clear opportunity of understanding the past in the present; so as to have a better understanding of the present from the past”(475). folk songs are usually historical narratives and also a form of documentation of events or a way of life. our forefathers documented those songs as a way of cultural acceptance that unified the communities. folksongs tell their history and capacity. the performance of most folk songs never passed the stage of rehearsals, yet the community identifies the lines and the sound, this deep understanding also downplay any authorship to a collective memory managed and sustained by and for the community. from the above definitions, it is obvious that folksongs are closely bound to a culture which integrates, reflects and addresses the customs and practices of the community, and in addition must have been passed down through generations using the oral medium. an expressed performance usually composed and transmitted through the words of mouth. in african societies, folksongs are a part of the people's culture. traditional folksongs in nigeria derive their materials from indigenous sources that reflect the norms, values and beliefs of the community which permit the community at large to participate in the performance of these songs. folksong practice is therefore structured around community, which is meant to contribute to the survival of the society. folk songs refer to the traditional or indigenous songs of a particular community handed down orally from one generation to the next. agu in traditional african music contributions to contemporary music creation and performance techniques defines folk songs as 'the spontaneous and traditional music of the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 91 92 forms were drawn from a communally accessible pool. he was heard. he made sense. and again for the function of the artist in africa, in keeping with our traditions and needs, demands that the writers, as a public voice, assume a responsibility to reflect public concerns in his writing… because in africa we recognize that art is in the public domain, a sense of social commitment. (74) the writer is in support of the view that an african writer should incorporate african oral lore into his work, to give it an african identity. nnolim, on his part, in issues in african literature brilliantly argues that: to whatever society (secret or communal) that our traditional folkways and oral tradition appealed, they did have the appreciation of the beautiful in mind beauty surprised at its own arrival, in addition to performing the following functions: impart practical wisdom… provide some didactic purpose by teaching lessons in prudence, generosity, patience, wisdom, and common sense… point to moral through songs, sayings, legends, myths and proverbs… make people, especially younger members of the society, aware of their ethos, their cultural heritage, tribal history, mores, laws… african folkways and their oral tradition dealt with man's dilemma in his existential being and tried to grapple with man's dilemma and adventures in life. (110) nnolim's submission above is valid in all ramifications. this is because for the nigerian writer, africa has the tradition he needs. he, thus, tries to put together the relevant ideas and thoughts in his writing. he sees, essentially, the same african people, the similarity of ideas, of patterns, of thoughts, of modes of behaviour. ngozi chumaudeh in trends and issues in and since music is very eclectic in africa, data which go far beyond music could always most probably be elicited. rems umeasiegbu, in „african literature and the oral tradition‟.unizik journal of arts and humanities (ujah) ix, 2007. 19 – 28. a folklorist, once remarked one cannot talk meaningfully of african literature without mentioning the oral tradition. until comparatively recent times, most of the literature of black africa, south of sahara, was oral, i.e transmitted by word of mouth. storytelling was popular and was at the time perhaps, the most widespread form of entertainment. (25) the literary works that were written in african languages as well as the traditional oral texts went virtually unacknowledged until the late 20th century. this situation increased the recognition of oral traditions in african literature. akin to this fact, the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs, riddles songs, tales, and poetry persisted and generally influenced contemporary african literature such as (drama, prose and poetry). certainly african literature consists of the orality of verbal communication and absorbs extensively, several cultural elements to communicate and to give african literature a local content. interestingly too, this consciousness exhibited by most african writers shows the need in the use of african oral traditions such as proverbs in creative works. the absence of any semantic vocabulary of musical signs has created great impediments in the way of progress. investigating the relationship between language and music in africa might throw some light on the problem of meaning in music. chinweizu, madubuike, and onwuchekwa remark thus: the artist in the traditional african milieu spoke for and to his community. his imagery, themes, symbolism, and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 93 94 inner characteristics of our culture, beliefs, philosophies about life and living, etc. our traditional music, if fully explored, is a school of its own. within it are configurations of learned behavior and results of behaviour whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society (p. 3-4). story telling is a very important way of spending leisure and pastime among the igbos both young and old. the .practice of storytelling has drastically changed and many children and young people are ignorant of the folktales their people used to instruct and entertain children in the past. many of these folktales are accompanied with melodious songs or refrains which children find interesting and entertaining. they can be taught the songs and they can' participate in the performance by singing along or by simply repeating the chorus as the mother, father or grandparent tells the story. the choruses are intended to make everybody take part in the story and also for keeping children/people awake when stories are told around the house hold fires. as they enjoy the story, they also imbibe the core values of the igbo people which are embedded in the story. stories should be told and performed in the children's ethnic language (igbo) so that they can learn to appreciate and speak the language. the beauty, rhythms, sounds and tonal inflections of the language will create permanent impressions in the minds of the young ones. by so doing, the cultural traditions of the igbos are being transmitted to the younger, generations through the language in storytelling. this can be achieved through story telling in igbo language. the theoretical framework for the study is cultural criticism, which is the study of literature at a work in a social context. they believe that cultural studies must be interdisciplinary in its tendency. making use of insights from anthropology, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy and other field. the cultural critics typically make no distinction between high and low culture. the study concludes on the various nigerian poetry supports this assertion, she states that: the traditional poetry is also an avenue through which morals and societal etiquettes are imbued to the younger generation. old sages relay ancient wisdom to the new generation through poetry. religious belief and didactics are also spread and fostered through traditional poetry. this kind of poetry includes incarnations, divination, invocation and prayers as well as ritual or chants. (2) african poetry or music becomes a means of promoting cordiality and peaceful coexistence between people of same culture. in african traditional society, it is not uncommon to see local bards entertaining mixed audience of old and young men and women with music that educates and rendering the history of the society is perpetuated and preserved. she further states that: as a tool for entertainment, the nigerian traditional poetry enlightens and satisfies man intellectual and emotions. the local bards use poetry to playful and tactfully checkmate the society. one special aspect of nigerian traditional poetry is that it can be composed without much formality. the local and some obnoxious brats make use of the quality to extremities. (3) from the foregoing comments, it is clear that the use of oral traditions in african literature has made a considerable scholarly progress over the years. however, one enormous and urgent responsibility persists, namely, that of the preservation of the oral material itself. the writers/ poets emanating from the african cultural setting could be said to be adequately responding to the exigencies of the period; in other words, asserting the humanity of the african and the validity of his culture, especially for the years of denigration by others. ude (2009) emphatically states: nigerian traditional music is music associated with the people of nigeria in their ethnic settings. this music reflects the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 95 96 the people we are stronger than are challenging us. the people we are stronger than! from this assertion, one can vividly say that the playwright is talking about war. traditional music plays a great role in character moulding. it is the type of music associated with the people in their community settings and the expression of their culture and values. this music is an integral part of igbo culture and it plays a very significant role in every aspect of igbo traditional life ranging from birth to death. whenever one hears this music it signifies that one party is waging war against the other. the igbo nation has many folk music that identify particular situation in the society. at various developmental stages of an igbo child, he/she is introduced to various rhythmic experiences until the child begins to acquire these experiences by himself/herself through observation and participation. the igbo who are located at the southeast part of nigeria are very musical considering the wide variety of their musical instruments and the complexity of their musical rhythm. igbo people are no strangers to the rhythm of music. music, its organization and movement are at home in igbo land. music serves as a mode of conveying culture, values, experience and as a means of transmitting knowledge, wisdom, feelings and attitude orally in igbo community. the playwright through the use igbo folksong expressed the aesthetic creativity in the nigerian literature. this can be seen in omalinze singing a folksong: anunu bialu be m o ngene anunu bialu be m o ngene si m kunye ya mmiri ngene m welu iko nwa mmuo ngene anunu anwu o, nwu o, nwuo, nwuo, nwuo ngene aspect of oral tradition in order to portray the unique quality of being african in the use of proverbs and creates deep meaning and exploration of african situation in the worldview. aspects of folk music in ikechukwu asika's omalinze in asika's omalinze, the story is embedded with oral songs/ music. culture is the totality of a particular people's way of life and identity which includes their tradition, behaviour, costumes, religion, language, art, science, music etc. it is an indicator and parameter for ethnic and social differences and demarcation. in the play, the playwright through his aesthetic creativity has explored the richness in igbo culture. in other words, through his use of folk song in the play, he showcase the melody of igbo music that rehabilitates the igbo culture. also every song in the play, expressed the story the playwright wants to tell to his audience. in the opening of the play, there was folk song that introduced war in the story. (footsteps approaching, narrator steps aside and hides at a safe corner of the stage. enter opuluiche, the leader of the aro rebel forces flank by his warlords.) onye akpakwana agu aka n' odu ma odi ndu ma onwuru anwu onye akpakwana agu aka n' odu no one should touch the lion by its tail whether dead or alive. no one should touch the lion by its tail. (12) ndi anyi ka aka na abala anyi mba. ndi anyi ka aka kwenu ndi anyi ka aka naabalu anyi mba,. ndi anyi ka aka! the people we are stronger than are challenging us the people we are stronger than coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 97 98 anya miri bere bere ga eme ka nne nwa puta ayolo take my own share ayolo and kept it far away in the cup above ayolo take that of his child and kept it on the ground ayolo my hand cannot reach the cup above ayolo my leg cannot reach the cup above ayolo an overflow of tears can the mother of the motherless child appear. ayolo an overflow of tears can the mother of the motherless child appear. ayolo. (3334) rhythm had been at the heart of conceptions of race, culture and identity. there is a connectedness between the world of any group of people and their rhythm. the igbo culture has a deep connection to rhythm. the folksong in the play is characterised by its aesthetic and high rhythmic expressions. this characterized folktale song. the playwright embellishes his story with folksong as means of didactic or rhythmic expression to the younger generation which rehabilitees the understanding of african identity. a family supplements for any deficiency that any elderly family members discover in children's values and characters through the use of folktales, folksongs as strategic tools. parents, especially the mothers in the traditional families could be seen in their use of folktales, folksongs and riddles. these folksongs and their interpretations are based on how the people perceive and construe their world. many nigerian youths and children have lost touch with their ethnic folksongs. these days it nwuo, nwuo, nwuo, nwuo, nwuo ngene welu nku felega ngene anunu came to my house ngene anunu came to my house ngene it said i should give him water ngene i use the spirit's cup ngene and gave anunu water ngene anunu drank, drank, drank and drank ngene drank, drank, drank and drank ngene and it flew away ngene onye nke mbu, nay a dum aga ngene onye nke abuo, na ya dum aga ngene ka isi n' eyili m oo ngene ka afo n' eyili m oo ngene ah ah ah ngene the first person is leading me ngene the second person is leading me ngene as the head assists me ngene as the stomach assists me ngene ah ah ah ngene hamachi: (sings a folksong) welu nke m oo ayoloe dobe n' iko ayolo welu nke nwa nwanu omutara dobe n' ala ayolo aka elu n' iko ayolo okpa elu n' iko ayolo anya miri bere bere ga eme ka nne nwa puta ayolo coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 99 100 obodo anyi gaakwa o samala anyi di n' out samala anyi bu nwanne o samala eze egbuna egbuna samala igwe anayo egbuna egbuna samala igbuo ya samala umuaka gaebe o samala okorobia gaebe o samala igbuo ya samala umuagboghobia gaebe o samala igbuo ya samala ndi okenye gaakwa samala igbuo ya samala isioma gaakwa oo samala okpara igwe gaebe oo samala eze egbuna egbuna samala eze egbuna egbuna samala anyi di n' otu o samala anyi bu ofu o samala igwe! igwe! igwe! samala anyi nayo gi samala omalinze bu nwa oma samala omalinze bu nwa anyi o s a m a l a isioma bu nwa gi samala igbuo ya samala owute anyi samala obodo gaebe oo! samala obodo anyi gaakwa o samala igwe, igwe, igwe samala igwe anayo samala okwu maka ifunanya, samala ifunanya ofulu nwanne ya samala ifunanyi nwanne oo samala igwe, igwe, igwe samala igwe anayo oo samala is uncommon-place to find people gathered around a village squares or under the tree eagerly listening to these folksongs, folktales, proverbs and riddles and other form of traditional literature which are reeled out by his sonorous voice. ngozi chumaudeh in trends and issues in nigerian poetry expressed this thus: the modern poets of nigerian extraction felt the necessity of putting down in black and white, the traditional nigerian poetry, which was fast growing extinct. the emancipation of christianity had disrupted the market square school where traditional poetry used to hold sway. the pursuit for western education hindered the moonlight outings, games and tales where traditional poetry fostered. (12) the modern nigerian poets has taken over the job of the local bards. it is apparent that their works are simply the adoption of the indigenous nigerian philosophy, this means that they put down their indigenous nigerian experiences using the english language as a medium for expression. in the act 3 scene 1, another example, the playwright through the singing chorus expressed the folksong in the story trying to restrict king from killing omalinze as thus: eze egbuna egbuna samala eze eguna eguna samala igbuo ya samala oga ewute anyi samala obodo anyi gaebe o! samala obodo anyi gaakwa! samala eze egbuna egbuna samala igwe anayo egbuna samala igbuo ya samala owute anyi samala obodo gaebe o! samala coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 101 102 king, king, king samala king, king, king samala we are pleading with you samala omalinze is a good child samala omalinze is our child samala isioma is your daughter samala asika used the folksong as a local bard to warn the king against his evil decision that he wants to take on omalinze. story telling is a very important way of spending leisure and pastime among the igbos both youngand old. the .practice of storytelling has drastically changed and many children and young peopleare ignorant of the folktales, legendary and epic stories their people used to instruct and entertain society in the past. manyof these folktales, legendary and epic stories are accompanied with melodious songs or refrains which society find interestingand entertaining. they can be taught the songs and they can participate in the performance bysinging along or by simply repeating the chorus as “samala” the local bard tells the story. he continues our town is a peaceful town samala it will pain us samala our town will cry samala our town will weep samala king, king, king samala king anayo samala it is because of love samala the love she has for brother samala the love of a brother samala king, king, king samala king anayo samala do this because of town samala do this because of us samala king don't kill, don't kill samala there are tears in our eyes samala eze egbuna egbuna samala anyi ji anya mmiri samala ezigbo igwe k' ibu samala nwenu obi omiiko samala igwe, igwe, igwe samala igwe, igwe, igwe samala igwe anayo oo samala king don't kill, don't kill samala king don't kill, don't kill samala if you kill her samala it will hurt us samala our town will cry samala our town will weep! samala king don't kill, don't kill samala king don't kill, don't kill samala our town is a peaceful town samala it will pain us samala our own town will cry! samala our town will weep samala we are one samala we are brothers samala king anayo don't kill, don't kill samala king anayo don't kill, don't kill samala if you kill her samala children will cry samala boys will cry samala if you kill her samala maidens will cry samala if you kill her samala elders will cry samala if you kill her samala isioma will cry samala the prince will cry samala king don't kill, don't kill samala we are together samala we are one samala coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 103 104 refrain: obu dike, dike, dike, obu dike oputaosu. refrain: obu dike, dike, dike, obu dike mgbedike refrain: obu dike, dike, dike, obu dike akidi. refrain: we have a warrior, warrior, warrior we have a warrior, warrior, warrior king kanayo. refrain: he is a warrior, warrior, warrior, he is a warrior. we have a warrior, warrior, warrior we have a warrior, warrior, warrior king etochukwu refrain: he is a warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior he is a warrior. mkpume refrain: he is a warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior he is a warrior. oputaosu. you are a good king samala please have a merciful heart samala (48) the choruses are intended to make everybody take part in the story and also for keepingpeople awake when stories are told. as they enjoy the story,they also imbibe the core values of the igbo people which are embedded in the story. stories shouldbe told and performed in the people's ethnic language (igbo) so that they can learn to appreciateand speak the language. the beauty, rhythms, sounds and inflections of the language willcreate permanent impressions in the minds of the young ones. by so doing, the cultural traditionsof the igbos are being transmitted to the younger, generations through the language in storytelling. as the playwright insinuates that the most powerful gift a parent cangive their children is to pass their language and culture to him/her. this can be achieved throughstory telling in igbo language. in the play also, asika applied panegyric poem, poem of praise as a means of appreciation and eulogizing the capacity of one in a given society. this was seen among the villagers when they were praising king kanayo. they all sang as thus: anyi nwere dike, dike, dike anyi nwere dike, dike, dike igwe kanayo. refrain: obu dike, dike, dike, dike, obu dike. anyi nwere dike, dike, dike anyi nwere dike, dike, dike igwe etochukwu refrain: obu dike, dike, dike, obu dike mkpume. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 105 106 music is known; and as the society indulge in these songs, they imbibe the rhythmic culture of his people. indulging in rhythmic activities at home by the other elderly members of the community not only help the younger generation to manipulate different rhythmic patterns in other to improve their learning ability but also enables them to learn to follow rhythms and create their own indulging in such activities like clapping, tapping, dancing, or playing instruments. by so doing, the cultural traditions of the igbo are being transmitted to the younger generations through the language in storytelling. works cited achebe, chinua. things fall apart. heinemann, 1958. ---. the role of a writer in a new nation g.d. killam (ed.) african w r i t e r s o n a f r i c a n writing.heinemann, 1973. akporobaro, f.b.o: introduction to african oral literature. princeton publishing, 2012. asika, ikechukwu. “ folklore, culture and the nexus between: perspectives on 'egwu onwa' among the igbo people”. ogbazuluobodo: university of nigeria journal of multidisciplinary studies, vol.2, no.1, 2020. ---. omalinze (an igbo antigone).noirledge publishing, 2023. ---. “resurrecting igbo cultural values through folklore: 'egwu onwa' and its commitment towards societal ethos.”nigerian journal of african studies, vol. 2 no. 2, 2020. pp 1-14. refrain: he is a warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior he is a warrior. mgbedike refrain: he is a warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior he is a warrior. akidi. (15) in understanding the relationship of this folksongs and storytelling to social development, one must adequately account for the variables thrown up by the story. the agreement of the two to form a working alliance is precipitated on a shared goal of overcoming their mutual sense of isolation from the horned animals' party. more so the alliance formed, rests on two crucial ingredients of social development: trust and honour. the most frequent subject of panegyric are human beings, especially kings and noble men. much panegyric is formalized, thus less variable than many other type of oral literature. indeed, sometimes it varied from recitation to recitation, or follows the particular version approved by the individual or local bard as in the case of the play. praise poetry often plays an essential part in the rites of igbo culture: when an individual or group moves from one position to another in the society, the transition is celebrated by praises marking the new status. asika applied this on king kanayo as he became the king of iduu kingdom after the war in the kingdom. conclusion igbo storytelling, apart from the amusement they give, are very useful for they are mostly didactic. the folksongs in storytelling have meanings and direction and serve as means of transmitting their cultural values and identity from one generation to the next. these songs are characterised by the fascination of their high rhythmic and aesthetic expressions for which african coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 107 108 obiechina, emmanuel. “transition from oral to literary tradition”.presence africaine 63, 1967. 141 – 161. okoh nkem: preface to oral literature. african first publishers, 2008. onuekwusi, jasper: fundamental of african oral literature. alphabet nigerian publisher, 2001. templeton, alice: cultural studies: theory praxis pedagogy. vol 19, no 2.pp 1930 john hopkins university press, 1992. udenta o. udenta. revolutionary aesthetics & the african literary process. fourth dimension publishing co. ltd, 1993. umeasiegbu, rems n. ask the storyteller: tales from northern nigeria. koruna books publishers, 2008. ---.the palm oil of speech: igbo proverbs.koruna books, 2003. ---. “telling the african side of the story: proverb as a crucial element of story telling in uchenna nwosu's the rejected stone.” unizik journal of arts and humanities ujah, volume 13 no 1, 2012. pp 14-33. bascom, william r. “verbal art”. delivered at the sixty-six annual meeting of the american folklore society, 29 december 1953. chumaudeh, ngozi: trends and issues in nigerian literature (poetry). base 5 press. 2007. copper, et al: timeless voices and themes literature of finnegan ruth. oral literature in africa.ruthledge press, 1992. egudu, romanus n. “nature and function of igbo anecdotes” in onwuejeogwu, angulu m and manfredi, victor b. (eds). odinani. tabansi press ltd: 1977. ezenwa-ohaeto.contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality: bayreuth african studies breitinger, 1998. finnegan, ruth. oral literature in africa.oxford university press, 1970. nnolim, charles: approaches to the african novel: essay in analysis. ihem davis press, 1992. --. ekwusiaga. issues in african literature. treasure resources communication limited, 2009. nwafor, john and emmaagbiri, nneka: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimoral-ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu journal of folklore and cultural studies vol 2, no 1, 2022, pp. 106124. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 109 110 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 page 12 chapter three.cdr introduction the tiv people have an avalanche of creative expressions among which the singing art is one. panegyrics is a sub-genre of tiv songs which has not received adequate critical attention. in tiv praise songs, the persona usually assumes a poverty-stricken, pitiable, vulnerable, abased, and needy posture that positions him or her for salvation or redemption from such unsavory ordeals. the plights or abased posture of the persona is what is referred to as abjection, while the attendant help he or she anticipates or receives is tagged relief in this study. beyond meaning-making, the raw materials constituting the grand design of the structural frame of tiv panegyrics is provided by the organic interaction between abjection and relief. the invocation or revelation of the abject state of the persona arouses toxic, gory emotions that are cleansed at the threshold of relief. through praise songs therefore, the tiv people have been, all the while, exploiting the therapeutic fullness and/or advantage of literature in that, like tragedy, ill-emotions are aroused in the panegyric architecture but catharsis takes its turn through the attendant relief that ensues. tiv praise songs as such, is a privileged borne of art that is licensed to re-present abjection. to this end, the effort of this study is to open new vistas for tiv orature in critical consideration and nudge scholars to reconsider the literary wealth that lay fallow in the pool of undocumented, unpopular, unstudied and neglected tiv artistic products and song artists. this study therefore, is to examine how abjection and relief are artistically manipulated to fashion the aesthetic construct of praise. it is against this backdrop that abjection and relief shall be critiqued in targule's “to have someone is good” and “to be a man is not a day's job” to showcase how the perils, plights and/or ordeals of the poem persona and his quest for relief constitute the ingredients for plot structure and for the design of tiv praise songs at large. abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule's oral poems bem collins atyev department of english and literary studies, faculty of arts, university of nigeria, nsukka bematyev@gmail.com 08038449721//08071009005 abstract this study employs julia kristeva's theory of abjection to explore abjection and relief as panegyric architectonic in the praise songs of julius targule. abjection and relief as appraised herein, blur the boundaries of theme and style. as content and form therefore, abjection and relief synergize to constitute the grand design or architectural and even structural framework with which the ornament of praise is fabricated. abjection and relief are two sides of the coin of tiv praise songs, in that, the former is only a means to the veritable end of the latter. the re-presentation of abjection and relief in tiv praise songs therefore, is a poetic style, a manner of speaking, or an artistic demeanour; and this aids in critical access into the fundamental nature of tiv praise song composition and study. abjection cuts across all and sundry, irrespective of gender, race, or class. it is not just an individual, experiencing a pathetic predicament but a communal code that symbolizes or epitomizes the general condition of societies. the burden for this study is also to make up for the gap in the scholarly neglect of tiv praise songs and unpopular panegyric song artists as well as the segregation of theoretical tools for orature studies. this critical goal is what informs the choice of the panegyric sub-genre, the unpopular, unstudied song artist, and the theory of abjection that is used as analytical tool for this study. keywords: abjection, relief, panegyric, tiv, songs coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems 1 2 mailto:bematyev@gmail.com anglophone reception of her work. since then, a number of studies about the significance of abjection in cultural life emerged, from within and outside literature as well as the visual arts. the kristevian concept of abjection builds on the traditional psychoanalytic theories of sigmund freud and jacques lacan, whose studies often narrowed in on the experience of the disintegration of personal distinctions, through neurosis in freud and psychosis in lacan. (see gross 2 and cecelia 181-88). from kristeva's above-mentioned text, few, out of the basic elements of abjection such as: hallucination, fantasy, lack/want, nakedness, destitution, shame, poverty, death, deferred hope, mockery, beggarliness, degradation, backwardness, stagnation, hunger/starvation, sufferings/struggles, helplessness, and abandonment/rejection, to mention just eighteen are explored in the studied songs as indices of abjection that constantly buffet the persona and clefts a vent for relief. method of data collection the two songs under study, alongside several others by the same author were collected in a video (and some, audio) recording using a handset and a radio recorder. the two songs were first performed in the early 1990s and were performed again for documentation in february, 2017 by targule julius at his residence in tse-agberagba, mbakyondo, gwer-west local government area of benue state. abjection and relief as panegyric architectonics in targule's songs this segment examines abjection and relief in “to have someone is good” and “to be a man is not a day's job” by targule, to ascertain how these elements are exploited as construction materials for tiv panegyrics. “to have someone is good”is a praise song by targule, wherein, the poetic voice indirectly projects the cliché that “a tree a glossary review of related literature copious corpus of critical works exists on tiv orature, a few on tiv oral poetry and a very few on tiv oral panegyrics.apegba ker affirms this when he says: “quite a good number of books have been written on various aspects of the tiv people and society […] but tiv oral literature and particularly tiv oral poetry and songs have so far been given a step-motherly treatment” (18). aside some eurocentric, biased and non-incisive works about the tiv culture and tradition by the likes of m. c. abraham, paul and laura bohanam and charles keil (see ker 3 and keil 22/43); iyorwuese hagher (1981; 1990), emmanuel t. jenkwe et al (1998), david ker (2002), mbaiver nyitse (2006; 2006), richard aondowase (2007),ayem shoja (2010), godwin yina (2011), moses tsenongo (2012), and apegba ker (2015) are some among the tiv scholars giving voice particularly to tiv oral poetry and panegyrics. however, most of these scholarly views on tiv oral poetry either relegate or limit structural analysis, or avoid the panegyric sub-genre or neglect the unpopular panegyric song artists; or are devoid of a critical contemplation on how abjection and relief are skillfully portrayed in tiv panegyrics, thematically and stylistically. the current study fills this lacuna as it judges tiv panegyric songs from the lenses of abjection to reveal the abasement of the poetic voice and his attendant reward as a deliberate literary style which modulates also, the tempers and emotions of the audience. theoretical framework the theoretical tool employed to frame this study is julia kristeva's theory of abjection, which was propounded in “pouvoirs de l'horreur: essai sur l'abjection”, originally published in 1980. the translation, powers of horror: an essay on abjection, which appears two years later, profoundly shapes the 3 4 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems that all of these in stanza one begins and ends in the realm of rumour, wishful desire, and hallucination. tiv praise songs therefore, becomes a vent for experiencing the unattainable and for expressing the underserved.this resonates with kristeva's views when paraphrased as: abjection transports the abject to clefts of non-existence and to realms of hallucination (see p. 1). hallucination and fantasy therefore, become a license that the poetic voice uses to foreshadow and flashback at will; which also makes haphazard, the plot structure and as such, makes the framework of tiv praise songs, complex or episodic in nature. a discourse on abjection and relief is therefore, a veritable mound for forging panegyrics. “it is very good to have someone in this world” (ln. 1) as such, becomes the best beacon of faith to anchor the persona's praise. men of integrity and substance do not like letting people down, at least, not to public notice. here is the persona, declaring publicly, that he has someone in this world – a magnanimous patron and benefactor of repute – john nyisa; who is revealed to have tied down a pregnant dam for him. this is the height of implicated praise; it is calling forth those things that be not as though they were. it is literariness and sublimity at its quintessence, a license to make real, the unreal and to access currencies and/or privileges and even spend them before one gets them. this is a notable skill in the design of the artistic frame of tiv traditional praise songs because, from the reality of the persona's abjectitude notwithstanding, he creates a foreshadowing bridge with which to connect with his dream or idealistic relief. although john nyisa hemen urges the poetic voice to come, nevertheless, the want of clothes is a crucial challenge. to this, the daughter of joseph adinya, the wife of john nyisa is beckoned upon to bear witness. in view of the song voice's abject poverty, nakedness has become his present continuous guest; as such, he cannot go out. and in simileic connotations, the persona likens himself to ikyoor, a large rat that moves about only at night. does not make a forest”. no one, in other words, is an island, and even islands are surrounded by bodies of water. to have somebody in this world thus is good, especially a worthy, wealthy fellow in the stature of john nyisa. the song, “to have someone is good”, under study, features abjection and relief as an architectural style. it is a concise praise song of 32 lines and 4 stanzas. the poem is founded upon the premise of an imagined hope; a fictitious assumption staged to conscript the commitment of the patron into the persona's larger-than-life sufferings. beginning the first stanza of the poem with ballooned praise therefore, is a master craft literary style; a ploy or set-up, knitted by the poem persona to tow the patron on an accelerated eagle's wing of praise. the plotting of the poem thus opens at the highest point of excitement – the climax – so that when the song's voice reveals his abjection, his plights, ordeals, predicaments and/or perils, at that steep slope of anti-climax, it will leave the already implicated patron with no choice than to oblige. the first stanza is therefore a poignant, undiluted inducement meant to sweep the patron off his feet and get him “drunk” to the point of offering a blank cheque to the persona, as seen in the sense group below: it is very good to have someone in this world i have heard that john nyisa has hosted a song festival for me and has tied down a pregnant dam for me}x2 when that dam delivers a child i will in turn give the foal to bem ukule tor bem will ride baby horse while i will ride mother horse (lns. 1-8) in this imagined realm, in the days when as a symbol of wealth, nothing is priced more than a horse in the spatial location of the song, the persona fantasizes in ecstasy and celestial projections about his pregnant dam, and even already declares his will: to bequeath the foal to bem ukule, his son. it is fascinating 5 6 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems that, the poem voice calls everyone with their rightful and appropriate name. naming in tiv praise songs thus is beyond a nomenclature used to pointing at people; it is one's status, worth or if you like, quality, or essence as well as stature and standing in society. fictional figures in the praise songs under study are named, sometimes, to the fourth generations and to their deepest roots or hamlets to evoke what such people stand for and who they are known for, which in turn, forges an identity for the person in question at that material time. for instance, the “someone” who calls the poem voice on line 16 is revealed to be a man from sengev stock, by the name, num, the son of ikyôn from ato's compound. and just in case the audience may forget, the persona adds that he also goes by the name pever. such deep, detailed, elaborate and precise identification and/or “naminfication” of personae in tiv praise poetry is not arbitrary but an architectural sling to catapult the song's voice from abjection to relief. it is worthy of mention also, that abjection keeps possibilities in sight but between the abjected person and the relief, there usually abound obstacles to prevent the abject from getting the desired relief. this is important to the development of the plot architecture of tiv praise songs because the delay of salvation and its subsequent revelation serve as reagents of suspense within the plotting of tiv praise songs. despite this pressing and important call for instance, the persona cannot attend, for want of clothes; as such, “my mothers... (the symbol of care and unconditional, untiring love), you people should “…keep supporting me” (emphasis mine, ln. 24). one day “…when i am no more, you people will at least, rest” (ln. 25). furthermore, targule's “to have someone is good” portrays death as the next of kin of poverty which, for so long now, has consistently maintained fellowship with the song's voice. this time around, if no one urgently helps him, death will succeed in paying for his dowry. and because the audience know the dread or horror of death… they should hurry and come to the persona's aid, until nightfall, therefore, before his mothers will see him. this posture of abjection and quest for an urgent relief is architecturally depicted below in this wise: john nyisa hemen urges me to come visit him daughter of joseph adinya oh my mother the want of clothes has been my problem for long it is impossible for me to go out my mother i have become like ikyoor rat until night fall before mama, you people will see me (lns. 9-15) one of the prime indices of abjection is the want of clothing. when a man has come to a point when he cannot afford, at least, any form of cloth just to cover up his nakedness and protect himself from the harsh weather, or from shame, that person's poverty is at a chronic critical level that requires the emergency unit of neighbourly support. consequently, abjection and relief become knotty ends on the architectural frame of tiv praise songs as thus far demonstrated in targule's song. just to prove how critical and un-hypocritical his condition is, the poetic voice reveals how that another man in sengev, ikyôn num, also urges him to come, but the persona cannot go for the same reason of want of cloth. so that, in the instance of at least, two witnesses, the matter of his abjectitude will be confirmed. just in order to avoid doubts, he presents a vivid description of this patron: someone else is inviting me in sengev but there's no cloth to wear and go his name is ikyôn num he is a man from sengev stock from ato's compound pever has invited me (lns. 16-21) it is discovered from the above sense group that, the issue of identity and roots feature conspicuously in tiv praise songs, in 7 8 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems to this end, the persona is entangled with a want within want and in need of relief within relief. he, as a result, beckons on his mothers, the likes of the daughter of adzege and that of hwelegh to address his basic momentary need so that he can reach out for the larger relief awaiting him. “my mothers, keep supporting me//someday when i'm no more then you people will rest” (lns. 24/25). this is a contemplative, thoughtful, implicative set-up. it is like inciting their emotions and troubling the waters of their conscience. it is an appeal to the emotive bedrock of motherhood and humanity, so that the persona's relief from abjection will be sure. taken overall, the poem, “to have someone is good” is a literary construct of praise that uses abjection and relief as an architectural style to build the poem technically, from its beginning to a logical close. through the poem, one notices varying shades and colours of abjection, ranging from want to shame and death. however, by manipulating the figurative whims of hallucination, the persona is able to surmount all obstacles between his abject state and accrue requisite relief. at the end, such toxic emotions earlier aroused by the revelation of the abject ordeals of the poem persona are mopped up or purged; and he is seen riding his dam while his son, bem ukule, rides his foal. furthermore, “to be a man is not a day's job” is also a panegyric poem by targule that opens with a common aphorism, “to be a man is not a day's job”. but because some people pretend not to be aware of this fact, he beckons on ayongo, son of dzerena, his song patron to take note of them. to strengthen the trajectory of his intentions, he goes through dzerena's wife, the daughter of ugende, adjuring her that someday when they would have helped him, people will then stop mocking him. in other words, as long as they don't help him, his mockery and degradation as less manly to relieve him from his abjectitude as lamented below: but death has wooed me for too long this time death will pay my bride price death has even posted a letter which has arrived chief ikyôn adem i didn't reject it death does a thing to someone that the person can never forget (lns. 26-32) the metaphoric, symbolic and personifying figuration of death in the above sense group is only a bid to project its gothic reality to the audience and to give claws to abjection so that the requisite relief to bail the persona from it should be treated as a matter of urgency. a readership of celine's journey to the end of the night also excavates such elements of abjection as: suffering, horror, death, complicitous sarcasm and fear as featured in this oral poem under study. the poem persona is so destitute, so naked, so much in want that daylight wears an insignia of shame upon him and prohibits him from making an appearance in the day time. he has become like a rat ikyoor who only comes out at night. no matter how pressing his redemption knocks, no matter how close his relief looms on his abject essence, he cannot go out due to his incapacitation or want of clothes. the daughter of joseph adinya, wife of nyisa, whom he regards as a mother must therefore, look out for him only at nightfall. as gleaned from kristeva, on the topic of want as it relates to abjection, she observes how easy it is to pass too quickly over the word (5). want therefore, stands out as the last born of abjection with fear as its watchword and phobia as its password. it is in that perpetual state of chronic want that abjection verifies one of its truest identities in the persona's life. 9 10 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems response of his patron because dzerena's place, where he sings, is an arena where bashi – liquid cash – will flow (see lns. 22-27). he is optimistic that this call of ayongo is to host him and nothing can stop it. for it is only when he is uplifted from financial oblivion that his kinsmen, the ugende natives will covet him. this is because, in this race of life, so many have gone ahead of him and seem to be more successful. it is only at such opportunities as these that the persona can redeem lost glories and wasted years through their assistances and (in the poetic voice's words), “deliverance” that he receives from his benefactors. this rain of relief from mocking abjection is therefore, what is strengthened further in the call of ayongo. the call, of which he tells “daughter of ugende my mother[that]//it is a must go” (emphasis mine, lns. 13/14) is his pool of redemption where, he will garner the needed assistance that will silence his mockers. chagu alhaji, son of damkor alongside his wife, daughter of magagbia also is in the arena. and the poetic voice has turned to him, informing him of his arrival. he presents a pathetic plight of his destitution to this patron of his, that, “the natives of ugende//have abandoned [him] in public” (emphasis mine, lns. 38/39). in other words, he has been rejected, dejected and is afflicted with the plights of destitution. he has no helper and no place to lay his head. this too, is his tragedy, as will be seen below, that only chagu alhaji, in his financial prowess can redeem. this is the reason why he will not stop at anything until he becomes envy in the land: you people should give me assistance let the natives of ugende covet me people have gapped me for too long a distance daughter of mbalagh my mother i have come for you to save me (lns. 18-21) abjection is here seen to take the shade of backwardness. will continue. this, therefore, is a worthy pedestal upon which to peg the nail of commitment and response-ability of the patron towards the poem's voice. the poetic voice presents himself as an object of pity and a laughing stock on account of his poverty and throws the ball to the courts of his patrons, that, someday, their help shall salvage or relieve him from the sarcastic laughter of people. this is what is captured in the sense group below: to be a man is not a day's job ayongo son of dzerena some people don't know, they are laughing at me daughter of ugende my mother, no problem one day you people will help me out people will cease from mocking me (lns. 1-6) “to be a man is not a day's job”, which opens with popular misconceptions that people hold about the persona due to his realities of want is therefore, a poem that uses the leitmotif of abjection and relief to knit it beautifully from beginning to its close. to be a man requires collective, cumulative efforts at various junctures of life, and not even by the efforts or conjuration of a single person. but some people do not know or understand this fact, and so, they are busy laughing at the persona and mocking his abject condition; misconstruing his abjection for irresponsibility – how he cannot raise his shoulders in the gathering of men. note that, the persona is already abject, but his abject state is worsened by the mocking laughter of people. in this tight corner nonetheless, he finds a vent for relief in the hope that someday his mothers in the likes of the daughter of ugende and his patron, ayongo, son of dzerena will bail him out from people's mockery by assisting him. the poetic voice, however, is quite sure of the favourable 11 12 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems their response with the requisite relief is therefore pertinent because if they don't, poverty is killing the persona. his abjection has become a thing of public ridicule and nuisance. he is not just a burden to himself but also to the entire community. the persona's abjection is seen here as a killing poverty: doctor joseph akuma tôgô poverty is killing me daughter of ikpya my mother see i have become a beggar who goes about begging people at various family settlements even if i'm given little on the hand i will receive with much appreciation (lns. 28-35) abjection has so eaten deep into the fabric of his soul to the point that the poem persona has become a beggar who goes up and down begging, just for crumbs to keep body and soul alive. three images of abjection are here invoked: death, the want of food and beggarliness. poverty has ambushed the poetic voice roundabout to the end that it is killing him. as a result, he cries out for help because he sees, feels, thinks and eats poverty; the walking, talking poverty has placed a knife on his throat and is pulling it apart. it is only when his patron, akuma tôgô helps him therefore, that he will be delivered from poverty, death, starvation and beggary. furthermore, from the above sense group, for abjection to reveal its identity in the want of a most basic need as food is a sonorous call to all who could hear. the issue of the song persona's abject estate has become a state of emergency; thus no matter how small the help is, none should withhold. everyone should bring in their quota to salvage him from this abject condition. chagu alhaji son of damkor i have come people have not only mocked and laughed at the persona, but they have also gapped him a long distance. only the collective, yet committed help he receives from his patrons can deliver him from such abjectness. the good news however, is that this abject condition of his struggles, mockery, helplessness, poverty, backwardness and pitiable position has instigated a positive response from chief asoo ikyôgen, who has also arisen in person, beckoning on his retinue of wives to come and relief the persona of his burden: chief asoo ikyôgen of aga has arisen by himself he's calling on the retinue of his wives to come out to come and reward ortiev's songs with a spray of cash this time around that he should forget about the sufferings of tyôshin land (lns. 22-27) his abjection, in essence, is a reflection of the collective sufferings of the entire tyôshin land. as such, rewarding his song with material and financial gestures is a requisite relief and/or bail from, not just his personal abjectitude, but a mop action from all the sufferings of his people. more so, the rise of chief asoo ikyôgen, son of aga, the worthy, wealthy fellow is a deep, figurative expression of the readiness to display wealth as well as the willingness to salvage the persona from backwardness and stagnation. the rise of his patron thus signifies the persona's rise in fortune as well as his resurrection from the sheol of poverty which marks the emergence of his deliverance. note that, ikyôgen's rise is with the entire retinue of his wives, and he calls upon them to come and reward the poetic voice, here identified as ortiev. this reward should be with a spray of cash this time around so that he should forget about the sufferings that rise from tyôshin land like vapour. 13 14 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems modern world. works cited oral sources agongur, ukpachu. 97-103 years; interviewed in mbakpa, gwerth west, 24 march, 2017. targule, julius. 74 years; interviewed at tse-agberagba, gwerth west, 18 february, 2017. mbatsavmbaheenga, biem d. 78 years; from avuramne compound, iche adzevillage, mbamar hamlet, udzer kindred, nyiev ward in guma lga, benue state. interview in th thmakurdi on the 16 and 17 march, 2017. written sources abraham m. c. the tiv people. government printers, 1933. bohannan, l. return to laughter. gallancz, 1954. bohannan, l. and bohannan, p. tiv farm and settlement. h.m.s.o, 1954. ---. justice and judgement among the tiv. oxford university press, 1957. ---. the tiv of central nigeria. oxford university press, 1958 ---. tiv economy. northwestern university press, 1968 celine, louis-ferdinand.journey to the end of the night. (trans. john h. p. marks), little brown, 1934. gross, elizabeth.“the body of signification”.in fletcher, john; benjamin, andrew (eds.) abjection, melancholia and love: the work of julia kristeva.routledge, 2012.pp. daughter of magagbia the natives of ugende have abandoned me in public (lns. 36-39) the last element or shade of abjection we notice in this poem is that of abandonment and/or rejection. the poem voice is seen to have been abandoned like one infected with hansen's disease to bear the brunt of his sufferings alone. in this abject state of poverty, degradation, mockery, backwardness, abandonment, want of food, beggarliness, suffering and death nonetheless, one can gather and surmise that the persona cries out for relief so that he will be restored to normal fellowship with humanity; so that he can at least, feed and live; so that he can catch up with those who have gapped him in life; so that he can forget the sufferings of tyoshin land; so he can stop begging; so that poverty will not kill him; so that he will be salvaged from mockery and for once, become envied by his people of ugende; and so that he will make out something from life – to become a man. conclusion in consociation with the burden of this research, the songs, “to have someone is good” and “to be a man is not a day's job”have been appreciated from the viewpoint of abjection, to xray a common denominator of abjection and relief as the panegyric architecture and building blocks that subtend those traditional praise songs from the beginning to end. the persona's abjection thus reflects the general abjectitude of mankind. as such, this study is a call unto action just the same way that the relief of the persona requires urgent, committed and communal response. paying attention to all the issues of abjection and relief as portrayed and explored in the studied songs is significant as it will help individuals and society at large to cushion themselves against the pains, gory experiences or abjection that bile-ducts the 15 16 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems appendices transciption “u lun a or doo” u lun a or hen tar ne doo tsô iyange m ungwa me, john nyisa ooo mirim imo dzerem ngô nyinya u lun iyav ooo } x 2 nyinya la yange un a mar wan yô me gema wan la me na bem ukule ooo tor bem a hendan wan nyinya mo di me hendan ngô nyinya ooo john nyisa hemen kaa er, mo m gba zan zan an ooo wan joseph adinya, mama wam ooo ican ikyondo ngi ayongo a mo kpem ka kwagh u me due ze ngôm } x 2 mo m hingir inja er ikyoor tugh a ile ve mama ne nenge a mo ye or ugenegh ngu m yilan ken sengev kpa ikyondo ngi i za nga iti na yô, ka ikyôn num ka or u shin sengev hen ya u ato } x 2 pever yilam ve eee wan ugenegh mama ngôm wan u adzege ngôm ungô av nôngo nen a mo ayange me lu ga di tsô ne mem eee man ku shiôr mo ica kpa gba yum kwa ne ku a kemem man ku tindi leta nyôr tor ikyôn adem m venda ga 92-93 hagher, i.the kwaghhir theatre: a metaphor of resistance. caltop publications ltd., 2003. ---. “performance in tiv oral poetry”.nigeria magazine. emacon print, 1981. jenkwe, et al.a study of tiv oral poetry. aau vitalis books, 1998. keil, c. tiv song: the sociology of art in a classless society. chicago university press, 1979 ker, a. tiv poetry and politics: a study of tarker golozo. akia books, 2002. kristeva, julia. “powers of horror: an essay on abjection.” (trans. leon s. roudiez), columbia university press, 1982 nyitse, maria. form and content of tiv songs. aboki publishers, 2006. ---. introduction to tiv songs. aboki publishers, 2006. richard, a, et al. tiv swange music and dance. aboki publishers, 2007. shoja, a. aesthetics and social vision in tiv oral poetry: a study of oliver ayeh. climax graphics, 2010. tsenongu, moses. “much ado about song-party: a study of the tiv oral poems of iyoughute”, difficulty dialogues in development. ibadan: kraft books, 2012. yina, g. semiotics of tiv oral poetry. aboki publishers, 2011. 17 18 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems sha adôa ya ve ana m sha we kpa me ngohol mo me laha ga ooo chagu alahaji u damkol mva ve wan magagbya tyô ugende gbihim tembe ooo translation “to have someone is good” it is very good to have someone in this world i have heard that john nyisa hashosted a song festival for me and has tied down a pregnant dam for me }x2 when that dam delivers a child i will in turn give the foal to bem ukule tor bem will ride baby horse while i will ride mother horse john nyisa hemen urges me to come visit him daughter of joseph adinya oh my mother the want of clothes has been my problem for long it is impossible for me to go out my mother i have become like ikyoor rat until night fall before mama, you people will see me someone else is inviting me in sengev but there's no cloth to wear and go his name is ikyȏn num he is of sengev stock from ato's compound }x2 pever has invited me daughter of hwelegh mama my mother daughter of adzege my mother my mothers, keep supporting me someday when i'm no more then you people will rest ku ngu er kwagh a or mayange nan a hungul ga ooo “u lun or ka tom u yange imiôm ga” u lun or ka tom u iyange imiôm ga ayongo u zerena ior mbagenev fa ga mba senem eee } x 2 wan ugende ngôm kwagh ga ooo ayange tsa ne nôngo a mo ior a mem ilyam ooo mwa imo hen ape u bashi a duwe ve ooo ayongo u zerena or mba-buande ngu yilan nem er, m za hen ya na un a nambem ishor ooo wan ugende ngôm ka kwagh u a bunde ga ooo ior kohol asoo ikyôgen u aga kpa ngum yilan aaa wan u hwelegh m va ve ooo nôngo nen a-mo ityô ugende ve tômun ior wundum ishiva lihe yum wan mbalagh ngôm mva me yimam ooo tor asoo ikyôgen u aga kighir a mogh iyol na ngu yilan kasev nav u due ooo i va nambe ortiev amo aingye a hungul kera a ican i tar u tyôshin ooo dôkutô joseph akuma tôgô ican ngi wuanem wan ikpya mama wam yô nenge mo m hingir bega u zenden zamber ior 19 20 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems that he should forget about the sufferings of tyȏshin land doctor joseph akuma tȏgȏ poverty is killing me daughter of ikpya my mother see i have become a beggar who goes about begging people at various family settlements even if i'm given little on the hand i will receive with much appreciation chagu alhaji son of damkor i have come daughter of magagbia the natives of ugende have abandoned me in public but death has wooed me for too long now this time death will pay my dowry death has even posted a letter which has arrived chief ikȏn adem i didn't reject it death does a thing to someone that the person can never forget “to be a man is not a day's job” to be a man is not a day's job ayongo son of dzerena some people don't know they are laughing at me daughter of ugende my mother no problem one day you people will help me out people will cease from mocking me i am singing in a place where bashicash will flow ayongu of dzerena the mbabuande man is calling me that i should come to his house so he will host for me a song party daughter of ugende my mother this is a must go iorkohol asoo ikyȏgen of aga is also calling me daughter of hwelegh i have arrived you people should give me assistance let the natives of ugende covet me people have gapped me for too long a time daughter of mbalagh i have come for you to deliver me chief asoo ikyȏgen of aga has arisen by himself he's calling on his wives to come out to come and reward ortiev's songs with a spray of cash this time around 21 22 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 bem collins atyev: abjection and relief as panegyric architecture in tiv praise songs: reflections on targule’s oral poems page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr 'for the gods and our pockets': the beginning and end of the otitefestival in awka alex amaechi ugwuja, phd department of history and international studies, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka abstract the advent of christianity in awka, like in many african societies, produced many social upheavals that battered and bruised the primordial forms of existence of the people. festivals were vital aspects of the socio-cultural life of traditional igbo people. igbo traditional festivals, apart from providing religious functions, also provided social, emotional, and aesthetic values for the people. traditional awka society was known for its numerous social exhibitions manifested in group dances, title-taking, and religious and cultural festivals, among others. one of these festivals was the otite festival, which was celebrated in the seventh month (onwa asaa) of the local calendar. the otite festival provided the platform for each family to thank their family gods and personal gods for safeguarding the family members and, especially, for bountiful blessings in the outgoing year. besides this, the otite festival economicallyimpacted the town since every awka person abroad compulsorily returned home; these returnees repatriated significant resources to the town. the importance of such a festival in traditional awka societycannot be gainsaid. however, the advent of christianity in awka in 1904 pitched the otite festival against the teachings of the missionaries,who summarily declared an all-out war against the festival. this study examines the clash of christianity and the otite festival in awka. the study argues that the decline of the festival had robbed the community of the economic and strategic benefits that accrued from the festival. it recommends a revival of the otite festival. keywords: otite, christianity, civilization, awka and culture alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 22 introduction one of the greatest debates among western liberal scholars began in 1992 with the publication of francis fukuyama's 'the end of history and the last man.' not only was the title of the book pointy, but its central argument, which was that the end of socialism and the free rein of liberal democracies and its siamese twin, free-market capitalism, represented the endpoint of humanity's sociocultural evolution presented a vexed contestation to the whole of the social thought of the twentieth century. history, in fukuyama's estimation, had gone full cycle and had returned to its equilibrium – socialism extinguished and capitalism triumphant. as was to be expected, fukuyama's work sparked extensive debate and criticism, notably from various scholars and intellectuals who may be seen as his contemporaries, including his academic mentor, samuel p. huntington. a year after fukuyama published his controversial study, huntington released an article, which was later expanded into a book in 1996, and argued that the future conflicts in the world would not primarily be ideological or economic, as was the case during the cold war, but rather cultural and civilizational. he further contended that the fundamental sources of conflict will arise from differences in culture and religion. for instance, he suggests that the west will face challenges from islamic and confucian civilizations, creating tensions based on cultural identities. huntington also emphasized the role of religion as a key element in shaping civilizations and fueling conflicts. he posits that religious differences are often more pronounced and more difficult to resolve than ideological differences. these differing viewpoints have contributed to rich discussions in most of the disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, illustrating the complexity of understanding global history and conflicts. while both thinkers have made significant contributions to political discourse, their divergent views reflect deeper philosophical and theoretical divides about the nature of coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 23 progress and conflict in the modern world. huntington was, in fact, closer to the point. his only misstep was the pegging of the primacy of cultural and civilizational matters to the end of the cold war. the fact that cultural and civilizational matters have been at the forefront of most historical occurrences: the atlantic slave trade and european colonial imperialism in africa were triggered in the main by cultural factors in europe, and the quest to impose these cultural forms on other peoples of the world have been creating conflicts since the sixteenth century. wherever they sought to impose their way of life, inevitable civilizational conflicts ensued. this was most noticeable in the religious sphere. european christian missionaries tried to recreate the african world. the above debate was practicalised in awka society long before both fukuyama and huntington set pen to paper. this is because, akin to many african societies, traditional awka society socialized a great deal, and they gave expressions to this socialization through group dances, title-taking, and religious and cultural festivals, among others. in fact, within the twelve-month traditional calendar, only one month passed without a festival 1 celebrated. these festivals afforded the people the opportunity to take stock of issues in their respective villages and provided the 2opportunity for a village's population census exercise. one of such festivals was the otite festival.the otite festival served as a period for reunion and homecoming for all awka indigenes abroad. the festival also provided a platform for each family to thank their family gods for safeguarding the family members, 3 especially for bountiful blessings in the outgoing year. however, the advent of christianity in the community led to the gradual decline and eventual demise of the festival. the otite festival could not survive the attacks against it from the christian fold, and thus, the festival not only went into oblivion but virtually 4disappeared from awka customs .while several historical works have been written about awka, the otite festival has hardly received any significant attention from historians of igboland. thus, this study examines the otite festival, especially its clash alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 24 with christianity, which was to eventually lead to its decline and eventual demise. the study is organized into five sections. the introduction is followed by the second section, which historicizes the otite festival. the third part examines the origin of the festival, while the fourth part considers the function and relevance of the otite festival for traditional awka society. the penultimate chapter discusses the clash of christianity with the otite festival. the study is concluded in the sixth section. the otite festival in historical perspective festivals were vital aspects of the socio-cultural life of the igbo people. this is because the worldview of the people involved not only the living but also the dead, who acted as agents between mortals and the ancestors and gods. to celebrate and commemorate the assistance of both the immortal ancestors and the gods in their everyday lives, the igbo traditional society 5 evolved many festivals. the traditional awka community was no exception to the above praxis. thus, the traditional community contrived numerous festivals, one of these festivals was the otite festival. the otite festival was a period mapped out (the seventh month of the local calendar) in honor of the patron gods of the individual awka person. on the first day of the feast, the head of each family in awka had to sacrifice to the individual patron gods of the members of the family. the sacrifice consisted of a 6 cock for the male children and a hen for the female children. if a man had twelve children, he had to sacrifice twelve fowls on account of each of his twelve children. the essence of the sacrifice to the chi of all his children was to acknowledge the patron god of his children for protection and any other blessings in the outgoing 7year. the above does not imply that the otite festival was for sacrificing to the patron gods of only children. every able-bodied 8 man, it should be noted, had to sacrifice to his chi. however, a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 25 family that witnessed bereavement or any calamity was not 9 obliged to make any sacrifice. the logic could be that the family gods did notlive up to their end of the bargain and were, therefore, not deserving of any sacrifice. however, on most occasions, “even families that witnessed bereavement usually attributed such calamities to human errors and not necessarily any whimsical evil by the gods; and in any case, they still had to propitiate their chi 10for any errors on their part. only in rare cases did the awka man 11 rebel against his personal chi”. the belief that the supernatural and the natural were intertwined and inseparable was engrained in the social worldview of the primordial awka man. the otite festival, therefore, provided the opportunity for a spiritual/psychic fellowship between the living and the dead. the awka community comprises two broad sections – ezi and ifite. this appears to have been so for a very long time. these two sections produce the seven quarters that make up the town – amaenyi, nkwele, ifite-awka, amachala, amikwo, ezi-awka, 12 and agulu awka. these quarters, in turn, produce the thirty-three villages of awka. the otite festival was not celebrated by the entire awka at the same time. the festival was celebrated by the th ifite section of awka on the 13 day of the seventh month st(izunato), while the ezi-awka section celebrated it on the 21 day 13 of the new moon (izun'ese). the otite festival had a special meal that consisted of 14roasted yams and ukpaka. the ukpaka (oil-bean fruit that was locally prepared), usually ground with a pestle (odo) in a mortar (okwa), would be mixed with palm oil, salt, and pepper. the roasted tubers of yam were sliced into sizeable pieces and mixed 15with the ukpaka sauceand presented for savoring. however, before feasting on the delicacy, the head of the family had to throw a morsel of that food to the altar (uluchi) of the chi of each member of the household. after this ritual, the remaining food would then be ready for human consumption. often, the otite meal was accompanied by large kegs of palm wine for merriment alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 26 16by the people. additionally, if the head of the house or any other person had made a special promise to his chi, or any other deity for that matter, if it was a goat that had been pledged, it was killed over the father's altar and shared that same day by the males of the 17 extended family. such a goat is called “eghu mmuo”. importantly, all the fowls killed on the first day were not eaten that first day; these were eaten on the second day. the women prepared pounded yam with onugbu soup for the family after they had finished the day's sacrifices at the altars of the patron gods. the children collected the feathers of the fowls and spread them on the roads leading to their family's compounds. this indicated that such a family was celebrating the otite festival. a family thatdid not spread these feathers was not usually associated with them; they were seen as ingrates who were too stingy to 18 sacrifice to their spiritual protectors. in the sharing of the otite meat, elders were allotted 19 special parts of the meat. this was referred to as “ivbe nru”. “in awka,” explains p.h. dike, “people above a certain age, perhaps above eighty years or it could be by being the oldest person present in the ceremony, was given special parts of the cooked meat. this was a mark of honor for age and longevity….” dike further explains that “for livestock, for example, “run” consisted of the animal's neck, a single part of the fleshy covering of the breast 20 bone and gizzard….” the otite festival, especially the sacrifices that it entailed, was not done at the individual household levels alone. there is evidence to show that what was done in an individual family's 'obu' was also replicated in the 'obu' of the extended family. the head of every family comprising the extended family took a fowl to the extended family's 'obu.' after sacrificing the fowl at the altar of the common ancestor of the extended family, each family head took back the fowl he had brought the previous day, which would have been cooked. afterward, the fowls were shared according to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 27 age. having dispensed with the ritual aspects of the festival, palm 21 wine was brought, and the merriment continued into the night. the otite festival, it should be noted, did serve some other crucial functions aside from the obvious – religious, which proved immensely useful to the overall well-being of the traditional society. we shall return to this theme shortly. origins of the otite festival in awka the origin of the otite festival in awka is difficult to fathom. this is partly because of the absence of written records in awka until the advent of the western missionaries and also because of the antiquity of the festival. this challenge perhaps explains why all the historians of awka history shunned the question of the origin of the otite festival like a vampire shuns the cross. godwin morah traces the origin of the festival to the halcyon days of traditional awka society. “i cannot actually say when the otite festival began in awka, and i do not believe that any person alive can, what i know is that its origin is as old as the 22 awka society itself.” in any event, the attempt at unraveling the origin of the otite festival in awka history can, at best, be speculative and tentative. isaiah chinweuba opines that the origin of the otite festival cannot be fully explained outside of the 23religious tendencies of the traditional awka society. being a society where the supernatural and the physical were all interwoven and where every average male adult was supposed to propitiate and revere his personal god called chi, a communal period for venerating all the gods higher and lower, including personal gods is not imponderable among such a people. besides the above, it is possible that the otite festival was instituted primarily to ensure community integration and cohesion following the growth of the awka blacksmithing industry. on this count, samuel chinwuko observes that, the origin of the otite festival has much to do with the coming of age of the awka blacksmithing alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 28 industry. the growth of the awka-smiting industry led to a trade-related dispersal of the awka into several areas of nigeria. enterprising and quite adventurous in plying their trade, the awka blacksmiths traveled to as far as nembe, forcados, okitipupa, idah, and ejule. most of these smiths 24 were also native doctors. furthermore, chinweuba informs us that, in those days, it was taboo for able-bodied men to be found in awka with the elderly people, children, and women – one must go for what we called uzo – ie. in all of this, the otite festival must have been carefully designed by the elders to serve as the only mandatory period when all awka people in uzo–ije 25must return home to their land of ancestry. there appear to be more reasons to suspect that the otite festival was established in the wake of the growth of the blacksmithing industry in awka. without such a period of homecoming, social cohesion in traditional awka society would have proven very difficult, if not a herculean task. most awka blacksmiths would have settled down permanently in their places of uzo-ije (sojourn). from the foregoing, it is clear that the origin of the otite festival in awka history has remained speculative, at best. the origins of most festivals in igboland are speculative “a matter of conjecture as folklorists believe that the earliest festivals arose out of the anxieties of the early people's lack of understanding of the forces of nature and, therefore, wished to placate them (the forces). arguably, most festivals and feasts were associated with 26planting and harvesting and/ or honoring the dead”. interestingly, unlike other festivals that mainly satisfied religious purposes, the otite festival had economic and strategic utilities, apart from coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 29 religious functions. to these, we now turn attention. functions and relevance of the otite festival the otite festival was not only a celebration, a revelry that added not much value to the overall functionality of the awka society; rather, it provided more than religious functions to the traditional awka society. the otite festival provided the opportunity for awka people who had gone to ply their smiting skills in far and near towns to return home to tend, worship, and appease their guiding spirits (chi) in the land of their birth. as godwin morah puts it, “the worship of one's personal patron god (chi) is better worshipped at the land of one's birth. the tradition still subsists that no place is better qualified for reverence or propitiation of one's chi more than in the uluchi in one's ancestral 27 homeland”. p.h. dike drives home the point better when he notes that “notwithstanding the daily reverences of these gods in the places of their peregrination, the sacrifices at home were more fervently observed, perhaps in propitiation of new 'blessings' 28 during the next round of peregrination.” the fact that the worship of personal gods was of utmost importance in the traditional religion cannot be overemphasized. thus, the otite festival served the function of providing a time for the community to worship the personal gods of the members of the community. this did not only foster religious harmony alone; it also provided some psychological leverage for the awka people. this explains why isaiah chinweuba asserts that “any awka man that is in harmony with his chi did not have to fear any whimsical evil by any supernatural force because “onye chi ya adighi n'izu onwu adighi 29egbu ya”. (one whose patron god did not sign his death warrant, does not die). economically considered, the otite festival provided a basis for the economic growth and development of the awka community. the otite period was, as noted earlier, a time for the mass return of all awka indigenes on uzo-ije (sojourn). no adult male indigene of awka could afford not to return to awka during alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 30 otite. the penalty for failure to return during this period was 30 usually a heavy fine. such an annual mass return, therefore, provided the opportunity for the entire awka community to discuss and proffer solutions to problems that confronted their community. on this point, ikechukwu nnebe observes: the otite festival was a period for homecoming. each village usually fixed its annual general meeting during the otite festival because this was the only period one could see all awka indigenes at awka. before and afterward, it was almost taboo for any able-bodied person to be found in awka without going to uzo-ije. economically, the otite festival helped to propel the economy of awka. a lot of awka indigenes returned home with much wealth from plying their smiting skills and trading 31all over the country. p.h. dike contends that “the homecoming sojourners repatriated their earnings, which in turn helped to bolster the economy of the city-state as well as the economic power of the people... just as the occasion was important for organizing community self–help projects – the community taking advantage 32of the influx of returnees”. furthermore, the otite festival provided young people the opportunity to search for spouses and 33negotiate and contract marriages. no one can deny that such marriages would add a fillip to the local economy of the people since palm wine had to be sourced, food items had to be bought, and livestock, especially goats, among others, had to exchange hands. more important in boosting the traditional awka economy was the penchant of the awka people to erect their houses during the mass return that otite offered. udegbunamokoli informed us that “most awka returnees who needed a house would simply give the contracts to elderly relatives who had retired permanently to the town. such contractors would then hire young boys who had not begun their own uzo-ije to work on the relative's house… through these means, the young lads made money to support their coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 31 households, and some young men often made enough money to 34 marry wives for themselves”. additionally, the otite festival served other functions other than religious and economic. it also had political and strategic functions. for example, the festive period was also a period for headcount or census in awka. being that everyone was obliged to attend the otite festival, it provided an opportunity to conduct a census in the town. besides, the otite festival was utilized by awka blacksmiths and traders to assess how they were treated by other communities where they sojourned. this provided them the rare opportunity to synergize their responses to those communities who were not favorably disposed to their interests. it was during otite festivals that traders and blacksmiths resolved to increasethe use of the fame of the agballa oracle of 35awka and the 'ushi' practice to protect their business interests. much like the aro, the otite festival provided the awka sojourners the opportunity to annually(re)develop an intricate web of strategies or 'tricks' on how to relate with their neighbors with regard to advancing their commercial interests. these annual meetings were to give rise to the development of a language called 'aba' or, better still, an esoteric code for controlling the trading and smiting networks of the awka people. we are informed that “much as the aba language was regarded as an exclusive language of the awka people. it was, in fact, developed by the generation of the blacksmiths of the time, and they used it mostly as a trade 36 language, popularly, to protect “trade secrets.” it can, therefore, be seen that the otite festival served the traditional awka society in many ways. its annihilation as a result of the activities of the missionaries who worked in awka was not only unfortunate but robbed the awka society of some of the utilities derivable from the otite festival such that today in awka, there is no such thing as a mass return, a truly and compulsory mass return of all the awka persons abroad. alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 32 christianity and the decline of the otite festival, 1904-1970 with the consolidation of christianity in awka in 1904, there was a sustained attempt by the missionaries to stamp out the african traditional religion and all its manifestations. without a doubt, one of the cultures of the awka people that faced an 38immediate attack from the missionaries was the otite festival. unlike the imoka festival, which was lucky to survive the attacks from the missionaries and had to adjust to the tide of events, the otite festival was condemned by the early christians in awka. in this regard, godwin morah admits: the otite festival, in the eyes of the missionaries, was nothing other than a high-level idolatry that stood antithetical to the message of the cross. the missionaries failed to appreciate any deeper meaning of the traditional religion of the awka man and, thus, did everything in their power to stamp out such a seemingly 'offensive' and 'idolatrous' festival. the case of imoka, which was seen more or less as a barbaric carnival, did not evoke the same feeling as the otite festival… this inability to appreciate the deeper essence of the traditional religion of the people is what eventually jeopardized christianity in africa. most are 39christians only in name. specifically, the most potent weapon used in exterminating the otite festival out of awka was western education, and in this regard, the church missionary society (cms) played a crucial role. having declared an all-out war against the otite festival, the cms, who were initially the leading missionaries in the educational sphere in igboland, began to refuse to admit pupils whose parents were 'pagans.'all observers of the otite festival were readily labeled 'pagans,' and their children were not allowed to be enrolled in cms schools. considering the enormous socio-political and economic dividends that western coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 33 education portended in the emerging colonial order, many awka people began to distance themselves from the otite festival so that 40 their children could be enrolled in schools. p.h. dike reasons that: inevitably, and to profess his faith, after embracing the 'new religion,' the awka proselyte (laden with mind control) labored to show himself as 'liberated.' thus, he would stop at nothing to run down traditional institutions and whatever they stood for. imbued with the new zeal, he characteristically condemned the customs of the people and publicly ridiculed the 41 place of deities and shrines in awka life. believing that 'darkness' was responsible for the numerous uluchi (altars) that pervaded awka, the missionaries began to double their efforts in the domain of western education. the revds. g.t. basden and smiths played a crucial role in this regard. they contended in their preaching that darkness could only be expunged with light; they equated the otite festival with darkness 42and christianity with light. ikechukwu nnebe observed that before a pupil could be allowed to commence school, he or she must have been baptized, and at baptism, a candidate is asked, “have you rejected satan and all his works?” to which the candidate must answer in the affirmative. such a question ostensibly meant to discover whether the candidate had rejected all aspects of the traditional religion and, notably, the otite festival. nnebe informs us that the missionaries linked traditional 43 religion with satanism. in this connection, anyone who celebrated the otite festival was seen as a worker of satan, and since darkness and light have no connection, the missionaries were often found not hesitant in sending anyone who still clings to 44 'paganism' from their fold. what is more, it is suggested the awka society, in its step to transition to the new colonial order, provided the source for chinua achebe's things 'fall apart.' recall that chinua achebe's father was trained at st. paul's college, awka, alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 34 45and did work there as a church teacher. on january 11, 1904, the niger mission, through the efforts of the reverend smith, established the first educational institution in awka st. paul's college, awka. this, according to ifeanyianagbogu, was regarded as “the key to the success recorded by the european missionaries in the period, 1904 – 46 1920”. from the 1910s onwards, the cms began to have an exponential increment in the number of trained church teachers and ministers. most of these new church teachers hailed from awka town and environs. the new church agents fell on awka customs and traditions as a vulture does on a decaying carcass, 47 and, as expected, the most attacked was the otite festival. dike notes: no sooner than both schools – government school and st. faith's primary school – began to produce literate pupils, the route to traditional heritage became vivid. having acquired knowledge and imbued with the spirit of the new age, the products of the school system began to alienate themselves and tended to look down on other members of their community (not excluding their parents. many of them began to denigrate the values of their land as if they had never been part of it. a lot more became bigotry [sic] and seemed to have no limits. a general change of attitude was, thereby, painfully 48 brought on the society. in the above situation, the otite festival began to gradually lose its meaning to society such that by 1970, the festival had ceased to be celebrated on any meaningful scale at awka. apart from the ready weapon that western education provided in the fight against the otite festival, another system used to fight the festival was the open crusade system. isaiah chinweuba thinks that the c.m.s and later the catholics, beginning from the 1930s, 49resorted to open evangelical crusades. in these evangelical activities, the christian missionaries openly condemned the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 35 traditional religion of the awka people, which they referred to as idolatry, and often were seen challenging the deities to a spiritual duel, and usually, the deities were not seen raining instant calamities on the 'impostors.' “most people,” opines chinweuba, “abandoned the traditional religion when they felt that the old gods and deities were either intimidated or cowed by the 'god' of the missionary or the deities had altogether abandoned the people 50to their fate”. the provision of healthcare services by the missionaries also proved a formidable weapon in the hands of the missionaries against the aspects of awka customs, which they felt were 'heathen.'hospitals, clinics, and health centers established by these missions were fully deployed in waging war against the otite festival. first, most of the ailments that distressed the traditional awka society and for which a supernatural cause was often attributed were easy for the missionaries to cure. it was a big wonder to the awka people how easily the missionaries cured such dreaded ailments like otolo (diarrhea) and ibammou (high fever), 51among others. the missionaries would have no time for people who continued to worship idols in the form of the otite festival 52 when they came seeking medical assistance. through this means, a lot of converts were won to christianity, and for every new convert, the otite festival lost a celebrant. the above observations should not be misconstrued to imply that the missionaries and christianity did not do any good to the awka society. nothing could be farther from the truth, as, in fact, a lot of studies have been done on the societal transformation brought about in igboland by the missionaries, however, in their zeal to plant christianity in awka, the missionaries, especially the cms were too quick to dismiss as idolatry and barbarism most of the customs of the people. the cms, most especially, was very hostile to the people's traditional system and culture and did not seek any avenue to adopt the good aspects of these cultures in building a new order. the cms niger diocese even attempted to alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 36 ban the ozo title in 1970 and threatened to excommunicate its holders from the church. it took several community crises, including one at awka, before the niger diocese could rescind its 53decision. the ca tho l i c s appea red t o have been more accommodating to the people's culture than the anglicans. however, because the anglicans had already laid the basis for the attack on the otite festival in awka before the arrival of the catholics, the catholics joined the chorus, and concertedly, these missionaries continued their war against the festival without a thought on how to sieve it of its 'idolatrous' hue and use its other social and economic benefits. conclusion in the “river between,” the kenyan writer ngugiwa thiong'o wrote that “a religion that took no account of people's way of, a religion that did not recognize spots of beauty and truth in their way of life, was useless. it would not satisfy. it would not be a living experience, a source of life and vitality. it would only 54 maim a man's soul”. the missionaries were ethnocentric and culturally bound, and they saw as repugnant anything in awka society that did not conform to their assumed notions of advancing civilization, epitomised in christianity, which they aimed to plant in the land to replace the old traditional order. in this situation, the otite festival, which had served the awka society socially, religiously, economically, and strategically, faced an imminent extinction by way of the attacks from the christian missionaries, especially the cms. in any case, efforts were not made to sieve the otite festival of its seemingly 'idolatrous' aspects to appropriate the social, economic, and strategic benefits of the festival. the missionaries, in their cultural superiority complex, continued preaching against the otite festival and used several weapons, such as their newly introduced western education and healthcare services, to intimidate and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 37 cajole the people away from their traditional forms of existence. in concluding this study, it is necessary to highlight some of the implications of the demise of the otite festival on awka history. first, the decline in the awka blacksmithing industry owes a lot to the demise of the otite festival. this is because the otite festival provided all the awka blacksmiths on uzo-ije used the opportunity of the mass return to strategise and strengthen their trade networks against competitors. the death of the otite festival robbed the blacksmiths of the veritable opportunity to put heads together against competitors and, most importantly, develop their ushi art and the aba language, which helped to spread the fame of the agbala oracle. the end of the otite festival, therefore, implied the beginning of the decline of awka hegemony via its oncethriving blacksmithing prowess. furthermore, the socio-economic benefits derived from the otite festival, which were highlighted in this study, such as the annual repatriation of economic resources, among others, were lost to the awka society. without a doubt, the advent of christianity in awka came with positive benefits, but its negative dimensions are as lucid as the positive. being that the missionaries were impatient to understand the nexus between christianity and the traditional religion of the awka people, they quickly condemned the traditional religion. today, it is clear that christianity cannot explain all social phenomena in africa. being helpless in this area, the awka christian often finds himself involved in different traditional religious practices. this is why, despite the positive impacts of christianity on the culture and life of the awka person, it has not succeeded in making the people more religious than before. christianity has rather created room for syncretism, where many christians now operate under two worlds, that is, the world of christianity and the world of traditional religion. alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 38 endnotes 1. chukwudiegwu nwangwu, c73 years, retired civil servant, interviewed at his residence, umuayom-awka, nd2 march 2016. 2. chkwuemeka ekeh, c65 years, traditional bone-mender, interviewed in his residence, umuoramma-awka. 12 february, 2016. 3. samuel orji, c63 years, trader, interviewed at his residence at umubele on 12 march 2016. 4. nwangwu, interview, cited. 5. benson okafor, c72 years, interviewed at his residence in thumuike, awka. 20 april, 2016. 6. nwangwu, interview, cited. 7. nwangwu, interview, cited, 8. orji, interview, cited. 9. nwangwu, interview, cited. 10. nwangwu, interview, cited. 11. orji, interview, cited. 12. p. hezekiah dike, awka: 1800 – 2000, a survey of the history and traditions of the ancient city – state, (awka: chocolate gate publishers, 2013), 47. 13. orji, interview, cited. 14. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…50. 15. orji, interview, cited. 16. orji, interview, cited. 17. nwangwu, interview, cited, 18. nwangwu, interview, cited, 19. amanke okafor, the awka people (chudan graphic press, 1992), 24. 20. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…55. 21. okafor, interview, cited. 22. godwin morah, c70 years, community leader, stinterviewed at his residence at amikwo, awka, 1 february 2016. 23. isaiah chinweuba, c77 years, community leader, th interviewed at his residence at amikwo, awka. 5 may, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 39 2016. 24. samuel chinwuko, c. 78 years, herbalist. interviewed at th his residence, umubele, awka, on 16 june, 2016. 25. chinwuko, interview cited. 26. c.n., nwagba, awka and the biafran war, (awka: sellyoak international press, 2005), 67. 27. morah, interview cited. 28. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…75. 29. chinweuba, interview cited. 30. chinweuba, interview cited. 31. nnebe, ikechukwu, c65 years, retired civil servant, stinterviewed at his residence at amudo, awka. 1 february, 2018. 32. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…55. 33. udegbunam okeke, c67 years, trader, interviewed at his thresidence at awka 6 april 2016. 34. okeke, interview cited. 35. chinweuba, interview cited. 36. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…75. 37. c.c. agbodike, j.e. madu, n.e. ojiakor, a.u. igwe and n.j. obiakor, the history of obosi from the earliest times to the present (ibadan: mosuro publishers, 2015), 67. 38. onuko, theresa, c55 years, priestess (eze nwanyi), th interviewed at her residence at amikwo awka. 4 april, 2016. 39. morah, interview, cited. 40. morah, interview, cited. 41. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…106. 42. chinweuba, interview cited. 43. nnebe, interview, cited. 44. nnebe, interview, cited. 45. chinweuba, interview cited. 46. ifeanyi anagbogu, the origins of awka, (enugu: swell publishers. 1986), 43. 47. chinweuba, interview cited. 48. dike, awka: 1800 – 2000…110. alex amaechi ugwuja, phd ‘for the gods and our pockets’: the beginning and end of the ofite festival in awka 40 49. chinweuba, interview cited. 50. chinweuba, interview cited. 51. ibeka obunabo, c67 years, trader, interviewed at his rdresidence at umubele, awka, 3 may 2015. 52. obunabo, interview, cited. 53. obunabo, interview, cited. 54. ngugi wa thiong'o, the river between (nairobi: heinemann books), 3. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 41 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr nigerian festivals: in search of a new identity adiele, promise o. (phd) department of english mountain top university poadiele@mtu.edu.ng +234 8037197590 abstract in the consistent bourgeoning realities of a new world characterized by technological advancements and discoveries in science, a unique nigerian world also exists. aspects of the nigerian world are mostly expressed through cultural festivals which constitute a cornerstone in the people's identity. however, the dearth of festivals in nigeria has depreciated nigeria's cultural identity. therefore, scholars and researchers are challenged to rediscover the place of festivals as iconic symbols of nigeria's cultural identity. although dimensions of nigerian culture which includelanguage, literature, music, and sundry idiosyncrasies exist, festivals occupy a pride of place in nigeria's cultural landscape. these festivals are mostly performed to celebrate the people's heritage or lubricate the continuum between the physical and spiritual realms, most of them mainly expressed through ritual processes. some nigerian festivals have either become comatose or abrogated. in this way, nigeria's cultural identity has diminished in the eyes of the world. given the loss of cultural identity due to the gradual diminishing of these festivals, their revival has become necessary. this study, using cultural materialism as a critical tool, focuses on why some nigerian festivals are not observed with the fanfare they deserve. what initiatives are needed to be undertaken to revive them? how can they be reorganized to attract tourism, giving nigerians a new consciousness in the face of multiple socio-economic infirmities? through the revival of these festivals, nigeria's cultural identity can be re-established and transposed to the world. keywords: festival, identity, culture, ritual, celebration introduction all over the world, owing to the multifaceted realities of the human condition, many people are confronted with the need to constantly uphold their identity by asserting themselves in different categories. identity could be individual or collective depending on circumstantial demands. a man's identity refers to his personal traits like names or characters which are distinguishable from other people. gwf hegel writes that “identity is the reflection-into-self that is identity only as internal repulsion, and is this repulsion as reflection-into-self, repulsion which immediately takes itself back into itself” (413). although hegel's assertion is characteristically couched in convoluted phraseology, it imbricates the location of individual identity strictly within the person. a man's identity is synonymous with all the centripetal impulses that make up his individuality and he must accept responsibilities for his actions whether positive or negative. collective identity is remarkably differentiated by such considerations as race, gender, culture, religion, occupation, and many factors in varying gradations. the need for identity is responsible for the proliferation of human groups through which men establish followership, association, and classifications. interestingly, human activities such as global politics, entertainment, economics, and education are subtly influenced by either of the set of identity categories mentioned earlier. given its importance, identity has become a vital factor in the daily denomination of human existence across the world. the need to identify people by race, gender, occupation, religion or culture has either diminished their importance or obliterated their relevance. owing to this, people have embraced social change to alter their personal or collective identity. according to babacar camara “social change refers to an initial process of partial modifications that gradually become structural and global. therefore, social change means de-structuration and restructuration of a determined social totality” (xvii). from camara's submission above, “partial modifications” can be interpreted to mean slight adjustment of identity to suit a particular purpose. although these slight adjustments coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 1 2 mailto:poadiele@mtu.edu.ng are gradual, they eventually become global, altering people's original identity. people alter their identities for different reasons, but africans are most guilty of identity alteration in their bid to be seen differently for diverse purposes. over the years, africans have been victims of identity bias due in part to the inferiority and derogatory appellation unfortunately attached to the black race. in some respect, this accounts for the way black africans submitted to the imperialist onslaught and were subsequently bludgeoned during the colonial era. the regrettable notion that africans are inferior has predictably necessitated reactions among africans to always assert their identity among the comity of nations. this foregrounds the philosophy of negritude as propagated by the first senegalese president, leopold sedar senghor. the continued relegation of the african as inferior has forced many africans to jettison their heritage, embracing western values, religion, and culture. also, the need to be recognized and benefit from western largesse has forced many africans to repudiate their identity, change their names, change their accents, and renounce their cultural heritage. to divest themselves of the inferiority emblem, many africans have even undergone risky plastic surgeries to transform their physical appearance with regards to complexion and general physiognomy. this has necessitated identity conflict among africans who, evidently, are not able to adequately represent the plural world which they created. in the bid for africans to assert their identity and be recognized as a part of the world order, they have embraced their culture, religion, language, and literature transposing same to other parts of the world. among the many aspects of the african worldview, culture, history, language, and literature all maintain a pride of place in the african consciousness. literature is the most celebrated genre of culture where africans have carved a unique identity for themselves. african writers and critics have created a pattern which has given africans a recognizable image. according to charles nnolim, “the african literary critic has, in no small measure, helped determine the shape of african literature in this century” (31). nnolim's submission points to a literary identity which has come to be known across the world as 'african literature'. however, we can agree that the greatest and most distinguished aspect of the african identity, by which the african is easily recognized, is his culture. essentials of african culture in africa, many cultures exist. beyond giving africa a focal identity across the world, culture is arguably the most important denominator of any social identity. it is synonymous with any society. olawale ajayi corroborates this view by observing that “culture could have a much more specific aesthetic interpretation highlighting both the artistic and intellectual achievement and development of a given society”(178). culture varies from country to country and from region to region with different peculiarities. in africa, they are lumped together as african culture. many african cultures draw primarily from traditional religion which provides a vista for a link between africans and their ancestors. the existence of the african man is connected to a constant renewal of the relationship between him and his ancestors which is carried out through the observance of some festivals, most of them compulsorily established in ritual procedures. the traditional african owes his long life, birth, good health, rich harvest, and general wellbeing to the ancestors who inhabit the spiritual realm. in order to continue to be at peace with the ancestors, to appease them and draw their sympathy, africans offer sacrifices in the forms of propitiations if they must continue to live a life full of possibilities. anytime such sacrifices are not offered, it attracts severe consequences like death, famine, flood or even drought. perhaps, it is this necessary mutualism between gods and men that derek wright refers to when he remarks that “the gods yearn for reunification with the humans who first conceived them and are tied to humanity by a common fallibility and reciprocal needs: to become complete, they need to re-experience the human in themselves – as man needs to recapture his divine essence – and they need human coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 3 4 endorsement of their creative acts to maintain their spiritual status” (13). in femi osofisan's play no more the wasted breed, the people of egure community are severely hit by sickness which results in the death of all first male children because they failed to offer sacrifices to elesu, goddess of the inland waters for twenty years. they failed to close the gulf between humans and the gods through sacrifice. wole soyinka refers to that gulf by observing that “this gulf is what must be constantly diminished by the sacrifices, the rituals, the ceremonies of appeasement to those cosmic powers which lie guardian to the gulf” (144). although soyinka's observation above relates to the yoruba south west of nigeria, it does provide a general view of the african reality which has subliminally, formed a part of their identity. the relationship between the african and his ancestors is primarily consummated through rituals and celebrated through festivals, all carried out annually and in some cases biannually. african festivals and rituals can be viewed or interpreted as drama in the wider universal context linked to the origin of drama as a dionysian celebratory spectacle. while some critics conceive festivals as drama, other critics think that festivals are not drama. olatubosun taofeek reconciles the two positions by inferring that “festivals can be drama but not all festivals are drama” (44). in dramatic festivals, through the instrumentality of secular or spiritual masquerades, a mask is worn to disguise or transform personality and to create a guttural atmosphere where the gods can presumably be accommodated. although the incursion of foreign religions has done a lot to diminish the symbolic significations of these festivals, yet many of them have continued to exist with much fanfare and relish. most times, many africans who live abroad, far from their villages, are required to return home to either participate in these festivals or at least observe them. it is always a joyous occasion because besides the festivals, it offers a community the opportunity to intermingle and associate with one another after many years of separation. in this way, the social relevance of such festivals is upheld. african festivals, whether dramatic or not, have attracted foreigners to the african soil both as tourists and as researchers who are interested to investigate the african heritage and culture. these festivals therefore form a very important dimension of the african identity. it provides the african hope. it motivates him and reconnects him to his roots. in africa, almost every aspect of existence is controlled by a god who requires propitiation to be regenerated and rehabilitated. these propitiations are mostly carried out through elaborate celebrations where the locals adorn themselves in particular attire or design a program to create a memorable festival. these festivals differ from country to country and from one region to another where they are given different names. indeed, it is difficult, almost impossible to separate the african from his roots, from his ancestors who must be celebrated through festivals. this study shall examine festivals in nigeria, west of africa and show how the people assimilate the spiritual essences of these festivals as a galvanizing force for their identity and general lives. nigerian festivals in nigeria's post independence consciousness, cultural nationalism bulked largely and found expressions in festivals which provided an avenue for the people to re-establish a relationship with their traditions, a relationship which was hitherto dislocated due to the vicious pangs of colonialism. before independence, many nigerians were alienated from their heritage. they were disconnected from their roots following the inevitable exposure to western education and foreign religion. however, at independence, festivals provided a synthesizing platform between african tradition and western modernity. the locals instinctively harnessed the accessories of western tradition to celebrate their identity through festivals. in this way, aspects of western modernity were extrapolated and infused into traditional culture where they are renamed, remodelled, and reconfigured. an example is the extrapolation of the mythical sango, the famed yoruba god of thunder and lightning. in south-west of nigeria, sango is established as the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 5 6 modern dispenser of electricity. for this reason, sango's statue imposingly adorns the complex of the national electricity corporation of nigeria in lagos. according to harry garuba, “the life of sango, its appropriation by traditional elite, and its symbolic deployment by modern elite underscores a form of socio-cultural practice that has become quite pervasive in contemporary nigeria, if not in all of africa” (263). this means that aspects of modernity have been deployed into cultural practices which have, in many ways, become necessary materials found in different cultures in nigeria. most festivals are initiation rites for young men by which process, they are ushered into manhood. in such places, their persoc nality witnesses a transformation from boyhood to manhood and those who are not able to pass the initiation tests are not adjudged to be men enough. in igboland for example, an adult male is not considered man enough if he is not married. marriage is a part of the transformation from boyhood to manhood. ndubuisi nwafor-ejilinma opines that “in the igbo traditional society, the concept of chronic bachelorhood or celibacy is regarded as unnatural and an attitude of dangerous irresponsibility. at a certain age, a man is expected to get married and set up his own family” (55). the festival of initiation rites for young men must necessarily precede other activities in the journey to manhood and maturity. there are also festivals to worship gods and goddesses of the river, of farm harvest, of birth, of peace, of thunder and rainfall, of history, and of growth. in the different ethnicities, these festivals are distinct and can take various dimensions but there is a preponderance of rituals and sacrifices, sometimes fetish and gory, in the celebration of these festivals. for the people, it is their heritage. their existence is inexorably attached to these festivities and their identity is projected more through them. to underscore the importance of these festivals in nigeria, many of them take place towards the end of the year or at the beginning of the year. when it is observed at the end of the year, it is to give thanks and show appreciation but when it is observed at the beginning of the year, it is for prayers, for supplications, and for a fulfilled life in the new year. there are three distinct types of festivals in nigeria, they are, religious festivals, cultural festivals, and secular festivals. this paper shall however, dwell on three important cultural festivals in nigeria. the argungu festival the argungu fishing festival was originally a religious festival which th started in the 16 century before the time of surame gungu of kebbi kingdom and before the final conquest of kanta of kebbi. during this period, there were four distinct festivals which took place within kebbi and the neighbouring communities. the first two festivals were gyaran ruwa and fashin ruwa which were associated with the water spirit. the gyaran ruwa was specifically to purify the rivers before the day of the fishing day and it is carried out to appease the queen spirit of the water, doguwa for a successful fishing festival. these rites of appeasement were carried out by the priests and bori parishioner who on the chosen day, rode across the kabi river, dropping food items and pouring libations as propitiations to pacify the goddess of the water. the fashin ruwa marked the official permission from the emire of kabi to declare the waters open for fishing. in doing this, the emir picked a particular date to flag off the fishing season. the other two festivals were gyran gari and shan kabewa and fura which were related to god of land. the gyaran gari was purposely to purify the whole land while the kabewa and fura were primarily carried out to taste the pumpkin porridge. these land rituals were of great importance to the people because through it, the god of the land was appeased, evil spirits were warded off the land, and increased harvest was assured. because of the spiritual significance of these festivals, they attracted many people from kebbi kingdom and beyond. as the popularity grew, people saw in them as a source of spiritual regeneration and rebirth. in the 19th century, shehu usman dan fodio, in his capacity as the supreme ruler of the sokoto caliphate, during a jihad, invaded kebbi empire and conquered it. following the invasion of kebbi by dan fodio, islam, which was the predominant religion in sokoto, was coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 7 8 catching of wild ducks. due to its increasing popularity within nigeria and across the world, the festival attracts thousands of people from different countries with journalists from reputed media houses covering the event. indeed, the argungu fishing festival has placed northern nigeria and in particular the people of kebbi on the world map. their identity has equally been transposed to various parts of the world and even studied by scholars and students alike. in addition to the creation of novel identity for the people of kebbi, the festival has become a major source of economic haven in the state. hotels have sprung up and in fact, different hotels in the area are not able to meet the demands of local and international guests who throng to the area to witness the festival. also fashion houses have also been established in the area where local clothes made with hands are sold. agricultural products such as yam, tomatoes, pepper, and different kinds of fishes are also sold at a premium during the period of the festival. in the history of the festival, many heads of state and presidents have attended it including yakubu gowon, nigeria's former military head of state and alhaji diori hammani of niger republic in 1970. presently, the argungu fishing festival has been taken over by the government of kebbi state due to its huge economic and tourist potential. the new yam festival the new yam festival, translated as 'iri ji ohu' in igbo land is synonymous with igbo people in south-eastern part of nigeria. m.j.c echeruo reminds us that “a new yam festival is a great ritual and festive event. behind the ritual activities of the festival is almost certainly a mythos of a returning and beneficent god who is both welcomed and propitiated”(139). from the foregoing lines, echeruo is of the view that the new yam festival has a spiritual dimension which provides a ritual opportunity to appease chthonic gods. the festival is as old as the igbo race with both spiritual and communal cross-currents recognized by every igbo person within and outside nigeria. the instituted in the whole of kebbi. as a religion, the provisions of islam contradicted most of the rituals associated with the fishing festivals and as a result, three of the festivals were promptly abrogated with only the fashin ruwa retaining its place. after the conquest of kebbi empire, dan fodio founded a small village and named it argungu, which translated in hausa language means 'foolish people'. from then on, the hitherto religious festival became a fishing festival associated with the people of argungu in present day kebbi state, north west of nigeria. although the festival takes place in argungu, capital of the emirate council in kebbi state, many hausa/fulani people have come to identify with it and it is generally associated with them. the argungu festival began in 1934 as a historical revival which celebrates the end of hostilities between the sokoto caliphate and the kebbi kingdom. it is synonymous with peace, friendliness, and love because it reminds the people of the laying down of arms between the two kingdoms after many years of warfare where lives were lost and properties destroyed. because it is a fish festival, it takes place in the matan fada, mala, and gamji rivers between february and march of every year and lasts for four days. it involves a determined competition where over 30,000 fishermen compete to know who will catch the largest fish with their nets. while the men compete, women provide encouragement by cooking, singing, and cheering. the most obvious economic significance of the contest is attached to the prize money of $7,500 which is won by the fisherman that catches the largest fish. in the last two years, this prize money was increased to $8,000. in 2005, a record was set in the fishing festival when a fisherman caught a fish that weighed 75kg, the biggest in the history of the festival. besides the fishing competition, there are other symbolic cultural displays such as wrestling, entertainments through local music and dance accompanied by folkloric components such as drums, gongs and local guitars. there are also agricultural displays where farmers showcase their rich harvests, there is also the kabanci display which involves diverse water competitions such as swimming, canoe racing, diving competitions and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 9 10 festival is celebrated between july and august and marks the beginning of a new farming season. the question to ask is, why is yam accorded such respect in igbo land amid a variety of other crops such as cassava, maize, coco-yam and different vegetables? yam is a very symbolic crop in igbo land right from time immemorial. it formed a major staple menu in every part of igbo land and in fact, richness in yam is counted as wealth. a man who had a large yam barn was bestowed with the rare and dignified title of ezeji. among the many crops in igbo land, yam is regarded as the king of all crops because it can be made into several delicacies and is easy to prepare. besides that, yam is rich in carbohydrates, and as a cash crop, it can be used for various purposes. in the days gone by, a man who had lots of yam was regarded as a rich man and those who could not cultivate large yams were regarded as lazy people. therefore, with such status, it became apparent that the new farming season is heralded with a celebration of yams. in fact, in contemporary times, a lecture popularly known as the ahiajioku lecture which was instituted as part of the new yam festival is quite popular in igbo land. these lectures hold in different igbo towns and are delivered by eminent academics, most of them university professors. the new yam festival lasts for about 7-8 days. the duration of the festival varies from one community to another depending on traditions and culture. before the ceremony marking the commencement of the festival, no igbo person is expected to eat the new yam. on the first day of the festival which takes place at the common village square, the village head 'igwe', and in some cases ozo title holders, chiefs and ndi nze all offer prayers to the gods with a portion of a roasted yam. they thank the gods for rich harvest, for protection, for the gift of children, for prosperity, and for good health. after the prayers, the supplicant dips a roasted piece of yam into palm oil and eats it to the cheers and admiration of the crowd. afterwards, the festival is declared open and people break out in joyous singing and dancing. from that moment, people are free to eat the new yam which is made into various forms of menu like roasted yam eaten with palm-oil, pounded yam eaten with a variety of sauce, boiled yam eaten with vegetable sauce or with palm oil as well. the new yam festival is indeed a very big and symbolic occasion for the igbo. different women organize dancing competitions with colourful, new clothes worn as uniforms. many times, these clothes are quite expensive with marching head tie, coral beads, and other ornaments of beauty. also, there are wrestling competitions organized by youths with emphasis on perseverance, endurance, and doggedness. in some communities, there are colourful masquerade processions with excited dancing steps, occasional hysteria and sometimes magical performances. there is no uniformity in celebration across igbo land because every community has its own method for celebrating this cultural festival. generally, the festival presents a good opportunity for an interaction between the physical and spiritual realms, between the people and their gods who are inseparable from each other. the festival offers an opportunity for the people to offer sacrifices by killing goats or fowls and spilling their blood as a form of propitiation to thank the gods for diverse favours. if someone offends the gods, if a family is found wanting by breaking the ordinances of the land, such a person or family may be punished by the gods with a poor harvest in which case, his/their yams may not produce bountifully. such devious behaviour like incest, stealing, murder, bestiality, and other forms of criminality are promptly punished by the gods through poor yam harvest. in some villages, those found guilty of indulging in such acts are not allowed to participate in the new yam festival because their open participation will inevitably incur the retributive wrath of the gods. the period of the new yam festival in many parts of igbo land is regarded as a time of peace and happiness. people are prohibited to quarrel or fight, neighbours and kinsmen exchange yams made into different delicacies and the atmosphere of the entire community is quite convivial. in all respect, the new yam festival represents an epoch moment for all igbo people due to its spiritual and communal coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 11 12 significations. however, the advent of western religion, in this case christianity, has to a great extent eroded the festival and diminished its importance. in the same way that the incursion of islam affected the original argungu festival, christianity has also affected the original celebratory outline of the new yam festival in igbo land. in the present day, many families and communities in igbo land view the new yam festival as fetish because of the sacrifices made to the gods. it is important to stress that more than 80% of igbo people are committed christians and since the festival runs at cross-purposes with the provisions of the bible, the christian moral manuscript, many adherents of the christian faith decide to stay away or avoid the festival. as a result of this, the festival is more observed by core traditionalists among them the aged with very few youths participating in it. from the observations above, it is clear that the advent of foreign religion has contributed immensely to dislodging african identity which finds expression in cultural festivals. in fact, many proponents of the christian faith have openly preached against the new yam festival condemning it as barbaric and outdated cultural practice. in igbo land, there were recorded instances of many clergy men warning their church members not to participate in the new yam festival since some of the practices associated with it were satanic which amounted to idol worship. the eyo festival lagos is the most populous city in nigeria with an estimated population of twenty-five million people. the huge population of lagos state derives from the influx of many people from other parts of the country due to its commercial potential. of the twenty-five million estimated population of lagos, indigenes are only about two-million people while the rest of the people are basically visitors from other parts of the country and the world. because of the sophistication associated with the city, its modern outlook, the overriding western influence and modernity, fast cars, skyscrapers, fashion, music, churches, mosques, and other forms of modernity, it appears that the original lagos landmark, in terms of culture and identity has been eroded. however, lagos is a major hub of the yoruba, south west of nigeria with its distinctive cultural values and emblems. the city is rich in tradition, by which the original indigenes maintain a steady and healthy relationship with their ancestors, gods and deities. there are many forms of cultural practices in lagos which continue to reaffirm the identity and historical heritage of the indigenes. one of such cultural practice is the eyo festival, a masquerade/dance procession which takes place in the city in no particular order or season. the eyo festival, in other words referred to as the adamu orisha play, is a distinguished form of cultural practice found mainly in the city of lagos, the former political capital of nigeria. the festival is peculiar to the indigenes of lagos who are referred to as isale eko indigenes. by this appellation, only original descendants of lagos are allowed to participate in the festival while lagosians by association and residency can only admire and watch from afar. the festival involves masquerade procession all attired in white from head to toe. for the one week that the festival will last, the faces of the dancers are not expected to be revealed or seen. the attire consists of agbada for the top robe and aropale, the bottom rope wrapped around the waist. the masquerades also wear an akete, a hat adorned with different colours signifying the colours of a particular iga from which the masquerade made appearance. more than fifty eyo masquerade dancers can come out from a particular iga and each of them must pay a specified fee for the privilege to participate as one of the eyo masquerade dancers. while the eyo dancers can wear different hats adorned with different colours depending on the iga they came from, the adimu is identified by a black hat without any colourful embellishments. the masquerade and dancers emerge from the igala, the oba palace and then begin to make progress into the major cities. before the commencement of the festival, the orisa oniko embarks on a spiritual exercise to drive away evil spirits within the city where the festival will take place. this is to ensure a hitch-free one week festival and to avoid any tragic occurrence like death in the palace of the oba, miscarriage, fight resulting in injuries, and any other form of calamity. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 13 14 the name eyo, literally translated means 'costume dancers'. its origin dates back to 20th february, 1854 when it was held in honour of oba akintoye, to celebrate his life on the occasion of his final burial. it must be emphasised that the eyo festival is always held when an oba dies to give his soul unhindered passage to the great beyond. it can also be held to usher in a new oba and welcome him to the throne. before the commencement of the festival, the adimu, who is the most senior male member of the eyo group, makes an appearance on a sunday with a staff around the major city to notify people that the eyo festival will take place in seven days time which will be on a saturday. after adimu, the rest of the eyo heads make appearances from monday to thursday in the following order, laba (red hat), oniko (yellow), ologede (green), and agere, (purple). by this notice, people are expected to get ready for the great event, and nowadays, the media is informed for expected coverage. this notification by the adimu has been the traditional and accepted way of informing the people of the coming eyo festival. in present times, the festival is not only restricted to the death of an oba or the ushering in of a new oba. nowadays, the festival can be requested for by a politician or even the governor of the state to mark an event of certain importance. every eyo festival ends with the dancers converging at the palace of the oba to pay homage to him and his household. although the eyo festival is generally seen by many as a cultural event, its spiritual symbolism is not lost on the people. due to its sacredness, certain practices or behaviour are forbidden during the festival. it is forbidden to wear sandals or shoes during the eyo festival. it is also forbidden to ride motorcycles or bicycles, wear the suku, a yoruba kind of hairstyle, wear the eyo costume overnight or cross the river with it. the eyo festival today has become a huge tourist event, attracting thousands of people around the world, therefore serves as a foreign exchange earner for the people. during the festival, distinguished personalities such as the governor of the state, the commissioners and many of the obas across the state grace the occasion. sometimes the festival takes place up to four or five times in a year and sometimes, it does not take place at all throughout the whole year . conclusion although three major festivals as important aspect of nigeria's culture have been discussed, there are many more festivals in the country which uphold the people's identity. the pattern of celebration and ideology which accommodate the identified festivals in nigeria may slightly differ from many other festivals not mentioned but the general idiosyncrasies informing their celebration are basically the same. for example, ritual is a very important ingredient of nigerian festivals and through the ritual process, the gulf between the living and the dead is narrowed. through the ritual process, humans lubricate the continuum between them and their ancestors. no matter the level of foreign religious incursion into the nigeria domain, festivals as a part of the nigerian cultural renaissance have continued to maintain their pride of place as a realistic, genuine hybrid. also, various classes of people in the country have a different attitude to culture which has affected its promotion and celebration. according to sandra richards: the cultural habits of these classes may be characterized in the following manner: the largest segment of the populace. rural and urban illiterates, enjoys orature, as exemplified by its support of the primarily yoruba travelling theatres. a growing semiurban, semiliterate proletariat patronizes either indian thrillers and chinese kung fu movies or itinerant drama. the literate middle class, which associates serious reading with certification for employment, primarily watches television, much of whose programming consists of euro-american imports (xxiii). politics and the quest for power control seem to be occupying the attention of many nigerians. in many cases, these contribute in eroding the people's culture. also there is a loss of sense of belonging within the stcultural community due to insecurity across nigeria in the 21 century. communities that are not safe will hardly be organized to observe cultural festivals. in this way, there is a remarkable concern that as a part of the people's cultural heritage, festivals in nigeria will completely be coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 15 16 wiped out of the people's cultural menu. for example, no tourist will be willing to attend the argungu festival bearing in mind that kidnapping and banditry are the order of the day in nigeria. the same applies in the celebration of the new yam festival and the eyo festival. if nigeria's cultural festivals are about the few positive identities the country enjoys outside her shores, then there is a need for the government to rise to its primary responsibility to provide adequate security across the country. if security is provided, then there will be a need to rehabilitate and revive these festivals. the national institute for cultural orientation (nico) has a major role to play in reviving festivals across nigeria. as an agency of the federal government, the institute should constantly educate the government on the importance of promoting nigeria's culture and festivals. if the national institute for cultural orientation is involved, it means that the government is also involved. if the government is involved, cultural festivals in nigeria will become state functions and all the apparatus of government will be deployed to ensure that these festivals are successful. the national institute for cultural orientation should identify some festivals in the country within a calendar year and promote them. also, the institute should solicit sponsorship from corporate bodies and urge them to identify with the celebrations. tourists and travellers will be willing to identify with nigeria if they are aware that the government and major corporate organizations are associated with iconic cultural festivals in the country. nigerian universities have a major role to play in reviving festivals in the country. although there is a compulsory general course in all universities known as gst (nigerian people and culture) it seems that the course is basically academic and theoretical. nigerian universities should make the course more practical. students should be encouraged to participate in different cultural practices of their different communities. these cultural performances should be held within the university environment and government dignitaries should be invited. also, the national orientation agency (noa) of nigeria should, through the mass media, educate nigerians on the importance of nigerian culture and festivals as a unifying force and also as a national identity paradigm. above all, the revival of nigerian culture through festivals is a collective responsibility. every person, every sector should play a part so that the nigeria cultural identity can be revived and sustained. works cited ajayi, olawale. “between extinction and distinction: black cultural survival in the new world.” ijegun journal of english language and literature: a journal of language and english studies, tai solarin university of education,vol.1, no 1, 2016, pp. 178-183. camara, babacar. reason in history: hegel and social changes in africa.lexington, 2011. echeruo, michael. “the dramatic limits of igbo ritual.”drama and theatre in nigeria: a critical source book, edited by yemi ogunbiyi, pitman press, 1981, pp. 136-148. garuba, harry. “explorations in animist materialism: notes on reading/writing african literature, culture, and society.” public culture, vol.15, no.2, 2003, pp. 261-285. hegel, gwf. the science of logic. routledge, 2002. nnolim, charles. issues in african literature. malthouse press, 2010. nwafor, ndubuisi. “the performing arts and social control in the traditional igbo society: a focus on igbo songs of scandal.”cross-currents in african theatre, edited by austin asagba, benin city: craft books, 2001, pp. 52-61. okoye, chike and asika, ikechukwu. “negotiating boundaries: performance partitions in the mmonwu theatre.” ideal international journal of igbo scholars forum, vol. 1, no. 2, 2015, pp 229-241. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nigerian festivals: in search of a new identityadiele, promise o. (phd): 17 18 olatunbosun, taofeek. “nigerian drama: an overview.”ijegun journal of english language and literature: a journal of language and english studies, vol.1, no 1, 2016, pp. 42-55. richards, sandra. ancient songs set ablaze. hup, 1996. soyinka, wole. myth, literature and the african world. cup, 1976. wright, derek. wole soyinka revisited. twyne publishers, 1993. storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigeria naziru ahmad atiku languages department, school of general studies, federal polytechnic, oko. anambra state, nigeria. e-mail: naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com 08067693760 abstract this work aims at elaborating widely on the concept of storytelling and how it plays a vital role in the preservation of nigerian indigenous culture. as we are living in a space and time where some cultures establish themselves as predators and make others pray. gradually, due to the influence of western cultures, many indigenous cultures are slipping into the oblivion as the younger generations of nigerians develop prejudice and unfriendliness towards their own culture, giving an unnecessary preference to the western culture. considering the evil effect of globalization in subjugation, segregation and victimization of the nigerian culture, strong and stoic effort is to be made before it is too late to cry and end up campaigning after the election or planting crops on air, harvesting nothing at the end of the year. this storytelling is paramount in the nigerian educational curriculum, documentation and movie so as to influence the general attitudes of the youths and save the indigenous culture from being lost. keywords: storytelling, indigenous cultures, globalization, preservation introduction storytelling is as old as human endeavours since the creation of adam and eve people began to narrate their story which can be found even in their scriptures. in relation to this assertion (sheppard) said “storytelling coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 19 20 mailto:naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr coexistence and sustainable development. the study recommends the relevance and use of drama in projecting, promoting, preserving and protecting cultural values, dynamics, and spirituality. keywords:igbo drama, folkism, cultural dynamics, spirituality, igboworldview. introduction in recent years, cultural concerns such as intolerance and superiority seem to raise various issues globally. these issues are inextricably linked to religious fanaticism, extremism, and bigotry, all of which are fueled by ignorance, cultural superiority, colonization, post-colonial ideals, dogmatism,indifference, and cultural terrorism. some playwrights and scholars have begun writing plays, books, and journal articles, focusing on the igbo culture's essence, significance, roles, and misinterpretation. john anenechukwu umeh's seminal book after god is the dibia, esiaba irobi's play the colour of rusting gold, and uche nwaozuzu's ajari nwanyi, amongst others, are examples of the preceding. the igbo people's existence is guided by principles, beliefs, conventions, values, and other aspects known as culture. in view of this, edward taylor, cited by logan peter, notes that “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (np). this work evaluatesintersections of igbo cultural dynamics and spirituality in odunke artists' ojadili. cultural dynamics refer to the different trends and patterns unique to a culture. in another sense, it refers to the numerous parts of a culture changing because of social circumstances. however, spirituality is not a unique trait of one religion or the other; it is a feature that unites the world's various religious traditions. the concept of spirituality has evolved and extended over time. intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 1 2 ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d 3 4obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa 5 6 cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu 7uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d department of theatre and film studies, university of nigeria, nsukka. nigeria. corresponding author: obiorah ekwueme,ph.d abstract in recent times, igbo culture has evolved in dynamics and spirituality. these evolutions are borne out of intersections of cultural practices and ordinances peculiar to igbo cosmology and worldview. some of these are revealed in their mode of worship, marriage rites, title-taking, and literary traditions. scholars like chinua achebe, esiaba irobi, emeka nwabueze, and tess onwueme have been able to establish and promote some of these cultural thoughts through their creative works. studies carried out in thepast queried cultural traditions and values of the igbo worldview differently but have not sufficiently attempted a critical examination of the cultural dynamics and spirituality that stimulate the intersections of the igbo worldview. this study, therefore, interrogated evolutions of the igbo worldview with specific objectives to critically examine the cultural dynamics and spirituality that highlight these cultural intersections. this study will adopt a qualitative research design using historical tools to broaden our comprehension of the research area. odunke artists' ojadili is purposely selected for the study, and sam ukala's folkism will provide the theoretical framework for the interrogation and comprehension of this study. the findings of this study significantly place igbo dramatic literature as a fulcrum of critical discourse in igbo cultural studies. this will push a conscious movement towards tolerance and understanding of individual cultures and traditions and will help promote peaceful coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 137 138 remember, making it one of the world's oldest religions. catherine acholunu in they lived before adam(2009) and john anene umeh in the march to igbo civilization (2017)collectively argue that the existence of igbos and their civilisation dates to the beginning of time. while acholonu argues from the perspective of the biblical adam, umeh who believesthat igbo people are “ndembu, nah ndeegede, (the first and the second people on earth) onu afa (primordial and esoteric language the dibia), (umeh, 2017). umeh's argument has also been linked to lejja (a community in nsukka town, in enugu state), the oldest known iron smelting site in the world(okafor, 2004). most depictions of igbo indigenous culture are misinterpretations of igbo religion and spirituality, leading to a wrong perception of igbo traditional religion and spirituality, as well as cultural terrorism and other parts of intangible cultural legacy among the igbos. this is exacerbated by ongoing attacks by western religions such as christianity on igbo cultural norms, artefacts, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, sacred objects, cultural relics such as ikolo uga, totems such as eke idemili, and other sacred objects. unfortunately, many nigerian video films about igbo culture degrade and demonise igbo cultural values, which appears to have an underlying interest in christian evangelism and the utter annihilation of some aspects of igbo culture. this has become the norm, calling into question the concept of a national film philosophy that should conserve the indigenous traditions of nigeria's various ethnic groups. ikechukwu erojikwe, ndubuisi nnanna and jude aguzie further acknowledge that “culture is the entire dynamic and complex way of life of a people that provides the framework for articulating and comprehending the structures, while agency constitutes the capacity of community members to make informed choices about issues that concerns them” (83). thus, the existence of culture within a specific locale is dependent on the inhabitants of that very space, and this space is referred to as community. within this community are people who have set out to establish certain norms, because of this ambiguity, multiple views can be found alongside one another, ranging from traditional spirituality to modern spirituality to subjective spirituality. igbo spirituality encapsulated in culture finds literary meaning in sam ukala's folkism, which he described as “the tendency to base literary plays in the history, culture and concerns of the folk (people in general) and to compose and perform them by african conventions for composing and performing the folktale” (49).uche nwaozuzu, in discussing folkism, states that: folkism is the manner and method of creating and performing traditional folk orature that derives its roots from the culture and more of the people for which it is meant and gives content. it is an artistic philosophy and way of doing art that appropriates the ideals of myth, commensality, instruction and aesthetics to orchestrate a synthesis of traditional performance theory, form and practice. some of its quintessential elements include but are not limited to the artistic vision, belief, artefacts, songs, masking, music and mime of the folk (23). the concept of myth is rightly not far from folkism. both share the same features in that they deal with culture and have some aspects of mystical creatures or rather try to induce understanding beyond the surface of earth and other supernatural entities in existence. cultural concerns on igbo culture africa is embellished with different religious systems, but despite this plurality, they share similar characteristics and philosophies that bind them all. african religion generally is the belief in supernatural beings or powers. these powers are different individuals depending on their beliefs. due to cultural clashes, colonisation, ignorance, and self-interest, igbo cultural values seem to be debased, attacked, and, in some climes, annihilated. the lack of understanding of this basic knowledge drives this study to argue that the igbo traditional religion (itr), despite attacks, and malign has existed for as long as anybody can coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 139 140 belief in a supreme being,god (chukwu), lesser deities and ancestors, and the afterlife. the igbos believe firmly in chukwu's omnipotence. francis arinze, in sacrifice in igbo tradition religion, acknowledges that “chukwu” has three chief names: chukwu (chi-ukwu, the great spirit), chineke (the spirit that creates), and “osebuluwa (the great one who upholds the world) (4). however, these names play a vital role in igbo society; for instance, the existence of man and his purpose of living is being guarded by one supernatural being known as god, hence, osebuluwa. he is the creator of everything on earth, hence (chineke). at the same time, the world is divided into the human and spirit world. also, the igbos believe that every man has a personal god or guardian spirit known as (chi). this spirit also follows the person into the world of the spirits when they die. chineke or chukwu assigned these spirits to every person. umeh gives a deeper explanation of the igbo belief in chi when he acknowledges that: in effect, every person's spirit ends at their chi, a part of chi-ukwu (chukwu), the great universal spirit/god. according to igbo theology and practice, which are part and parcel of chukwu, the myriad existences up and down the universe, living and inanimate, spirit, nonspirit, or a blend thereof, are based on chi. to put it another way, this chi is housed within otu/ofu, which is chukwu, the great universal and all-encompassing chi (26). igbo people believe they can speak with their ancestors who live in the spirit world through divination (afa). however, igbo people also have ancestral shrines, through which they try to keep in touch with their ancestors by providing for them through libations and offering (itunkwu and itu oji/ nri) and votive offering through a dibia. dibia in the igbo language comprises two words: di and abia. di means husband, head, or master, but in this context, it plays the role of a master. abia means knowledge beliefs, and systems of operation that will guide man's existence within this space. methodology this study was concerned with the qualitative design aspect of research because it is a fact-interrogation study. the study broadens and/or deepens our understanding of the igbo culture and igbo cultural practices in our postcolonial social world. the research was concerned with developing explanation to the social phenomenon understudy. this discourse entails the investigation of documented sources such as books, journals, reports, archival material as well as oral sources were adopted as a discursive methodology of the study. this paper joins the growing awareness of the need to protect and preserve igbo culture from extinction. however, the chances of this happening are slim, given the media's constant attacks and the government isseeming complacent and complicit attitude in siding with christianity and islam against indigenous peoples and their spiritual and religious practices. significantly, this study examines the igbo cultural dynamics in the selected nigerian play, and it may serve to validate and possibly open discussions that will motivate tolerance of religious tensions and crises, as well as stimulate multiand intercultural discussions to increase objective scholarly and unbiased responses, particularly about the igbo people with emphasis on culture and spirituality. cultural icons and spiritual imperatives in igbo cosmology in igbo cosmology, different cultural and religious movements cannot be isolated from daily life. for instance, the kolanut (oji) is used for various purposes, including prayer, divination, greeting visitors, invocations, blessings or cursers, marriage rites or dissolution of marriage, title taking, and other religious and socio-cultural activities. the igbo people believe in dualism, firmlyrooted in igbo culture, as seen by the actions listed.essentially, the igbo approach to spirituality is built on the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 141 142 reigns supreme, operating at times independently but most of the time through the agency of created spiritual beings (deities, spirit forces, ancestors, and other disembodied spirits like akalogeli, ogbunuke, ogbanje, etc.). on the physical plane, man becomes the centre, the bridge between the spiritual and physical spheres. equipping himself with all sorts of ritualised gadgets, he strives to maintain a lively relationship with the spiritual beings through sacrifices, prayers, libations, ritual gestures and spells (18-19). ekwunife affirms here that man's existence is governed by his life cycle. this cycle represents the various stages of life that man must pass through to fulfil what he is destined to do in life. sabine jell-bashlen acknowledges this belief in his work, where he states that: the significant stages of life are birth, naming (coinciding with entry into human society and childhood), puberty and initiation (associated with the metaphorical death of the child and the birth of the adult), adulthood (associated with marriage, parenthood, title taking and going to war if needed, old age ( associated with acquisition of wisdom, more advanced title taking, dignity, and priesthood), loss of spouse and death (associated with funeral rites), and eventually reincarnation (32-33). consequently, man moves in a circular shape, as jellbashlen observes. in the same way, a circle does not have an ending, so does the soul of man; it lives forever, either in the spirit of the world or comes back through another being or offspring (reincarnation). undoubtedly, every symbol in igbo cosmology is representational and of vital importance in everyday life. christian nwaru endorses the above statement in his article, where he states that, “...symbols in any culture are effective means and wisdom. so, while the igbos call chukwu (god) abia ama, the knowledge and the wisdom that reveals himself, dibia is the adept or master of knowledge and wisdom (umeh, 1997). the powerful stance of the dibia as regards his relationship with chukwu (almighty god), ancestors, and the people is captured in the words of onwuejeogwu, as cited by felix ufedo-egwuda when he enunciates that “the traditional doctor called dibia-afa can be manipulating the afa controlled by agwu, interprets the nature and character of these relationships. undoubtedly, all these scholars have the same view about the igbo people's origin and belief system, and their ideas work in tandem with each other. conversely,ossie enekwe is not an exception among these scholars who have emphasized the connection between the igbos, their beliefs and their relationship with supernatural beings. he posits that: there are two broad categories of supernatural forces. the first comprises the sky deities headed by chukwu,which are omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. the second category is made up of the earth goddess and other spirits. chukwu is not directly involved in the affairs of the igbo, but the less powerful earth goddess, okike, “governs thought and action in more perceptible ways.” next to the earth goddess are the ancestors who “wield tremendous powers of blessing and curse over their relatives living on “earth” (46). enekwe in this context observes that besides the existence of chukwu and chi in the igbo cosmology, there are other spiritual beings assigned to man by god (chukwu) to oversee man's activities on earth. anthony ekwunife, in the same vein, avers that: in the spiritual sphere, different categories of spiritual beings exercise roles assigned to them by the creator in cooperation with each other. the creator, however, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 143 144 christianity, civilization, and other social patterns in order to denigrate the igbo way of life and spiritual worth as exemplified in ọdụnke artists' ọjaadịlị. data presentation synopsis of ọjaadịlị ọjaadịlị is an igbo play about ojadili, a young man full of strength, fierce, relentless, and fearless. one can rightly argue that he is a descendant of the gods. ọjaadịlị has fought so many battles and conquered them all. with the help of his flutist ụdụmeje he conquered otiaba who has never lost in any battle. in the bid to bring back otiaba to life, ụdụmeje goes into the forest with ajiọbu, but they are attacked by a band of chimpanzees (ozo), and ụdụmeje loses his life, too. without the support of the villagers, ogwumagana his guardian spirit who becomes his flutist after the demise of ụdụmeje, ọjaadịlị journeys into the land of the animals, kills the leader of the chimpanzee and comes back victorious. ọjaadịlị is honoured with a chieftaincy title, but he rejects it, saying that it is only when he goes into the land of spirit, fights, and comes victorious that he will accept the title. even though the community did not give him their blessings, ọjaadịlị still journeys into the land of the spirit. as an igbo idiom goes, 'a man does not fight with his chi (personal spirit), but pride will not let him acknowledge this famous axiom. belief system and predestination in ọjaadịlị the study has already discussed the concept of igbo cosmology, which involves the cultural dynamics and spirituality inherent in it. the close affinity of the igbo with their ancestors cannot be taken for granted. these ancestors serve as mediators, protectors, and advisers to them. eugene atansi, in an interview, reveals that: before anyone starts a journey, he must summon his ancestors' spirits with kola nut (ọji) for guidance and protection. because these ancestors are spirits and see beyond the physical, they tend to clear the path for their of communication, without words igbo, like other cultures, hassymbolsthatare generallyknownandothersthat are esoteric...”(21). furthermore, nwaru classified these symbols and their significance. each of them is an embodiment of strength and meaning beyond human comprehension. the actions of the alusi (deity) are directed by its chief priest (9).” it is safe to say that the dibia is, therefore, the link between the deities, chukwu, and the mortals; he intercedes for the mortals because he is the eyes of the deities. the dibia's role transcends one holistic concept as portrayed by native doctors or herbalists; he is entirely beyond that because the person that carries this gift cannot be boxed; in furtherance to this, there is dibia afa, (diviner) dibia mgbologwu na nkpa akwukwo (herbalist), dibia oha-mmiri (rain maker), dibia ojena-mmuo (time traveller, teleportation and others). despite this rich cultural heritage of the igbo, which spirituality is part of, it is said that some age-long and recent societal trends such as civilisation, christianity, islam, and so many other factors create negative notions and patterns to demean the igbo way of life and spiritual value which the insight developed ọdụnke artists' ojaadịlị counters and provides needed perspectives and realities. the interconnections between igbo culture's physical and metaphysical conceptions, such as the world of spirit, humans, and animals, will be examined. the play demonstrates how drama may alter people's perceptions, misinterpretations, and generalizations of igbo culture, provide accurate reflections, and function as a cultural defender and custodian to a large extent. this research will examine these conceptions within the ambit of ojaadịlị to see how they may function as cultural preservers and guardians.the study also aims to shed more light on the beauty, dynamics, and significance of igbo culture and history and the understanding of her spiritual value in the context of igbo cosmology and belief systems. this is to discourage the negative beliefs that have been modelled by the society because of coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 145 146 live away from mortal men. he can only be reached through a medium. before ọjaadịlị goes to fight in the land of the animals, the dibia first got the consent of the gods before ọjaadịlị took any action. omeire: ọjaadilichere ka ị nụrụiheebunuụkpabịkwuru! (29). omeire: ojaadili, wait and hear what the creator said (29). however, albert ogoko implies that: … god is the first and final cause of all things. by a casual necessity, all things determinately follow and are ordained. freedom is complying with this determinism. whatever was, is and will be is already ordered to be so. whatever we are, we can attain or achieve, and we must derive from god. we are efficient causal agents with distinctive destiny parcels (17). in ọjaadịlị, the playwrights presented the personal god (chi) as a small spirit creature which she called mmụọ isiatọ (a spirit with three heads). thus, ogoko further asserts, "ife sina chi, meaning that light, knowledge, wisdom, reality, or insight comes from god who has dubbed all things with his divine touch” (23). furthermore, there is the dual existence of things on earth as nothing. nothing can ever stand alone. there is a common saying in igbo language that ihe kwụrụ, ihe akwụdobeya (anything that stands must have a partner standing next to it). odunke artists presented this belief to his readers when ọjaadịlị goes into the land of the animals and confronts ozọ. ọzọ: ị b ọ n a ị b ọ k w ụ , ị b ọ n a ị b ọ k w ụ . n k e a , kedunwannegi?ọ bụgini ka m na-ahụ?ọ bụzịkwaụwa chukwu kere di ihe a?ihenilen'ịbọ. n w o k e n a n w a n y i , n ' ị b ọ n ' ị b ọ . okeosisinanwunyeya, n'ịbọ n' ịbọ. anya naabọ, nantinaabọ, n'ịbọn'ịbọ. ugwu nandịda, n'ịbọn'ịbọ. ihe di mma, naihe di njọ… (40). successors. kolanut, as a symbol of prayer in igbo land, plays diverse roles. however, it seems that most igbos are no longer in sync with methods of prayer and other uses of igboland due to demonisation, obliteration and annihilation, but this will form the topic of another research. in an interview, may-blossom brown submits that “the importance of having a mutual relationship with your ancestors is enormous. if any man decides to embark on a journey without summoning the spirits of his ancestors, then that journey is a failed one (np). ọjaadịlị was able to make this belief visible to everyone when, before he journeys into the land of the animals to fight with ọzọ (chimpanzee), he first prayed to the spirits of his ancestors to guide his path, which at the end he returns victorious; ọjaadịlị: ikenga m, taaọjị, ezenwanekwu, taaọji. okeke nna m ochietaaọji (tụsaọjin'ala) mgbe m naakwadoije ala anụmanụ, ndịmmadusinamụagaghialọta. gi bụikenga m wee duru m jee m lọtan'udo. ugbu a, akwadoola m ijeala mmụọ aga m ejen'udo, lọtan'udo (51). translation ọjaadịlị: my ikenga, eat kola. ezenwanekwu, eat kola. okeke, my mother's forebears, eat kola (throws kolanuts to the ground). when i was preparing to go to the land of animals, people said i would not return. you, my ikenga, led me home in peace. now, i am prepared to go to the spirit world. you will lead me to go in peace and return in peace (51). furthermore, the dibia also acts as a mediator between the spirits and the living. he gathers the people's requests, communicates with god (chukwu) and unseen forces (ndi ana ada afu anya) and then gives the people a response. he is a messenger of the gods, as it is the culture of the supreme god to coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 147 148 is captured in the lines below; ọjaadịlị: họyi! họyị! họyị! agadinwanyịanaghịaka nkan'egwu ọ maara agba. ikenga m! ikenga m! họyị! họyị! họyị! (ụdụmeje, wetekwompiọzọ. kụrụekwempunaachụsọọjaadịlị) ụdụmeje: (ntakwunye) akịrịka, ọsọgaan'ụlọ m n'imeakpanwaehi k o n'obimwetara m ọja m…(12). ọjaadịlị: ikenga m, gibụike m, gibụogu m. lee aka nri m naa m aka (51). translation ọjaadịlị: họyi! họyị.họyị. an old woman does not get old regarding a dance step she knows very well. my ikenga! my ikenga! họyi! họyị.họyị. (ụdụmeje took a horn, followed ojaadili, play his gong). udumeje: (in whispers) akirika, run to my house, inside the cow skin bag at the obi, get myflute…(12). communalism and retribution in ọjaadịlị in the igbo cosmology, there is a certain belief in oneness and communal living. whatever concerns an individual also concerns the rest of the community. the title holders are the highest authority and the community's decision-makers. ọha na eze: ka anyị je weteegbenamma, ka anyịnaụmụanụ mara ndi ga-apụrụibe ha n'obodo ụmụngodo ọkagbue: cherenu o! onye kwadosịa ka m sikwuo, yapụtanambaraezibe a.ọkọnti,gwaagbata o b i g ị b ụ ọ j a a d ị l ị n a a c h ọ r ọ m mmadunilen'ebe ka anyịkpaaaro ka a gatranslation chimpanzee: they all stand in pairs. this one, where is your brother? what am i seeing? is this still the world created by the almighty? everything is in pairs: man and woman, a pair; the giant tree and its female, a pair; two eyes and two ears, a pair; the hill and the valley, a pair; goodand bad things… (40). as previously stated, in igbo cosmology, there is a common belief that everything in existence has a pair. the earth and its components are dual; nothing exists or stands alone. as earth is to heaven, so is man to woman. the concept of dualism permeates igbo cultural thought and consciousness, stating that if a thing exists alone, there is an aberration. dualism creates balance; the playwrights consciously push and acknowledge this thought through the chimpanzee. it may sound strange to find a speaking chimpanzee, but the play is fully anchored in the concept of folkism, and folktales stem from this and acknowledge that man, spirits and animals once coexisted. while the spirit world is challenging to access, the animal kingdom is not. mystical and symbolic icons in ọjaadịlị symbolic icons are essential in any society; the igbo community is no exception. symbols are bound in the human world; thus, they are a common phenomenon in human existence, and their potency and sacrosanct nature are brought alive through various meanings and interpretations. arinze, however, is of the view that ikenga is “the personification of a man's strength of arm which has everything to do with his good future… ikenga is personal to a man, and its symbol is split at the person's funeral” (16). furthermore, ikenga symbolises strength and serves as a protection tool for the owner. thus, in ọjaadịlị, it is evident that the ikenga played a significant role in ọjaadịlị's life as he always makes sure he appeases it before embarking on any journey. this coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 149 150 ọjaadịlị ga-agabazu mgba tupu ọ zawa ọkamgba. ebe ọ fọrọbụ ala mmụọ ndị mmadụ: gbụpụasọ! ọjaadịlị: ọ bụmụbụọjaadịlịkwurunke a unu mara ugounu ga-etunye m, dewenụya. mgbe m si ala mmụọ lọta unu ejiriya bịa zute m. omeire: onye na-ekwu? ọjaadịlị: mụ bụ ọjaadịlị na-ekwu omeire: anya ọ dịkwagi mma? ọjaadịlị: ala mmụọ…ọjaadịlị jekọmgba n'ala mmụọ. (48-49). translation ọjaadịlị: i t i s r ema in ing one p l ace . everything worth doing is worth doing well. he who wants to take a title should go through the entire process and take a full title. that means that ọjaadịlị will complete all the wrestling there is so he can be called the great wrestler. the next task is to wrestle in the spirit world. people: may the gods forbid! ojaadili: i, ojaadili, said this: that title you want to confer on me, keep it; when i come back from the land of spirits, use it to welcome me. esijeeọgụ otu onye. gịnwa otuedo, ị naapụtakpọọomeire.sịyanaezechọrọyaugbu a ugbu a. onye ọbụlajeekwadoo, bịaọsọ (26). translation community: let us go and bring guns and knives; let us see humans and animals who will vacate umungodo for the other. ọkagbue: wait! my instruction is that once anyone is ready, let him come to this community ground. ọkọnti, tell your neighbour ọjaadili that everybody is wanted here so we can deliberate on how to embark on this fight. you, otuedo, while coming, tell omeire that the king wants him now. everyone, go and get ready and come back fast (26). the king's cabinet agrees to go into the land of the animal together with the rest of the community and the ruthless animal that has been tormenting their community. furthermore, there is a common adage in the igbo cosmology “ọnwụ ga-egbu nwankita anaghị ekwe ya anụ isi nsi” it simply means, the death that will kill the dog does not allow it perceive the smell of faeces. relating this to ọjaadịlị's life, despite all the warnings given to him by the elders in the community, he went ahead with his plans by journeying into the land of the spirits to defeat them and come back victorious. ọjaadịlị can be classified as an anti-conventional man. he has his approach and ideology towards life; whatever he sets his mind to is what he does. he also does not tolerate anybody's interference. ọjaadịlị: o fọlaotu ebe, a nyụchaa nsị, ọ tụpịaghịọnụ ọ bụrụ otoro. onye chọrọ ichiọzọ ga-echizu echizu. yabụ n a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 151 152 war to the land of spirits? go for this is your last journey. i say to you, go and meet your doom. ojaadili: words of a man in a drunken state for saying this is my last journey. was he there when the creator created ojaadili? as he sees the spirits, can he see the creator too? (50-51). i m a g e r y, s y m b o l i s m a n d i c o n i c m y s t i c i s m i n characterization of ọjaadịlị ogwumagana (chameleon) as the name implies, ogwumagana, the chameleon, is known for its ability to adapt to its environment. this conforms to ojaadili's intentions rather than creating them. at the beginning of the play, ogwumagana came as a messenger sent by god to check if what god created was good enough. in subsequent scenes he was able to change form and become ojaadili's flutist after the demise of udumeje. this is a point in which the playwrights try to establish that in igbo cosmology, there is a belief in shape-shifting, where any creature can take any form to achieve whatever it wants. atansi also reveals that, in ogbunike, oyi local government area of anambra state, nigeria, shapeshifting (ihi ehihi or ihi agu) was in existence, and it was a cult; before an individual will begin to change, he must be initiated, given a small pot of fire that will be kept in the forest. once he wants to change the form, he goes into the forest where the pot is kept and says some incantations. this act is not something an individual will carry out with evil intentions. however, it is usually carried out during periods of war or whenever there is danger in the community. misusing the mystical powers to harm others is why the dibia in charge of the cult covered the pot of fire so that no one can shape-shift. raymond arazu, a traditional healer and catholic priest, notes that: the phenomenon is called ihi ehihi in igbo tongue. the man with the magical faculty sleeps in his bed. at the omeire: who is talking? ojaadili: it is me ojaadili talking! omeire: are you in your right senses? ojaadili: the land of the spirits…ojaadili is going there to wrestle (48-49). however, ọjaadịlị's downfall is caused by hubris. his tragic flaw as a hero leads him on a journey of no return. being a man who is full of himself and anti-conventional, he wants to do things his way without consulting or seeking the advice of the elders or listening to the mouthpiece of the gods (dibia). omeire: ọjaadịlị, jewe ala mmụọna chi giegbụọgitaa. o r i j u r u a f ọ , c h e c h i y a ọ g ụ ! nwaetoghịetowara ọgọdọikuku fee, o tie, okokookoo! j e w e , n a m b e re d e n a a n y ị k w a n ụ d i k e . o n y e g w a r a g i n a n a n ị o t u o n y e n a e j e ọ g ụ n a b e ndịmmụọ.jewenaijesigo ọjaadịlị: okwu mmanya! ọ na-asi m n a m ụ e j e s i g o . m g b e c h u k w u ụkpab ịkere ọjaad ị l ị omei reọnọya? kaomeirena-ahu ndi mmụọ, ọ na-ahụ chukwu ụkpabi? (50-51). translation omeire: ọjaadịlị, go to the land of the spirits and meet your doom. one that challenges his chi to a duel because he has overfed. a child undertaking adventures meant for adults will be blown away when calamity strikes. eventualities often overshadow heroes. who told you that one man alone can embark on a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 153 154 conclusion these findings reveal thatit is sufficient to say that this paper was able to use the mystical and self-awakening journey of ojaadili and his fall from grace to grass as a metaphor to examine the igbo culture of destiny, retributive justice, spirituality, and the forte of one's personal god as seen in the journey of ojaadili. the paper also x-rayed the richness of folkism in ọjaadịlị. materials from the vastness of oral tradition are skillfully produced in the play to organize the structure of oral traditional performance, which includes music, storytelling, dance, and other visual aesthetics. the study has proved that folkism effectively educates young and old people. due to erroneous perceptions, the study also discussed negative trends and beliefs, which society models through some modernity to belittle the igbo way of life and spiritual values in contemporary nigeria. there is little doubt that there is a wealth of literary works written in several nigerian languages, and the academics point out the challenges of translating them into english for a wider audience. as a result, the experts advise that many of these literary treasures be made apparent by having them translated into a widely accepted language, such as english. by doing so, the awareness to defend igbo cultural dynamics, spirituality, and worldview from denigration and malignity will be realized. the study also recommends more performances of igbo plays or adaptations into films for a wider audience. same time, his etheric double (the animated astral body) assumes the shape of a leopard (agu) or takes possession of an actual leopard or any other beast which goes into human habitations to produce the desired effect. there are families reputed for such feats (91). arazu's position agrees with the assertion of atansi but further acknowledges the deep-rooted mystical and esoteric knowledge found in igbo society and captured by odunke artist in ojadili. for example, ogwumagana, a character in the play, can also be classified as the people's conscience, who is always there to judge or applaud people. he can be observed as the authorial voice in the play. he also played a vital role in ọjaadịlị's life. as man's conscience is always there to guide and judge him at any point in life, even when every other person or creature has deserted him to walk the journey of life alone, ogwumagana can stay with ọjaadịlị till the very end, when everyone else has left him. he went to the extent of bringing ojaadili back after being defeated by mmuo isi ato (ọjaadịlị 's chi). ogwumagana is anticonventional;it takes whichever form it wishes to at any point, yet it has a common purpose with the being he guides: to achieve what is of great importance to an individual. mmụọ isi atọ he is the smallest of the spirits that ọjaadịlị battled within the land of the spirit but the strongest of them all and a representation of ọjaadịlị's personal god (chi). however, despite all the warnings ogwumagana gave ọjaadịlị, he neglected him and went ahead to fight mmụọ isi atọ. knowing the power he possesses and the authority he commands, he is the last person to encounter ọjaadịlị, yet he defeats him without laying a finger on him. he can take charge and control forces beyond the physical realm and go farther into the spiritual realm. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 155 156 nwaozuzu, uche-chinemere.“music, narration, mimesis and the mytho-epic essence: a folkist interpretationof two plays.”ikenga: international journal of inst itute of african studies 18.1 (2018): 23-31. odunke artist. ojaadili. ibadan: oxford university press, 1977. ogoko, albert o. igbo theoryof knowledge:theoretical and methodological consideration ( ) h�p://www.ajol.info accessed: may 03, 2024. onuorah, chioma. “things fall apart: a portrayal of cultural and traditional belief systems of the igbos.” chinua achebe and the convolution of immortality; reassessing the writers about new realities (2018): 202-218. sabine jell-bahlsen.mammy water in igbo culture.ogbuide of oguta lake. enugu: ezu books limited, 2014. umeh, john. after god is dibia: igbo cosmology, divination and sacred science in nigeria. london: karnak house, 1997. velkley, richard. “the tension in beautiful: on culture and civilization in rousseau and german phi losophy.” being after rousseau: philosophy and culture in question2002 11-30. ( )accessed h�ps://www.amazon.in june 18, 2019. personal interviews may-blossom brown. personal interview. january 17, 2019. eugene chiwetalu atansi. personal interview. may 28, 2019. john anene umeh. personal interview. may 29, 2019. works cited zuckerman, n (2015) heidegger and the essence of dasein. the southern journal of philosophy 53(4):493–516. arinze, francis. sacrifice in igbo tradition religion. indiana: st. stephen press, 2008. arazu, raymond. my life's journey. nsukka: university of nigeria press limited, 2016. egwuda, felix. the quintessence of african indigenous theatre. enugu: quarter press limited, 2014. ekwunife, anthony. consecrationinigbotraditionalreligion. enugu: snaap press limited, 2003. enekwe, ossie. o. igbo mask: the oneness of ritual and theatre. lagos: nigeria magazine, 1987. erojikwe, ikechukwu, ndubuisi nnanna and jude aguzie “onyekulufa and atu-mma: breaking the barriers of gender discrimination in health-related indigenous masquerade performances in nigeria” the creative artist: a journal of theatre and media studies 8.1 (2014): 83-96. logan, peter melville. “on culture: edward b. tylor's primitive culture” ( )accessed: h�p://www.branchcollec�ve.org march 20, 2024. nwaru, christian. upholding the igbo cultural heritage through the theatre.( )accessed: july, 2019. h�p://dx.doi.org nwaozuzu, gabriella.eruru. awka: format publishers, 2009. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 1 2 3 4ikechukwu erojikwe, ph.d, ndubuisi nnanna, ph.d tony-ugbejie obiorah ekwueme, ph.d, richard umezinwa : 5 6 7cindy anene ezeugwu, ph.d, ifunanya chiwetalu uche-chinemere nwaozuzu, ph.d:intersections of cultural dynamics and igbo spirituality in ọdụnke artists'ojaadịlị 157 158 http://www.ajol.info https://www.amazon.in http://www.branchcollective.org http://dx.doi.org/10.426/adr.2015.32004 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 chapter three.cdr an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem clement eloghosa odia, ph.d department of english and literature faculty of arts university of benin, benin city, edo state, nigeria. orcid.org/0000-0003-4871-5841 & florence osaguona okpalaku department of english and literature faculty of arts university of benin, benin city, edo state, nigeria. osamedeokpas@gmail.com 08022111748 abstract soyinka's “abiku” is a significant counterpoint to that of clarkbekederemo in that, it emphasises the unbreakable nature of reincarnation while arguing that all efforts and rituals deployed in breaking the reincarnation cycle are futile. language is integral to the construction of meaning. equally true is the role of literary semiotics in the interpretation of sign systems in the entire process. this essay, integrative and analytic, reads rituals in soyinka's “abiku” in order to convey the various meanings inscribed by the ritual signs in the poem. it also establishes the main thrust of the poet's argument as it concerns the artistic deployment of ritual patterns and their significance. the essay employs textual analytic method to examine how the various ritual experiences fail to break the reincarnation cycle. the ethnopoetic 106 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem mailto:osamedeokpas@gmail.com ritual studies has expanded beyond religion and anthropology to other fields like humanities, pragmatics, management sciences, sociology, psychology and many more, giving it an interdisciplinary status. for this reason, the definition has evolved over time in line with its interdisciplinary manifestations. from the perspective of religion, ritual, according to holy nelson-becker and kimberly gangster, repetition and time are the two defining qualities of ritual because the action thus performed conforms to a rhythm, this time, of repetition and sequences which is time bound [154]. additionally, they explain that ritual encompasses tangible symbols, rites or actions. in most cases the rite and symbols have connotative significance as they express certain values, norms and culture. qiao wu defines ritual as patterns that must be observed in the expression of words and action or art [28]. qian liu and hiasying wei explain that rituals involve symbolic events, that is, events interpretable from their cultural relevance to society [25]. inayat ali explains that rituals involve the enactment of a cultural belief or value through a pattern of repeated actions [18]. martin hoondert draws attention to the formal, the stylized and the spatio-temporal elements that constitute the enactment of rituals [iv]. literary semiotics is one of the interdisciplinary links to semiotics. it emphasizes the interpretation of literary texts by paying attention to the various meanings associated with the sign systems deployed in the text. necat kumral explains that semiotics involves the active engagement with the text because the reader can interact with the text on several levels of language and derive many significance from the text [32]. additionally, stephanie walsh mathews posits that the semiotic signs employed in the texts always have connections with meaning structures in the cultural and traditional domains of the society on which the text in question is based [33]. this essay employs ethnopoetics to read the different ways the poet exposes the futility in breaking the reincarnation cycle in theory is used to read the poem and tease out the paradoxical implications inherent in the pervasive cycles of reincarnation and ritual acts performed to stop it. the essay identifies five main ritual acts employed by the abiku parents to avert further reincarnations. it therefore argues that these ritual actions are ineffective in averting the above aim. the essay concludes that ritual fortification, ritual sacrifice, ritual burial, ritual identification and libations are vain methods of breaking reincarnation cycles in african worldview. keywords: reincarnation, cycle, ritual, signification, fortification and libation. introduction the subject of reincarnation in modern africa literature, as entrenched in mythology and culture, constitutes and shapes the belief systems of africans especially their conception of the world. poetry, being one of the genres of literature, has often been used to present the manifold nature of reincarnation. john pepper clark-bekederemo blazed the trail in this respect with the poet's appeal to the spirit child to show mercy on the parents in the collection a reed in the tide (1965). it is equally intriguing to note in soyinka's poem with similar title dwelling on reincarnation myth, but with a different focus entirely as published in idanre and other poems (1968). soyinka's abiku poem, like clarkbekederemo's version, is argumentative in content and structure. while the argument is conducted by the poet persona in the former, it is the abiku child who speaks throughout in the latter. the essential argument is centred round the method of appeal which the abiku parents use in persuading the abiku child. the child speaker looks at the placatory rituals offered by the parents and denounces them as ineffective in breaking the reincarnation cycle. thus the main thrust of soyinka's poem is the futility in stopping the reincarnation cycle. 107 108 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem cycle: in vain your bangles cast charmed circles at my feet i am abiku, calling for the first and the repeated time. (iop, 28) in strict ethnopoetic sense, the cultural context of this poem is an asset as it enriches the interpretation of words and objects. for example, words like “cast” and “circles” are symbolic, just as “bangles” and “charms” are culturally circumscribed. these objects are believed to be potent weapons of interrupting the mischievous cycle of birth, death, burial and rebirth, otherwise described as reincarnation. the act of casting bangles and releasing circles of charms represent the act of spiritual fortification to which the newly born abiku child is subjected in order to hinder him from tormenting the family. the yoruba cultural mythology believes that such a fortification will help the child stay alive or defy the powers that set the reincarnation in motion. hence, the cultural context of this poem is helpful in arriving at an accurate interpretation of the various ritual acts in the poem. the “bangles” are tangible chains that are expected to bind the abiku child to the family. it however evokes a spiritual reality in that it suggests a spiritual chain or power that ties the hands and feet of the child. in order words, these bangles are the powers that are believed to have potency and expected to hold the child in a kind of restriction. although the parents, like several members of the yoruba society, believe in the efficacy of these bangles to keep the abiku from tormenting the family, however, the child speaker does not think so. he actually rebukes their effrontery and derides their effort at binding him. the child speaker's voice is strident in the condemnation of ritual activities connected with stopping the abiku child from reincarnating. this vision is sustained as the speaker derides the ritual of casting “bangles” and “charmed circles” at the feet of the abiku child. the significance of this ritual the chosen poem. ethnopoetics in the words of ezekiel alembi, refers to “the aesthetic and poetic structuring of oral art” [19]. viewed from this angle, it is used in reading works which contain oral poetics whether in oral or written discourses. also, it is applied to texts when the aesthetics and structure of orature are being studied. dell hymes and dennis tedlock are two notable proponents of this theory. others include pertti antonen and lauri harvilahti. two schools of thought have piloted the theory: the american and the finnish respectively. john miles foley also provides another insight into the cultural approach to ethnopoetics. foley asserts that the theory requires the incorporation of cultured tradition which are also noted with the performer and audience. foley emphasises the context of performance as the primary domain of meaning. he warns against disregarding the domain of performance as it has the capacity to eliminate the dependence on the denotative meaning rather than the connotative (9). also inferable from foley's argument is that metonymy and utterance in the text can only convey meaning when the auditor is present at the arena where the verbal art is performed. in the context of this essay, hervilahti 's methodological model is applied because it takes into consideration the implication of culture in understanding the abiku myth which underpins soyinka's perspective on reincarnation. repudiation of ritual acts soyinka's abiku poem repudiates ritual acts carried out to break the reincarnation cycle. in the poet's view, all such acts are “vain”, meaning impotent, ineffective and profitless. five main ritual acts are explored in this section in order to show how the poet repudiates them. these acts include ritual fortification, ritual sacrifice, ritual identification, ritual burial and ritual libation. the poem opens with a firm repudiation of ritual fortification, done with the intention of breaking the reincarnation 109 110 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem items through a rhetorical question: must i weep for goats and cowries for palm oil and the sprinkled ash: yams do not sprout in amulets to earth abiku's limbs. (iop, 29) the statement which the child appears to be making is that goats and cowries, palm oil and the sprinkled ash are symbolic of ritual sacrificial items and they are always presented as means of warding off the abiku child and by extension, breaking the reincarnation cycle. in the speaker's opinion, these items are presented in vain because as things stand, they will be inadequate to stop the child from reincarnating. the entire sacrifice has one purpose: “to earth abiku's limbs”. this means to keep the child alive on earth and in the process, end the reign of reincarnation. according to the speaker, “yams do not sprout in amulets”. as yams do not survive in amulets, so is the abiku child not expected to thrive on earth. this is a metaphorical expression that underscores the glaring sense of impossibility. therefore, it is impossible to achieve the purpose of keeping the abiku on earth. this proverb is highly communicative. it amplifies the vanity in breaking the reincarnation cycle. thus, this proverb reinforces the invincibility of the abiku child. leaving the ritual sacrifice, there is the focus on ritual identification. the poem abounds with ritual identification carried out by the parents of the abiku child to discourage and prevent the reincarnation. like the ones before it, the speaker believes that this ritual will end up in vain. hence, the child boasts: so when the snail is burnt in his shell, whet the heated fragment, brand me deeply on the breast. you must know him when abiku calls again. (29) the branding of the abiku child at death is supposed to aid the parents of the child to recognise him when he is reborn. the cycle of ritual identification subsists as long as the child's act pales into irrelevance when the child speaker describes all such casting of bangles as “vain”. thus, the child persona presents the picture of an impetuous power which is capable of overthrowing any effort at defying the re-incarnation process. this fact is reinforced by the child speaker's envisaging of the reincarnation as an inviolable experience within the traditional african religion and tradition. the above is contexualised by the following lines: “i am abiku, calling for the first/and the repeated time”. the word, “calling” is a euphemism for birth and “the repeated time”, evokes several other inter-related experiences of death, burial and rebirth. the child speaker seems to be mocking his parents who fortify him in order to break the reincarnation cycle to desist from it, noting that such an effort will not yield any positive result. as for the speaker, he will always be reborn to outlive his unvanquishable existence and power over all schemes contrived to fortify the abiku. that the child has been calling on the same household shows that reincarnation is well and alive and it explains the child's invincibility as well as confirms the vanity in breaking the vicious cycle of birth, death, burial and rebirth. the repudiation flows from the exultant language of the poem anchored on the tone of defiance and self-assurance. the choice of words, especially “vain”, operates on a symbolic level. even though the speaker has in mind the ineffectuality of ritual fortification, it however assumes an overriding thematic preoccupation. without repeating this word, it echoes throughout the entire poem, as impossible, worthless, void, baseless, fruitless and profitless. thus, this dominant idea of vanity is meant to discourage those who are still bent on breaking the reincarnation cycle. he summons them indirectly to give up the idea. the vision being articulated in this poem is that the abiku child is a difficult phenomenon to deal with. another ritual act which the abiku child speaker repudiates is the ritual of sacrifice. the speaker presents these 111 112 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem with the traditional yoruba cultural worldview on the mystery of death as a kind of return back home. the burning of the snail releases the appealing aroma which offers a seal to those who live beyond. secondly, it increases the branding power of the shell. the breast is an important part of ritual identification. it is the cultural site for such a ritual process. at death, the child when suspected to be an abiku, gets a ritual identification ceremony done immediately to expose the duplicity of the child and bid him a permanent goodbye to that family. this process is said to break reincarnation. as a twist of irony, the child speaker laughs at such a ritual process because the child believes ritual identification is ineffective to prevent the tormentor child from returning to the family. hence, soyinka seems to repudiate this age long held belief. soyinka introduces another type of ritual this time, it is the ritual burial. this involves the repetitive process of burying the dead abiku child. this ritual is amplified through the squirrel teeth and the riddle of the palm metaphors. here is an excerpt from the poem: i am the squirrel teeth, cracked the riddle of the palm. remember this, and dig me deeper still into the god's swollen foot. (iop, 29) the squirrel teeth and the riddle of the palm are two metaphorical constructions with which soyinka advances the sense of triumph over human efforts to defeat or break the vicious cycle of reincarnation. for the speaker, the “squirrel teeth” represents the child's potent power, sharp and unrelenting in its ability to crack any hard shell. with this dental weapon, the speaker is able to break any barrier erected against the child. no matter how hard the people contrive, the abiku is the squirrel teeth to destroy it. hence, soyinka employs these metaphors to explain how vain the effort to bind the abiku and stop the reincarnation. for this reason, the child suggests, to those preparing to bury him, reincarnation remains unbroken. as for the speaker, when the abiku child dies, the ritual identification is conducted sequel to the child's burial. as a way of mocking their effort, the child repudiates their ritual of identification through sarcastic language charged with ridicule. the child dares the parents to brand him “deeply on the breast” and that it will yet be unable to deter his reincarnation. thus, the abiku child is invincible to such a ritual conducted to hinder him from reincarnating to the same family. the significance of ritual identification is that it draws attention to the antics of the abiku child. it appears that the abiku enjoys illusive existence, and as such, prefers to operate without being known. when one takes this nature of the abiku into consideration, it becomes easy to appreciate the depth of details that goes into the process of ritual identification in the poem. the snail is an important object for the ritual. notice the evocation of the olfactory imagery when the speaker recommends the burning of the snail in order to “whet the heated fragment”. this act is a form of offering to the spirit world to put a seal on the existence of the dead child. it marks a significant end to the bond between the living and the dead. hence, this snail, with its steaming hotness, is used to “brand” the abiku child “on the breast” as deep as possible. the aim as the speaker reveals, is to make the parents to identify the abiku child when next he is reborn. a closer attention to the language especially the linguistic signs will help improve the reader's understanding of the poem. the linguistic sign “calls” in the closing line of the above stanza functions as a metaphor. it compares the way a visitor comes to one's home to the way the abiku child is born to a particular family. every visitor is expected to return to their respective homes after the visit. similarly, the abiku child operates like a visitor. the visitor image emphasises the child's brief life span on earth. on a symbolic level, this sense of calling is a reincarnative experience. paradoxically, the abiku child is a visitor, who after a brief stay, is bound to return home (the spirit world). this aligns 113 114 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem the way i came, where the ground is wet with mourning. (29) before examining the treatment of ritual libation, it is important to explain its ethnopoetic socio-cultural significance. firstly, ritual libation functions as a medium through which the living affirms their attachment to the dead. secondly, it reassures the dead that their death is not in vain or that they are not forgotten. therefore, each libation shows the affinity of the living with the dead. thirdly, it is a medium through which the living pacifies the dead. it is against this fact that the ritual libation, which the parents of the abiku child performs becomes meaningful. in their attempt to avert the vicious cycle of reincarnation, they offer libation to the dead. instead of becoming an action of pacification, the libation becomes an act of provocation. the abiku child says each libation points him to where he came, that is, where the parents mourn. this is a clever irony as the expectation of the parents to stop the reincarnation fails to materialize. there is a link between the sense of repetition of the rebirth and the sense of death associated with the child. each experience seems to extenuate the other. just as the child keeps being reborn thus embodying the reincarnation process similarly, the ritual of pouring libation exacerbates the death of the child. thus, each act of libation “points” the abiku child “near” the grave. the act of pouring libation functions as a paradox. the libation ought to serve as a means of pacification, but as things have turned out, it has become a way of quickening the process of death for the abiku child. for this reason, the image of wetness generated by the “mourning” parents underscores their helplessness in the entire process of averting the reincarnation. the message being canvassed is that even the ritual libation is inadequate to advert the reincarnation which appears to have rendered the child “ageless”, a clear euphemism for the several years of reincarnation. ritual fortification, ritual identification and ritual libation deployed to stem, the abiku child's reincarnation cycle, are ineffectual. this that they “dig” the grave as deep as possible and bury him and that despite the depth of the grave, the child is sure to surmount the barrier of the grave and carry out his reincarnation. again, this demonstrates the vanity of ritual burial as a way of ending the cycle of reincarnation. it is important at this juncture to add that the semiotic sign (“foot”) in the expression “the god's swollen foot” is a euphemism for grave. this expression is a pleasant way of conveying the sense of death and burial in order to avoid offending public sensitivity. notice the clever metaphorical recreation of the burial ground. the grave is compared to a swollen foot. this evokes the visual imagery of a heap of sand. that it is a foot, suggests the earth, which is the home of all dead persons. this visual power is to graphically depict the picture of a burial ground. this is done with astonishing adroitness. this poem may seem to sacrifice narrative presentation to suggestive evocation, but given its basic purpose, this is to its advantage. soyinka's use of language is consistent especially with presenting the child speaker's abjurate posture to the various ritual acts constructed to break the abiku reincarnation cycle. the metaphorical equation of the abiku child to both the squirrel teeth and the riddle of the palm represents the impossibility or the vanity of breaking the reincarnation cycle. the language also fuses with the tone to express the sense of defiance, ridicule and condemnation of those who feel that by burying the dead child in a deep grave, they will be able to curtail the operation of the abiku child's reincarnation. in african cultural society, ritual libation is a common way of connecting with the dead. in soyinka's poem, this ritual is presented ironically as a catalyst of reincarnation and not a means of ending it. this is the main preoccupation of the fifth stanza, and of course, the opening line of the sixth stanza: once and the repeated time, ageless though i puke, and when you pour libations, each finger points me near 115 116 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem f o l e y , j o h n m i l e s . t h e s i n g e r o f t a l e s i n performance.bloomington and indianapolis, 1995. kumral, necat. “a semiotic approach to the reading of literary texts in efl classes”.gazi university journal ofgazi educational faculty. vol. 42, no. 1, 2022, pp. 521-539. lin, qian and haiying wei.“rituals in service: a literature review” journal of service science and management. vol. 13, no. 1, 2020, pp. 18-37 dol: 10.4236/jssm. 2020./3/0/2. m a t h e w s , s t e p h a n i e wa l s h . “ s e m i o t i c s ” . o x f o rd bibl iographies .online heimenery, 2017, np. doi:10/1093/obo/9780190221911-0024 nelson-becker.holy and kimberly sangster.“recapturing the p o w e r o f r i t u a l t o e n h a n c e c o m m u n i t y i n aging”.journal of religion, spirituality and aging. vol. 31, no. 2, 2018, pp. 153-167 dol:10.1080/15528030, 2018.1532858. soyinka, wole. idanre and other poems.eyre methuen, 1968. tedlock, dennis. the spoken word and the work of interpretation.university of pennsylvania press, 1983. wu , qiao. “the structure of ritual and the epistemological approach to ritual study”.the journal of chinese sociology. vol. 11, 2018, pp. 17-30. essay demonstrates that ritual fortification, identification and libation are impotent in breaking the reincarnation cycle. conclusion this essay has accounted for the futility in breaking the reincarnation cycle and in this regard, it has explored five main ritual acts which undergird this futility. the futility is as a result of fortification because charms and sacrifices employed by the abiku parents have failed to outwit the cycle of reincarnation. it proceeds to examine the second reason, which anchors on the vanity of ritual identification as a way of breaking the cycle of reincarnation. thus, the third posits that breaking the reincarnation cycle has been impossible owing to the inefficaciousness of ritual libation deployed by the abiku parents. these reasons help to affirm the invincibility of the abiku child while emphasizing the futility in breaking the vicious cycle of reincarnation. soyinka's poem repudiates ritual acts deployed in breaking reincarnation cycle. as the poem has affirmed, ritual symbolism especially its various manifestations are ineffective in the task of stopping reincarnation process. works cited alembic, ezekiel.the construction of abanyole perceptions of death through oral funeral poetry. unpublished phd thesis university of helsinki, finland, 2002. ali, inayat. “rituals of containment: many pandemics, body politics, and social dramas during covid-19 in pakistan”. medical sociology 2021, pp. 18-30. dol:10.3389/ fsoc.2021.648149. bauman, richard. “verbal art as performance”. american anthropologist, vol. 77, 1975. 117 118 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 clement eloghosa odia, ph.d & florence osaguona okpalaku: an ethnopoetic interpretation of ritual acts in soyinka's abiku poem page 53 page 54 page 55 page 56 page 57 page 58 page 59 untitled-1 interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance udeh, bryan jachukwuike department of english, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university bryanudeh9@gmail.com abstract in every literate society, poetry has always stood as a medium for buttressing the social, economic and political conditions of a community of people. poetry has always endeavored to address issues concerning human conditions such as poverty, bad governance, marginalization, political disenchantment, ethnic struggles, illiteracy, ignorance, injustice, and lack of basic amenities. nigerian poets over the years, have always drawn their themes and milieu from societal issues, political and situational changes in the country. this research studies the boundaries of poetry and politics against the backdrop of national discourse and particularly examines chumaudeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance. this paper further investigates and portrays the extent to which poetry has endeavored to discuss, address and confront political problems and societal changes as exhibited in these works under study. the theoretical framework employed in the research is the sociological approach. this study concludes that in aligning poetry with politics, issues pervading nations are given a literary identity and in confronting the political situations and disenchantments that have belabored the average nigerian character, the peoples' dilemma is brought to limelight and probable solutions, proffered. key words: politics, poetry, literature, and political disenchantment. introduction th in the early 16 century, literary writings aroused as a result of man's effort to document the activities and happenings in his environment. throughout the annals of history, literary writings especially poetry have always endeavored to address societal issues and human conditions in any given contemporary society. creative writings and literary criticisms are usually propelled by a number of themes and motifs. however, such motifs could aim at protest against oppression, ethnic struggles, bad governance, poverty, political emancipation and disenchantment. the type of literary writings found in africa, especially in nigeria can be termed as a literature of protest and commitment, simply because it tends to confront socio-political problems in any given african society. however, this paper presents poetry as a potent tool for social criticism and proper political re-direction as it relates to the multiplicity of societal issues that are predominant in the nigerian society. nnolim charles is of the opinion that every generation of writers, have always written with burning desires to address the societal issues in their society (5). this implies that writers especially poets in nigeria have been pushed to address these societal issues through their writings. ifejirika echezona speaks of poetry thus: poetry involves a profound expression of one's feeling, thoughts, emotions, attitudes, perceptions, ideas, philosophies and mood about almost everything which attracts one's attention and makes an impression, negative or positive one. these phenomenon on which poetry could be written include the universe and its contents, man and his environment, god and all his creations… politics, economy, religion, culture, family. poets are the most sensitive of other literary writers and their sensitivity is often expressed in the most figurative, economical, emotive, and connotative more than novelists and playwrights. (1) coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 udeh, bryan jachukwuike: interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance 159 160 societal re-orientation in nigeria. through their literary writings, they have portrayed serious concerns for the extent of societal conditions like poverty, illiteracy, injustice, marginalization, ethnic conflicts, and political disenchantment as predominant socio-political issues found in nigeria. these outlined sociopolitical conditions forms the statement of the problem deduced in this research. the theoretical framework of this research hinges on sociological criticism. sociological criticism is a theory and a critical school of thought that has its concern geared towards literary works that reflect the conditions of people and the society. this paper explores the works of chuma-udeh ngozi and asika ikechukwu as poets toiling together for humanity and posterity. through their poetic prowess, they have contributed their quota towards combating the multiplicity of socio-political problems found in their immediate environment. this scholarship therefore becomes an attempt to work towards a relatively redefined a nigerian society that will be free from bad governance, poverty, and political disenchantment. it will also attempt to trace theses societal problems as it affects the average nigerian character. this paper will also examine the influence of poetry as potent tool wielded by the nigerian poet in the course of advocating for socio-political positive changes in his immediate contemporary society. asika in operation python dance states; remove these guns from our hearts remove these bullets from our faces guns will not quell our voices it will not drown our tears only peace can sink this song only love can halt this match only dialogue will calm this spirit only visible actions can evaporate this struggle remove the guns from our hearts! (12). here the persona sees poetry as a means to peaceful chuma-udeh buttresses the tenacity of the nigerian poetry towards the reorientation of the society mindset. she is of the firm opinion that poetry should be geared towards the political orientation of the society: “the nigerian poetry is studied herein in its true nature as a part and parcel of the historical sketch of the contemporary socio-political events of every given period of the nation's struggle. the type of poetry found in nigeria becomes a revelation of the country's socio-political life, depiction of the inner psyche, aspirations, yearnings, dreams and mental characteristics of the group of people that made up nigerian nation”(5). over the years, nigerian writers especially poets have drawn their milieu and themes from situational changes and societal happenings in their contemporary society. the two nigerian poets understudy is not an exception. the type of poetry projected by these nigerian poets, borders on the evolution and complexities of changes in the nigerian history, politics, economy and cultural developments. however, most nigerian poets through their writings, have endeavored to emphasize and re-echo on the importance and improvement of human conditions and social structures in the nigerian contemporary society. moreover, this paper presents chuma-udeh ngozi and asika ikechukwu as two nigerian poets who have a similar perception and ideology that buttresses the condition of the average nigerian character. just like every other literary artist, they have surveyed, studied and analyzed their immediate environment and therefore have been propelled to write as a result of the happenings and societal issues which they discovered in their contemporary society. their collections of poetry understudy are two powerful literary outputs which has endeavored to touch the core essence of human existence in nigeria. the poets understudy have perceived poetry as a potent tool which can be used to advocate for proper political redirection and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 udeh, bryan jachukwuike: interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance 161 162 plagued by the eerie chants of despair; the forlorn voices of the deprived and disenchanted (13). the persona denounces poverty in its entirety and also portrays the extent of class consciousness in the nigerian society. chuma-udeh voices out poverty as a recurrent societal condition in nigeria. she talks about the deplorable wide gulf between the rich and the poor. she explores the political atmosphere in the country and points an accusing finger to the insensitivity of the people in power. one alluring characteristics of this collection of poetry is its virtually unavoidable connection with socio-political realities in the nation's body polity. the poverty and destitution portrayed in the chants of despair is as a result of socio-political problems. all around the poor were reminders of what they were and of their impact. they live among rich who flaunt their plentiful before them. the poet gives the true definition of poverty thus; i tell you my brother, poverty is not a disease poverty is far from an affliction poverty is not lack or want. i say as monday is monday and friday is friday, poverty is an aliment real poverty is a fate worse than a cancerous virus it gives no chance.it eats up everything. it is worse than a corrosive acid. it devours a man and leaves him like a walking carcass it makes a man a shadow thing…lifeless but living poverty sucks up a man like an orange in in the hands of a hungry school child poverty cracks a man like the palm kernel and sucks him up like he is the nut inside when it come, it comes with all its relations and reduces a man to a mirage. my brother, poverty is a taboo. and marginalization as recurrent societal situations in the nigerian society. he sees poetry as a tool for x-raying the pressing contemporary issues in the country. asika uses poetry as a vehicle for political mediation and social control. he has used poetry as a means of encouraging dialogues and peaceful negotiations to solve civil unrest, political upheavals and ethnic conflicts in the country. this poet understudy tries to re-echo on the agitations of the indigenous people of biafra to the nigerian government. chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair is an indepth analysis of the contemporary nigerian society: these poems with all their jumbled vulgarities with all their clustered misgivings with all their chaotic condemnations with all their frenzied uncertainties with all their turbulent confusions are written for the love of my country a land flowing with milk and honey a land of plenty and surplus a land more than the promised land dampened by depravity and degeneracy echoing with the eerie squeaks of the poor and hungry rumbling with the weird whining of the depraved and disillusionment reverberating with the bizarre yelping of the down trodden as long as injustice persists in our society as long as two third and more of the citizens in my rich oil country live in perpetual hunger and depravity as long as the disparity in my country fosters and furthers as long as the gulf between the haves and the have nots breeds and broadens the country's conscience will always be troubled and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 udeh, bryan jachukwuike: interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance 163 164 which the apparent representation of the stark reality of the contemporary quandaries in her society is portrayed (123). this implies that poetry in its entirety brings to limelight the conditions, socio-political events and developments of the nigerian contemporary society. moreso, chuma-udeh believes that poetry no doubt serves as a framework for a discursive understanding and analysis of the nigerian society and its history as well as its contemporary woes (122). through the poetic lenses of the poets understudy, we see their superhuman efforts in bringing to the limelight the problems that has belabored a society of people fore-grounded by multiplicity of societal issues in nigeria. ordinarily, in line with the symbiotic relationship between the poet and his contemporary society, chuma-udeh uses her poetry to negotiate the pathetic plight of her impoverished, oppressed, and exploited and class conscious society of people in a bid to attract attention, proffer an alternative vision and advocate for proper political redirection. her literary writings raises a number of political questions, provoked by multitude of socioeconomic responses and offers a clear insight into the intrigues surrounding the nigerian contemporary society. for the poets under study, poetic activism serves as a platform for a discursive understanding and analysis on the extent of socio-political problems and its effects on the entire nation. in the context of the poetic collections, it is therefore not far-fetched to describe the poets under study as poet-crusaders who have used their poetry to mediate and intervene in the social contradictions of the nation's polity.for chuma-udeh ngozi and ikechukwu asika, poetry is a kind of public duty which they owe to their people, to expose, reconstruct, and negate the actualities of political disenchantment in nigeria. the core essence of this research is to prove that the poets under study intersects with the realities of political disillusionment and as such has come to be a formidable and reliable voice in nigerian literature. their poetic panoramahas it is evil! it is hell! (11). chuma-udeh ardently believes that poverty is a gruesome fate. she agitates for a re-definition of the relationship between the rich and the poor. the poet presents a society in chaos, a society hanging on a keg of gun powder, ready to explode. she combines truth and precision in a wonderful analysis of life. her poetry is not a-political, but principle of politics. this lends her work open to a variety of political spectrum. the stark of poverty manifest in every facet of the common man's life; in the church, in the market place, the daily interactions and relationships between the two classes in the society and even in the streets they walk on. for chuma-udeh, poetry becomes a medium for political intercession and social control. the task in this paper is an exploration of her use of poetry to expose the socio-cultural and political dilemma in the nigerian landscape. the average nigeria individual suffers great social deprivation, political marginalization and economic alienation in spite of abundant natural resources. among other problems portrayed by the nigerian poet, political disillusionment and socio-political issues becomes the order of the day. the nigerian poets under study has endeavored to use their literary outputs as a re-directive tool to combat these cankerworms which has eaten deep into the fabrics of the nigerian society. these outlined problems in the country has been instituted by political and economic conspiracy of the past and present moribund nigerian civilian governments. however, most postindependence poets like wole soyinka, maik nwosu, festus iyayi, ken saro-wiwa, ezenwa ohaeto, tanure ojaide and a host of other nigerian poets, has taken a similar stance on these predominant issues in the country. the poets understudy presents poetry as a tool for x-raying the pressing issues in the country. chuma-udeh opined that her poetry serves as a means through coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 udeh, bryan jachukwuike: interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance 165 166 works cited asika ikechukwu. operation python dance. onitsha: first class publishers, 2017. bodunde, c .tanure ojaide's “poetry and the niger delta landscape. a study of delta blues and home songs.''bayreuth.2002. chuma-udeh ngozi.trends and issues in nigerian poetry, onitsha: base5 press ltd. 2007. chuma-udeh ngozi.chants of despair. onitsha: malchjay limited.2014. chuma-udeh ngozi and echezona ifejirika.english studies; facts, patterns and principle, onitsha: africana first publishers, 2012 . chuma-udeh, ngozi.“ecopoetics in nigerian literature: the language of nature in the poetic mettle of christian otobotekere.” book of chapters from celebrating the master ecopoet @ 80. port harcourt: herodotus ventures 2013. p 56-69. 2018. nnolim, charles. ethnic politics in nigeria.fourth dimension publishers, enugu. 1980. --approaches to the african novel. owerri: ihem davis, 1992. --“the artist in search of the right leadership: achebe as a social critic” in edith ihekweazu (ed.). eagle on iroko. ibadan: heinemann, 1996. 166–77. nwagbara, u. political power and intellectual activism in tanure ojaide's the activist.2008.nebula: a journal of interdisciplinary scholarship, 5(4): 225-253. oguyade ogaga. eco-critical literature. regreening african landscapes. new york african heritage press.2013. found its place among this expanding matrix of coexistence between the average nigerian individual and his society. conclusion chuma-udeh ngozi and asika ikechukwu through their poetic lenses and prowess have agitated for proper re-orientation, redirection, good governance, peaceful resolutions, dialogues and proper negotiations through their writings. they both share the same ideology that good poetry should serve as a means to foster the improvement of the human conditions in any given society. the two nigerian poets understudy has endeavored to use poetry as vehicle for political mediation and social control. they ardently believe in the infinite power of the nigerian poet as a seer, an observer, an agitator, and a promoter of positive events. this paper concludes that the nigerian poet should stand as an engineer on the course of building peaceful bridges across the nation through his writings. the paper arrives that good poetry should modulate politics in any given human society. this paper further concludes that the poets understudy are two strong voices to reckon with in the course of voicing out the immediate concerns and societal issues that are predominant in the nigerian society. the nigerian poet must be a flag bearer bringing about waves of positive societal changes, good reforms and improvement to the values of the lives of the average nigerian individual. with the help of the collection of poems understudy, this paper so far has endeavored to examine the place and essence of poetry in the nigerian contemporary society. this paper has examined the place of art (poetry) in the nigerian society as it relates to politics. finally, this paper projects poetry as a means to achieve proper political re-direction and positive societal changes in the nigerian society. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 udeh, bryan jachukwuike: interrogating the poetics of politics in chuma-udeh ngozi's chants of despair and asika ikechukwu's operation python dance 167 168 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr 161 162 igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igboriddles and tongue twisters dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide department of igbo, african and communication studies nnamdi azikiwe university, awka nm.nnyigide@unizik.edu.ng abstract igbo oral literature is a type of literature that is rendered orally and appreciated aurally. this study examines the igbo riddles and tongue twisters. these are forms of igbo oral literature which embody rich igbo values. they are regarded as agwụgwa and okwuntabirerespectively. many igbo people have not shown reasonable interest in showcasing and projecting the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in this digital era. the only visible effort has been the use of modern media such as radio and television in showcasing these igbo oral genres unlike the use of social media. previous studies have equally shown that these forms of igbo oral literature have not received desired scholarly attention in spite of the rich igbo values embodied in them. unfortunately, some igbo people, especially the youths and children do not appreciate and utilise the igbo values and linguistic features embodied in these oral genres. therefore, this study examines these aspects of the igbo oral literature so as to determine the extent they have thriven in this digital era and also to identify measures that would be employed to bring them to limelight for the exploration and consumption of the younger generation. however, the study selects data from oral interview and relevant literatures. it adopts literary theory of functionalism and descriptive approach in assessing these literary genres. it is hoped that the present study will encourage the igbo scholars, youths and children to employ various forms of the social media in projecting and preserving the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in this digital age. which the dialogue is constructed, and how each character is drawn with careful attention to each detail. adichie documents the nigerian biafran war, but the story revolves around how this particular time in history was experienced by the characters. adichie uses the different characters to demonstrate that there are as many versions of reality as there are people to interpret it; she uses her novel to show these different dimensions of one and the same period in time. furtheadichie combines history and literature to keep the past in the present, to keep it alive, and also to make the historical and political history felt. works cited achebe, chinua. morning yet on creation day. heb, 1975. adichie, chimamanda. half of a yellow sun. farafina, 2006. alaba-isama, godwin.the tragedy of victory: on the spot account of the nigerian-biafra war in the atlantic theatre. spectrum books, 2013. amuta, chidi. “the nigerian civil war and the evolution of nigerian literature”.canadian journal of african studies, vol 17, no 1, 1983, pp. 85-89. brady, patrick. memory and history as fiction: an archetypal approach to the historical novel. new paradigm press, 1983. carr, edward. what is history? penguin, 1981. collingwood, christopher. the idea of history.oxford university press, 1946. de groot, jerome. the historical novel.routldge, 2010. emenyonu, ernest. war in african literature today.hebn, 2008. okigbo, christopher. labyrinths.heinemann, 1971. orie, chibueze prince. the curio in phenomenality and competence.samdrew, 2011. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters http://nm.nnyigide@unizik.edu.ng 163 164 obviously, the igbo oral literature should blend and embrace the current technological trend. various technological devices should be the tools for the projection and the preservation of the igbo oral forms. hence, this present study which appraises the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in order to identify measures for their enhancement and projection in this digital age. there are various forms of the igbo oral literature but this study focuses on igbo riddles and tongue twisters because of the immense role they played and would continue to play in transferring the igbo values, norms, ethics and worldview to the younger generation. conceptual framework the major concepts prominent in this study would be examined based on the context of this study. these concepts are: igbo oral literature, igbo riddles, igbo tongue twisters and digital age. igbo oral literature as the name implies, it is a type of igbo literature that is not written but it is in oral form. it embodies the igbo values, beliefs, thoughts, norms, ethics and worldview. nwadike (1992, 2003) affirms that the igbo oral literature is not written. it is transferred from one generation to another. besides, okoh, (2008) observes, “in contrast to the written form, oral literature is spoken, sung, intoned, recited, or chanted, depending on the context” (p.72). this shows that there are various contexts for presentation of the oral literature unlike the written literature. also, okoh adds that oral literature is oral and appreciated aurally. in addition, ikwubuzo (2008) believes that oral literature is a living and dynamic art which has survived successive generations. in traditional igbo society, for instance, the performance of oral literature permeates the social, religious, cultural, political or informal occasions. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 keywords: oral literature, riddles, tongue twisters, functionalism, literary genre introduction igbo oral literature is an aspect of igbo oral literature. as the name implies, it is the type of literature that is not written but it is usually presented in oral form as it was inherited from the forefathers. it does not have a known author. rather, it is communally owned by the members of the society. igbo oral literature is regarded as the origin of igbo literature. this explains why many igbo literary scholars hold the view that igbo written literature metamorphosed from the igbo oral literature. even though that the authors of the igbo literature are lost in history, it is pertinent to affirm here that they made frantic efforts in articulating various igbo values and aesthetics of the igbo language into the oral literature, specifically the igbo riddles and tongue twisters. this is among the reasons why some literary scholars observed that many igbo literary writers borrow extensively from oral literature which is regarded as the model for the written literature. in the early igbo society, various forms of the igbo oral literature played major role in enhancing communal living among the igbo race. unlike the situation in the early igbo era, the igbo oral literature is faced with survival challenge in this digital age. amazingly, unlike the owners and custodians of these oral genres, it appears that some non-igbo speakers appreciate, utilise and appreciate these igbo oral genres through various technological devices more than the igbo. some igbo scholars like nwadike (2003), maduka (2007), ikwubuzo (2008), nwokoye (2018), among others, lament that globalization, modern technology and negative attitude of some igbo people have contributed to the extinction of some aspects of the igbo oral genre. but this study posits that it ought not to be so. however, nnyigide (2018) advocates that different forms of igbo oral literature should be strevitalised to align with the technological innovations of the 21 century. dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters 165 166 functionalism in analysing the primary data. this is a literary approach that examines the relevance of literature to the society. it emphasises the functional attribute of literature to the society. in other words, it focuses on the functions performed in the society by literature. ikeokwu, (2007) observes that the precepts of functionalism are based on the concepts of 'social commitment' which is an aspect of social criticism that is used to buttress the point that literature is and ought to be relevant to the society that has given birth to it and nurtures it. besides, mbah and mbah, (2007) observe that functionalism focuses on the practical role of oral literature. functionalism is more suitable in this study because it x-rays the functions and impacts of the igbo riddles and tongue twisters on the audience and the society that own them. why the igbo riddles and tongue twisters? their functions one may wonder and ask why this study has focused on the igbo riddles and tongue twisters. the reason for focusing on the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in this study cannot be overemphasized. tongue twister and riddles perform numerous functions in the society especially in the language teaching and learning of children. they were originally created for fun. early igbo elders and parents employed them in training and transferring of their values and language skill to their children. ogundipe as cited in emenanjo (2007) observes that riddles and tongue twisters perform outstanding functions in the society. they are vehicles for fun and amusement. according to him, “like riddles, tongue twisters can be swapped before a tale telling session to warm up the audience. they are not limited to any specific time to day or night… they are used for teaching elocution and for the dramatization and enhancement of verbal skill” (pp. 78). many literary scholars concur that tongue twisters have entertaining and therapeutic value. emenanjo (2007) affirms thus: “… they are also employed as therapeutic aids for persons with coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 igbo riddles the igbo riddle is a form of igbo oral literature. in the early igbo society, it was one of the prominent igbo oral genres usually presented during the folktale sessions and other occasions where children are gathered. it is presented in two parts; the question and answer. riddles have special features. according to okoh, (2008), “riddle, as well as oral poetry in general, … is characterised by a highly imaginative and symbolic mode of expression, rather than the plain, ordinary language of everyday discourse” (p. 24). from okoh's observation, it could be seen that the riddle has creative and imaginative attributes. besides, emenanjo, (2007) observes that the riddle is, perhaps, the only genre of oral literature, which involves active participation, since by its nature, it involves two mutually complementary parts: the question/proposition and the answer this observation is correct because during the presentation of the riddles, the presenter and the audience are usually active. this shows that riddle does not entertain any dull moment. igbo tongue twisters the igbo tongue twister is a minor genre of the igbo oral literature. it is a combination of words that are alliterative in nature which are usually difficult to articulate. it has aesthetic features but rarely express meaning. emenanjo, (2007) confirms this thus: “the only oral genre, which has no 'moral' or 'inner' message. it is usually a well-made sentence, which is occasionally and accidentally meaningful” (p.6). digital age this is known as the information age. according to igi stglobal (2022), it is a historic period in the 21 century that is charactrised by rapid change from traditional industry to an economy based on information technology. can be described as it a time frame in history that the use of digital technology became prevalent and of common use throughout the world. theoretical framework as stated above, this study adopts the literary theory called dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters 167 168 these aspects of igbo oral genres have not received the scholarly attention they deserve in this digital age. hence, the need for the present study. data presentation and data analysis examples of igbo riddles example 1 original: q: gwa mgwa m gwa m; gwa motinwatan'ihunneya? a: agụụ english: q: tell me tell me tell me; tell me that which beats a child in the presence of his mother? a: hunger among the igbo, it is believed that the primary role of a mother is to provide food for her children just like the mother hen. she also protects and shields their children jealously from the enemy. ordinarily, no sane mother would allow anyone to beat or hurt her child in her presence. from the above riddle, the only thing that can beat a child before her is hunger because it cannot be seen and she does not have control over it. the above riddle presents loving and caring nature of mothers. the analysis of this riddle from the literary theory of functionalism reveals that the loving, caring and selfless attributes of a mother can be inculcated in the lives of the igbo female children in particular and male children in general which they would continue to transfer to their generation for harmony in the society. example 2 original: q: gwa m, gwa m gwa m; gwa m ihemmirisaraahụmmayaarụọ? a: nnu english: q: tell me tell me tell me; tell me that, which is bathed in water and the beauty fades away? coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 minor speech defects. they also serve as a psychological release for the tension of social norm” (p.8).obviously, the aspects of entertainment and aesthetics are major considerations in literature. both riddles and tongue twisters pay wonderful attention to these aspects. okoh, (2008) observe that performers and audience derive great pleasure and excitement from riddles and tongue twisters. scholarly contribution on igbo riddles and tongue twisters here, effort would be made to showcase the extent to which some scholars have researched on the igbo riddles and tongue twisters. this is to enable the researcher to identify the gap in the present study. emenanjo(2007), in his paper titled, “two minor genres of igbo oral literature: tongue twisters and riddles” observes the riddle is the only genre of oral literature that involves active participation of audience. he went further to categorise the igbo riddles into two: the single riddles and the chain riddles. besides, ojukwu and igwe (2012), in their article titled, “igbo tongue-twisters: a linguistic perspective'' explored some linguistic features in igbo tongue twisters. ozioko (2021) in her work titled, “aesthetic feature and social relevance of igbo tongue twisters” examined the aesthetic features in igbo tongue twisters. she observed that the igbo tongue twisters are therapeutic in nature among others. also, mbah and mbah (2007) in their book titled, azụonye: lectures on igbo literature and stylistics argue that ruth finnegan has erroneously described riddles as a genre that belongs exclusively to children. according to them, igbo tradition, riddles are not confined to children. members of secret societies as well as masquerade societies use riddles in serious initiation rituals. in addition, ikwubuzo (2008) in his work titled, “igbo oral literature and the igbo youths today: what literary legacy for posterity” observe that a child can through his participation in riddle game imbibe some cultural norms and values of his society which are conveyed in the riddles. in spite of these few research efforts of these scholars, there is still dearth of scholarly works on igbo riddles and tongue twisters as could be seen in the scholarly contribution above. it is obvious that dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters 169 170 examples of igbo tongue twisters from the examples below, it could be seen that the major goal of the igbo tongue twisters is the projection of alliteration and assonance. example 1 original ukochukwuokechukwukwuluokwuchukwun'ulochukwu di naarochukwu english reverend okechukwu preached a sermon at the church in arochukwu from the above example, it could be seen that the alliteration of k, ch and kwuare projected. example 2 original papa peter kwatara pawpaw kwanye papa paul. papa paul kwata pawpaw kwanye papa peter. english peter's father plucked pawpaw and gives it to paul's father. paul's father plucks pawpaw and gives it to peter's father. the example above showcases the alliteration of p. example 3 original nwanyịna-akwaakwa, ị naakwaakwanaọkụkọyiliakwanenuakwa ị kwalakwadịn'enuakwa? english lady tailor, are you crying because the hen laid an egg on the dress you made that is lying on the bed? the above example shows the assonance a and alliteration of kw. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 a: salt the above riddle creates a special mental picture in the minds of the audience and readers. once salt is mentioned, the mental picture of its white colour automatically appears in the minds of the listeners. unlike the black colour, anything that is white in colour is expected to be beautiful and attractive. on the other hand, it is universally known that water is used for bathing. it is also a known fact that bathing makes one to look beautiful. but from the analysis of the above riddle functionalist perspective, it could be seen that the white colour and the beauty of the salt usually fades away as soon as it is put in water or whenever water touches it. the lesson that the audience and readers could deduce from this riddle is that beauty fades away and that nothing is permanent. example 3 original: q: gwa m, gwa m gwa m; gwa m ihekuurummirilagoroelu a: akịbekee q: tell me tell me tell me; tell me that which collected water and went up a: coconut the above riddle is rendered with the intention of sharpening the critical thinking and reasoning of the children, audience and readers. among various fruits the igbo have, it is only the coconut that contains waters which usually tasty. so, whenever this riddle is posed, the minds of the children, audience and readers that have seen coconut before and the water that is contained in it do not hesitate to give the answer. the analysis of this riddle from functionalist lense reveals that any person that does not know the fruit that is called coconut will not be able to provide the answer to the riddle. however, this riddle shows that there is need for the igbo children to be critical and logical in their thinking so as to understand and address the issues in their environment very well. dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters 171 172 facilities in projecting, preserving and sustaining these rich igbo oral genres for posterity. references emenanjo, e. n. (2007). “two minor genres of igbo oral literature: tongue twisters and riddles.” journal of igbo studies, vol. 2, 2007. pp. 6-13. mbah, b. m. & mbah, e. e. (2007). azụonye: lectures on igbo literature and stylistics. university of nigeria press. igi globa l (2022) , “dig i t a l age” h t t p s : / / w w w. i g i global.com/dictionary/resource-sharing/7562, accessed, august, 2022. ikeokwu, e. s. (2007). “functionalism and the pedagogy of igbo folktales.” journal of igbo studies, vol. 2, 2007. pp. 21-26. ikwubuzo, i. (2008). “igbo oral literature and the igbo youths today: what literary legacy for posterity.” in udezuluigbo: a festschrift in honour of sam uzochukwu ikwubuzo, i., ohiri-aniche, c. &nnabuihe, c. (eds.), green olive. nnyigide, n.m. &ikwubuzo, i. (2018). “revitalising igbo aditional children's games in the age of globalisation.” a thconference paper presented at the 12 international conference of international society for the oral literatures of africa, held at the university of ibadan, july 10-12, 2018. nwadike, i. u. (1992). ntọalaagụmagu. ifunanya publishers. ... (2003). agụmagụodịnala igbo (igbo oral literature). africana first publishers. nwokoye, a. n. (2018). “adverse effects of globalisation on traditional performance: a study of igbo moonlight games.” th a conference paper presented at the 12 international conference of international society for the oral literatures of africa, held at the university of ibadan, july 1012, 2018. ojukwu, o. &igwe, a. (2021). “igbo tongue twisters: a linguistics perspective." global academic group: https://www.globalacademicgroup.com/journals/nard/obed%20 ojukwu%20and%20annestacia%20igwe.pdf, accessed: august, 2021. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 measures to project the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in this digital era the following are the measures that could be adopted in projecting the igbo riddles and tongue twisters in this digital era: § documentation of some igbo riddles and tongue twisters that are not yet documented and recorded. § re-introduction of igbo riddles and tongue twisters in school curriculum especially at nursery and primary levels. § annotation of various igbo riddles and tongue twisters § deployment of ict facilities in transferring the igbo riddles and tongue twisters to the youths and children. § consistent sharing of igbo riddles and tongue twisters on various modern and social media platforms, among other measures. findings and conclusion as stated earlier, this study adopted the literary theory of functionalism in analysing the selected riddles from functionalist perspective. from the analysis, this study reveals that various igbo cultural values and worldviews are embedded in igbo riddles. besides, it shows that the igbo riddles have the capacity to inculcate igbo values, virtues, wisdom, ethics, among others in the lives of the igbo youths and children thereby bringing positive change in the lives of members of the society which enhances social harmony. on the part of the examined igbo tongue twisters, the analysis shows that they project alliteration and assonance which could be employed as therapeutic measure on children and other members of the society that are faced with speech problems. therefore, in this digital and information age, it behooves the igbo scholars, researchers, students, youths in particular and igbo people in general to employ all the modern technological devices and digital dr. nkoli mercy nnyigide: igbo oral literature in a digital age: an appraisal of igbo riddles and tongue twisters https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/resource-sharing/7562 https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/resource-sharing/7562 https://www.globalacademicgroup.com/journals/nard/obed%20ojukwu%20and%20annestacia%20igwe.pdf https://www.globalacademicgroup.com/journals/nard/obed%20ojukwu%20and%20annestacia%20igwe.pdf 173 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 okoh, n. (2008). preface to oral literature. africana first publishers. ozioko, c. j. (2021). “aesthetic feature and social relevance of igbo tongue twisters.” mathesis, university of nigeria, nsukka. page 81 page 82 page 83 page 84 page 85 page 86 page 87 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr outside the limits of environmental c r i s i s . h a w k e research institute working paper series no 29, 2005. prasanth, aswin. “ecology in african literatures.” the creative launcher: an international & refereed e-journal in english, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 58-68. rueckert, william. “literature and ecology: an experiment reader.”in glotfelty cheryll and harold f r o m m , e d s . t h e ecocriticism reader: landmarks in literary ecology. university of georgia press, 1996,pp. 105-123. shoba, v. & nagaraj p. “'lovers of nature' in willa sibert cather's o pioneers! and my antonia− an ecocritical analysis.” in language in india strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, vol. 13, no.2, 2013, pp 637-653. slaymaker, william. “ecoing the other(s): the call of global green and black african responses.” mla vol. 116, 2001, pp. 129–44. soyinka, wole. the swamp dwellers. in w. soyinka ed. collected plays 179-112. o.u.p., 1974. the refection of voodoo in toni morrison's sula and tade adegbindin's the saint nasir hashim department of english and drama, kaduna state university, kaduna nasirhashimhydara78@gmail.com 08135295865 & hajara b.k. mohammed department of languages, college of administrative studies and social sciences kaduna polytechnic hbkmohammed@kadunapolytechnic.edu.ng abstract despite the existence of islam and christianity, lots of africans and their displaced relatives in america tend to retain certain ideas associated with traditional religion, such as voodoo, occultism and magic. this paper traced and examined these ideas in toni morrison's sula and tade adegbindin's the saint. the paper exposed how some africans africanamericans blend christian practices with voodoo, magic and occultism. it highlighted how religious perception varies in these communities. also, the paper exposed the category of people that regards voodoo and occultism as relevant religious traditions even in the twenty first century. as text-base, the study relied on textual materials: the primary and the secondary texts. the study found that many africans and africanamericans practice syncretism. keywords: voodoo, occultism, myth, magic and syncretism 149 150 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint mailto:nasirhashimhydara78@gmail.com mailto:hbkmohammed@kadunapolytechnic.edu.ng introduction religious ideas in whatever form are indispensable condition in human life. it is very rare to have any historical record or archeological evidence which proves that a particular human race existed in some parts of the world without one form of religion or the other.in my opinion, even the so-called “pagans” are given the label not because they lack religion, but because they refuse to accept the religion of the majority. in short, religious ideas existed in all parts of the worldthroughout human history. just as people evolve certain modes of production; they also develop certain kind of religious ideas and practice. archeological research shows that history of religious idea goes back many hundreds of thousands years— to lower and middle paleolithic periods. archeologists, edward burnett (1832-1917) and herbert spencer (1820-1932) found some evidence of intentional and well arranged burial of the dead dated about (50,000-13,000 bce). they also found evidence such as symbolic artifacts from middle stone age sites in africa, which suggests the existence of religious practice on the continent. in the present and in the past, religion is perceived in many different ways. in the past, different perception led to the emergence of the myriads of religious traditions such as buddhism, hinduism, judaism, christianity, islam, the list continues. in the present, perhaps due to the impact of modernity, religion is not only perceived differently, but also doubted and rejected by some people. today, while some old africans and african-americans revert to the traditional religion, many young people openly declare themselves atheists. it is pertinent to observe that the teachings of the masters of suspicion: karl marx (1818—1883), friedrich nietzsche (1844—1900) and sigmund freud (1856—1939) have a huge impact on peoples' religious perceptions, including young africans and african-americans. the three philosophers named above regard religion as false consciousness, whose purpose is to deceive, oppress and subjugate people. marx for example, argues that social structure of any human society is not natural but constructed by some people in order to subjugate others. marx is remembered for popular statement against religion: “religion is the opium of the people”. like marx, nietzsche rejected the belief that religion has a divine origin. nietzsche encourages the masses to reject any form of faith. on his own part, sigmund freud argues that “religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from its readiness to fit in with our instinctual wishful impulses” (33). african experience the great majority of african people are either muslims or christians; but then it is common knowledge that many of them still tend to look back to their former traditional religious practices. akin-okiko akinnmayowa and abbas aremu rahman claim that many africans, though are either christians or muslims but they still mix up their religious practice with some elements of african traditional religion(atr) (27). akinnmayowa and rahman observe that “although huge numbers converted from african traditional religion into islam or christianity, many of them make a return to the practice of atr or patronize it together with christianity or islam” (28). african--american experience historically, african americans were taken to america as slaves. many of them lost their religious identities in the strange land. though some muslims among them retained islam for a short time; others remained believers of one kind of african traditional religion or the other. in most cases, their masters imposed christianity on them. many of them decided to change their religion when they got their freedom; some returned to islam and others to traditional religion. many of those who remained in christianity tended to practice a syncretized form of christianity (christianity mixed with traditional practices).yvonne p. chireau observes that many “africanamerican clergymen showed an inclination towards voodoo”(54). chireau narrates a story of an africanamerican pastor who made several unsuccessful attempts to attract people to his church. one day as the pastor was seated in his house; a 151 152 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint conjurer came to him and asked him about his source of worries. the pastor told the conjurer about his failure to get many people attending to his church. the conjurer asked the pastor if he could accept a luck charm from him. the pastor accepted, and the charm was fixed for him. to his surprise, the following week, his church was over-crowed with people. from then on, the pastor began to practice voodoo alongside christianity. the impact of christianity and islam there is no doubt about the fact that christianity and islam pre-dominate religious space in west and in the near east respectively. with over two billion followers, christianity is the major religion on earth. in 2015 frank newport claims that 75% of the people the united state of america tilt towards christianity. in nigeria according to the factbook, muslims represent 51.6%, christian population is about 46.9% while followers of traditional religion is about 9%. in 2015 the pew forum claims that muslims population is 50%, christians represent 48.1% and traditional religion stands at about 8.6% of the total population of the biggest country in africa. in southern part, especially in south-east of the country, christianity is the dominant religion. islam dominates northern part. however, despite the dominant status of christianity in both usa and southern part of nigeria, sentiment for other religions exists. traditional religion is still relevant in some communities of southern nigeria as well as among some african-americans. it is evidence of the situation highlighted above that this paper examines in sulaand the saint. methodology this is a qualitative study. thus, all data are drawn from written materials: primarily, the two literary texts, namely sulaand the saint provide the basic substance of the literary analysis. other important sources are critical writings on religion, especially three religious traditions: christianity, islam and traditional religion. theoretical framework folklore can be studied from numerous theoretical perspectives, such as humanistic, psychological-psychoanalytic, structuralist, etiological, empirical and anthropological. this study applies the anthropological theory on the two texts (sula and the saint) in order to examine the relevance of traditional religion among some africans and africanamericans. the famous anthropologist, malinowski advanced and advocated for the use of anthropological theory in the study of human customs and beliefs. using anthropological theory enables sociologists to uncover the origin of human beings as well as their beliefs and customs. like anthropologists, sociologists and ethnologists attempt to trace people's beliefs in all forms as embedded in literary texts such play, poem and prose-fiction. geoffrey stephen kirk (qtd in ahmad babajo, 32) claims that elements of folklore such as myth, magic and rituals associated with voodoo and other forms of traditional religions can be traced in texts, and effectively examined using anthropological method. since human memory is limited, certain folkloric items cannot be orally narrated; thus the need to peruse through written documents, including literary and historical texts (babajo, 33). however, kirk suggests that before attempting to find folkloric elements in any text, a researcher needs to have good knowledge about the subject. babajo opines that “myths, legends, customs, beliefs, rites and rituals are important components of folklore” (34). in 1975american folk-life preservation act defines folklore as: ….the traditional expressive culture shared within the various groups in the united states: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, regional; expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, literature, art, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, handicraft; these expressions are mainly learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are generally maintained without benefit of formal instruction or institution (public law 94-201). 153 154 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint taking the above ideas and guide into consideration, this paper highlights the reflection of voodoo as well as other metaphysical entities such as magic and occultism in sula and the saint. definition of the key terms in order to ease understanding the study, selected terms such as voodoo, occultism, myth, magic and syncretism have been defined. first, voodoo, as folkloric element is characterized by mythical narratives about deities, the purpose, origin of life, and so forth. cambridge dictionary (2021, updated edition) defines voodoo as religious tradition which involves magic originated in africa. according to merriamwebster (2021, updated edition), voodoo is a form of religion originates in african ancestral worship polytheism. voodoo is has connection to ancestral oral tradition passed on from one generation to another. it involves rituals such as worship to mythical and legendary figures. it originally associated with yoruba, ewe and fon people of pre-colonial nigeria. voodoo was introduced to north and south americas in the cause of slavery and indenture.whileoccultism is any theory or practice that involves a belief in or knowledge about supernatural forces. occultism encompasses phenomena such as spirituality, magic, mysticism, and so on. unlike, voodoo, occultism is a non-religious metaphysical idea. it is practiced as underworld agency— a kind of astrology and natural magic. unlike occultism, myth is not a practice, but it is central to folkloric tradition that consists of tales and other forms of irrational oral narratives typical of traditional society. merriam-webster dictionary defines myth as any traditional story of “ostensibly historical events” which is used to unfold part of the world view of a society, and explain a practice, belief and natural processes. a main character in every myth is a supernatural being such as god, demon, witchcraft, and so on. and then magic is another important element of voodoo; but unlike voodoo, magic is a practice of manipulation of natural or supernatural causes. it is believed that magicians do communicate with metaphysical world. magic is neither a religion nor science but can be understood in the balance of the two systems. any violation of natural process could be considered a magic. literally, syncretism means blending of two or more different things so that they can exist together. related to religion—i.e religious syncretism refers to any fusion of different religious beliefs and practices. religious syncretism is about combining two different belief systems in order to form a new religion. an example of religious syncretism is the blending of african traditional religion with christianity to form a new christian denomination such cherubim and seraphim. elements of voodoo and occultist traditions in christianity there is lot of evidence in the two literary texts that christianity predominates both african american and southern nigerian communities. however, many people are still interested in one kind of traditional religion or the other. on one hand, the saint reveals a high propensity of practicing traditional religion by both young and old people despite the gigantic influence of christianity in southern nigeria. on the other hand, sula exposes how traditional religion of african origin is still being practiced in america alongside christianity. voodoo tradition in the saint baba agba cares not about the religion of the majority. he believes esu is the most powerful god worthy of worship. after all, many christians come to him secretly asking for orunmila's intervention in their social, political or economic problems. baba agba's compound is always visited by all classes of people. for instance, at the beginning, we see five people— four of them men and one of them a woman. they come from distant places relatively, wait for so long waiting for baba agba to attend to them. one of the men is a rich kongila (contractor). the contractor is here not for anything but appreciation for a contract he has won supposedly by the power of orunmila. another of the four men is a banker, named ajala. ajala is afraid that some people may harm him 155 156 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint owing to his huge wealth. he is said to be richer than even the bank he is working for. for this reason, he comes to baba agba looking for protection from orunmila. the only woman on attendance is there because her husband is dead, and the husband's relatives try to take all his possessions. she wants orunmila to help her in her plight because she wishes to enjoy herself. using religion to make money is not limited to traditional religion; christian men of god also do. like, baba agba, many people come to pasto ladepo asking him to pray for them due to one problem or the other. for example, a federal minister comes to ladepo asking him to pray so that he will be chosen as vice president. millions have been given to ladepo for such prayers even though he practically does nothing like prayers. while ladepo is a famous and dedicated christian, aremu prefers baba agba's traditional religion which seems to be more practical than christianity. aremu says he is not interested in christianity; instead he wants to worship orunmila, and acquire his wisdom. even as a small boy, aremu insists on learning the wisdom of the religion. baba agba calms him by saying, “there is still time for you to learn the wisdom of orunmila” (8). but then he promises to teach aremu how to convey sanctifies to the gods when the time comes. aremu will not listen to anyone like iya olobi who often advises him to go to the city and acquire modern education. he prefers being in alabata. aremu believes as baba agba always says, “the gods live in alabata, baba agba says they give us protection. baba agba says the city is full of evil men, people who carry guns and kill without mercy” (10). this explains one of the reasons that baba agba sticks hard to voodoo and occultism. by implication, baba agba rejects christianity because the city dwellers practice the religion but still do all evils acts against one another. baba agba once tells aremu that city people especially the politicians despite their christian belief, are liars and deceivers. “whenever a politician makes a promise— like solving all your problems— you tend to believe him and hope that your good tidings are coming, your miseries come to an end. “then you wait and wait and wait for his oath to be fulfilled, until a disease creeps into your empty heart” (7). baba agba here means to say his son's claim is wrong; it is the christian god who is useless and unworthy. and aremu believes in this fact. thus, despite his father's efforts to convince him that christianity is the only way of life, and the only true religion for human kind, aremu is not satisfied with christianity; instead, he is convinced baba agba's religion is more powerful and rather practical. as an indication of the power of traditional religion, aremu has once told his father that he is not surprised about the successes in the church as baba agba's gods have since announced that that (his) ladepo's name will be heard everywhere. ladepo rejects the prophecy by saying “only god sees tomorrow” (31) even though god has never revealed to him any future event. ladepo realizes that aremu's attitude towards christianity is negative. the more he preaches aremu the more he becomes skeptical about christianity and everything associated it. as a matter of fact, aremu abhors city life where christian faith is stronger, and where it flourishes. should he die, he has no successor; that marks the end of his family reputation as well as the church venture. thus, he decides to send aremu to a seminary in london through his english friend, named mr. ferguson. he wants aremu to study theology and return to nigeria as a trained pastor. rather than theology, aremu studies occultismin london: it regarded as non-religious supernatural ideas. this is an indication that aremu is not ready to work with his father in the church. he feels that religion is a personal thing. aremu's decision has torched ladepo so much that he decides to forsake aremu. ladepo seems to go out of his mind. he laments: …. many sons would answer me in his place. he is not relevant now as far as i am concerned. i can name hundreds who are prepared to steer the zion train after me! then what is the relevance of a rebellious fool? a fool, enslaved by some aberrant philosophies, mortgaging his own eternity. do i need to sit here and watch this 157 158 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint fool insult me, the most revered pastor ladepo? no! i won't allow this fool to sever my spiritual history with his ungodly vulgarities (82). clashes between voodoo and christianity in the saint,beingthe majority, christians of alabata village community treat traditionalists with contempt. they (the christians) regard the traditionalists such as baba agba as oblivious and inferior beings. they consider themselves the best in every aspect of life. they often insult the gods of the traditional religion. for example, pastor ladepo often looks down upon his biological father, baba agba (14). ladepo pours lots of insult on the god of the village traditional religion, named esu. ladepo's son, aremu testifies his father calls esu many strange english names—lucifer, satan. “you called him a liar” (28). ladepo considers the traditional religion nothing but the culture of witches as well as useless and unworthy fetish thing. the christians according to ladepo do not need fetishes any longer because the blood of jesus christ suffices to provide protection and means of survival for the christian family all over the world. “forget about those fetish things you have learnt in alabata. you are now a christian. son of a respected pastor, and you have to keep this at the back of your mind. forget all have learnt about esu and about the witches” (28—29). ladepo asks aremu to accept god and have absolute trust in him because, “with god everything is possible” (30). it seems pastor ladepo assesses the love of god on his servants by the material prosperity they have. he believes that the wealth he acquires and the surge of people in his church are due to god's love and favor for him. he tells aremu that: god has elevated me in the eyes of thousands and you should be proud of this and choose to live your life after me. you witnessed how people continued to throng to our church. why? because they have been witnessing and experiencing miracles— signs of god's presence. testimonies have continued to increase, numbering a hundred and six today…. (30). when baba agba dies, ladepo states that it is unfortunate for his father to die as a pagan. by this, ladepo suggests that his father will not be welcome in heaven but in hell. according to him, baba agba has been possessed by satan. when some members of his church –bolade and effiong talk with him about the need for honorable burial for baba agba, ladepo argues that needs not make any burial arrangement for his father “i have no burial arrangement in my mind; a true man of god wouldn't have any” ( 54). ladepo states that a man of god like him should always condemn satan even if the satan is his father. by implication, ladepo has rejected baba agba, and thus cannot take part in his burial. christians feel their religion can never comprise any of its doctrines and practices. after all, the bible is a genuine revelation from god in heaven. ladepo says, “we need to serve god with all we have— our time, our strength…” (20). ladepo preaches that “serving god is not an easy thing, and it takes so much to be a virtuous man: you need a fair measure of temperance, determination, self-discipline and all that” (53). ladepo stresses that one has to choose between christian god and pagan satan. he says “i chose god— that is devotion” (53). ladepo's father has since chosen satan. not only has he refused to take part in baba agba's burial, but after the burial ladepo has decided and burnt baba agba's material legacy (relics, charms and fetishes) — an act that angers aremu to near having severe quarrel with his father. ladepo claims that if such things are kept in the house, god will not answer the prayers of the living in it. aremu argues that burning the stuffs is nothing by madness. according to him every item baba agba has left is has traditional value for the family and the village community of alabata. aremu maintains that the stuffs are very important even though baba agba is deed. “he burnt those rich relics. he burnt all traces of baba agba, and you see as an attempt to serve a true god! it's madness”(75). elements voodoo tradition in sula like in the saint, in sula, a form of voodoo tradition called “national suicide day” (09) is started by a christian man called shadrack. 159 160 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint shadrackis a world war i veteran who appears to have gone crazy owing to trauma. national suicideday is neither known in christianity nor in rd islam. the tradition is observed every 3 of january in an all-black neighborhood called bottom atop the hills. the neighborhood has gotten the name bottom from a particular slave owner who promises to free the slave and allocate to him a good “bottom land” in the valley but not until he finishes a tedious task. when the promised time comes, the slave master is hesitant to be parted with the land. he then decides to give him a plot on the hills on the claim that the plot atop the hills is near to the god. suicide becomes a popular convention of the bottom community. once living condition becomes unbearable, the people take to the streets, parading and chanting suicide slogan. the tradition leads the death of many people. more often than not,shadrack shouts that: people should kill themselves or each other if they want to. the residents are disturbed at first, but eventually national suicide day infiltrates the consciousness of the community, becoming a part of the routine of their lives (43). national suicide day is born out trauma associated with war experience and fear of death. this traditionof national suicide day becomes an important aspect of shadrack's effort to compartmentalize his fear of death into a single day. apart from shadrack, other characters such as tar baby, sula, and so no are so influenced by the practice that they often engage in deep thought in order to extract meaning of the their life experiences. from the commencement of suicide day, most people look at shadrack with a lot of disdain, suspicion and even hate. but as time goes on, the people took less notice of these january thirds, or rather they thought they did, thought they had no attitudes or feelings one way or another about shadrack annual solitary parade. in fact they had simply stopped remarking about the holiday because they had absorbed it into their thoughts, into their language, into their lives (5). shadrack's tradition appears to have similarity to some form of yoruba pre-colonial traditional religion. it should be realized that national suicide day involves sacrifice of human life similar to the tradition of human sacrifice associated with yoruba traditional religion. olatunji ojo argues thathuman sacrifice is a means of communication with the divine and the dead ancestors insome yoruba pre-colonial traditional religion. there are also elements of african traditional religion in the magic and conjure practices by ajax's mother. ajax grows up to be well attached to his conjure mother. as time goes on, ajax begins to show interest in the tradition. initially, ajax's passion is not due to belief in conjuring but because of the habit he acquires in dealing with his mother, who inspired thoughtfulness and generosity in all her sons. his mother is indeed a power conjure woman, blessed with seven adoring children. her source of joy and happiness is to bring her some conjure materials like hair, underclothing, fingernail parings, white hens, blood, camphor, pictures, kerosene and footstep dust that she needs. at times, she orders for vanvan, devil's shoe string, chinese wash, mustard seed and the nine herbs from cincinnati. she knows about the weather, omens, the living, the dead, dreams and all illnesses. she makes a modest living with her skills. if she gets any teeth or ever straightens her back, she willbe the most gorgeous thing alive, worthy of her sons' worship for her beauty alone; if not for the absolute freedom she allows them, and the weight of her hoary knowledge. conclusion the two literary texts—sula and the saintdepicted that despite family influence and societal imposition, some people tended to hold a world view contrary to what was popularly accepted in a community. in particular, the two texts showed that thoughimpact of christianity and islamwas very formidable, but some imprints of african traditional religion were maintained by some africans and african-americans. for example, inthe saint, aremu was born into a christian family of nigeria but he preferred his grandfather's traditional belief – an african 161 162 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint religion that was considered an obsolete pagan way of life. likewise, in the midst of christianity, shadrack initiated a form of voodoo tradition, called national suicide day in which he encouraged people to sacrifice their lives. in addition, morrison depicted ajax's mother as a powerful conjure woman who was capable of performing rather unbelievable magic. thus, in both sula and the saint exposed the prevalence of syncretism in nigeria and america in the twenty first century. works cited adegbindin, tade. the saint. ibadan: extension,2012. akin-otiko, akinmayowa and abbas, aremu rahman. “return to african traditional religion after conversion to christianity or islam: patronage of culture of religious conversion?” ilorin journal of religious studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 2019, pp. 211—704. american folklife preservation act. public law 94-201. u.s. congress, 1975. asika, ikechukwu.“folklore is life: interview with odili tony ujubuonu.” journal of arts and contemporary society, vol 5, no. 1, 2013, pp. 89-109. babajo, ahmad kofa. orature: meaning, nature and forms. slimline communications, 2016. freud, sigmund. the future of illusion. hogarth press,1933. hansberry, lorraine .raisin in the sun. vintage,2011. morrison, toni.sula. vintage international,1972. newport, francis “percentage of christians in u.s. drifting down but still high”. in gallip, 2015. oduah, comeh. nigeria under cover atheists in their words. www.aljazeera.com th,(18 september), 2018. ojoolatunji.“slavery and human sacrifice in yoruba land.” journal of african history,vol. 46, no. 3, 2005, pp.379 – 404. thpew research center. atheists. in the pew charitable trusts(13 dec),2105. pew forum us decline of christianity. in , 2019.www.pewforum.org oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism olatunbosuntaofeek mountain top university department of languages jostadele@gmail.co & oyeyemi abigail mountain top university department of languages jostadele@gmail.co abstract the aesthetic quality of man, especially africans lies in the fact that they are a group of people who hold certain principles, opinions, beliefs and values connecting them to their environment. this can be historiographical exuded as a panegyric imitation expanding the horizon of myth and realism in yorúbà praise poetry. thus aiding socialisation as well as cultural appreciation of indigenous value system. our concern is africa; precisely, the oríkì of the yorúbà extraction in southwest nigeria, westafrica. etymologically, from the primitive societies the yorúbà entrenched their beliefs system from one generation to another in the form of folktales, myths, story-telling, and dance as a modified oral system known as oríkì. this is to keep sacred realities employed in engineering socio-conditioning and cosmological interpretations. oríkì as a concept captures the whole essence of an individual's personology in both terrestrial and celestial domains. this is further regarded as the whole essence of a person in connection with his/her origination, hence, if you want to know “someone ideological individualism as well as collectivism as related to an environment” then you have to understand his/her oríkì, premier facie. the quest to know this was motivated by the desire to access the extent to which myths and 163 164 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 olatunbosun taofeek & oyeyemi abigail: oríkì: a modified oral system of myth and realism http://www.aljazeera.com https://www.researchgate.net/journal/the-journal-of-african-history-1469-5138 https://www.researchgate.net/journal/the-journal-of-african-history-1469-5138 http://www.pewforum.org page 75 page 76 page 77 page 78 page 79 page 80 page 81 page 82 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr concerns with folklore as a medium of communicating information, values, knowledge, believes within the group or society that share it. thus, functionalism is feasible for analyzing the song. key words: entertainment, hausa songs, farming songs, economic revolution, sani aliyu dandawo introduction there is no doubt that song is a means of social commentary, a medium of communicating one's ideas, information, emotions, and in many cases, a tool for mobilization. it is mostly sung through a number of music apparatuses employed to attract various viewers and well-wishers. thus, singers in most cases used music to attract the attention of the audience to listen to the songs, thereby, grasping the message embedded in them. that is to say, apart from the entertainment value of a song, a singer gives his view point about life in a song, and hopes that his words would achieve effective mobilization, education and enlightenment. it is worth noting that song serves as an important vehicle for alerting the general public on issues and happenings that are topical or new within the society, which might not necessarily be known to everybody. thus, a singer invariably comments on the situation in the society, and as such his or her song could encompass the whole range of issues. gusau (1993-xi postulates that song emerged from time immemorial and it continues to develop till date. he maintains that song constitutes some certain qualities as rhythm, rhyme, chanting, tone, sound, wittism, chorus, clapping, theme, language manipulation, music among others. gusau (1993;21 classifies hausa songs that are accompanied by music as the universal songs. these songs have to do with wealthy individuals and public office holders. singers of beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo's farming song on economic revolution idris hashim haruna idrishashimharuna@gmail.com +2348164603625 rabiu musa kwankwaso college of advanced and remedial studies, tudun wada, kano nafisat umar yabo federal college of education (technical) gusau, zamfara state. nafisatyabo@gmail.com +2348036188542 abstract song plays significant role in the life of every human society. it is a crucial vehicle for social commentary, a medium of mobilization, and as such a means of entertainment. a singer being a product of the society comments on issues and happenings within the society which directly or indirectly affects the humanity. thus, a singer in most cases uses music as an instrument for arousing interest of the general populace to pass across his message embedded in the song, which might not necessarily be known to everyone. this is not an exception to hausa singers, as it is known that music plays pivotal role in arousing the interest ofhausa people to listen to a particular song, and grasp the message therein. it is on this basis that the paper delves into the theme and aesthetic qualities of sani aliyu dandawo's farming song entitled; “a mai dahankali wajen noma mutane a kama sana'o'i. a unique focus of this paper is its rendition to the role traditional music plays in arousing the interest of nigerians to listen to the song, thereby uplifting their consciousness towards embarking on the economic diversification and transformation through agriculture. the paper however, relies on library in sourcing its materials. the researchers however, draw the song by listening to the song for literary analysis. the paper moreover, employs functionalism as a literary theory for analyzing the song, for the fact that the theory coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 135 136 mailto:idrishashimharuna@gmail.com mailto:nafisatyabo@gmail.com occupies central place in traditional society. according to some scholars, hausa song evolved through a praise singer called “sasana” who lived in asia from where he migrated to hausa land ibrahim, (1983:vii). it is in the light of the aforementioned view that mamman shata katsina is praised as a brother of sasana due to his gift of composing and rendering songs. this is captured thus; duna na balkin sambo kafiri kanen sasana(ibrahim,1983:vii). it is imperative to note that traditionally, hausa speaking people do praise an individual with words that look similar to reckless speech or unsavory language. thus, on the surface they look foul but in reality, they are meant as praises. for instance, “shege”,” mugu”,” matsiyaci”, amongst others. it is in the light of this that the praise-singer employs such words to praise mamman shata, because of his natural talent of composition and rendering songs. for some scholars, hausa song evolved out of the oldest kingdoms of songhai, ghana and mali of west africa. this view claims that long time ago mali, ghana and songhai were rich with singers, and these singers are directly related to hausa singersibrahim,1983; vii. some assert that the emergence of hausa singers could be traced back to worshipping fairies, gods and goddesses. thus, a long time ago hausa society did conduct celebrations, in which the people chanted and incanted such fairies, gods and goddesses. this is captured in the song of barbushe who chanted in praise of tsumburbura, a goddess thus; jamuna a kasa , mun gama ga tsumburbura kanawa ga magajin dala barbushe's chorus; ni ne magajin dala, this category are in large number. he however, continues to identify various categories of the hausa songs that usually concern with the hausa people traditional games and sports such as; wrestlers, boxers, knives charmers among others. singers of this category includes; kassu zurmi, muhammadu gambu, isa dan makaho, muhammadu bawa dan'ance among others. in furtherance of classification of hausa songs, gusau maintains that there are songs that deal with royal people. such songs are composed to praise the royal fathers. thus, the singers of this category involved in praise-singing of the royal families within their palaces. the fourth category however, involved humorous singers who specialized in public entertainment, and are humorous in nature that always instigate pleasure within the society through their songs, especially at the moment of pressure within the society to minimize tension. moreover, gusau identifies the fifth category as the occupational songs that are meant to praise people with traditional occupational career such as; weaving and dyeing, barbing, butchering, blacksmithing, farming among others. singers of this category includes; muhammadu dan'anace. the sixth category has to do with nature. the singers of this category compose song to praise nature or any other things that astonish them. this category however, include; singers of all categories. thus, every singer can compose a song based on nature, and or anything that astonishes that singer. historical development of hausa songs no one could claim the true origin and development of hausa songs. there are many opinions with regards to the emergence and development of hausa song. some scholars opine that, the evolution of hausa song is closely related to the man's struggle to make living through hunting. in its early form, the song was chanted during hunting. some assert that hausa song evolved out traditional religion. a point to note is that, the hausa song coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 137 138 dandawo died at seventy-two, 72 years at his home yawuri. he is survived by his aged mother, two wives, twenty-two 22 children and twenty-five, 25 grand children classification of hausa singers, thematic concern and their traditional musical instruments ibrahim (1983 in a text titled; abokin hira; kowa ya sha kida kudinsa, categorizes hausa traditional singers into two; palace praise-singers and the universal singers. palace praisesingers permanently settled at palace sponsored by a chief. they are there to serve the chief at his palace through their talents of composing and rendering songs. when the chief is at his occasional official territory visit, they follow him while indulging into praise-singing, accompanied by musical instruments in praising him. most of such singers inherit singing from their forefathers. they do not heavily rely on such praise-singing alone to make living; rather they cultivate land as their secondary means of livelihood. they praise the chief at his palace as their god-father every friday-night or at every “sallah” festival (p.1. having involved into palace praise-singing, does not mean that they would not sing for other people outside the palace. they do so at their wish without offending the chief. they even let the chief know a reward of return of their songs, to bless their benefactors -p.1. both palace praise-singers and universal singers employ various musical instruments in their career, depending on the kind of musical tool inherited by a singer. some singers use “ganga” “ tambari” “ taushi” while others use “ kotso” “banga” “ kurya” “ jauje” “kuge da kurya”and so on (p.3. the second category however, involved singing for general public. although, the palace praise-singers restrict their career to palace, they do sing outside the palace(p.1.gusau-1993 in a text titled; jagoran nazarin wakar baka maintains that universal singers do sing for the wealthy individuals and public office holders. this category occupies very large number of hausa da kunki da kun so, ku bini ba ra'ayiba (ibrahim,1983; p. 10-11. brief biography of sani aliyu dandawo, the renown and prolific traditional hausa singer alhaji sani aliyu dandawo is one of the popular hausa traditional musicians in nigeria who was able to capture the interest of audiences with his natural talent of composing snd rendering songs. dandawo born and raised in vibrant city of argungu, kebbi state, nigeria. dandawo started his music in 1964, and devoted his entire musical career in preserving and promoting the rich culture and values of hausa society. dandawo is known to possess natural talent of language manipulation exhibited through his music. dandawo's music took its origin from hausa traditions through which he reflects the diverse cultural influences that have shaped the region over centuries. his songs are characterized by agitation of united nigeria through patriotic duties in which he praises traditional rulers for their tireless effort towards uniting the country. dandawo however, uses music to explore the challenges faces by hausa people and the country at large and proffers lasting solution through his song. this really earns him respect throughout hausa land, who is considered to be one of the ambassador of hausa culture for the hausa people. what make dandawo unique in composing and rendering songs is the ability to touch the minds of his audiences through his music. his music however creates very powerful experiences influence to his viewers in which his music goes resonates. dandawo's natural talent of composing and rendering songs coupled with his yearning for nurturing, inspiring, as well as passing knowledge and skills he acquired through his career to the young musicians earned him respect and beloved throughout the hausa land. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 139 140 in narambada's song of self-pride and his god-father, sarkin gobir ahmadu who claims that he supersedes all other singers, likewise the chief of gobir, ahmadu supersedes all other traditional rulers thus; bana ahmadu hausa ka yi rinjayi ni na yi, an ce isa ba ka jin an ce wani sarki, ni ko duk hausa ba ka jin waka bayan tau. (ibrahim,1983: p.19. however, the theme of politics can be derived from the song of abdurrahman galadiman kotso who praises n.p.c party in his song, with a view to mobilize the populace to have interest on the party. not all times that such singers praise particular party directly, they sometimes praise the political office holders of the ruling party through various developmental projects they executed to instill interest of the party in the people's minds. this is captured in the song of galadiman kotso thus: salama tutar shehu da bello, babba da yaro ku ce salama, birni da kauye ku ce salama, sarki da mallam ku ce salama, wallahi kowa yace salama, ko lahira za ya san salama(ibrahim,1983;p.21. the theme of public enlightenment campaign and admonishment such as awareness about cultural subjugation and, the need for people cooperation on the population census, can be deduced in such hausa singers as sarkin taushin katsina, sani aliyu dadawo, alhaji musa dankwairo, alhaji adamu danmaraya jos among others. as per stated by ibrahim, most of such singers are instructed by political leaders to compose songs based on the topical issues to help government accomplish a particular policy. for instance, sarkin taushin katsina composed song based on national population census in 1973 as captured accordingly in the song thus: singers, and they can sing on any topic. they may include; adamu danmaraya jos, mamman shata katsina, abdu karen gusau, garba supa, shehu ajilo, sabo saya-saya, musa danba'u, mammalo, haruna uji, hassan wayam, sani dan'indo amongst others. (p.21. musa dankwairo, sani aliyu dandawo and the host of others fall under this category. although they are categorized under palace praise-singers, dankwairo composed and presented so many songs based on socio-political and economic issues. similarly, dandawo composed so many songs based on sociopolitical and economic issues. for instance, dankwairo composed songs titled; aikin dam yafi gaban ayi mai wargi”, which is a song about irrigation agricultural economy, and the song titled; “maitatsine allah tsinema”, which is a song about socio-political and religious crisis engulfing the northern part of the country in the 1980s. similarly, dandawo composed a song based on economic revolution in the context of nigerian society titled; “a maida hankali wajen noma mutane a kama sana'o'i”, and the song titled; “yaki da rashintarbiyya”, which he composed and sung in 1980s based on the prevailing moral decadence within the nigerian society, and the firm determination of the country to fight against such indiscipline. it is imperative to note that hausa singers in general present as many themes as possible in their songs. they do compose and present songs based on admonishing, enlightenment campaign, education, politics, praise-singing, satire, begging, self-pride among others. ibrahim(1983, p.10). the truth of the aforementioned claim can be deduced from the song of narambada who composed a song in praise of his natural talent of composing and rendering songs. sometimes such kind of singer's praise selves together with the chiefs they are inclined to, to show that they are unique in singing song like their chiefs who are unique in leadership. this is conveyed accordingly coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 141 142 songs. ibrahim justifies this claim by saying that dankwairo, narambada among others, employ style that is very difficult to understand even if one is a native speaker. this is for the fact that they employ sakkwatanci, which is a very rich hausa dialect, especially those that employ “taushi and “kotso” musical instruments, and used sakkwatanci dialect and its words. he further claims that, even amongst the palace praise-singers there are such words from sakkwatanci, arabic and english and so on ((p.26. theoretical framework this paper critically appraises the use of dandawo's song from the perspective of functionalism. thus, the paper analysis how dandawo attempts to use song and music to uplift the consciousness of nigerians to understand the effect of over dependence of oil resources to the nigerian economy, and as such to educate nigerians about the impact of agriculture in promoting the economy of the country. the theory was formulated by bascom in 1965that concerns with the meaning, purpose, and role of folklore within the society of which it is part. it is quite relevant to this paper as it concerns with the performance and mode of presentation of folklore in particular situation and in a specific folk group within the society. methodology research in literature always adopts qualitative methodological approach. this research however, collects its primary data through close listening and examination of the audio of the song of sani aliyu dandawo. it also sources relevant library materials as secondary data analysis and interpretation of sani aliyu dandawo's farming song and its aesthetics qualities prior to the discovery of oil resources in nigeria, the country depends largely on agricultural sector as its major source of revenue. it generates not only revenue but serves as an important sector that provides employment opportunities to the jama'a ku yi kokari in kidaya ta zo, ku ba malam kidayarku goyon baya gwamnati tana so ta giggina makarantu, inda duk ya dace. gwamnati tana so ta giggina rigogi, inda duk ya dace. jama'a ku yi kokari in kidaya ta zo ku ba malaman kidaya goyon baya (ibrahim,1983;p.23. the theme of cultural protectionism can also be deduced in the song of such hausa singers, especially palace praise-singers. ibrahim claims that the theme of cultural promotion and preservation is usually found in the songs of palace praise-singers. this is not unconnected with the fact that their god-fathers are the custodians of hausa culture, so they do compose songs in line with the wish and interest of their god-fathers, who are the traditional rulers (ibrahim,1983;p.24). alhaji musa dankwairo justifies such claim in his song of preservation of hausa culture thus; 'yan arewa da an nan, wadanda ad diyan musulmi, kwairo na gargadinku, ku zan azumi da sallah, ku zan kono da zakka, ku matan kasarmu, wadanda ad diyar musulmi, ku zan ka yin lullubi, banda sayan suket da 'yak kanti, abin gay a bad a kunya, abin gad a ban takaici, moreover, hausa singers like other singers across the globe, are known to possess natural talents of language manipulation. they do employ style in which one needs to look beneath the surface before grasping the message embedded in the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 143 144 aspect of human endeavor. thus, the citizens are blessed with unique talent and each citizen tries to display such talent in line with his unique experience in life coupled with the experiences of the other category of people within the country, with a view to give an immense contribution the development of the country. every rational individual has important role to play within the society, and hausa singers would not be an exception. it is on this basis that dandawo composes and sings a song titled; “a mai da hankali wajennoma mutane a kama sana'o'i”. the song concerns with social enlightenment based on the need for economic diversification. it is an attempt to uplift the consciousness of the nigerian society to embark on the economic diversification through agriculture. although dandawo hails the discovery of the oil resources, and considers it as one of the important sectors, he warns the political leaders not to deem it as the heartbeat of nigerian economy, for the fact that it might give birth to idleness to many nigerians, and as such its value keeps on fluctuating in the world oil market. dandawo in the song hails agriculture as the poverty alleviation sector. he believes that when the country prioritizes the sector, its economy would be buoyant, as it is a powerful sector that provides employment opportunities to nigerians, and a reliable source of income to citizenry. he believes that agriculture provides not only employment opportunities to the teeming youth but a reliable revenue generation to the country. while motivating the general populace to give their own quota towards feeding the nation, and to even promote exportation of agricultural products, he postulates that if one feels reluctant in partaking in farming activities, due to his economic status, such person is inconsiderate to be patriotic. he believes that one's involvement into the agricultural activities in smallor large-scale production contributes immensely towards providing citizenry, a vehicle for country's foreign exchange, and as such a means of livelihood to many nigerians. but with the discovery of oil resources, nigeria abandons agricultural sector and prioritizes oil sector as its main source of revenue generation. thus, oil sector is even considered as the heartbeat of nigerian economy. although the oil sector plays significant role in the rapid economic growth of the country, it is reckless to abandons the rest of the economic sectors on its dependence. since change is the only factor that is permanent in life, it is imperative to make adjustment when there is rapid change within the society. the point to note here is that, the country's negligence of the agricultural sector with the evolution of oil sector becomes an impediment to its rapid economic growth and prosperity of its people. thus, as the nigerians abandon the sector and put eyes on the oil sector, most of citizens rely on government to provide employment to them, which is not possible. prior to the country's attitudinal change with the evolution of oil, its currency which is stronger then, to the disadvantage of american dollars and the united kingdom sterling pound, keeps on devaluating. nigeria's economy is buoyant then, and the citizenry live a prosperous live with a strong gross domestic product and foreign reserve. however, nigeria begins to experience its economic tragedy with the abandonment of agricultural sector, as the economy of the country is determined by the western world. thus, the country relies heavily on the exportation of oil products to building the nation, as the oil price in the world market keeps on fluctuation. as a result of this, the value of our currency keeps on falling to the advantage of american dollar and united kingdom sterling pound. apart from the endowed natural resources, nigeria is blessed with human resources. most of the nigerian citizens are naturally talented and they keep on displaying such talent in every coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 145 146 to secure contracts which lead to the economic retrogressive and the general weakening of country's currencies as captured in the song thus; da a najeriya mun dogara ne gyada da auduga wajen noma, muna ciniki da kasashen waje arzikinmu,bai lalace ba mun cimma ko'ina wajen girma. daga nan sai hada-hadar mai ta bullo sai muka dena noma sai kwangila, chorus; mu ka bar noman gyada da auduga kudinmu sunka zam ganyen banza in the song dandawo praises country's blessed resources when he maintains that with the abundant of agricultural land coupled with high population size, the country can go hand in hand with other developed countries in the world if, it prioritizes agricultural activities. he also recalls how commercial agriculture engulfs the northern part of the country with particular reference to kano where groundnut pyramid is made as a symbol of commercializing agricultural products in kano of northern part of nigeria, and as such gusau of zamfara is rated as the centre for cotton marketing and processing. this conveyed accordingly in the song thus; sadda muna noman gyada da auduga sannan kano birnin dabo idan ka hangi dala kamar tsauni, chorus; ga na'urar goge auduga akwaisu ko gusau in kaje can. chorus; mutane a kama sana'o'i, a maid a hankali wajen noma. while acknowledging the discovery of the oil resources, dandawo maintains that nigeria is one of the luckiest countries to have discovered oil resources but should be very careful on employment opportunities to many nigerians, thereby making their means of livelihood reality. this means that dandawo finds it necessary for every citizen to partake in farming activities to feed the nation, and help in providing employment opportunities to many. he believes that partaking into agricultural activities in time of country's economic diversification is an important yardstick to measure one's patriotism. thus, dandawo believes that no matter how economically buoyant one is, he should be part in the farming activities within the country. this is captured in the song thus; amai da hankali wajen noma mutane akama sana'o'i yanke talauci kun san sai noma, repetition; yanke talauci kun san sai noma, chorus; mutum ya kama noma har girma, repetition; mutum ya kama noma har girma, wanda bai noma bai kyauta ba, chorus; yau wanda baya noma hantar mai, repetition; yau wanda bai noma bai kyauta, ko mai kudinsa bayyi dibara ba, chorus; yau wanda baya noma hantar mai repetition; komai kudinsa bayyi dibara ba, while referring with the nigeria's economic status in the past, when farming is the heartbeat of the country's economy, dandawo enumerates some crops that the country cultivates that have positive impact on its economy as; cotton, grains, groundnut, cocoa among others. he maintains that with the aforementioned crops the country promotes its foreign exchange rate to the extent that its currency becomes stronger to the disadvantage of united states dollars and the united kingdom sterling pound in the foreign exchange market, likewise its economy is buoyant then. but with the discovery of oil resources, the country makes the people get involved into the oil marketing and rely on government coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 147 148 while mobilizing nigerian populace to go into farming activities, dandawo opines that the economy of the country would be favourable and prosperous, to the extent that the government would be able to generate revenue to execute capital projects as roads, reliable water supply, electricity supply, schools and other social amenities for infrastructural development if nigerians embrace agriculture. similarly, dandawo urges nigerians for unity in nation building, by saying that the country can only develop when there is unity in diversity among nigerians. he believes that the country can reach its highest economic level when there is strong unity and patriotic among the citizens as captured in the song thus; idan kun ka kama noma sosai, da arzikinmu ya dawo sabo, gwamnati ta sami kudin aiki, ta bada magani da rowan sha, sannan ta kama gyaran hanyaoyi. gwamnati ba za ta iya ba, sai in ambata goyon baya, mun taimaka gaba daya duk munyi, dandawo in the song attempts to uplift the consciousness of nigerians based on the needful commitment towards building the nation. he further urges nigerians for unity in patriotic duties for the nation building. he also warns not allow things to go in vain, and believes that all hands must be on deck in commitment towards developing the nation with the abundant natural and human resources. he castigates the attitude of laziness, thereby encouraging hardworking and self-reliance as the vehicle for promoting the progress and development of the country. he also prays for the rapid growth and development of the country as conveyed accordingly in the song thus; wanda yabar abinshi ya lalace, bai tamaimaka ba kasan yai keta chorus; taimaka a gyara kasan nan, har manya-manya suma sai sunyi. relying upon it, as its world market keeps on fluctuation. he believes that the country should maintain its agricultural sector concurrently with the oil sector to avoid over reliance on oil sector. that would make the country's economy buoyant and prosperous as captured accordingly in the song thus; samun fetir garemu babbar sa'a ce, amma kar mu dogara wajen shi, saboda kasuwa tai ta fadi chorus; kowa ya huda hili yai gona chorus; amai da hankali wajen noma mutane a kama sana'o'i. however, dandawo attempts to recalls nigeria's experience on the declining in price of petroleum product in the world oil market, to warn the country not heavily relies on oil sector. this is for the fact that, its reliance on oil sector would have adverse effects on the economy of the country, as the country might not be able to execute capital projects for rapid development in time of fluctuation of petroleum products. it is on this basis that dandawo raises question on the country's economic dilemma, in which the chorus respond by saying that, there is needful commitment on the part of the nigerians to transform the country through agricultural activities. he maintains that the country should go into commercial agriculture to promote exportation of agricultural products as; cassava, sweet potato, yam, cocoa, cotton, grains, rice, groundnut, beans among other as captured accordingly in the song; yanzu kasuwar ta fadi gwamnati ba za ta sami kudin daukar jama'a ba kamar daure, da kyautata jin dadin jama'a, yanzu ina dibara ku jama'a chorus; mu shuka auduga da gyada, masara, muyi shinkafa musa dawa, sannan mu shuka gero har wake. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 149 150 singers always adopt repetition in rendering his songs. that is to say, dandawo repeats almost all the verses of this song to emphasize the messages embedded in each verse. it is however, noted that dandawo is known to possess natural talent of language manipulation. he deploys figurative devices such as; as hyperbole, simile, metaphor, allusion among others in almost all his songs. in this song dandawo employs allusion in which he refers to thestatus of agriculture and the role it plays in the growth and development of the nigeria's economy in the past, before the discovery of oil sector. he also employs simile in an attempt to compare the nigeria's economic status in the past when the country prioritizes agriculture before the discovery of oil resources with the current economy of the nation, when it neglects agriculture. conclusion on the final note, this paper delves into the impact of sani aliyu dandawo's song based on the economic diversification through agriculture. a unique focus of this paper is its quiet rendition to nigeria's favorable economic experience prior to the discovery of oil resources, in which the country lived a prosperous life with vibrant economy, and strong currency with prioritizing agriculture sector. the sector that generates huge revenue to the country,provides employment opportunities to the nigerians, and promotes its foreign exchange. similarly, dandawo strives to justify how negligence of agricultural sector led the country sinks into the economic dilemma with the discovery of oil resources. therefore, the paper justifies how song and music is used by dandawoto uplift the consciousness of nigerians to diversify its economy by concurrently promotes its various economic sectors, with particular focus on agriculture being a vibrant sector of economy that provides employment opportunities to many nigerians, revenue generation, and promotion of foreign exchange. the paper however justifies the reality of dandawo's dole mu tashi mui aiki tukuru, muci da kanmu muici da waje, kuma mui ciniki da kasashen waje. chorus; najeriya kasa mai albarka, allah ya taimaki najeriya, garemu harda 'ya'ya, jikoki. dandawo however, recalls the formation of communities based developmental associations in the past in an effort to encourage people to cultivate attitude of unity in nation building through agricultural activities. likewise, the students are encouraged to join hand in promoting agricultural activities in an effort to feed the nation, and as such to eradicate poverty within the society as captured accordingly in the song thus; an kakkafa jam'iyyun hada kai, don kowa shi sami aikin yi, chorus; an karfafawa 'yan makaranta, suma su taimaka wajen noma. technique and aesthetic qualities of sani aliyu dandawo's song there is no doubt that dandawo follows the same street that most of hausa singers embark upon in their singing career. thus, hausa singers stylistically employed chorus in their song accompanied by musical instruments to make their songs more pleasurable, and as such to attract the interest of the audience to grasp the messages embedded in their songs. hausa singers are categorized into two. those with chorus that repeat what the singer exactly sung, and those that come up with verses contrary to what the singer sings but aligned with the message that the singer wants to put across the audience. dandawo falls under the second category whose chorus sing verses contrary to the verses he pronounces but aligned with his message. thus, the ideas pronounce always go in line with the responses of his chorus. similarly, dandawo like most of hausa coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 151 152 sims, martha c, and martine stephens. living folklore; an nd introduction to study of people and theirtraditions, 2 ed. utah state university press, 2005. tarihin rayuwar sani aliyu dandawo.' 7 digital, 1 june 2023, united kingdom,www.7 digital. com/(accessed 4 may 2024). philosophy through nigeria's practical experience of prioritizing oil sector, and finds itself in economic dilemma, as the value of oil sector is determined by the western world. works cited asika, ikechukwu & akabuike, ifeoma. re-kindling the travails of the past: the dreams of the poet in the quest for national integration and global reconciliation published inansu journal of language and literary studies (ajlls) vol.1. no. 4, december, 2017. pp 145-156. asika, ikechukwu, madu, ngozi & akabuike, ifeoma. “language as trope in chimamanda adichie's americanah: a stylistic(de)-coding.” nigerian journal of african studies (njas)vol. 4, no. 1, 2022. pp 1-10. deutsche welle television. 'tarihin rayuwarsani aliyu dandawo'. youtube 16, april. 2012. muhammad, g.s. diwanin wakokin baka. century research and publishing limited,2014. muhammad, g.s. jagoran nazarin wakar baka. benchmark publishes limited, 1993. muhammad, i.s. abokin hira; kowa yasha kida. cargo press limited, 1983. neil, s. kamus na turanci da hausa. northern nigeria publishing company limited, 1965. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 idris hashim haruna & nafisat umar yabo beyond entertainment value: the impact of sani aliyu dandawo’s farming song on economic revolution 153 154 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr olatunbosun, taofeek. “nigerian drama: an overview.”ijegun journal of english language and literature: a journal of language and english studies, vol.1, no 1, 2016, pp. 42-55. richards, sandra. ancient songs set ablaze. hup, 1996. soyinka, wole. myth, literature and the african world. cup, 1976. wright, derek. wole soyinka revisited. twyne publishers, 1993. storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigeria naziru ahmad atiku languages department, school of general studies, federal polytechnic, oko. anambra state, nigeria. e-mail: naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com 08067693760 abstract this work aims at elaborating widely on the concept of storytelling and how it plays a vital role in the preservation of nigerian indigenous culture. as we are living in a space and time where some cultures establish themselves as predators and make others pray. gradually, due to the influence of western cultures, many indigenous cultures are slipping into the oblivion as the younger generations of nigerians develop prejudice and unfriendliness towards their own culture, giving an unnecessary preference to the western culture. considering the evil effect of globalization in subjugation, segregation and victimization of the nigerian culture, strong and stoic effort is to be made before it is too late to cry and end up campaigning after the election or planting crops on air, harvesting nothing at the end of the year. this storytelling is paramount in the nigerian educational curriculum, documentation and movie so as to influence the general attitudes of the youths and save the indigenous culture from being lost. keywords: storytelling, indigenous cultures, globalization, preservation introduction storytelling is as old as human endeavours since the creation of adam and eve people began to narrate their story which can be found even in their scriptures. in relation to this assertion (sheppard) said “storytelling coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 19 20 mailto:naziruahmadatiku@gmail.com is an intimate and universal art form that is over 50,000 years old”. culture is preserved by the way of narration from generation to generation that transcendent their way of life socially, educationally, morally, religiously etc. people in the olden days tell stories for many purposes such as entertainment, information, education, etc. these generations dwell in different parts of the world and formed their identities or ethnic groups. according to american historical association, “in nigeria there are about 250 – 300 ethnic groups as measured by self-identification or the presence of different languages”. unfortunately, globalisation vandalizes and twists the nigerian culture covertly or overtly. nigeria is blessed with grandeur culture before the globalization downtrod and scattered it into unbearable or unwelcomed development away from its pulsating outstanding look. (akande) “cautions that globalization for the extinction of 22,000 indigenous cultures in the last decade and projects that approximately 90% of the world's languages will disappear in the next century as a result of globalization”. globalisation today endangers our indigenous culture and way of life as colonialism did some decades ago. in corroboration with this view: every element of the current crises of collapses of industries, collapses of educational and health facilities, collapses of infrastructure (power, transportation, water supply and communication), degradation of the environment, inflation, escalating debt bill, weakening of the currency, ethnic and religious violence and collapses of public security is traceable to the renewed attempt to consolidate the re-colonisation process.(aluko et al 119130). contemporarily this could be seen as a plain truth and undeniable, as it occurs in our daily life where nigerians rush to the borrowed culture helter-skelter neglecting their indigenous culture in vain. in this era of technological innovations where the western technologies drive away and re-shape our thinking to either blend of the two cultures i.e. indigenous culture and western culture or even embrace the latter, therefore it is paramount to trigger nigerians harbinger of an action through storytelling of their founding fathers' way of life that tied them in piece not in pieces. concept of storytelling the concept of storytelling hybridized two different words “story” and “telling”, according to longman advance learners' dictionary, the word story could be seen as “a description of how something happened that is intended to entertain people and may be true or imaginary”. although this definition views the word “story” through the grammatical spectacle, but the literature point of view fill the gaps and inadequate of the meaning in portraying purpose of story not only for entertainment but also information, education, etc. “a story is understood to be a primary means of communicating oral tradition because it generally encapsulates principles, standard and various other expressions in oral societies” (achebe 50). telling on the other hand encompasses the act of showing the true character or nature of someone or something, often without being intended. telling is also a word of mouth, uttered or written ones with the aim of expressing the true picture or character of someone or something to the listening ears or viewing eyes. storytelling is being discussed by many scholars in the realm of literature. “story telling describes the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment, it connotes some crucial elements which are: plot, character and narrative point of view” (wikipedia.org). (rossioter 2734) states that storytelling is a form of communication that predates written human history as a means of teaching lessons and passing history down from one generation to another. similarly, (serrat 150-168) asserts that storytelling is the use of stories or narrative as a communication tool coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 21 22 to value, share and capitalize on the knowledge of individuals. he added that storytelling is the vivid description of ideas, beliefs, personal experiences, and life-lessons through stories or narratives that evoke emotions and insight. according to thiango, storytelling is retelling a tale or narrative to one or more listeners through voice and gesture. moreover, “storytelling is a method of recording and expressing feeling, attitudes, and responses of one's life experiences and environment” (gbadegesin 173-188). thus, the human culture in the world seems to create stories as way of making sense of the world (achebe and vanbe). for all the supra scholars' definitions of storytelling one may easily detect that the nigerian culture that etymologically accompany their life and plays a vital role in moving them forward. theoretical framework this paper deems it appropriate to use a theoretical framework that will suit its subject matter. therefore it is the narrative paradigm theory which was propounded by fischer. his theory posits that all human beings are recipients and originators of stories which are narratives in themselves (fisher 74). he asserts that narratives that resonate with people are usually stories shaped by a series of events, historical or cultural markers. storytelling is without doubt a veritable tool which oral societies used in conveying meaning and the narrative paradigm corroborates that a story may be used to convey meanings that will resonate better with an audience and this in turn can open a channel that can allow history and traditions to be passed from generation to generation for preservation purposes. structure of the nigerian storytelling nigeria like all other african countries values storytelling. for that the structure of the storytelling categorized into triangular segments that is to say three segments namely; the preamble, central idea and conclusion. in the african setting stories are divided into three parts as follows: the introduction, the body and the conclusion (matateyuo and vambe). taking the major ethnic groups culture into account, hausa, igbo and yoruba, the storytelling normally takes place in their homes' compound under the moon light. the story teller is mostly an elderly person like grannies. the mat will be spread and the children encircle the storyteller with the great alacrity. in hausa community usually the stories begin by “gatanan-gatananku” that is “here it goes” said by the storyteller while the audience respond by saying “tazo mujita” meaning “we are listening”. similarly in igbo culture “umuaka, umuaka” that is “children, children” said by the storyteller while audience respond by saying “eeh” meaning “yeees.” also storyteller proceeded by saying “onwere akuko m ga-akoro unu” that is “there is a story i want to tell you”, the audience also responded by “koro ayi na ayi na-ege nti” meaning “tell us your story, we are listening.” in yoruba tradition the storyteller starts with a call and the audience respond which is repeated for a few times in form of chant as to get the full attention of the listeners. the storyteller would say “alo o” literally means “story” while contextually means “i have a tale to tell.” the audience would respond “alo” literally means “story” while contextually means “say it.” some stories put the children in a dilemma and deep melancholy which may cause sleepless night or terrible nightmare while other stories are hilarious and absurd but whatever phase the story takes lessons are grasped from it. the recurrent stories among the three ethnic groups are about “spider and grasshopper”, “cat and mouse,” “ant and bird,” “tortoise and hare,”“elephant and hyena,” and other characters. to make the above point clearer, examples of some of these stories are cited below: cat and mouse (hausa storytelling) a notorious mouse annoyed a spider with stealing. whatever the spider keeps, the notorious mouse would steal and eat it. as the spider became coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 23 24 fed up with the frequent stealing of the mouse, he went to a cat's house and reported it. the cat said, “no problem, let's go to your house. you know mouse is a smart thief. bring daddawa (food spice) and place it at the center of this room. i will be hiding. once he perceives it and comes out, i will pounce on him”. few minutes after the spider brought daddawa (food spice) and placed it, the notorious mouse perceived it and came out. as the cat was hiding beside a bed, she sighted the mouse coming out, she immediately pounced and grabbed him. the mouse screamed and cried. the spider looked at him and said, “today is your dday, heartless thief. we will see whether you can steal again”. the cat went house with him, killed him and ate. theft is not good, we should avoid it. ( sani). this hausa tale originated since from time immemorial generation after generation. the tale aimed at portraying the evil of theft and bad turn of the thieves' fate. the storyteller warns the audience about the danger of theft, asa moral lesson of this story. thus in the hausa culture people normally use this food spice (daddawa) to add taste aroma in their native soup and also as a trap of catching mouse. the cunning tortoise (igbo folktale) once upon a time in the animal kingdom, tortoise who was a cunning animal wanted to get married. he could not afford the traditional wedding items required by his soon-to-be in-laws, so he borrowed them from his neighbors. he called his kinsmen to accompany him to his inlaws for the wedding ceremony. before tortoise and his kinsmen set out, he told them that they should all take on special names to answer to when they arrived at the ceremony. everyone chose their names and tortoise chose to be called “all of you.” when they arrived at the wedding, the in-laws had prepared different kinds of foods and drinks. the ceremony began first with the serving of kola nuts and palm wine. when the kola nuts were served, tortoise stood up and asked his in-laws [“who are the kola nuts for?”] and the in-laws replied, [they're for“all of you”]. then tortoise turned to his kinsmen and said [“my people, the kola nuts are for me”]. so tortoise put the kola nuts away in his bag. after some time, the in-laws came back with other foods and drinks and tortoise would ask again [“who are these for?”] and the in-laws would reply [“for all of you”]. tortoise took all the foods and drinks that were served for him and put them away in his bag. when the in-laws came back and saw that the kinsmen were not eating and drinking, they asked tortoise why? tortoise replied that it was because the in-laws said that the food was for “all of you” and that was his name. after the serving of food and drinks, they began the traditional wedding ceremony. tortoise and his kinsmen presented the bride price and wedding gifts to the bride's family. some of the gifts were yams, rice, and palm oil. the in-laws accepted these gifts and stored them in their house. at the end of the ceremony, tortoise and his new bride went home. tortoise, being a greedy and crafty animal, arranged with some thieves to steal the wedding gifts he had just presented to his in-laws. when tortoise and the thieves arrived at night to steal the gifts, the inlaws heard the noise and raised an alarm. neighbours came running and caught tortoise and the thieves. the neighbors tied tortoise and the thieves to a tree in the public square as punishment. later, members of the community pleaded to have tortoise and the thieves released. the inlaws released them and tortoise went home in shame. when tortoise got home, he realized that his bride had gone back to her father's house, (i.e. thelma). this tale portrays some of igbo cultures during their traditional wedding where cola nuts are brought to the in-laws as a sign of respect. the incoou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 25 26 laws on the other hand present the bride price and wedding gift like: yams, rice and palm oil. these items are very crucial in igbo culture during wedding. the bride family might be stigmatized if these items are not being brought by the in-laws. the lesson grasped from this tale geared directly towards greedy people. their greediness drives them to venture into the fate of regret as shown in the tale (the cunning tortoise). the tortoise lost his integrity and even his wife as a result of greediness. sigidi the idol of ayede town (yoruba folktale) sigidi, the clay idol was regarded a very important part of the town of ayede, he was a god in his own right. however, unlike other clay gods he could talk, everybody deferred to him and no one dared question him, not even the king. he was carried to wherever he wanted to go and saw whatever he wanted to see, people adored him and he enjoyed the best offerings of all the idols in the town. whatever he asked for became his. one day, while he was been carried along the bank of a river, he saw people swimming and wanted to join in, but his request was turned down. that was sigidi's first ever request to be refused, and he was not happy at all. he moped, he complained and he threatened until his request was granted. when he was finally put in the water, he discovered to his dismay that he was much heavier than water and he soon sank to the bottom of the river. before his carrier could get to him, he had already soaked too much water and had begun to melt. the young carrier could only watch with dismay as the once honoured and respected clay idol of ayede turned into mud and was washed away by the river moral: learn that no matter how popular, loved and honoured you are, there are still limits to what you can do. know how much you are worth, because going beyond your limits is an invitation to disgrace, because as the bible says: “pride goeth before a fall” (sigidi n sere ete, o ni ki won gbe lo si odo loo we) (deebayuu). ant and bird ant went to drink. he fell into the river, “help! help! will you help me, please?” he shouted. bird heard ant and she ran to the river. “shall i help you? she asked. “:yes, please!” said ant. so, bird pulled ant out of the water. “thank you, bird! said ant. “not at all ant, it is good to help others,” said bird. “will you help me one day?” “yes, i will!”said ant. many years later, bird was in the forest. a hunter saw her. he wanted to shoot bird. ant was in the forest, too. he saw the hunter and bird. “now i can help bird!” thought ant. ant ran up the hunter's leg and bit him. the hunter jumped and shouted. bird flew away. the hunter did not kill bird. ant was very happy. the tale “ant and bird” is one of the stories put in the educational curriculum to educate students some important aspects of their culture. we can deduce the act and value of assistance which may turn back to the performer later in life. as bird helped ant from being drown in the river latter the ant rescued bird from the shoot of a hunter. (coates and styring 21-22). therefore, the nature of nigerian storytelling depicts the culture of their ethnic groups ranging from the food, dress, customs, religions, beliefs, traditions, magical practices, interactions, etc. as their way of life or identity. the role of storytelling in preserving nigerian culture it is destined for man once to live and eventually demise. for a culture to be recognized or imitated, it must be preserved and told to younger generations so that it will not go into extinction. stories play a vital role to the human cognitive domain and interaction. human beings are curious to hear stories of their replica so that they can imitate them. religious scriptures like qur'an and bible are filled up with stories of the past as a mirror of present and future. elders also engage in telling stories of their ancestors. why stories are highly regarded here? they are the instruments for preserving and transmitting culture. the maintenance coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 27 28 and preservation of culture are needed for the culture not be perished. knowles outlines six important factors that make stories essential to human existence. the factors are globally applicable to every society, namely: 1. stories are universal, 2. stories help us understand our place in the world, 3. stories help us learn how to act wisely, 4. stories help us shape our perspectives of the world, 5. stories help us understand other people and their perspectives, and 6. stories pass down knowledge and morals. stories help us understand our place in the world, taking this statement into cognizance, we can easily draw an idea that culture explains where and who we are. in nigeria each ethic group is designated with norms and values entitled to it. identity could easily be identified by the way people behave though one might find himself in heterogeneous societies, where different identities interact, but each individual behaving according to his culture and showcasing his identity through the practice of his beliefs, norms and values. for instance, in the nigerian culture all the major ethnic groups have their own way of traditional leadership and the hierarchical arrangement of the leadership. the nigerian culture of traditional leadership is really outstanding because each leadership epitomizes the culture of its society. moreover, traditional leaders are the custodian of culture, law and order. due to this system of leadership by the nigerian ethnic groups like hausa, igbo, yoruba, etc. people live happily and fond of one another. as a way of nurturing younger generations to adopt this culture, stories are being told in such a way that even if they (younger generations) are not capable in the participation of leadership as a result of their age limit, at least they passed through the knowledge and if they are asked to describe their system of traditional leadership they can elaborate it as they learn through storytelling. thus the story will tell them their culture and where they belong to even within one ethnic group. therefore, the storytelling immensely preserves the culture of leadership and many more in a given society. neglecting storytelling for younger generation is like downgrading and even eliminating our culture which may likely forced them to embrace different culture and tarnish the image of their native culture. stories pass down knowledge and morals and help us understand other people and their perspectives, when we critically observe the life itself is like a mirror or replica of the past people and events. people learn through different ways e.g. trial and error, insight, learning from others etc. the essence of telling such stories is solely for imitation purpose. bandura emphasizes the importance of learning from others or observational learning as “helping individuals, especially children, acquire new responses by observing others' behavior”. many stories are written or told not for entertainment only but also knowledge or moral lesson is expected to drawn. being an important figure or influential personality who contributed in the development of society in one way or the other history is generous to document their gigantic task and save it away from falling into trash. tracy, one of the motivational influential public speakers and self development author in his work titled “eat that frog, twenty one ways to stop procrastination and get more done in less time”says, “if you want to be successful ask for those that succeeded and the ways followed for that achievement”. for that reason many autobiographies and biographies of influential people are documented. in nigeria we have people like abubakar tafawa balewa, obafemi awolowo, nnamdi azikiwe and others. in fact, stories really serve as reservoir of knowledge written and told for the purpose of preserving people's culture. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 29 30 recommendations · movie directors and producers have vital role in reviewing or revisiting our indigenous stories to convert them into their movies as the globalization is taking another shape in which the super power countries work tirelessly to over shadow african countries. · this paper suggests that it is imperative to reintroduce the art of storytelling by codifying the myths and rich historical antecedents of nigerian societies into oral instruments that can be transmitted to the younger generations using digitalized formats. · it suggests that in this culturally predatory world, nigeria will seek not just to preserve its indigenous cultures but also to export them to other parts of the world, by disseminating the implicit and explicit wisdom and moral lessons available in our folktales i.e. storytelling. · government should create some processes that can be used to encourage the younger generations to develop an interest in and an affinity for indigenous culture and tradition through storytelling. · families as agents of socialization should engage their members in storytelling with a view to acquaint them with their cultural background. · it will be salient to integrate the participation of schools and learning institutions in this process as they embody one of the major agents of socialization as well as it will force the recognition of the promotion of indigenous cultures into the societal system. · by adopting storytelling as part of our educational curriculum, modern media channels can also be used to launch a massive campaign and sensitization programmes on the relevance, transmission and participation in the acts of storytelling. · communities should strive to expose their young generations to all the elements, forms and practice of their traditions and also instill in them appreciation of these traditions through storytelling with a view of preserving their indigenous cultures and acquainting them with their cultural identity. conclusion in conclusion storytelling as a get way of preserving indigenous culture in nigeria can never be under estimated, therefore to avoid the intrusion of foreign cultures, movie directors and producers have vital role in reviewing or revisiting our indigenous stories to convert them into their movies as the globalization is taking another shape in which the super power countries work tirelessly to over shadow african countries, nigeria is not excluded, and other under developed countries by presenting what they called “world order.” their decision and ideology is what matters but others are constrained in pursuing their potentialities. thus, affinity to indigenous cultures is another crucial aspect to be strengthened. mabera, a renowned islamic public speaker said, “we are in the era that conquest of thought is more harmful than physical conflict, your child at home embraced bad culture that is not in conformity with his own culture at long last bad characters over shadow him and control him through the use of contemporary technological innovations.” storytelling is at the crossroad of sinking under a deep ocean if remedial measures are not taken. norms and values such as: honesty, sincerity, humility, integrity, fidelity, modesty, equity and hospitality as well are key aspects to every culture, expected of every member of the society to imbibe. luckily, these are also key clues preserved in the storytelling. for these reasons storytelling contribute immensely in the preservation of indigenous culture in nigeria. works cited abubakar, dauda. “globalisation, social sciences and nigeria in the 21st century.” nigeria social scientist, vol. 4, no. 1, 2001, pp. 3136. achebe, chinua. anthills of the savannah. heinemann, 1987. akande, wole.drawback of cultural globalisation. 2002. available coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 storytelling and the preservation of indigenous culture in nigerianaziru ahmad atiku: 31 32 http://www.org/globali. aluko, mabayoje, et al. “globalisation and manufacturing sector: a study of selected textile firms in nigeria.” journal of social sciences, vol. 9, no. 2, 2004, pp. 119-130. asika, ikechukwu “folktale in akachi adimora-ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones, house of symbols and children of the eagle.” arts and humanities quarterly. vol. 9, no. 3, 2012, pp. 1434. ---“resurrecting igbo cultural values through folklore: 'egwu onwa' and its commitment towards societal ethos.” nigerian journal of african studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2020, pp 1-14. ---“story within a story: folktale in akachi adimora ezeigbo's children of the eagle, chimamanda ngozi adichie's purple hibiscus and chuma-udeh ngozi's echoes of new dawn.”ansu integrated knowledge, vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, pp. 19-30. chinyowa, kennedy.shona storytelling & the contemporary performing arts in zimbabwemambo press, 2004. duruaku, tony. “animated graphic film for the rejuvenation of a fading culture: the case of an african oral heritage.”african journal of history and culture,vol. 7, no. 6, 2015, pp. 123-132. finnegan ruth. oral literature in africa. oxford university press, 1970. fisher walter. the narrative paradgm:in the beginning. journal of communication, 35, pp. 74-89, 1985. htpps://adebayoadegbite.wordspres. accessed on 13 may 2021 mandela nelson. favorite african folktales: this is a collection of traditional folktales from different regions of africa. w.w. norton and company, 2002. matateyou emmanuel. an anthology of myths, legends and folktales. edwin mellen press, 1997. sheppard tim. traditional storytelling in africa. retrieved from tim sheppard's storytelling resources for storytellers, 2009 http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/dir/traditions/africa.html styring james. the new premier english for primary schools 2. 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2025.cdr root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah's the last gift ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd., mrs. alege m. a., oyinloye oluwatobi olajumoke e-mail: , +2348068378633;egbutaikechukwu@yahoo.com +2348033051967; +2347038627990 abstract this study adopts martin heidegger's concept of authenticity as its heuristic tool to investigate root identity as a postcolonial identity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah's the last gift through the lens of postcolonial literary theory as part of the main currents in the study and practice of african literature. in the modern world with the increase of migrant identity crisis situations, hybrid nations and constitution of countries with different cultural identities and diversities, identity placing and tracing come to the center stage. this is because african literature in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has been seen as containing contradictory impulses, binary oppositions sort of –towards acceptance or rejection. to jean-paul sartre and martin heidegger, it is authenticity and inauthenticity. it manifests in fredrick nietzsche as apollonian and dionysian predicaments. it is “us” and “the others” in postcolonial context and albert camus calls it rebellion and conformism. the expression of this binary takes various forms because african fictive characters are portrayed to have emerged from colonialism and have evolved with them a double inheritance: authenticity and inauthenticity. hybridity is one of the consequences of this dual heritage, creating uncertainty as to where and how root identity is to be ascertained among characters in the novels. in gurnah's the last gift, hanna and jamal come to a clearer understanding of their root identity underwritten by the sailor's tales which their father, abbas, planted in the radio tape ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 74 mailto:egbutaikechukwu@yahoo.com socially or metaphorically circumscribed), the interpretation and reinterpretation of common history" (loana elena marinescu 90). in fact, colonialism was not only a power control but it was a cultural control by the colonizer in which still colonized people are tied to in one way or the other. bill ashcroft, gareth griffith and helen tiffin argue that “all post-colonial societies are still subject in one way or another to overt or subtle forms of neocolonial domination, and independence has not solved this problem" (2). the postcolonial atmosphere and situation is characterised by the tensions of struggling of newly independent states to achieve their cultural, political, and psychological identification, reflect their privacy, establish their selfdetermination different from that imposed by the colonizers that always leads to imbalance. the struggle of the colonized subjects for their cultural identity and the social formation of the new independent nations is an aspect of cultural transformation that leads to a continuous, if not a perpetual conflict with the colonizer's culture. what characterizes postcolonial era is the resistance to colonialism and seeking identity to confirm their independence, which many countries in the post colony have not succeeded in doing. then, the population movement and migration from former colonies to the colonizer's countries created new mixed, hybrid societies that clash with each other culturally in one hand and in the other hand between the citizens and migrants. through colonial tutelage, most of the african fictive characters have carried with them the cultural experiences which predate colonialism and persisted along the relics of colonialism. these have affected the value system or the acceptable values in the behavioral patterns of characters found in the fictions either written by citizens of these countries or handed to them by the colonial masters as a moral handbook. more often, some of the fictions written by the formal colonized people who live abroad or african diaspora writers portray their own experiences and showcase major characters struggling to become or lost in their they received as his metaphorical last gift. their mother, maryam also returns to exeter to find root into her own identity, having suffered from root identity and its predatory effects from childhood. any sincere criticism of african literature offers one of the most important ways in which these root identity and migrant perceptions are expressed, and it is in gurnah that the day-to-day realities experienced by these migrant characters have been most alluringly determined. key words: migration, authenticity, inauthenticity, hybridity, root identity. introduction countries that have had colonial experience typically have a dual inheritance and this situation is not automatically remedied by the attainment of independence. at independence, writers from these former colonies start up a conversation around what is perceived as their pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial experiences. these three conversations are encapsulated into the postcolonial discourse. postcolonial is a term used for an era when colonies achieved freedom from european colonization. the term post colonialism concerns the effects of colonialism on cultures and communities which are formerly occidental colonies. historians used it after the second world war, wwii, to refer to the postindependence time. post-colonialism may also refer to the crises migrant characters encounter as they try to grapple with colonial experience and what is originally theirs. though there are political changes in the post colony, many nations got independence and no more they are colonies, but culturally and economically there appear many dilemma and crisis, they are still in confusion about their culture and identity. the appearance of national and ethnic identity dilemmas and endurances in ascertaining what is authentic in order to bridge the gap of its inauthentic opposite “defined and redefined after the collapse of the empire, the continuous movement between margin and centre (be it spatially, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 75 76 control of the affairs of the colonized nations. in essence, this paper subscribes to the position of bill ashcroft, gareth grifiths and helen tiffin in the postcolonial studies reader that the term postcolonial “is best used to designate the totality of practices, in all their rich diversity, which characterizes the societies of the postcolonial world from the moment of colonization to the present day, since colonialism does not cease with the mere fact of political independence and continues in a neo-colonial mode to be active in many societies” (xv). the implication is that the term “postcolonial” is used to refer to diverse practices which incorporate all the effects of colonization by imperial europe both within the moment of colonization and afterwards. post-colonial studies which emerged from the varied experiences of colonized peoples represent the expression of such colonial experiences. ashcroft, griffiths and tiffin observe that “postcolonial studies are based in the 'historical fact' of european colonialism and the diverse material effects to which this phenomenon gave rise” (2). one of the “diverse material effects” of british colonization of some part of africa, for instance, is the denigration of the indigenous culture through the superimposition of western culture. the derogatory representation of “others” as different from “us” and the stereotyping of the natives found expression in the colonial documentation or writing by colonial administrators, adventurers, sailors, researchers and missionaries. literature remains one of the most readily available and important modes of expressing the existential realities prevalent in the postcolonial societies. ashcroft, griffiths and tiffin further posit that, “what each of these literatures has in common beyond their special and distinctive regional characteristics is that they emerge in their present form out of the experience of colonization and asserted themselves by foregrounding the tension with the imperial power, and by emphasizing their differences from the assumptions of the imperial centre. it is this which makes them distinctly postcolonial”(2). essentially, the experience of colonization is responsible for shaping and reshaping the culture of colonized societies and by extension the writing that emerged from such own crisis of filiation. placed in this isthmus of a middle state are the questions of authenticity, inauthenticity, and root identity. theoretical standpoint some of the familiar issues in the discourse of african literature of the twenty-first century reveal the preponderance by writers, some of who live abroad, to confront the notions of migration crises in their art renditions occasioning from a call to self-examine one's own authentic existence in a world of diverse narratives. through their narratives, they reveal varying prevalent social realities, especially, as it affects the blacks living in a land that could be called foreign, for lack of a better word. it is common, as one reads these literary works to encounter the childprotagonist as it grapples with the vicissitude of daily existence and identity formation in a dystopian environment, and as bill ashcroft, gareth griffith and helen tiffin will affirm, “more than three quarters of the people living in the world today have had their lives shaped by the experience of colonialism.” ashcroft et al go further to assert that, “literature offers one of the most important ways in which these new perceptions are expressed and it is in their writing, and through other arts that the day-to-day realities experienced by colonized people have been most powerfully encoded” (1). postcolonial theory stands out as almost the most important tool for confronting african literature because of diverse area of its interface with migration, root identity, authenticity, inauthenticity, and crisis of filiation. postcolonial theory therefore “deconstructs and reimagines personal, cultural and national identities” (kirsti bohata 2). the term “postcolonial” has remained a subject of spirited argument and controversy especially over what it should and does represent. at one level, postcolonial is used to refer to the period between colonization and right after independence only, while at another level, the periodization is stretched further down, beginning from the moment of colonization down to the present day. this is in view of the fact that the colonizers are still in remote coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 77 78 most influential philosophical movement between the late 18th and throughout 19th centuries. it is better classified as a movement rather than a school. the reason for this is because it is not a coherent system of philosophizing like rationalism, thomism, platonism, and others. existentialists do not believe in “abstract speculation but rather are interested in concrete human existence, their philosophizing begins from man rather than from nature” (john macquarrie 14). the question of authenticity is raised by soren kierkegaard (who is often referred to as the father of existentialism), martin heidegger (although would not like to be called an existentialist), fredrick nietzsche, dostoevsky, albert camus, karl jaspers, gabriel marcel, simon de beauvoir, and jean-paul sartre. the condition and quality of the existing human individual remains the kernel of their philosophies. consequently, themes such as, “human subjectivity, facticity, finitude, absurdity, nothingness, anxiety, guilt, death, essence and existence, among others” (jim ijenwa unah and chris osegenwune 129) recur in their different analysis of the human condition. in their determination to make man live an affirmative form of life, “they denied all forms of abstractions with respect to existence. against all objectives and abstractions, existence, for these thinkers, takes precedence over essence” (david nyong 37). existentialists believe that against all odds, man must make every effort to live his life to its fullness on earth. they understand that there are some human “givens,” otherwise called facticity of existence, which may not allow man to affirm himself and achieve all that he wants on earth. for that reason, the only way to confront these existential “facticities” is to man up (be courageous) and live authentically. in existentialism, the concept of authenticity is used to “describe the way of living of one who takes full cognizance of the meaninglessness of the world yet deliberately follows a consistent course of action” (unah and osegenwune 27-28). unfortunately, even though human beings may decide they want to live in a way that is true to their deepest beliefs, desires and passions, most of them do not in the true sense societies out of the horror of imperial domination. the socioeconomic and political realities that characterize colonized societies and their literature are products of the imperial process of colonization and its continuation in diverse forms in present times. postcolonial practice therefore involves an attempt, a predilection to engage in a public discourse of the effects of european colonization of native populations and supplanting and denigration of indigenous ways of knowing. ashcroft et al summarize this view through their submission that: the practice of postcolonial theorizing involves discussion about experience of various kinds: migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender, place and responses to the influential master discourses of imperial europe such as history, philosophy and linguistics, and the fundamental experiences of speaking and writing by which all these come into b e i n g . n o n e o f t h e s e i s ' e s s e n t i a l l y ' postcolonial, but put together they form the complex fabric of the field (the post-colonial studies reader 2). the experiences of migration, authenticity, in authenticity and root identity constitute the material effects and reactions to colonialism. the major aim of this paper is to follow the traits of the characters in gurnah's the last gift in order to show how their colonial experience and migrant background model their inter/intra personal relationships and define their lost but found identity as the events of the story progress. herein lays the question of their authentic or inauthentic existence in a world immersed with fear and black stereotype. the question of authenticity authenticity and in authenticity are found in the concept of existentialism. existentialism designates the series of thinkers in the post-hegelian tradition of european philosophy. it became the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 79 80 world of 'things,' immersed in 'everyday distraction,' 'absorbed idle chatter' and primarily concerned 'about the way things are” (30-31). according to rubin, this is what heidegger refers to as the “inauthentic modes of everyday existence” (42). the inauthentic modes of existence involves “dwelling in the world without being in control of it” (john tiez 43). authenticity is its direct opposite. authenticity involves living according to “what is formally unique and particular to each individual human being, [since] the 'auth' in 'authenticity' means own, proper, or peculiar, what is authentic, then, is what is most my own, what is essential most proper or peculiar to me” (carman 233). here, authentic experience requires that “we choose ourselves in order to overcome or transcend those elements of life that we have no choice over, such as our parentage, biological makeup and place of birth” (mathew mcdonald 58). authenticity here entails that characters in gurnah's the last gift have been exposed to, or have been carried away by the 'publicness' of everyday living, and have thereby become alienated from their own trueness of being, for “when da-sein [loosely translated as human existence] occupies itself entirely with its world of care and gives itself up to the publicity of the 'one like many,' something like a fight of the dasein from itself as from its authentic potentiality of self-being reveals itself” (heidegger 60). da-sein as a being there has a thrown existence. in other words, man's existence is an existence that is thrown without why. his existence has no ab initio meaning; meaning only comes to his existence by virtue of how and what he authentically makes out of it. man first exists: “he materializes in the world, encounters himself, and only afterward defines himself. if man as existentialists conceive of him cannot be defined, it is because to begin with he is nothing. he will not be anything until later and then he will be what he makes of himself” (jean-paul sartre 22). and because the essence of man as da-sein is to exist, there are two ways in which he can live his life in the quest to actualize all his possibilities: he can live or exist authentically or in authentically. in heidegger's determination, human reality is a reality whose meaning is defined in reference to of the word. they are always comfortable following others: their friends, parents, teachers, the media, trends, husbands and wives. others' views and opinions often shape what they do. they think, most often, that it is more consequential to be likened and to fit in than it is to be themselves or to be truly who they are. many of them always think that they are not good enough, that is, they lack self-worth and would require others' approval for them to be truly human. consequent upon this, they always do everything within their ambit to be like others who they think are better than they are. one of the adverse effects of colonial and postcolonial experiences on the colonized people is that most people of african origin such as hanna in gurnah's the last gift, still think that being african in culture and in values is a sign of primitivism, barbarism and lack of civility; thus, they do everything to appear like the white even when the facts point to the contrary. by so doing, the necessity for authenticity becomes further relegated as a mark of weakness and not coping up with civilized norms. this makes them begin to drift along the inauthentic way of existence. this study adopts heidegger's concept of authenticity as its heuristic tool. in being and time, heidegger talks about a certain special kind of being in the universe. that being he calls da-sein or human being, human reality. while every other thing in the universe simply is only da-sein or human being exists. existence for this special kind of being, heidegger says, “is a possibility which exceeds actuality” (294). it is a possibility because human existence is a project which continues to actualize itself with affirmative and purposive action. heidegger calls this purposive action, authenticity. authenticity refers to what is “formally unique and particular to each individual human being. the unique first-person structure of existence,” what heidegger calls its “mineness” (taylor carman 233). according to yalom qtd.in shawn a. rubin, the concepts of authenticity and inauthenticity activate two fundamental modes of existing in the world: “a state of forgetfulness of being, and a state of mindfulness of being. to live in the state of forgetfulness of being is to live in a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 81 82 and is very changing according to environment and culture, because of transfer and sovereignty which leads to a confusion in identity" (francis chan i). as part of the effects of colonialism, what constitutes the colonized people's identity is not stable and fixed, rather it “emerges as a kind of unsettled space or an unresolved question in that space, between a number of intersecting discourses” (john hall 10). the impact of colonial legacy was multi-dimensional, besides there was different consequences of colonialism in different locations, the issue of identity appeared in different shapes and forms. collective and individual identities also differ physically and psychologically. the resistance of decolonization process took various outlines due to countries, societies and individuals. therefore, identity "is not simply imposed. it is also chosen, and actively used, albeit within particular social contexts and constraints. through the lens of postcolonial authenticity and inauthenticity crisis situation of the characters, this paper covers the crisis of filiation that the zanzibar family in gurnah's the last gift suffers by benefiting also from eduourd glissant's theory of root identity. the crisis of filiation experienced by gurnah's characters can be linked to what glissant refers to as “root identity” and its “predatory effects.” root identity, according to glissant rests on the “violence of filiation, of a genealogy going back to a founding myth or origin of a land, which becomes a territory” and has to be preserved by being projected onto other territories, making their conquest legitimate” (33). this conception, misconception or lack of identity rests on the idea of autonomous self-perception of the abbas family that then “sets in motion the thought of other and of voyage” (tina steiner 127) as the paper closes up with abba's family and the crisis of filiation. authenticity/inauthenticity: abbas's family and the crisis of filiation abbas is the major character in gurnah's the last gift. he is portrayed as an immigrant character that lives in exile for fortyother realities. in other words, man as an existing being, does not exist alone. he exists with other human beings, and it is through the reality of these other human beings like us that meaning is conferred on our individual existence. but, while living with others, heidegger further warns that man must not allow the fact of the other to deny him his individual authenticity. man must not allow the reality of “the human other” to rob him the reality of his own individuality. in other words, although man is a being that lives with others, his existence is not a collective existence but an individual existence who has his own life to live and his own death to die, his own identity to protect, and his own unique mannerism. for heidegger, “if da-sein makes no choice, and allows himself to be carried away by an 'undefined public,' 'the nobody,' 'everybody' and 'they factors,' 'da-sein' ensnares himself in inauthenticity” (268). heidegger however says that this process can still be reversed if da-sein will endeavour to “bring itself back to itself from its 'lostness' in the 'they' life-world (268). when this happens, human existence becomes authentic and impactful. this is the state of rediscovery of being that happens when hanna comes to the realisation that she cannot fit into the normal british life of nick's family in gurnah's the last gift. the question of identity in postcolonial context, identity is a complex concept that would be difficult to define. the identification of an individual or a group or a nation in postcolonial terms is related to the "other:" that means the post-colonies recognize themselves "us" with the existence of the "other." otherness is a feature to recognize identity in postcolonial era, which also means it is twofold, "both identity and difference, so that every other, every different than and excluded by is dialectically created and includes the values and meaning of the colonizing culture even as it rejects its power to define" (sachchidanand sinha 4). in addition, this binary relation of otherness created a kind of identity dislocation and paved a hierarchical situation in the period. the national identity that's formed in a post-colonial states "is believed to be never fixed coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 83 84 says “hanna used to say to jamal that they were a strange family, an odd family. their mother was an abandoned baby who had no idea of her real parents, and their father never spoke about his” (29; ch.1, pt. 1). this family lives in this circle of lost root identity in the text. the narrative voice reveals that abbas never talked to his children about their place of origin. so, hanna is right to have insinuated that they are a strange family. we read from the narrator that jamal patted his father on the thigh and asked him: why do you never talk about your family? because he never had, at least never to do much more than draw a sketchy picture of a miserly father and a putupon mother. sometimes, often, he talked about being a sailor and the countries he visited, or the various bad jobs he had had to do over the years before he settled into the one he did for the rest of his life, as an engineer in the electronics factory. but never about his family or even about where he cam from. when they were younger hanna or jamal asked, in the uncomplicated way of children, about where their grandparents were or what they were like, or other questions of that kind, but most of the time their father brushed their q u e s t i o n s aside, sometimes with a smile and sometimes without. you don't want to know about that, he would say. now and then he would tell them things, precious little things as they seemed to jamal, but nothing very precise, nothing very concrete. it was as if he spoke out of a reverie, unguarded for a few moments, holding up a fragment of a whimsy before letting it float away into the blinding light (32; ch. 1, pt. 1). the question above ignites a certain feeling of frustration and filial groping in hanna who could not imagine why their parents' identity remains a mystery to them. she probes the psyche of jamal out of frustration: three years. the novel opens with an insight about abbas's migrant life when the narrative voice states “one day, long before the troubles, he slipped away without saying a word to anyone and never went back. and then another day, forty-three years later” (1; ch. 1, pt. 1). in running away from home, abbas plunged his family into the crisis of filiation or root identity. this case of unknown identity endures from the beginning of the text through to abba's lifetime. the family has only got to have a peephole into their root through the tape his wife, maryam passed on to his children, hanna or anna and jamal. hanna becomes outraged for not knowing a single thing about her own background. and so, she is always eager to fight at the slightest mention of root identity. as it is said, an ageing is always uncomfortable whenever bone related issue is being talked about. even though hanna and jamal seem they have their own autonomy and have liberated themselves from their immigrant status to the point they can now lead normal british lives in england, they do not have any sense of belonging, because they carry the feeling of their lost identity like a snail carries its shell in the manner of the classical sisyphusian myth. hanna, for instance, prefers to be called anna since it sounds more british. she strives to create the image of a proper english girl. she wants to construct an identity for herself that is proper in europe, and that is why the narrative voice says that “she herself preferred to be called anna, and that was the name she used outside the house” (gurnah 33; ch. 1, pt. 1), and she has already told her teacher “'i hate the name hanna,' she said. 'i don't know where they got it from'” (34). this is exactly what heidegger refers to as “fallen:” a situation where man allows himself to be swallowed up by the cares of the world, he becomes fallen. and when this happens, heidegger asserts, “he becomes inauthentic and lost in the 'they' life world” (32). according to unah and osegenwune, its authentic opposite “marks the tension between the individual's ability to attain self-realization in the midst of limiting conditions of facticity” (229). in talking about the abbas's family, the narrative voice coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 85 86 benign smile and asked her, 'and where do youcome from?' 'anna's b r i t i s h , ' n i c k s a i d c u r t l y, answering for her. anthony made a soft snorting noise. 'yes, of course anna's british,' uncle digby said. 'but what was she before she was british?' they were all looking at her, waiting for her to speak, to tell them what her real nation w a s . s h e wished she could get up and leave, and walk quickly to the train station and travel to wherever her real nation was. she wished she had more panache and knew how to charm people she did not like. 'where are your parents from, anna?' uncle digby asked, still kindly but smiling less fully, perhaps made suspicious by anna's silence. 'my father is from east africa,' anna said, hating uncle digby for being an oily old fake and hating herself for being intimidated into a disclosure that she had no faith in. she had almost said i think but she had managed to suppress that (79-80). after a puzzling silence, uncle digby goes on to ask, “'you don't know where your father comes from! well, i find this hard to believe'” (80). anna lives in the state of forgetfulness of being in what heidegger calls inauthentic mode of everyday existence. that's the reason she is lost in this whole web of uncomfortable familiarity with nick's family. answering uncle digby, anna says, “'i don't know,' anna repeated, unable to think of anything else to say” (80). anna is rejecting that position of weakness of being lost. it has become imperative for her to get on with her life, however uncertain and inauthentic her identity is. maryam's own story is another web of a filial nightmare. the narrative voice describes how she was fostered from one household to another. this is exactly why anna retorts, “i just wish their stories were not so pathetic and sordid” (132). anna was almost drawn into tears when nick told her: 'they are lost,' she said. 'ba deliberately lost himself a long time ago, and ma found herself lost from the beginning, a foundling. what i want from them is a story that has a beginning that is tolerable and open and not one that is tripped with hesitations and silences. why is that so difficult? i want to be able to say this is what i am. yes, i know, so has every human being who has ever given the matter any thought, but i don't want to crack the mystery of the soul or the nature of being. i just want some simple boring details. instead we get snippets of secret stories we cannot ask about and cannot speak about. i hate it. sometimes it makes me feel that i am living a life of hiding and shame (33; ch.1, pt. 1). hanna's struggle with identity triggers some feeling of curiosity in jamal as a student of migration trends and policies in the european union. this is why jamal, “always, when he saw someone like him, someone dark, someone as old as his neighbour, he wanted to ask, where are you from? have you come a long way? how can you bear to be so far away? was it so intolerable there, wherever it was? it must have been, for you to choose to live in this ugly northern city. how has it been here in all these years? have you come through? (60). in the dinner scene with nick's family, uncle digby pushes anna a lot about her origin. that's why she is very uncomfortable in their company. it is equally the very reason she contemplates on not wanting to marry or bear a child for nick. she feels so uncomfortable with uncle digby's constant chasing of her background. she just does not want to keep up with the nick's and live in that internal distress all the rest of her life. anna's belongingness to a british society in nick's family becomes questionable since her identity is indefinable. she cannot trace her root. the following conversation speaks volume: at some point uncle digby, who was sitting across from her, turned towards her with a pungent ly coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 87 88 identity filiation in gurnah's the last gift is a sustaining construct that holds the narrative of the novel from the beginning to the end. having forced abbas to speak into the radio tape which maryam handed over to hanna and jamal as the metaphorical last gift, they started to trace their root. first, they tried to see if there is any existing conviction of who the parents of their mother are. unfortunately, this revelation was not made as their attempt was nothing but futile. on the letter he writes to his sister hanna, jamal comes to the conclusion that “of course we'll go to zanzibar. i want to see that tree where our father was shelling groundnuts while the great world was churning just out of eyeshot” (185). this going back is a way of humanity. that is why uncle digby waved hanna's words away when she told him that she does not know where her parents come from. the narrative voice says that: we see families falling apart because children do not want to know about the world their parents came from. to keep communities together, host and stranger need to know each other, but we cannot know each other if we don't know ourselves. we who care for the welfare of immigrants work as hard as we know how to get that message across, to encourage people to know. those words i am british feel like a cold tragic blast to me sometimes'” (80). at the end, even if hanna and jamal could not locate the root of their mother's parentage, they are well aware of their father's. it is therefore the position of this paper that so many africans living in europe with lost identities should trace their identity. it is only through this rediscovery of self that everything authentic in them would come to full actualization. conclusion using rene girard's mimetic theory, belachew gebrewold has argued that african migration to europe is not primarily driven by poverty and violence but by a mimetic desire to be like the former colonizers and to live among them. gebrewold listed these 'i mean i feel sorry for people like you because you don't know how to look after yourselves. your father was a whingeing tyrant, bullying everyone with one misery or another, in the grip of a psychic crisis, so it seemed. but he only had diabetes, a t h o r o u g h l y t r e a t a b l e disease, that's all. your mother was an abandoned baby and doesn't know who she is. well, it doesn't take a genius to find out that kind of information. why couldn't she just pay an agency to check it out for her? or why couldn't you, or your brother, do it for her? she, and all of you, would have known within days. but no, it had to be another festering drama. and then it turns out your father is an absconder and a bigamist but he couldn't just talk about this, the whole crowd of you in the grip of a hope less melodrama, ac t ing l ike immigrants' (157). this incident becomes an eye opener to hanna. she not only walks away from nick, she also comes to terms with her authentic self. that one is born short, slim, black, poor, born into a certain family and country are existential “givens,” in heidegger's habit of though, which have the capacity to weigh man down in perpetual grumbling. these facts are not of man's making. he is born into them and most often make man fallen with tendencies for resignation. as such, the feeling that we are “factically” thrown into the world, most often makes man run away from action, from choice and from himself. man at birth, does not choose to be born nor the type of family to be born into, yet he is born anyway, and expected to accept these facts of existence with existential equanimity, which is where authenticity comes in. hanna's realisation that she will perpetually bear immigrant status in nick's family opens her eyes to find root into her own identity. her real self that would now prefer to be called hanna—with mr. agbo voice, instead of the soft and easy british name, anna, begins to surge up. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 89 90 her brother jamal, african migrant characters should trace and re/locate their root for them to actually have a well-defined understanding of themselves. it is time africans moved and owned their authentic selves both in writing and in action. rediscovery and reassertion are the key functional relations the african migrant characters, and of course, in the life-world, should aim at and become intentional with. the good news is that no time is too late to call the self out from the “they life world” and affirm the self. in other words, the “they” life experience is just a stroll away which can be reversed the moment one realizes oneself and takes a firm and resolute decision towards self-retrieval. this is possible because what is lost in the “they” life is not a permanent state of being. therefore, the existential call for self-retrieval from the “they” world is what heidegger understands as authenticity, “when da-sein thus brings itself back from the 'they,' the they-self is modified in all existential manner so that it becomes authentic being-one's self” (313). the effort so far made in this paper is targeted at exposing da-sein's potentiality to transcend its “throwness,” “fallenness” in order to actualize its individuality, “mineness” of being. works cited ashcroft, bill, gareth griffiths, and helen tiffin. the postcolonial studies reader. 2nd e d i t i o n . l o n d o n : routledge, 1995. bohata, kirsti. “the garden as an activist arena.” cronfa: journal of swansea university, prifysgol abertawe. issue 247. (autumn 2022). pp. 1-17. carman, taylor. “the concept of authenticity.” a companion of phenomenology and existentialism, edited by hubert l. dreyfus and mark a. wrathall, blackwell, 2006, pp. 229-242. mimetic desires as desire for liberation, for recognition, for being, for equality and negation of difference “against the background of slavery, colonialism, western cultural hegemony, imperialism, and evangelism” (3). in general, human relationship is characterised by at least three phenomena: dominance and recognition, scapegoating, and mimetic desire. these phenomena play a key role and analysis of the postcolonial migration to the west. as a consequence of western power and hegemony, africans have lost self-respect and dignity. postcolonialism revisits, remembers, and interrogates the colonial past, which consists of colonial expression and the compelling seduction of colonial power. as a therapeutic or cathartic retrieval of the colonial past, “postcolonialism is not only willing to make but also to gain a theoretical sense of the past” (leela gandhi 4-5). this is possible because the colonized has a strong desire for independence from the colonizer, but on the other hand, still has a strong longing for the colonizer. this situation of a middle state is what has been discussed in this paper as identity crisis because the postcolonial theories study “the simultaneous hate and desire of the colonized and their voyeuristic gaze upon europe and schizophrenic behaviour (gandhi 11). therefore, this paper has to study contemporary migration from africa to the west in the postcolonial context because of its relationship with root identity crisis situation of abba's family in gurnah's the last gift. the interrogation of “root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah's the last gift” leads to the observation of crisis of filiation and exposes the challenges migrant characters face as it affects their growth and maturation. hanna's attitude portrays the wider african society where effort is made every day by the black race to expunge or obliterate their origin and fit into or belong to a new society in search of social status. placed in this isthmus of a middle state, the african is perpetually lost. it is the conclusion and recommendation of this paper that african migrant characters and to a very large extent, the narrative life-world should portray characters that stand tall to what is essentially authentic “mineness” to them. like hanna and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 91 92 detroit, mi, 2002. sinha, sachchidanand. socialism and power. india: anamika publishers and distributors, 2015. steiner, tina. “writing 'wider worlds': the role of relation in abdulrazak gurnah's fiction.” research in africa literature, vol. 41, no. 3, july 2020, pp. 1-13. tiez, john. an outline and study guide to martin heidegger's being and time. humanities online web 1 may 2015. unah, jim ijenwa & osegenwune, chris. phenomenology and existentialism. lagos: fadec publishers, 2010. chan, francis. crazy love: overwhelmed by relentlessness. uk: david cook, 2008. gandhi, leela. postcolonial theory: a critical introduction. new york: columbia up, 1998. gebrewold, belachew. politics of citizenship and migration: postcolonial african migration to the west, a mimetic desire for being. switzerland: springer nature, 2024. glissant, edouard. poetics of relation. u of michigan p, 1997. gurnah, abdulrazak. the last gift. bloomsbury, 2011. hall, john. modern act of attack. usa: chess digest, 1988. heidegger, martin. being and time. translated by joan stambaugh, state u of ny p, 1996. macquarrie, john. existentialism. philadelphia: westminster publishers, 1972. marinescu, loana elena. “opening the black box of the matching function: the power of the words.” journal of labour economics. vol. 3. issue 1. 2019. pp. 87-99. mcdonald, g. matthew. “epiphanies: an existential and philosophical inquiry.” diss. graduate school, university of technology, sydney, 2005. nyong, david. rudiments of philosophy and logic. lagos: odu. o. publishrs, 1996. rubin, shawn a. “the dynamism of resolute being: the experience of tragic optimism in an e x i s t e n t i a l humanistic worldview: a heuristic investigation.” diss. center for humanistic studies graduate school, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 ikechukwu otuu egbuta, phd root identity as a postcolonial authenticity crisis in abdulrazak gurnah’s the last gift 93 94 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr oluwole, sophie and ṣófolúwe,̣ jolo. african myths and legends of ̀ gender. ark publishers, 2014. oyebola, ayeni and adepeju, oti. yoruba culture of nigeria: creating space for endangeredspecie. cross – cultural communications, vol. 9, no 4. 2013. saliu, kolawole. “a pragma – syntactic analysis of traditional nupital weep (ekuniyawo) among people of shoa, kwara state. nigeria” in international journal of arts and humanities, vol 2, no. 2, 2016. salami, segilola. orikiaje: praise poetry for the goddess of w e a l t h a n d p r o s p e r i t y . r e t r i e v e d f r o m www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-ofwealth. 2018. scheidenhelm, carol. realism. loyola university chicago. schrempp, gregory and william hansen. myth: a new symposium. indiana university press. 2002. segal, robert. myth: a very short introduction. oxford university press. 2015. soyinka, wole. myth, literature and the african world. cambridge university press. 1976. tim, gillespie. archetypal criticism for students: finding the mythic resonance. stenhouse publishers. 2010. performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs ovie-jack matilda eyituoyo delta state school of marine technology, burutu. ebonnyt@yahoo.com, ebonnyt03@gmail.com 08037226601 abstrat moonlight plays and their performances are major art forms still existing in most african societies. among the itsekiri people of nigeria, the several genres of oral performances that have been researched and documented include the ife, owe, the itsekiri language and umale okere. however, very little attention and studies have been committed to the oral performance of itsekiri moonlight plays. moonlight plays expose the participants to realities of human situations, problems, feelings and relationships. moonlight plays are performed by children as well as teenagers whose ages fall between 3 and 17, adults often make up the audience. it is a game that consists of several creative activities that serve as veritable mirror and cultural preserver in itsekiri communities. this paper therefore investigates the style and evaluates the artistic importance in the oral performance of itsekiri moonlight plays with the aim of exploring its significance in the life of the people. the sociological approach to literature is employed in this paper to examine the ethical and moral values of these plays as a means of cultural reintegration of the young to the society. the paper concludes that more researchers need to be involved in study in goral traditional performances by children. especially, how the oral enactments in african traditional societies propagate, sustain and preserve the cherished social norms of the african people in the face of contemporary challenges especially the new media. keywords: moonlight play; performance; itsekiri, songs, player. 179 180 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-of-wealth.%202018 http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/oriki-aje-poetry-goddess-of-wealth.%202018 mailto:ebonnyt@yahoo.com, mailto:ebonnyt@yahoo.com, introduction traditional oral art still plays a dominant role in shaping the lives of the people in many societies especially in africa. oral art exposes both audience and participant to realities of human situations, problems, feelings and relationships. this paper investigates the different dramatic and performance aesthetics in the moonlight games of the itsekiri people of delta state, nigeria. before chinua achebe had come into the literary scene in nigeria in 1958 with his famous novel, things fall apart, d. o. fagunwa, amos tutola, cyprain ekwensi, among others, had contributed immensely in importing the morality tales from african oral narratives into their creative works. this study chiefly focuses on the forgotten aspects of the itsekiri culture represented in their folk narratives and songs. while the nigeria civil war may have accounted for why, in the last four decades, most itsekiri youths moved from their roots, the prospection for greener pastures has also been another prominent reason for which they have lost touch with their cultural heritage. these facts have also instigated the loss of touch with their oral tradition. from this study, it is obvious that the itsekiri people have their own body of literature; children's songs, poetry, tongue twisters, drama and recitation. people are attracted to this performance because they are enjoyable, they inform, instruct, educate and socialize, by acting as a vehicle for cultural propagation and provide an enjoyable escape from reality.they also inculcate such societal values as discipline, honesty, tolerance, sincerity; and they provide for the mental alertness and physical fitness of the young ones. although, the plays and games may be devoid of trophies, medals or shields; participants derive joy, satisfaction and confidence that cannot be overrun by their neighbours, especially when there is war. before we proceed to the significance of itsekiri moonlight plays, it is important for us to undertake an overview of the itsekiri people? the itsekiri also called isekiri are an ethnic group of nigeria's niger delta area. they presently number almost a million people, living mainly in the warri south, warri south west and warri north local government areas of delta state, on the atlantic coast of nigeria. significant communities of itsekiri people can be found in parts of edo and ondo states. there have over eighty-seven towns, villages and hamlets within the niger-delta. the uniqueness of the itsekiri people has made them sustain the monolithic culture of having one kingand one language. they are most hospitable in welcoming people of other nationalities. this study of performance has always been most exciting in oral literature, given that it is germane to its sustenance and transmission. while oral performance involves literature delivered by word of the mouth, there are varying typologies of performance from one community to the other, depending on such factors as age and energy of the performer, the nature of the occasion and audience. thus, ruth finnegan observes that, the significance of performance in oral literature goes beyond a mere matter of definition: for the nature of the performance itself can make an important contribution to the impact of the particular literary being exhibited (5). performance, in this context, is the artistic presentation of an oral art before an audience. the performance of an oral art varies in itsekiri culture and, it involves the expressiveness of tone, gesture, facial expression, dramatic use of pause and rhythm, interplay of passion, dignity of humour and receptivity to the reactions of the audience. this adheres in line with finnegan's point that, “bare words cannot be left to speak for themselves” (46). what this means is that factors and resources are involved in the ability to understand the delivery of words in the tradition of the people. one of such resources is the histrionics of performance, which, is movement made with any part of the body as a way of dramatizing actions during performance. in essence, oral 181 182 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs performance can only be realized when it is actually performed. oral performance necessarily develops its own methodology and its artistic approach basically in the mouth of the performer. these performances also portray natural phenomena like landscapes, plants and creatures in the same lively language. it also recounts events and happenings in our lives and in the history of our societies. hence these performances stimulate our observation and imagination. when a traditional art is well performed within its cultural context, we begin to understand the things described better and in a new light. for instance, during moonlight plays, the audiences are the only context within which an oral performance makes any sense, with poetry, drama and dance playing a very important role. virtually, all plays have songs that enhance performance. itsekiri moonlight play songs relate issues that pertain to education, praise, religion, protest, love and they satirizes human fables. most songs are borne out of individual experience. others are however composed as compliment to story-telling, events, for praise to applaud a good work, criticize or mock (satirize) a wrong act or abuse. in the course of play no musical instruments are employed, only clapping and cheering. participants/contestants don't get support from the audience, they are left to depend entirely on the skill with which they can match strength and wisdom stored in their memories with the subtleness of their voice. dancing is a whole part of the performance. this makes the performance a thoroughly attractive spectacle. some of these plays are synonymous with the popular udje dance song tradition of the urhobo people of nigeria, because it employs the indices of attack and rejoinder in their enactments. dramatic performance is another aspect of oral literature. they are usually demonstrations that are often highly dramatic and picturesque in form. they are also colourful and entertaining. such spectacular shows are for people to see. these dramatic performance goes beyond entertainment, festivals and rituals, but also to shape the creativity andingenuity of the child as he/she grows up and finds his/her niche within the various social boundaries. story-telling among the itsekiri presents a unique kind of performance. one prominent example is olikperebu, with the narrator different from the performer, this embraces okpewho's reference to a report by two british scholars: it would need a combination of phonograph and cinematograph to reproduce a tale as it is told. one listens to a clever story-teller as was our old friend mungalo, from whom we derived many of these tales (smith & dale 336). oral tradition makes us aware of ourselves, other human beings, our environment and our history through folktales, songs, proverbs, riddles and jokes with the use of colourful words and vivid images. in some societies, especially itsekiri, traditional oral art like the moonlight plays still constitute a dominant role in shaping their lives. among the itsekiri, for instance, performance plays an exigent utilitarian role from childhood to adulthood in the total life of every individual in the society. both children and adults are directly or indirectly involved in the performances. this paper is inclined to effecting, the relevance of oral literature in modern african society. itsekiri moonlight games, as a traditional performance, provides children within the ages of 6 to 16 years the opportunity to interact and socialize. moonlight plays and songs take place after dinner, to soothe the day's hustle, entertain and for an informal method of traditional education where children learn moral lessons. at night, it is not particularly shiny because of the transition between limited light and total darkness. while it may not be established when these games originated, it is often seen to date back to the very beginning of the itsekiri people. moonlight performances were still being fully observed until the1990s. these performances take place in the bigger family compounds or the village square. in most cases, because the moonlight does not provide a full glimmer of light, there is often semi-darkness, depending on the size and position of the moon, which births light from the soft glowing light sky. itsekiri moonlight plays and songsdo not only 183 184 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs play a very important role in socializing the young in society, they provide for scintillating recreation among participants. participants are able to train the body, muscle, lungs and promotes mental alertness, thus they are healthy because of the rigorous exercise. in the course of play, participants learn to compose words, learn rhymes and itsekiri poetry. it is an open opportunity to be good players, strive to win and adhere to instruction/rules. shy participants eventually gets confident, learn to be patient, humble, obedient and humorous. performances in selected moonlight songs these performances are usually done in groups. the groups could be large, small, with odd or even by number, depending on the game. what determines the make-up of these groups include; the gender, age and strength of the participants. the performance is open to all children within the age group irrespective of gender, background, religion or family status within the society, requiring no special training or skills by participants to partake.before the advent of western education and after,the itsekiris the moonlight plays is used to educate, inform and keep the children fit. therefore anyone that knows the song could be the lead singer. in this regard, the lead player starts the song, while the other player chorus; “abere abere ma” while the others chant the chorus “abere ma”. as he leads the singing, he swings both hands back and forth almost touching his chest, while he bends backwards to the song's rhythm till he gracefully reaches the ground with both hands, first with his right hand then the left.in the course of bending the player must not bend his/her knees. this goes on till every participant takes turn. this performance trains children to be physically fit; hence, they can bend backwards without bending the knees. it is a good waist and trunk exercise. abere ma abereaberema abere well done players well done abere abere ma abere well done players well done abereaberema abere well done players well done abere abere ma abere well done player well done odidin to wi ololo the lid on a bottle well done player owun biri ololo we ri uli would go home with the bottle ekokoro (knock on the head) this play starts in a dialogue, with each session ending in a short song and clap. it is a competition which involves two leaders, who select members of their individual teams. the two teams stand in line facing each other while the leaders stand between the two groups. each of the leaders blindfolds a member from the opposing team and then calls someone from his/her own team to knock the blindfolded person. the person comes forward when the player shouts; “ekokorowakan”! “ekokorowakan”! knock his/her head “ekokorowakan”! knock his/her head thereafter, the blindfold is taken off so that the one goes to identify who knocked him/her. while the player is searching for the culprit, both groups would be chanting; oruko mi yon my name is fascinating oruko mi yon my name is fascinating this is made to confuse him/her from knowing who really gave the knock, this goes on till he picks someone whether right or wrong. in most cases there is no response from the group, what happens is that everyone keeps quiet after the knock until the member blindfolded earlier would make a right or wrong guess of who knocked his/her head. with correct identification, the identified becomes a captive of the opposite team. if he fails to identify the one who had knocked him, he becomes a captive of the opposite team. the game continues till every participant takesa turn. in the course of the performance of this game, real names are not used. the material for this play is a piece of cloth for the blindfold. ''ekokoro'' is a rigorous physical exercise that trains the 185 186 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs child's whole body and mind. it enhances the child's intellectual capacity, a form of psychological training. fife mo fee most words in this pun (akpebuwanje) are meaningless fife mofe i love you fife ololo love of bottle ololoagada bottle between legs agadajuuya suffering in between legs ojeuyameefa suffering in six places kokoolugbooroo long mix kokoajagbooroo oseagadaesenween reen weeken! participants stand in a circle with the player in the middle while the player who is the lead singer points his/her index finger at each participant as the song goes on. the song ends with the participant saying “weeken”, the last person the player points at, takes his/her place in the middle of the circle. it continues till everyone plays the player. the lead singer should neither be slow or too fast but maintain a steady tempo in his/her rendition. ''fife mo fe'' performance signifies that children an easily learn rhymes, tongue twisters, poetry and learn to compose words. ma fun una itsekiri solo chorus ma fuununa unaeegha ma fuununa unaeegha ma fuununa unaeegha ee se una re ke gidiniuwere wee translation solo chorus i want fire no fire i want fire no fire i want fire no fire is that not fire there this is preferable for children of same age. all participants form a circle holding hands with one player in the middle. the player who is asking for fire goes round with hands together, hitting lightly on every lock. the moment he/she senses a weak lock, he says “ee se una re kegidiniuwere wee” and tries to break the circle. if he succeeds another person takes his place, if he doesn't he continues till he gets a replacement. in the performance of “ma fuununa” the individual strength is put to test, because what the middle player is looking for is a weak link and no one wants to be seen as weak. hence, the show of strength with their partner in unity. from plays like these children know the importance of team work and bring it into their day to day living. mu ni eyin mu nieyin (put at the back) solo e eeeeee! chorus a large circle of participants is made with everyone sitting, except the lead player. the player or lead participant holds a ball made of cloth and then runs round the circle shouting; “mu nieyin o!” while others respond “eeeeeee”. at a point, he secretly drops the ball, behind a participant he chooses. if the participant fails to notice or detect the ball behind him/her before the player comes round again, he gets a tap on the buttocks and the game continues. but if the participant takes not, he quickly picks the cloth ball and starts shouting; “mu nieyin o!”. as the performance goes on, no participant must look behind them or give information about theplacement of the ball.this performance builds children sensitivity and ability to detect things around them. it helps to combine body 187 188 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs alertness and the mind. this is because as the player goes round the participants, everyone is alert to know where the ball would drop. teree o teree o! teree o teree o, tereeginagina teereeiroorooton mi, tereeginagina teereeogboduoton mi, tereeginagina teree o, teree o. tereeginagina english yours o yours o, yours say it say it yours irooro my child, yours say it say it yours ogbodu my child, yours say it say it yours o yours o, yours say it say it the materialsthat are used for this game are seven kernel, nuts or small sticks. there are usually less than ten participants. as all the participants come together, two of them would volunteer to lead. each of the leaders would also choose members for the two teams. the two teams stand a good distance apart, facing each other. distance should be average of twenty meters as it is a major factor in the game. a leader in one of the team starts off by hopping from his/her position towards the direct opponent he/she drops a nut, kernel or stick in his palm. hops around the other opponent, until all nuts are dropped in his palm, then hops back without changing legs. the other team leader continues until all participants take their turn. once a participant starts hopping round, he chants “teree o teree o!” other participants take the chorus; “tereegina gina!”. this performance plays more significant role amongst others. it does not just serve as a body exercise for the fitness of the legs, the hopping around builds their stamina for other contests. the strive to win is birthed by self-discipline, thus children grown into adults knowing the importance of discipline this is a hide and seek game. participants gather and draw a large circle, with the lead player in the middle. the circle symbolizes the safe zone. the lead player whose eyes are shut, shouts “otoori”, participants responds, “e te too” while trying to hide themselves. otoori solo chorus otoori! eete to otoori o eeete to demi wa in in demi wa in in mo wa in in otorioooo o to ren translation solo chorus is it time not yet is it time not yet should i come no no should i come no no am coming no no is it time it is okay the first person or persons that successfully get good hiding places call out “o to ren” (it is time). that response permits the lead performer to start searching for them. in the course of searching, players try to get back to the marked circle without being caught. mere touch signifies being caught. the person that gets caught before reaching the circle takes the place of the lead player. it continues till participant gets tired. this performance builds and makes children psychologically competent. the moment the lead player goes into the circle, he automatically sees his/herself competent to get a replacement. 189 190 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs ejoji kan ekun this is both an indoor and outdoor play, for both boys and girls with at least seven participants. all participants sit on the mat with their legs stretched out, while the player stays behind the participants. the participants play the role of “oli-noli” (landlord) and player gets the role of “ejoji” (visitor). the performance begins when “ejoji” knocks behind the first participant. the participant queries him, hence the dialogue. he moves from the first person to the other till he/she gets to the last person. the sequence of the dialogue must be strictly followed. ''ejoji'' performance teaches children patience, simple courtesy of talking to stranger and obedience. in the dialogue the ejoji is overtly patience while the oli-noli responds with utmost courtesy hence, a successful dialogue was achieved. it also displays the importance of showing love and the essence of mutual cooperation. itsekiri translation ejoji:“kpoo-kpoo-kpoo” visitor: “knock knock” oli-noli: “nésínrèwíeyínedùkùlí landlord:“who is at the backyard of íyémi birí owà mi?” my mother and father” ejoji: “emi odibooritse ren” visitor: “i am god's servant!” oli-noli: “nikowofe sin?” landlord: “what do you want?” ejoji: “ẹyẹnkékérémofẹgbà visitor: “little palm kernel gbiàlàbarà mi! for my parrot” oli-noli: “gbakekere di wojukekere landlord: “take some and si gbe mi” leave some for me”. ejoji: “no kanwa mu gbe mi!” visitor: “give me some yourself” oli-noli: “omawiesen mi!” landlord: i have a baby on my leg. ejoji: “gbe oma si ale” visitor: “put the baby on the floor” oli-noli: “ale ti emi” landlord:“the floor is mine” ejoji: “gbe oma si ere!” visitor: “put the baby on the mat” oli-noli: “ere ti mi!” landlord: “the mat is mine” ejoji: “gbe oma si ukpekele!” visitor: “put the baby on the cabinet” oli-noli: “ukpekelete mi” landlord: “the bed is mine”. ejoji: “gbe si ubokubodede!” visitor: “put the baby anywhere” oli-noli:“ubokubodedetemi!” landlord: “everywhere is mine”. agban yegheyeghe participants stand in a circle, with a participant kneeling with hands on the ground. as the song starts he tries to dance to the rhythm. the lead performer standing behind him assists him/her to dance by supporting the waist (trunk). performance like this should be recommended for shy children. it is an exercise that concentrates on the fitness of the knees and waist. it also illustrates on the fundamentals of friendship choice and cautions children in their choice of friends, for not all that glitters is gold. itsekiri translation “nesin re wee ee” who is your favourite? aghanyeegheyeeghe se ke se ee aghan tall and sleeky “ofisele, re we?” is ofisele your favourite? aghanyeegheseke se aghan tall and sleeky olikperebu itsekiri translation olikperebu egueremi – eyere my beautiful and lovely – this is life olikperebu egueremi – eyere my beautiful and lovely – this is life ireyebieukun we je o – eyere human proposed you refused – this is life umale bie ukun we je o – eyere masquerade proposed you refused – this is life egungunbieukun we je o – eyere spirits proposed you refused – this is life ere wa do wa do ee – eyere it's snake you will marry – this is life ere ma fenmi ee kpotsi – eyere if snake swallows you, it won't vomit you – this is life anamiwoliwoli – eyere my in law come, come in – this is life 191 192 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs ejoruneekon mi anami o – eyere i can't sleep, can't sleep my in law – this is life this is either done alone or as a play with a dance. a pretty lady sits in the middle, with different suitors proposing to her. she rejects every one of them; tall, rich and handsome. eventually, an unknown man comes in to ask for her hand in marriage. she quickly accepts and they both departed that same day. it was unknown to her that the man she accepted as a husband is a snake that borrowed human parts to marry her. on their way, everyone from whom he had borrowed body parts, he gives back. the moment he turns into the snake, she (olikperebu) is scared to death, but there is nothing she could do. the snake starts licking her body. the player representing the snake would start a dance like walk like a very big snake with tongue out, acting like he/she is licking olikperebu's body. this illustrates the covert and overt effects of being choosy like olikperebu without listening to her parents. this performance guides children against making choices without listening to their parents, because they would always guide them on the right path. most of the performance enhances physical fitness because during play the waist, knees and trunk are rigorously moved, team work, honesty and competitive mood is encouraged. also courtesy, obedience, discipline, show of affection and tolerance which is seen in ''ejoji kan ekun'' can be learnt. confidence is built, learning to use the human senses effectively, alertness, ability to guess correctly and enablement of the combination of the body and mind is achieved. these moonlight performances create opportunity to test individual strength as seen in “mu neyin” and “tere o”. conclusion from the foregoing therefore, moonlight games and plays in the itsekiri society and indeed other african societies serves as a means of socialization for the young ones. it enables them to fraternize and also to learn the cultural values of the people. however, the aspect of the people's culture is fact eroding, due to modernization and emergence of new media of entertainment. this paper has thus brought to the fore, the rich cultural heritage of the itsekiri people and how they can be inculcated into the school curriculum. moreover, they contain useful information and skills which we learn as we enjoy ourselves. works cited stabalogu, allwell onukaogu. 21 century nigerian literature anintroductory text. kraft, 2009. asika, ikechukwu. “resurrecting igbo cultural values through folklore: 'egwu onwa' and its commitment towards societal ethos.”nigerian journal of african studies, vol. 2 n. 2, 2020, pp.114. eyeoyibo, mac oma. mofe's dictionary in itsekiri: iwe umofo. mofe press, 2008. ---new moonlight plays and games and sports in itsekiri. mofe press, 2008. finnegan, ruth. oral literature in africa. vol. 1, open book, 2012. mbunda, f.m. oral literature in contemporary society in onuigbo s. (editor) essays and literary concepts in english. nsukka. afroorbis, 2006. ovie-jack, m.e. themes and techniques in itsekiri chidren's songs. 2017. delta state university, a braka. smith, e. w. and dale, a. m. the ila-speaking peoples of northern rhodesia. macmillian,1920. walter, j. ong. orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word. taylor & francis, 1982. 193 194 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ovie-jackmatilda eyituoyo: performance in itsekiri moonlight games and songs page 90 page 91 page 92 page 93 page 94 page 95 page 96 page 97 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr 105 106 embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimoraezeigbo's the last of the strong ones nwafor, john onyema department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus nwaforjohnable@gmail.com 07037828182, 07087870380 & emma-agbiri nneka augustina anambra state civil service commission, awka. emmaagbirinneka@gmail.com 07037766554 abstract this paper explores the use of proverbs as an aspect of oral tradition. the study draws its inspiration from the observations of people's attitudes in society and attendant consequences. the novelencapsulates the vast pool of human deeds in their notorious and sublime forms—a story of all the tragic, moving, comic, boring, challenging, perturbing, and even ennobling actions and inactions of human beings. it is the narrative of four women namely ejimnaka, onyekozuru, chime, and chibuka. the study discovered that the novelist used her artistic power through proverbs to give an insight in what the culture of the umuga people was before the coming of the white men. the novelist made use of the igbo setting. there are names, proverbs, idioms and practices that epitomize the igbo culture and igbo world view. her works are linked between her and her lived experience. fic�on the major source of her stories in the novel is her own direct experience through fiction. oral aesthetics is highly portrayed in ezeigbo's works in her constant use of songs, proverbs, lullabies squier, sussan. “literature and medicine, future tense: making it graphic.”literature and medicine,vol 27, no2, 2008, pp. 124-152. tadjo, veronique..en compagnie des hommes. 2017. vamara, kone. life-writing and the precept of talking cure in african-american autobiography: a study of richard wright's black boy and rebecca walker's black white and jewish, le caïlcedrat. pp. 259, . 2018. nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 mailto:emmaagbirinneka@gmail.com https://newprojecttopics.com.ng/internal-auditing-efficiency-2/ 107 108 that”, “our elders said that”, or “our father said that" or "our elders said that". this has been a bond between the people and their culture before the influence of western culture. proverb as a concise statement and an oral tradition loses its originality prior to the influence of western culture. literary works reflect to all angles of life in the society such as political system, economic system, cultural system, sociological system, ideological struggles and many others. through the work of literature, one can understand events happening within and outside one's society. through literature, a literary artist highlights, satirizes and criticizes the evils in the society. the criticism may be political, social, economic to the cultural, but the most prominent among them is the social system because it is the social system that talks about sociological and psychological life of the society and how the events happening in the society affect every member of the society. the social system talks about the relationship that exists among the members of the society and how they contribute towards solving their problems in the though some writers write to entertain people,realistic writers, especially realistic novelists, write to convince and educate the people within and outside the society in which the work is extracted in order to be aware of what happened or what is happening in the world and why such happened, as well as criticising the evils and ills of the leaders and the people they were leading. realistic novelists arouse the consciousness of the people in the society with the aim of changing the behaviour of the society. literature is a tool, a means of self-expression, an avenue through which writers express their experiences, outlook, sense of sympathy and patriotism to their various societies. writers have and the igbo cultural setting. the paper did a textual analysis of the novel using primary and secondary sources of data. the theoretical framework for the study is based on the theories of semiotics which means the study of signs and symbols especially as means of language or communication. this study concludes on the various aspect of oral traditions in order to portray the unique quality of being african in the use of proverbs and create an indepth meaning and exploration of the situation at hand. keywords: proverbs, culture, tradition, riddles, lullaby, orature introduction in africa, especially in nigeria, expressions are only considered rich and intelligent when they are duly laced with proverbs, which are many in our diversified cultures. this explains why a traditional african man would constantly punctuate his speech with appropriate proverbs and aphorisms to drive his points home. one who can make good conversation with the use of proverbs is being regarded as a good orator that is blessed with the wisdom of the gods as well. . there is a belief in igbo land that if an individual is given a proverb and he cannot decipher the semantics of the said proverb, then the bride price or dowry paid on the mother's head is useless. this is to prove that proverb is dynamic and the horn of the cow that helps in the development of the people's culture and tradition. proverbs are common features of conversational eloquence in african cultures especially nigeria and are diverse according to the ethnic language involved. in the olden days, proverb was the means by which the people of the society base their arguments and affairs of life. these proverbs were rendered orally in the society especially by the elders. the culture of the people is embedded in proverbs and it is normally, rendered orally like: "our people say nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 109 110 emanate from careful observation of attributes, actions, situation, circumstance and indeed roles and activities of persons, animals and objects in the environment (39). thus, proverbs are used by elders in order to educate the young ones, but unlike folktales, proverbs do not have predictable patterns. they are amusement for intelligence and excellence, especially to the children. it exercises the mind and causes the children to think intuitively. proverbs are also very closely related to riddles. they are expressed briefly and concisely. they involve analogy, whether of meaning, sound, rhythm or tone. it is these important constituents and others that make oral tradition unique and distinct as it has been used by most artists in writing most of their works. it is what has given the research the impetus and interest in -the dexterous manner in which akachi adimora-ezeigbo has employed some of the constituents of orature, in creating captivating stories about characters and events that recreate the significant themes explored in the novel the last of the strong ones to advance the collection of contemporary african experiences, beliefs, culture, norms and heritage. proverb made its first appearance in literature in an oral form. but today, the place of proverb in the literary world can be seen on its influence on language and literature. proverbs have grammatical structures. it can be rhetorical in nature, example of such proverbs are; “so you want to be more catholic than the pope”. it can be imperative negative, “don't beat a dead horse”. imperative positive, “you shall reap whatever you sow”. it also overlaps idiomatic expressions example: “birds of the same feathers flock together” is also an idiomatic expression. proverb is appealing because it is succinct and uses simple rhyme. proverb can be ironical. it can take the place of a metaphor. it can compare or contrast. reprimand or compliment. expressed in many works, their cultural values, norms, attitudes, traditions, belief and dignity.proverb is an important and valuable ingredient in orature. it is a short popular saying that although occur as part of everyday discourse as well as within other longer genres (both verse and prose), belongs among verse form principally by virtue of its symmetric structure. f.b.o akporobaro says: proverb is a short popular saying of unknown authorship expressing some general truth or superstition; "a finger cannot pick out lice from the head", "a dove cannot beget a snake" proverbs are found in most world countries, especially africa (55). they are more of observation of life, couched in refreshing imagery and language. in folk transaction, they might function as authority to bolster point of view or as a justification for a recommended course of action or as a discreet correction to errant behaviour. jasper onuekwusi also says: a proverb is about a man as he interacts with fellow men, with objects. animals, and plants in his environment. it is a truth derived between man and all phenomena in his environment and indeed between the various elements in the environment and themselves. some examples of proverbs will be useful in our understanding of characteristics of proverbs (17). proverbs persist, endure and embellish language in people's communications and knowledge of history and culture. as a major aspect of language and component of orature that is used to test people's capacity for using language. jasper onuekwusi says: one's ability to use proverbs in traditional african society is indicative of ones level of intelligence. that proverbs nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 111 112 according to ferdinand de saussure, in a symbol or in a less ambiguous phrase-sign properthe relation between the signifying item and what it signifies is not a natural one, but entirely a matter of social convention. for example, in igbo land, the presentation of kolanut is conventionally treated with respect and honour because it signifies warm reception, unity or togetherness while in the hausa and yoruba cultures, the kolanut may not possess such high social significance as in igbo land. echezona ifejirika also states that semioticians know very well that verbal communication or expression is just one of the ways through which man makes his feelings, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, cultures and social events known to others. that apart from verbal communication, for example, when a group of people put on black clothes and walk in groups or procession, they are speaking a loud language as far as igbo cultural and conventional practice is concerned. their language is that of grief, sorrow or sadness resulting from bereavement. if some young palm frond is placed on a piece of land, the language is simple: “do not trespass because the land is in dispute and when placed in front and back of a car or vehicle, it simply means that the vehicle is carrying a dead body” (154). the advantage of semiotics as a literary critical theory is that it reveals to the readers that, apart from verbal communication in form of explicitly written words, there are other alternative means through which literary writers express themselves in their novels, plays or poetry. through the work of semioticians, writers are encouraged to use sign language as a means of expressing their societal conventions, history, beliefs, myths, legends and folklores. since semiotics is all about communication both verbal and non-verbal, this researcher feel that it is related to the topic of this paper "the use of proverbs" as it discusses the use of it can be allegorical and symbolic and the statement is embodied with strong imagery that is appealing to the innermost self of one. many proverbs, have found their ways into the norms of the society over the decades. many authors like chinua achebe, ola rotimi, odili ujubuonu, akachi adimora, uchenna nwosu,amos tutuola and others borrowed heavily from the rich culture of proverbs in their languages. it is evident that proverbs play significant roles in clarifying, exemplifying, underscoring, influencing and communicating in the society. themajor concern here is to explicitly discuss the use of proverbs and its nature, and to highlight its relevance to the study of literature, to appraise the rich tradition of proverbs which is embedded in culture with the novel under study. the literary theory used for this study is “semiotics” which means the study of signs and symbols especially as means of language or communication. the term "semiotics" was first used by an american philosopher named charles sanders pierce but ferdinand de saussure, a swiss linguist in his book entitled: course in general linguistics proposed a science which he called "semiology" according to him, semioticians arguethat there are other means of communicating meaning apart from words. that is; communication can be verbal and non-verbal. this means that in a particular society or language group, people can speak with their mouth, using words, their face, looks, hands, eyes, movement, objects such as flowers, kolanuts, symbols such as light, fire, birds in flight, cross, sword, gun, young palm fronds, colours such as white, green, black and red, animals such as tortoise, snake, dog, pigeon, lion, elephant among other living creatures (quoted in ifejirika, 152). nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 113 114 iii. a traveller's eyes constantly peer at the sky to ascertain the weather condition (p.21). iv. our people say that it is the traveler who must make the return journey and not the owner of the land (p.7). v. according to the people, a matter that had been discussed at length and agreed upon only required a nod for its excursion to begin (p.27). vi. the bow that shoots the bird, eleke, deserve the prize of a thousand arrows meaning, “the man who succeeds in winning your affection deserves no less honour” (p 27). vii. when the tapper enters the palm grove his heart is filled with joy when he climbs up the palm tree and then reclines against his etc he strikes the palm with his chisel gbe nchiki, gbe nchikichiki, gbe nchiki, and his heart is filled with joy. (p.32). viii. the happy child swings from branch to branch, agile like a monkey, nimble like squirrel language, ideas, expression, beliefs and values of a people and it is also an indispensable source of history and religious values. through oral means of course, these proverbs give local colour to the novel under study. use of proverbs in adimora ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones the story of the last of the strong ones revolves around four formidable women ejimnaka, onyekozuru, chieme and chibuka. adimora ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones addressed herself to the way people tend to see fictional works. people see fictional works as being fictitious, but there must be fact. ezeigbo made use of the igbo setting. there are names, proverbs, idioms and practices that epitomize the igbo culture and igbo world view. her works are linked between her fiction and her lived experience. the major source of her stories is her own direct experience through fiction. oral aesthetics is highly portrayed in ezeigbo's works in her constant use of songs, proverbs, lullabies and the igbo cultural setting. examples are: i. my little one, please do not cry; if you stop crying, i will give you the things a child gives to her younger one (p.129) ii. it is the vistor that levaes the homestead, not the land owner. (p.21) nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 115 116 embarks on a journey of role reevaluation and redefinition of womanhood within the context of the igbo culture. following the footsteps of nigeria's first female novelist, flora nwapa, who protested the relegation of the igbo whom in a patriarchal society in her works efuru (1966) and idu (1968), ezeigbo's work is a reaction to the unacceptable socioeconomic situation of igbo women in particular and nigerian women in general, under colonial rule. like other novelists in the womanist genre, ezeigbo is preoccupied with the struggle for change, consciously expressed in the different forms of protest. in the case of the last of the strongones (1996) however, the author chooses to' reconstruct the social realities of the umuga community by entrenching women in active leadership roles alongside their male counterparts. this can be seen as a deliberate insistence on positive igbo heroines as a means of drawing attention to the importance and relevance of the woman's voice, despite tradition. thus, by tracing the history of the umuga community through the voices of women and reconstructing the transition process via women's experiences, pains and emotions, the author protests the one sided presentation of gender roles in the writings of men which overlooked the militant role of women in the struggle against colonialism (c.f. nina mba 1997). adimora ezeigbo, through her fictional or novel enlightens her readers on issues concerning her society. social realities are entailed in her works, these issues are facts. her novels are stories of vast subjects and settings revealing dramatic situations in the life of ordinary as well as not so ordinary people, with the minutest details never escaping the prying and sensitive gaze of the author. indeed, the attachment of adimora ezeigbo to the short story form and her reluctance to abandon its narratological schema is evident in her incidents, characters, and on a withbed branch; the world is a pleasant place let the enemy beat a retreat there is no room for him here. (p.36). ix. egbebere bia nje were o-o-o-o! egbebere bia nje were o-o-o-o! lullaby (p.67) x. those who desire to carry snake must first look for holdalls. (p.206) xi. when a viper creeps into a house, the household is thrown into a panic. (p.210). xii. on the day of the hunt, we will stalk the grasscutter in its backyard! (p.212) this study shows her own personal experiences in her novels and short stories since literature generally evolves from a people's historical and cultural experiences. the novelist endows women with the power of speech as subjects in their use of linguistic features. this is because the novel is a diversity of social speech types, language use also predisposes both sexes along linguistic differences.the novel is an imaginative reconstruction of the history of uga, a town in south eastern nigeria. woven around the lives of four influential women who flourish alongside their male counterparts in the leadership of their town, the story relates the struggle of a people to free their community from the clutches of meddlesome british colonialists, chronicling their experience as they resist a disruptive order that threatens their tradition and their humanity. amidst the dramatic build up to an inevitable collision between tradition and change, the author nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 117 117 adimora-ezeigbo manipulates language to show detestation and disapproval to nigerian patriarchal structure. hence, she uses “actors” to refer to her women instead of “actresses”. this choice is purposeful to avoid a sense of attenuation for her women. therefore, she drop's the suffix “–esses”, which marks diminution. she uses it from the point of aesthetics to affirm her” womanist” stance, which depicts the whole intent and drive of her works to foreground the unconquerable spirit of her women, which are the type of women she intends to implant in igbo land , nigeria and africa in general. the igbo had heavily disjointed and politically independent communities before the invasion of the british colonial government. due to the incongruity of the igbo decentralized system required by the indirect rule, british colonial rule was marked with open disagreements and much apprehension. this is the case with umuga community. the umuga in no small terms stood against the colonial rule (kosiri) and all it portends. therefore, the umuga state their unacceptability and abhorrence for 'kosiri' (colonial masters) or their rule vehemently in the following negative terms: 'the intruders', 'the meddlers', 'the enemy', 'the voracious creatures', 'the offending creatures' and 'an obstacle.' adimora invents the term, “kosiri”, for stylistic effects. it is neither igbo nor english, but a metaphor for the colonial government and the colonial masters.the word” kosiri” and all the terms of negation, which are used to describe it, signify a total rejection of the colonial master and her government. adimora-ezeigbo also uses some affirmative adjectives in the description or qualification of the preferable change and the quality of the amazonian characters in the last of the strong ones. she uses such attributive adjectives to indicate that she does episodes of her first novel, the last of the strong ones where the handling of materials produced what would seem at first to be an incohesive story. african writers in general and the nigerian novelists in particular have taken advantage of poetic license, ”creativity”, “originality”, “innovation” and “uniqueness” to manipulate the english language to suit the african milieu, purpose and experience. so, chinua achebe brags “i have been given the language (english) and i intend to stretch it to accommodate my african thoughts.” achebe appreciates this gallantry and makes the following proposal: “the african writer should aim to use english the way that brings out his message best without altering the language to the extent that its values as a medium of international exchange will be lost. he shall aim at fashioning out a kind of english, which is at once universal and able to carry his peculiar experiences” (61). this singular authority has given rise to the manipulation of the english language by african writers especially the african novelists to suit their communication needs. this has given us the impetus to use linguistic benchmarks to assess adimora-ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones to see how she has manipulated the english language to communicate her views to the world.the presence of “cloud” “thunder”, “chaos”, “violation” and “destruction” which are words usually associated with “jeopardy” in the prologue is an indication of the expected confusion, which colonialism will bring to the one time peaceful umuga community, their tradition and religion. this is what the umuada, oluada and obuofo intend to nip in the bud but they fail. akachi adimora-ezeigbo uses these natural phenomena stylistically to depict the beauty, harmony, love and peace, which existed among the people before the invasion of umuga by kosiri, (colonial masters) who brought in chaos and violation, which signify disharmony, tension, unrest and bitterness. nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 119 120 arndt, this cooperation enriches her work, making possible a literature 'critical and entertaining, reflective and aesthetically appealing'. the beauty in ezeigbo's the last of the strong ones (1996) is her use of historical facts so as to 'make the past present, to bring the distant near'. according to ofure alto; adimora ezeigbo in her the last of the strong ones presents a line of female ancestors to equal the male ancestral lineage in things fall apart (1958), and no longer at ease (1960) where obi is presented as the grandson of okonkwo, begotten by nwoye, the disclaimed son of okonkwo in things fall apart historically and biologically, ezinma'sdescendents should have been more convincing in this genealogy. but ezinma is a woman (166). the last of the strong ones documents events as they unfold in igbo history, particularly, the involvement of women in resistance struggles. the task is recording and reconstructing the lives of heroic women in their complementary relationship with men, but certain boundaries do limit the extent of female involvement in spite of their achieving status. the central preoccupation of this text is to highlight women's heroic stature, which the menorientation of igbo culture submerges, to locate the presence of female ancestors in the tradition by showing their achievements. reincarnation as a positive and unifying channel is established through myths, history, and folklore to create awareness of hopes. ezeigbo employs narratives in both texts. the characters narrate their stories in reincarnation of the last of the strong ones (1996) which featured ejimnaka, onyekozuru, chieme and chibuka. ezeigbo's fiction is both critical and entertaining, reflective and aesthetically appealing, warning and illuminating. not want just any kind of change but a “positive” one. again, she uses such adjectival phrases like “heavy clouds” and “dark cloud” to point towards the state of skepticism, dilemma, bewilderment and uncertainty that pervade umuga at the moment. in delineating the oluada, adjectives of quality are used thus: daughter of umuga 'wise' in the ways of our land. ejimnaka, the most respectable oluada is also described with a most attributive adjective, thus:…a “professional” who knows how to fondle words, restrain feelings and disclose facts. one “gifted” with clarity of thoughts and power of vision, understanding, interpretation and appreciation.adimora uses these positive adjectives for signification and style. they foreground the uniqueness and significance of the lives of her illustrious women for their self-confidence, self-determined and unconquerable spirits. according to susan arndt, ezeigbo uses igbo orature in her works. this fortifies the society's patriarchy, on the fiction of adimoraezeigbo. the resources of orature or 'ifo' constitute the raw material and driving force of the fiction, offering the writer a range of stylistic options to create a new understanding of igbo society and its literature. the understanding in turn, opens up a number of aesthetic, historical and social issues central to viewing the relation between the traditional society which the 'ifo' seeks to perpetuate and the modern one portrayed in the fiction. the tales thus inspire a strategy of writing which decolonizes and authenticates the fiction of adimora -ezeigbo, and at the same time, enables the author to highlight her 'african feminist commitment' that has zero tolerances for conformist wisdom. what emerges effortlessly and convincingly here is the position that, to challenge igbo patriarchy and transcend stifling authority successfully or even to express herself well a initiate the crucial dialogue of change in igbo society, adimora — ezeigbo had to understand the need to cooperate with patriarchy. in the view of nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 121 122 indeed, the attachment of adimora ezeigbo to the short story form and her reluctance to abandon its narratological schema is evident in her incidents, characters, and episodes of her first novel, the last of the strong ones where the handling of materials produced what would seem at first to be an incohesive story. the novelist submits the language use as reflected in the feminist world-view, deals with women's development and identity and not 'otherness' as patriarchy perceives it. therefore, through the careful selection of the linguistic items, ezeigbo extends the limits of the english language to accommodate her perceptions of african cultural world view from the female perspective.the contemporary writers of african literature in a bid to reinstate the rich cultural heritage of african traditions; traditions which were critically transferred orally from our fore fathers down to us and revolutionized through printing with the inception of western civilization incorporated them in their writing. this oral tradition defines our identity as africans. the major aim of the researcher is to join forces with the aforementioned authors to enjoin readers in the discipline and outside, to ground them in the knowledge and practice of the african oral tradition using relevant texts. essentially too, african writers of all genres of literature should employ features of oral tradition in their works to include morals and traditions in the present and future generations. works cited achebe, chinua. morning yet on creation day. heinemann, 1975. adimora-ezeigbo, akachi.the last of the strong ones.lantern books,2006 1t contains the power of social change; if only akachi adimora ezeigbo were a prophet — then we would be on the eve of a humanist future. adimora ezeigbo was able to explore the various genres of the igbo oral tradition in his novel "the pregnancy of the gods" the strategic use of proverbs, the incorporation of traditional folktale, folksongs and norms guiding the societies in his novel all worked to produce a very scintillating and tradition oriented work. the study concentrated on her use of proverbs and tales respectively and their obvious significance and importance in the works under study. conclusion it is clear that the various aspects of oral tradition of africans are important for enriching the society and moral lives of the people and ensuring continuity of their culture. these are highly effective means of expressing the ideas and values of the communities and teaching young generations the history of their ancestors and helping them improve their self-awareness. this is because they are made for the need to understand their identity. african writers seek to incorporate in their works the african oral tradition in all its diversity. the essence is to resuscitate the culture awareness, which was brutally trampled on by westernization. these writers used oral traditions as a basis for their works, in order to portray the fact that no matter how enlightened they may be, they are still africans. adimora ezeigbo, through her fictional novels enlightens her readers on issues concerning her society. social realities are entailed in her works, these issues are facts. her novels are stories of vast subjects and settings revealing dramatic situations in the life of ordinary as well as not so ordinary people, with the minutest details never escaping the prying and sensitive gaze of the author. nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 123 124 okoye, hilary and okoye, peter.introduction to oral literature, the igbo example.amaka dreams ltd, 2009. onuekwusi, jasper: fundamentals of african oral literature. alphabet nigeria publishers, 2001. osundare, niyi. “cautious paths through the bramble: a critical classification of style theories and concepts” an unpublished paper, department of english, university of ibadan, 2002. websters encyclopedia of literature webster incorporated publishers, 1995. wa thiong'o, ngugi homecoming. heinemann, 1982. akande lola. fiction and national consciousness.longman, 2010. akporobaro , f.b .o. in t roduc t ion to a f r i can ora l literature.princeton publishing, 2012. anasiudu, ben.n et al (eds). language and literature in a developing country.africana first publishers, 2007. arndt susan, the use of orature in akachi adimora ezeigbo's fiction.cassava, 2014. anyokwu, chris. “igbo rhetoric and the new nigerian novel: chimamanda ngozi adichie's purplehibiscus.” the african symposium: a journal of the african educational research network, vol 2, no 1, 2011, pp. 83-90. copper, et al. timeless voices and timeless themes literature finnegan ruth: oral literature in africa. rutledge press, 1992. ifejirika, echezona. introduction to literary theory criticism and practice, mabcom systems, 2014. jalaa wri ter collect ive l. the biography of odil i ujubuonu.design by websowtionspro on august 12,2013. killam, douglas and ruth rowe (eds). thecompanion to african literature. indiana university press 2000. ohaeto, ezenwa. contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of morality.breitinfer bayreuth african studies series, 1998. okoh, nkem. preface to oral literature, africana first publishers, 2008. nwafor, john onyema & emma-agbiri nneka augustina: embellishing language in oral tradition through the use of proverbs in akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s the last of the strong one coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 page 53 page 54 page 55 page 56 page 57 page 58 page 59 page 60 page 61 page 62 chapter three.cdr voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ dan c. okoye nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, anambra state email: cdanielokoyegmail.com abstract this study focuses on the roles of the association of indigenous daughters who are married in igbo community. these daughters are known as ụmụada in their respective ancestral homes. this group is described as a union of daughters born in a particular community or town and married within or outside their community of origin. they are known for their various sociocultural roles in the community. whenever there are disputes in the community and all efforts by other groups to settle the dispute fail, ụmụada are invited as the last resort to resolve the dispute. this study was carried out trough interpretation and analysis while the result is collated from a close reading of the text. consequently, this study aims at analyzing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada as x-rayed in chinedum ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afo by studying their roles as agents of disciplinary measures in igbo communities. the paper adopted raph linton in sociology and george herbert mead in psychology role theory as the theoritical framework for the research. the study finally concluded that the disciplinary roles of ụmụada is still relevant in a contemporary igbo society. they came to ikenna's aid as portrayed by the author to save him from untimely death, since he has exchangeed happiness for sorrow after his marriage to nkemdilim. also when there is resistance from a defaulter in the course of implementing positive changes, they expand their punishments in the form of fine and ostracization. keywords: ụmụada, socio-cultural, disciplinary roles, igbo community, ihe ọjọọ gbaa afo 64 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ for the defaulter and family members. such was the case of nkemdịlịm and her in-laws in ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ. ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ is one of the very few igbo prose works with cotemporary setting and issues. the writer has an excellent mastery of the igbo language usage and figurative expressions which make the novel fascinating. the characterization was apt and imbued with accurate and realistic descriptions. the enugu setting was well described for the reader to have a thought provoking imagery of the city, while the antagonist, nkemdịlịm was at her best in showcasing her characteristics as a jobless, nagging and oppressive wife. this study proves that the researcher has shown interest in analyzing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada as examplified in the novel. review of related literature in igbo communities, women are held in high esteem, especially the married ones among them. this group of married women in igbo communities is called ụmụada or ụmụọkpụ. (agbasiere, 6), states that every adult igbo woman represents a comprehensive nature of igbo womanhood as viewed by tradition. being a group for female daughters, every female child in a family is automatically an ada but in most cases when it comes to child naming, the first female child in a family could be named ada while other female children in that particular household go by other female given names. ada is the name of every first born female of a woman. it is often restricted to a man's first born female child if he has more than one wife and distinction may be made by referring to each wife's daughter as ada-nne or adanna to the eldest of all daughters (ubesie, 82) says that ụmụada are women born in any town or community, both married and those left at home, while (ezeuko, 25) explains ụmụada as the traditional women organization which includes all the women born in the same kindred or town who married in or outside their town. ụmụada are consulted in the affairs of state and can impose intoduction the umuada group is known in parts of anambra, as ụmụọkpụ and in some parts of imo, they are called ndịmgboto. ụmụada membersip is by birth and is compulsory for the daughters of kindred, although one may decide not to associate with them, but the consequences of such action is usually imminent when she dies. meetings are held and important issues pertaining to members' welfare as well as the betterment of their families of origin and other issues are discussed. it is important that nwada identifies with the group. (ene, 20) says that any nwada who does not belong to the group is either an outsider or she has been ostracized by the group or her community over some abominable acts. the different names not withstanding, igbo people hold ụmụada in very high esteem because of the unique and diverse roles they play in their various communities, but they are mainly known for their advocacy and diplomacy in times of family dispute and crisis. they are very hardworking, disciplined and always stand for truth in their dealings especially in their ancestral home. these women groups in traditional igbo society play vital roles in enshrining and sustaining peace and order in the family and community at large. this study focuses on the contributions of umuada in chinedum ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ. igbo people celebrate, respect and honour this women group. in awka a man must postulate in the form of kneeling down to greet an ada who is married and has joined ụmụada group. hence they say 'ikpele'meaning i'm on my knees, while she replies 'zọọ ọtọ or niri'meaning rise. they are known for peace making, but abhor infringement of their rights. this is usually seen during funerals. in this kind of situation, ụmụada would deal with the defaulting family member and proceed with the burial rites. it is mostly at such events that family matters and grievances are brought to them because they are always complete, and when a defaulter proves stubborn they fine the person or better still dismiss and boycott the funeral which would cost more problems 65 66 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ in a family as a result of various factors such as poor socialization, misunderstanding, poor relationships between the husband and wife, wrong associations, disrespect, irreconcilable differences among spouses and with relatives, ramsbotham, woodhouse & miall (2016) noted that family conflict resolution involves identifying and resolving the deep-rooted causes of family conflict in order to kill any violent or hostile attitude among the family members.in the case where this conflict is not properly managed, it could reach the point of serious violence which could lead to divorce or threaten the peaceful co-existence of the family and the community at large. (chukwu, 99) states the importance of otu ụmụada when he says: otu ụmụada is a vital force in their natal lineage. they not only serve as a police force over lineage wives but they are also peace mediatory within their natal and marital lineages. they serve as the supreme court of appeal on female matters as well as the watch dog of males' political arm of the government (chukwu, 99). (uchem, 113) affirms that igbo women at this period were not marginalized in the traditional igbo society because of their relatively high socio-economic status. these women are known to be fearless and they expose evils in their society which people hid or are afraid to reveal. (amadi, 76) notes that the ụmụada understands their strength and weaknesses. their great responsibilities in child birth and child rearing are very demanding, and they respect the rights and power of men. (okodo, 43) explains the role of ụmụada during burial ceremonies: they are so vital that if they did not end their function very well, the funeral is said not to have taken place. it is when they divide food stuff and ingredients given to them that the soul of the dead member of their kindred is said to rest in peace. the igbo man will then say that the dead man has reached the land of the spirits (okodo, 43). sanctions which may include heavy fines and other measures. certainly, male elders will go to a great length to avoid confrontations with umuada and in this way, the women indirectly exert a strong influence on the affairs of the state. (onyeanu, 72) in examining the role of ụmụada in mbaitolu in imo state explains that this group is referred to as ụmụmgboto institution. she asserts that: mgboto is a broad name for every female offspring or daughter in owerri zone (mbaitolu inclusive). ụmụgboto is its pluralized form, though in igboland generally, they are known as umuadaand ụmụgboto signifies a group of ada (daughters). the ụmụgboto traditional institution is an association of mature daughters of the different families/kindreds/villages who are either married within or outside their fatherland (onyeanu, 72). (isichei, 74) describes ụmụada as a pressure group that reacted to any misdeed that occurred in the village. they also “disciplined offending women” through seizure of property and through ostracizing. they also supported the “wise” decision of the menfolk and acted as peace envoys during wars. (agbasiere, 39) affirms that “apart from their general role as advisers, women have their council of female elders, parallel to the council of male elders. ụmụada in most cases serve as a consultant body in their families. their opinion is sought after in many delicate and complicated cases. they proffer solutions on various issues. they take actions against women who oppress their husbands and vice versa. a wife who feels her husband is not treating her well or has some unresolved issues with her husband may seek the advice or involvement of ụmụada from that particular familyto . if it becomes tough, the general ụmụada of that kindred would wade in. the role of ụmụada in conflict resolution is usually ignored as their obnoxious practices are always emphasized. family conflict resolution remains a priority in every umuada gathering. it comes above their personal welfare as a group. since conflict could arise 67 68 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ dancing, singing, theatrical performances and traditional lyrical oral presentations (ibemesi 215). it must be noted here that ụmụada make peace between widows (their wives) and the in-laws (their kinsmen) to avoid degenerated crisis in the family and any party that does not agree to peaceful management of the conflict will face the wrath of ụmụada. in light of the above, this study is anchored on the role theory of social behaviour. in the context of role theory, a role refers to the set of rights, obligations, and expectations associated with a particular position in society. roles are neither fixed nor inherent; rather, they are social structures that vary across cultures, societies, and even groups within a society. scholars explain that role theory is a perspective that considers society's behaviour to be the acting out of socially defined categories. role theory is a sociological perspective that holds that individuals in society have clear expectations and obligations attached to the roles they play. according to this theory, individuals play different roles in different social situations and their behavior is influenced by the expectations and norms associated with these roles. sociology and psychology suggest that these roles can vary depending on factors such as gender, age, occupation and social status. role theory which was propounded by raph linton in sociology and george herbert mead in psychology posits that roles are occupied by members of a group known as actors, who can approve of some social roles considered legitimate and constructive with punishment for violators of such norms. additionally, role theory emphasizes the importance of socialization in the development and understanding of roles. through socialization, individuals learn the expectations and during funeral ceremonies, ụmụada also ensured that the wife of the deceased act in accordance with customs and traditions of the community. it was is their duty to shave off the hair of the widow on the last day of funeral to commence her full mourning period. the shaving of hair is being carried out by only the widows among them, although there have been instances where ụmụada have been accused of maltreating their fellow women in this period of bereavement. if it happens that the widow of the dead man had maltreated the husband when he was still alive or has been accused of killing her husbands, ụmụada engage in obnoxious custom of forcing them to drink the water used in bathing the corpse to establish their innocence, although this practice is no more in vogue, but punishments still awaits any woman in their family accused of any of the above mentioned atrocities. although ụmụada play significant socio-cultural roles in conflict resolution in their families, abuses of such authority are reported to be on the increase. sometimes these women out of jealousy or hatred subject a widow to inhuman treatment in order to frustrate her. this is what (uchem, 67), regarded as internalized oppression manifested in women who do sometimes oppress fellow women who are in weaker positions. in extreme cases, ụmụada can ostracize and even place a curse on a member of the clan who had committed the forbidden before them, and the funeral of such a person would be boycotted, which would require appeasement, since the services of the ụmụada in the funeral of a relative are indispensible, because absence of ụmụada at a funeral means there is crisis in that clan (agbasiere, 41). in describing the role of ụmụada at funeral, (ibemesi 215) says: it is found that the occasions of burials and funerals constitute, among other things, sources of entertainment. the performances they engage in do indeed help the chief mourners and the bereaved to bear the loss as they participate in, and enjoy a variety of activities and entertainments…the performances are in form of 69 70 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ nkemdịlịm was so wicked that she does not welcome anybody into their house especially her husband's relatives. when she gives birth she hardly takes care of her child properly and most of the times refuses to breastfeed her child breast milk. since she complains a lot about house chores being too much for her, ikenna gave in to her demands and brings his younger brother ejindụ to assist the wife in the house. nkemdịlịm maltreats ejindụ to the extent that the young boy runs away. when her mother-in-law (ikenna's mother) stays with them in enugu after receiving treatment, nkemdịlịm maltreats and makes life unbearable for the poor woman to the extent that she insists that if her son does not take her home before nkemdịlịm kills her that she will never forgive her son. nkemdịlịm also insists that ikenna must bring her a house-help since ejindụ is gone. she made ikenna so uncomfortable that he was forced to bring ogenna as their househelp. since ikenna married nkemdịlịm he has never had peace, his life also changed drastically. his wife made life miserable for him and refuses to go to the village with him. she was forced to go the village when the father-in-law died. it was during this visit to the village that the ụmụada after interrogating her about her relationship with her husband's family beat her when she proved stubborn and fights afụlụenu, the leader of ụmụada. they humiliate and compel her to crawl around on her knees pleading for forgiveness. they fine her one big goat, five healthy fowls, twelve tubers of yam and one thousand naira before they would allow her to remain in their village as a wife. she later runs away to an unknown destination leaving everything. ikenna later marries ogenna the house-help and peace was restored in his life. socio-cultural disciplinary roles of umuada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ in the novel, the first incident and mention of the massive power of umuada was in chapter eight, after ikenna's parents and norms associated with different roles as well as how to perform these roles effectively. socialization can occur through many agents, such as family, friends, educational institutions, and the media. role theory emphasizes the role of umuada in igbo society. umuada, as daughters of the community, are expected to fulfill certain roles and responsibilities by supporting and preserving the cultural and traditional practices of their ancestral homes. this can be seen in their involvement in ceremonies, festivals, rituals, economic activities and the financial well-being of their families and the community at large. role theory also gives an in depth understanding on how umuada navigate and negotiate their roles in traditiona igbo society as examplified in chinedum ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afo. it recognizes that roles are not defined but are constantly negotiated and influenced by various social factors. umuada may face challenges in fulfilling these roles, however, they continue to play a significant role in the igbo society, adapting to new challenges and still being important in the social fabric of their ancestral homes. synopsis of iheọjọọ gbaa afọ (1999) the story is about ikenna a handsome young man was seen living a reckless life after he has gotten a job in the city of enugu. he womanizes, drinks. he lives an extravagant life. in one of his philandering, he carried a ghost to his house in the form of a woman he saw on the road. this ugly experience makes him to be cautious and plan his life. although his womanizing lifestyle makes two women-ego and ngọzị to fight over him in his house, he later marries nkemdịlịm because of her beauty despite the warming from his family members and friends. nkemdịlịm after her marriage to ikenna turns into a viper and oppressor. she was jobless and nags practically about everything. she deals mercilessly with everybody who comes her way. she frustrates her husband and his friends, and family members. she creates enmity between her husband and his friends and family members. 71 72 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ rat's ear. what a lady we married as wife is doing in this family is no longer funny. she is causing disunity and havoc. if you don't know what to do about her, we know. we don't want this thing to go on. make hay while the sun shines.” (gloss from the researcher) from the above statement, it shows that ụmụada through various means enforce compliance to community norms thereby obtain obedience and submission, and also punish defaulters. ụmụada punish suspects mercilessly especially any woman suspected to be disobedient to her husband who is their brother. not just about being disobedient, ụmụada punish women married into their ancestral homes who are found wanting in good character. if a woman is found responsible for the death of her husband or any of her husband's relatives, she would be verbally abused, cursed, at times beaten. in rare cases to prove that she is innocent, she is compelled to drink the water used to bath the corpse. in ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ, when ụmụada summoned nkemdịlịm, they wanted to advise, caution and discipline her so that she will desist from her bad behaviours and atrocities in their family. they serve loads of advice in enshrining and maintaining peace. afụlụenu si ebe ọ nọ kulie were tuo ụmụada ibe ya aha, ha wee kwe ya. o wee sị nkemdịlịm, nne, anyị nụrụ ike dị egwu ị na-akpa n'enugwu. ọ bụ ya kpatara ụmụada jiri sị ka ha kpọọ gị were kelee gị nke ọma. ha sịkwazịị ka ha were ohere a kelee gị etu i si were na-achọ ka i gbuoro anyị nwanne anyị nwoke bụ ikenna. kemgbe ikenna lụchara gị ka o jiri were si na mmadụ pụọ. onye ọ bụla hurụ ya anaghịzị ama na ọ bụ ikenna ka ọ hụrụ....i mekataala ikenna ihe, ọ naghị azọsi ọkpa ike n'ala. kemgbe ọ lụchara g ị , o nweghịkwa ihe nd ị ọgbọ ya na -eme o mepụtara.(ioga 229) afụlụenu got up from where she was and hailed her fellow ụmụada; they answered. she then said to nkemdịlịm, “we heard kindred invited him home over the excesses and atrocities of his wife, nkemdilim. apart from ikenna's mother, afụlụenu (ikenna's paternal aunty) was the only female member of that particular gathering. it was obvious to them that nkemdịlịm has subdued ikenna, and they must retrieve him from her stronghold, hence: onye ọzọ tinyere onụ n'okwu, bụ afụlụenu. ọ sịrị ikenna, “ihe m na-atụkwasa n'ihe ndị ahụ ndị bu m ụzọ kwuo okwu kwuru bụ na ọ bụrụ na nwoke emeghi ihe o jiri bụrụ nwoke, nwaanyị ememinaa ya. nwa m, nwoke nwaanyị na-afụrụ ọja na-eji ọkpa awụla be ndị mmụọ. ikenna ọ bụrụ na nwunye gị ahụ anyịla gị, ị kpọdatara ya umụada ka anyị nye ya oche ọ ga-anọ. ọ bụrụ na ụmụ nwaanyị ibe ya mechaa ya ihe o kweta n'ezie na mmiri ọkụ na-egbu mbe. kpọtara anyị ya ka anyị gosi ya ihe ọkụ ji ntị oke eme n'ihi na ọ bụ amara ụma na-adara ọchị, ọ dị ka ọchị a na-akwatụ mmadụ. ihe a nwatakịrị nwaanyị a ị nụtara na-eme n'ezinaulọ a atọghịzị ọchị chaa. ọ bụrụ na ị maghị ihe ị gaeme ya, anyị maara. anyị achọghị ka ihe a na-ebe bere naaga. were ugbua chi ka dị were chọwa ewu ojii maka na ị hapụ ịkwọ ya bụ mmiri ugbua ọ dị n'obo ọkpa akpachaghị anya, o rie mmadụ. ị hapụkwanụ ya ka o too rie mmadụ.”(ioga 185). another person who spoke was afụlụenu, she said to ikenna, “what i am adding to what those who spoke before me have said is that if a man does not do what he is supposed to do to as a man, a woman would abuse and render him useless. my son, a man who is being controlled by a woman meets his waterloo so soon. if your wife has grown stubborn that you cannot handle her, please bring her down to umuada so that we can give her a suitable punishment for her offences. if his fellow women deal with her she would affirm that hot water kills turtles. bring her to us so that we can show her what fire does to a 73 74 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ ọnọ ugbu a abụghị enugwu, ọ bụghịkwa ya na ikenna nọ, na ọ bụ ya na ụmụada nọ. mgbe ụmụada jiri mara na ihe nkemdịlịm ga-eme ka dị n'ihu bụ oge ọghọdoro afụlụenu n'ọgọdụ were jụọ ihe o mere ya o jiri tie ya ihe…ihe ahụ o mere kụrụ ụmụada gem n'isi. ara pụrụ ha niịle ozigbo. ha niịle were si ebe ha nọ were makwasị nkemdịlịm ka agụ agụụ na-agụ were chọọ ka ha rie ya na ndụ. mgbe nkemdịlịm hụrụ na ọdịghị onye na-azọ ya azọ, kama ọ bụ ogbugbu ka onye ọ bụla chọrọ ka e gbuo ya, ọ malitere tiwe mkpu akwa na-arịọ ụmụada ka ha hapụzie ya (ioga 232233). when they narrated to nkemdịlịm all her evil deeds, they also questioned her, but nkemdilim looked at them with disdain…while the women were waiting for nkemdịlịm to answer their last question, before they would recommend a suitable punishment for her, nkemdịlịm gave them a scornful gaze and asked them if they just summoned her for those questions. she asked them if they had exhausted their questions or there are still more. if they still have more questions, they should be fast about that because she does not want to listen to their pathetic tales anymore. ụmụada have found what they were looking for; the signal has been relayed. nkemdịlịm's harsh response was a deep blow to them. afụlụenu stood up angrily from where she was sitting, went straight to nkemdịlịmand slapped her mercilessly to explain to her that the she was before ụmụada in odunta and not ikenna her husband enugwu. when ụmụada knew that nkemdịlịm was out to face them violently was when she quickly held afụlụenu by her wrapper asking her what she has done to deserve the slap…what she did made them furious. all of them went haywire. they all came out and pounced on nkemdilim so hard like a hungry tiger. when nkemdilim discovered that she was at the mercy of of the awesome power you wield in enugu. that is why ụmụada requested your presence here so that we can appreciate you very well. they are also using this opportunity to thank you for wanting to kill our brother, ikenna. ever since ikenna married you, he has been denied freedom and interactions with people. anyone who sees ikenna hardly recognizes him anymore... you have dealt mercilessly with ikenna and made life miserable for him that he could hardly stand on his feet. since he married you, he has not achieved anything like his peers.” (gloss from the researcher). ụmụada also intervene in matters concerning their colleagues. they ensure that the widows among them are not maltreated by the kinsmen of their late husbands. they do not stomach insolence and neither do they keep mute while a member is being humiliated in their presence, especially in their bid to resolve conflicts among couples or prevent an ugly situation from rearing its head. in such situations, they take drastic measures. this was clearly seen in the novel when nkemdịlịm wanted to humiliate ụmụada during the funeral of her father-in-law. she had ignored their questions, and when she decided to reply them at her own will, she gave a harsh and unacceptable response. this greatly provoked afụlụenu, the leader of the women. oge ha na-agwa nkemdịlị ihe ndị a ma na-ajụkwa ajụjụ ndị a. nkemdịlị nọ na-ele ya anya nleli...ka ụmụada naeche ka nkemdịlịm zaa ha ajụjụ ịkpeazụ ha jụrụ ya tụpụ ha wee mara ihe ha na ya ga-eje. nkemdịlịm lechaa ha anya were jụọ ha ma ọ bụ ihe ndị ahụ ka ha kpọọrọ ya ka o nwere ihe ọzọ. onwee ihe ọzọ ha nwere ha ga-ekwu ka ha kwuo ka ọ pụwa n'ihi na ọ chọghịzị inụ ihe ndị ahụ ha na-akọ. ụmụada ahụla ihe ha na-achọ. okwu ahụ nkemdịlị gwara ha ruru ha n'ahụ, afụlụenu were iwe si ebe ahụ ọ nọ gakwuru nkemdịlịm ebe ahụ ọ kwụ were ụra chara ọkụ machie nkemdịlịm ntị abụọ iji wee kọwaara ya na ebe ahụ 75 76 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ at death, it re-occurs as the sharing and thus alleviation of pain and sorrow but also cleverly ensures that the deceased is sent forth as solemnly as s/he was welcomed at birth through a celebration of his/her absence and an inscription of death (through rites of passage) as the threshold of a new life or immorality depending on one's beliefs. it must be noted here that solidarity remains an important factor in african sociology. the individual belongs to history, tradition and society and not vice versa (ikwuemesi, 26). when an elderly person dies, ụmụada gather in the compound of the dead person to keep them company during mourning and funeral. they sing songs and dance in order to keep the place lively. after the burial of the dead person, the family of the deceased person will entertain them with food and drinks. if they are not satisfied with what was given to them, they may reject them and go ahead to fine the bereaved, especially in the burial of a fellow nwaada. in ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ, after nkemdịlịm's ruffle with ụmụada, she was made to apologize for her erratic behaviour that day. they also advised her extensively with stern warnings to desist from her evil and wicked characters. they reminded her that being a good wife who honours her husband builds a peaceful family. they proceeded to fine her heavily. ụmụada also fined ikenna for not taken care of his father whom they believed died of hunger and nkemdịlịm's maltreatment. ụmụada sịrị m gwa gị na ị ga-ahaara nha ma ọ bụrụ na ị gakwa anọ na be ha. ha sịrị na ị ga-enya ha otu nne ewu gbara agba, ọkụkọ ise chara acha, mba ji iri na abụọ tinyekwara otu puku naịra ị ga-atụkwasa n'ihe ndị ahụ ị gaewetara ha. ọ bụzị mgbe i wetara ihe ndị a ka anyị ga-ejizi gwa gị etu ị ga-esi were biri be anyị...naanị echi ka anyị nyedebere gị maka nha a ị ga-ahara anyị…ka nkemdịlịm pụchara...afụlụenu were gwa “ikenna, ụmụada sịrị na ị chọọ ka ha nọrọ, soro gị kwaa nna gị lara mmụọ, na ị gaụmụada, she started crying, begging them to let her go.(gloss from the researcher) in the novel, ụmụada exhibited how they wield enormous authority in major events in their ancestral homes, especially during funerals. this was greatly seen in the novel during the funeral of ikenna's father when afụlụenu (ikenna's paternal aunty) and other ụmụada took the stage in given their 'brother' a befitting burial while exercising their authority. patricia okoye explains that in awka in the late 90s, ụmụada were not given foods, drinks and items like of today during funeral. those days, ụmụada will spend seven days in the deceased household during funeral, although they could be served local delicacies from the household. it was an era when foods and drinks were not served during funeral. she added that it was not all the ụmụada in a community but just the ones who are directly related to the deceased. other members of the ụmụada will come and go back to their respective homes at the end of the day. whenever there was a death in the family, ụmụada played vital role during the funeral ceremony. they sleep in the deceased compound for a number of days starting with wake. those days till early year 2000 when corpses spend a night in their own compounds before interment the next day, ụmụada would keep vigil all though the night with the corpse while the men folk went to bed. this women group show solidarity at death (personal communication 24/6/2023). ifeyinwa nwosu from nibo explained that traditionally, ụmụada believe in solidarity that a loss to one is a loss to many and that the igbo world view is circumscribed by solidarity from birth through adulthood and death. although in igbo society, it is believed that death is a personal experience for the dead but it is a communal issue not just the immediate family, but the extended familynwada (ụmụada). (personal communication 28/6/2023). (ikwuemesi, 26) emphasized the igbo philosophy of solidarity at death: 77 78 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ in the novel which was set in a modern society, the writer, chinedum ofomata shows that development and trends do not deter umuada from playing their socio-cultural roles. when nkemdilim discovered that she has been overpowered by umuada, she packed her things and fled odunta the next day, even though the funeral has not ended, umuada sent some delegates to enugwu to make sure she has not returned to her husband's apartment. this shows that they are united and determined indoing things with one accord. despite the challenges they may face, umuada continue to play a crucial role in preserving the culture, traditions, and economic well-being of the igbo society. in the novel, umuada acted as a “court, by asking nkemdilim to pay fine, and bring some items to them for reconciliation. issues relating to umuada are delicate to handle. they are held in high esteem because of their power and position in customs and traditions, especially the men folk. in the course of instilling discipline, they do not tolerate interference until the defaulter pleads guilty and shows remorse, hence: ndị niịle bịara mgbarụ onye garuo nso ebe ahụ nkemdịlịm na ụmụada na-akpọtụ, ha agwa ya ka o si ebe ahụ nye ohere n'ihi na okwu ahụ bụ okwu ụmụada. onye ọ bụla tinyere aka na ya, ọ bụrụ okwu ha na ya. (ioga 233). all the people who came to the funeral saw umuada dealing with nkemdilim and when they went close, they were warned to stay away that it is strictly umuada case. anyone who dares to interfere would face the heavy wrath of umuada.(gloss from the researcher) works cited agbasiere, joseph. woman in igbo life and thought.routledge, 2000. basden, george. among the ibos of nigeria, frank cass and co., 1966. ahaara ha nha. ihe kpatra ha jiri si na ị ga-ahaara ha nha bụ maka na ị hapụrụ nna gị agụụ gbuo ya. oge ọnwụ nna gị erubeghị, ọ bụ agụụ na ahụhụ gburu ya. mgbe ọ nọ ndụ ịnaghị ele ya anya, ị naghị ajụ ase ya...n'ihi nke a, ị ga-aga ugbu a wetere anyị otu puku naiịra na narị naịra ise zuru oke tụpụ anyị emetụ ihe ọ bụla ọnụ. ọ bụrụ na anyị chee gị nwantakịrị oge anyị ahụghị gị, anyị niịle alasaa ị nọdụzịe be nna gị kwawa ya (ioga 238-239). ụmụada said you must pay the following fines if must continue to stay in this family as our wife. they said that you will give them one big goat, five healthy fowls, twelve tubers of yam and one thousand naira. it is when you bring these things that we will then tell you how you can live with us as our wife...you have only tomorrow to provide those things…after nkemdịlịm left... afụlụenu said to ikenna, “ụmụada said that if you want them to stay, and participated in your father's funeral you must pay a fine." the reason they said you must pay a fine is because you left your father to starve to death. your father's death would not have occurred, it was hunger and suffering that killed him. when he was alive you did not take care of him... because of this, you must go now and bring us one thousand, five hundred naira, and if we wait for you longer than required, we would boycott this funeral, leaving you to bury your father alone.(gloss from the researcher). conclusion this study explains ụmụada as an association that binds together all the women who are born in the same clan or village. they seek the welfare of their family, kinsmen and the entire clan. in the entire igbo land they are highly respected and are held in very high esteem. they help in the development of heir town and see that peace reigns supreme in their town. generally in igbo land, the power of umuada is felt heavily in conflict management, reconciliation and disciplinary measures in their ancestral homes. 79 80 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ okodo, ikechukwu. “the igbo traditional polity as the bedrock of nigerian democracy”, in artsand humanities quarterly, vol.i, no.1 edited by umeasiegbu, rems 2006, pp.43. onyeamu, l. the nigeria civil war and mbaitolu women,19671980. a ph.d dissertation submitted to the department of history and international studies, nnamdi azikiwe university, 2018. ramsbo tham ol ive r, woodhouse , tom and mia l l , hugh.contemporary conflict resolution, 4th edition, polity, 2016 ubesie, tonie. odinala ndi igbo, oxford up, 1978. uchem, r. n. overcoming women's subordination in igbo african culture and in the catholic church: envisioning a n i n c l u s i v e t h e o l o g y w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o women.dissertation, 2001. ugwu, angela nkechi “umuada and family conflict resolution for sustainable community development in enugu state”, nigeria international journal of peace and conflict studies (ijpcs), vol. 6, no 1, june/july, 2019. chinedum ofomata, ihe ojoo gbaa afo, format publishers, 1999. chukwu, g. “igbo women in politics: historical analysis.” the international journals of african studies vol.6, 2007, pp 99. elechi, amadi. ethics in nigerian culture, heinemann educational book, 1982. emejulu, ifeyinwa and umeagudosi, “changing patterns in the role of umuada in igbo social formations” in socialscientia journal of the social sciences and humanities vol.4 no.4, 2019, pp 73. ene, m.o, “the concept of umuada in igbo land”, ndigbo international magazine, aug.14, 2007, pp. 20-21. ezeuko, romanus. ewumewu, omenala, ofufe na nkwenye ndi igbo, etukokwu printing press, 1986. ibemesi felicia. “performance of umada/umuokpu at funeral ceremonies in anambra state.” in death and the creative instinct: mortuary acts and arts among some african and diaspora communities edited by chuu krydz ikwuemesi, the panafrika press 2020, pp 215. ikwuemesi, chuu krydz, “celebrating tragedy: art and theatre in the anatomy of death and funeral in africa” in death and the creative instinct: mortuary acts and arts among some african and diaspora communities edited by chuu krydz ikwuemesi, the panafrika press 2020, pp 26. interviews mrs. patricia okoy –awka –24, june 2023, mrs. ifeyinwa nwosu–nibo–28, june. 2023. isichei, elizabeth. igboworld, macmillan press, 1977 81 82 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dan c. okoye: voicing the socio-cultural disciplinary roles of ụmụada in ofomata's ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ page 32 page 33 page 34 page 35 page 36 page 37 page 38 page 39 page 40 page 41 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr cultural violation crimes and punishment in abani's graceland and adichie's purple hibiscus abigail obiageli eruaga department of english and literature faculty of arts, university of benin, nigeria emails: obiageli.eruaga@uniben.edu abigail.obiageli@yahoo.com & ethel ngozi okeke, department of english and literary studies faculty of social sciences and humanities enugu state university of science and technology, enugu emails: ngoziokeke@esut.edu.ng enoya22@yahoo.com abstract culture is the custom and social behaviour of a given community. without culture man will have no control and will not be different from animals, and anarchy is inevitable. in order to avoid such, the rules of behaviour are obeyed by all and violation is visited with punishment. besides the physical sanction exacted on offenders, the igbos also believe in supernatural punishment of offenders. this is a situation when supernatural forces, also known as gods, avenge the transgressor. this usually happens when the offender is adamant to warnings. supernatural punishment can manifest in diverse forms of misfortunes such as: death, madness, sickness, losses and so on. when this happens, people will conclude that the gods are afflicting the person or that the hands of the gods dealing with him/her. this essay focuses on cultural violation crimes and punishments in chris abani's graceland(2004)and chimamanda adichie's purple hibiscus (2003). it adopts toni morrison's principle of “ancestral presence” and irving zietlin's concepts of “crime and punishment” to explore instances of cultural transgressions and sanctions in these two texts. it concludes that these two igbo novelists promote igbo cultural wholesomeness and preservation by their endorsement of punishments of its violators. keywords: cultural violation, punishment, igbos, novels introduction the igbos have a world view and culture that tilt towards egalitarianism. the community is bound by cultural rules the violation of which attracts some punishment for the offender. they place premium on peaceand order and recognise the importance of punishment in forestalling human viciousness, abuse and anarchy by powerful individuals. “as humans, our behaviors are guided in part by a set of social norms about morality that forms a basic part of our culture” (maricopa.edu, n.p). though the society has evolved into a modern one, the igbo cultural morality remains etched in their social conducts such that when it is subverted, punishment is administered to the offender. being a superstitious society, sanction is administered physically and supernaturally. apart from physical punishment such as: exaction of fine, banishment, ex-communication (okonkwo in things fall apart),the igbos believe that invisible beings known as gods also avenge acts of cultural violation, especially if the offender appears to be powerful, recalcitrant and heedless to warnings. in such cases, the aggrieved will seek vengeance from the gods by handing over such offender to the gods for exaction of punishment.: (papa nnukwu reports eugene to the gods/ancestors in his daily morning prayers/ofo, for his apathy and callousness towards him purple hibiscus, 69-70). culture has to do with the belief and world view of a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus 1 2 mailto:obiageli.eruaga@uniben.edu mailto:abigail.obiageli@yahoo.com mailto:enoya22@yahoo.com people and its violation is a grievous crime among the igbos. crime and punishment are terms that have attracted several definitions from different fields of study. according to black's law dictionary, a crime is “[…] any act done in violation of those duties which an individual owes to the community, and for the breach of which the law has provided that the offender shall make satisfaction to the public” (370). law here refers to the unwritten law which is the rule that governs human behaviour among them. the sociological scholar, irving zeitlin, sees crimes as acts that “are universally disapproved of by members of the society in question [because they] shock the collective conscience. a crime, therefore, is an act which antagonizes the powerful and well–defined sentiments of a collectivity'' (304). he defines punishment as “a powerful reaction against the offender, a form of vengeance which… enables the society to heal the wound inflicted upon it by the offender, restore its moral integrity and reaffirm its most fundamental values”(304). what arises from the foregoing is that the act of cultural violation is an infraction against the community and its members and must elicit some punishment. it is pertinent to note that what one society may consider as a crime may not be so regarded by another society. this brings us to the questions of cultural diversities or differences. for instance, in india, the act of selfimmolation or setting oneself on fire to constitute what is known as a funeral pyre by the widow on the death of her husband, is neither regarded as a crime nor an offence in that society. similarly, whereas a yoruba man will regard it as disrespect when a younger person greets him without prostrating or genuflecting, an igbo man will not be bothered about that because of their cultural differences. our focus in this essay is on the igbo speaking people of nigeria ancestral presence, cultural violation and punishment the african-american writer, toni morrison, makes a pertinent observation that applies to the examination of cultural violation and the punishment it portends for offenders. she identifies in the works of african and african-american writers the presence of what she calls the ancestors. she notes that these ancestors do not have to be only the biological parents of the characters but also some elderly people whose relationship with the characters helps the latter in several beneficial ways such as offering them protection, instruction, wisdom among others. morrison posits that a character's attempt to rebel against this kind of nurturing and benevolent relationship between him/her and the ancestors spells the doom, destruction and negative end of such a character while the one that enters into such relationships always succeeds (“rootedness, the ancestors as foundations…” 343). according to her, relationship with the ancestors is a continuum the severance of which portends death and danger for any character in african and african-american authored works. this observation is true about the igbo and most african cultures. morrison submits: “… it seems to me interesting to evaluate black literature on what the writer does with the presence of an ancestor, which is to say, grandfather […], or grandmother […], or a healer [….] there is always an elder there. and these ancestors are not just parents, they are sort of timeless people whose relationships to the characters are benevolent, instructive, productive, and protective, and they provide a certain kind of wisdom” (343). furthering her argument, she submits: what struck us in looking at some contemporary fiction was that whether the novel took place in the city or in the country, the presence or absence of that figure determined the success or the happiness of the character. it was the 3 4 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus absence of an ancestor that was frightening […and] threatening, and it caused huge destruction and disarray [….], it seemed to be one of those interesting aspects of the continuum in black or african american art […](343). a close reading of abani's graceland and adichie's purple hibiscus brings morrison's submission home as it points us to characters who invoke destruction upon themselves by their failure to contract relationships with these elderly people for which reason they lose the wisdom, counsel, protection and instruction that accrue from them to guarantee their safety and fortune. consequently, they transgress against their cultural values and freely walk into their doom. this argument gets clearer as the discourse unfolds. critical receptions on the novels some scholars have offered critical insights into these texts. in his interrogation of graceland, benjamin ohwovoriole dwells on the structure and characterisation, perceiving them as metaphors of neurological disorder. he identifies several medical neurological disorders such as: epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, alzheimer's disease and so on, and equates these medical abnormalities with the condition of the nigerian nation and her people. he postulates: “basically, chris abani depicts nigeria as a character with neurological flaws. her children, the imaginary citizens that are the other characters that populate the text inherit some of these nervous system disease” (116). this critic aptly describes the graphic socio-political disorder in this work. sita maria kattanek is concerned about the high violence content of the novel and its effect on elvis, the young protagonist. kattanek decries the humiliation and “degradation that elvis experiences…”,and laments the general lack, poverty, hunger, corruption and exploitation that define the political regime of the time (428). on her part, army novak compares the human part hunt, commodification and the exploitative tendencies of the military to the era of slave trade and identifies the only difference between the two methods of dehumanisation to be the slight transformation of the style of operation of the version in graceland. novak notices “no end to colonialism” and asserts that it is “only a transformation of us and europe policies and methods” that constitutes such difference. according to her, “conquest and slavery are replaced by the creation of a market” (35). for heater hewett, abani does not concern himself with the usual practice of blaming outsiders for africa's socio-political predicament. in her view, this novel obviously does not write back to theempire in the classic fashion of postcolonial textualities”. but instead it dwells “[…] on nigeria as a cultural, transitional and hybridised space […]” (22). hewett's observation points to the conclusion that graceland locates the cause of africa's political maladministration within the continent itself and not in external forces. john hawley not only includes graceland among the african works that recount the biafran war but also focuses attention on the telling consequences of violence on children (22). the critic is irked by the depth of violence which wars can wrought on a child's psyche and life after his juxtaposition of graceland with other literary works on similar subject. the above observations about the novel are apt and insightful. however, they seem to be silent on the crime of cultural transgression and the sanctions attracted by the offenders, an aspect undertaken by this paper. some critics have also expressed their views on purple hibiscus from different perspectives. in his view, kingsley ugwuanyi believes that eugene is not different from the colonisers who came to africa for colonialism agenda under the pretext of evangelism. he considers eugene to be a religious 5 6 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus fanatic with warped western mentality, noting that he exploits the white/saintly and black/devilish paradigms to privilege western culture above the african culture which he demonises in much the same way as he demonises his father. ugwuanyi condemns him as a hypocrite who is deluded by religious fundamentalism (38).in her essay, “narrating the past…,” louisa egbunike addresses the text from the oral-historical perspective. she places the freedom fighting acts of jaja side by side those of his historical namesake, jaja of opobo,and notes that adichie's jaja recognises that “in any liberation movement there will be casualties” (27). egbunike's concern here is about the repetition of history as portrayed in the relationships between the historical jaja and his literary double both of whom prefer casualty-ridden liberation struggle to repression. jane duran considers adichie's representation of plausible characters as a rare feat and opines: “this feat is all the more noteworthy as the author refuses to indulge in platitudes; rather, she provides us with characters whose credibility is underscored by both their strengths and weaknesses” (45-6). edgar nabutanyi examines the relationship of eugenewith his household, and accuses him of “…ritualized abuse of his family….” (73),while iniobong uko wonders what will “…make a mother [beatrice/mama] the bearer and nurturer of life, to be the one that terminates life” (57). ahmed maiwada debunks what he views as false critical claims concerning the source of the novel. in “purple hibiscus, adichie's debt to achebe?” he challenges the submissions of lamikanra and osofisan both of which he states, establish the existence of parallels between purple hibiscus and achebe's things fall apart (n.p). niyi osunbade interrogates it from a discourse analytical angle and observes that eugene's claim to moral standard as seen in his editorial crusades against the tyrannical political regime of the time is only hypocritical. he advances eugene's family life as the justification of his position and osunbade avers that: “[…] his private life is as dictatorial and [as] abusive as the leaders whom he attacks” (140). ogaga okuyade empathises with eugene's immediate family membershe recognises as the regular sites of his assaults, noting that he turns them to midgets and tosses them to any direction he chooses as a result of his religious bigotry (n.p). lawal olusola and lawal alabi occupy themselves with the mental and psychic torture to which eugene subjects his family and conclude that this household lives “on [an] edge, walking on eggshells and sitting on a time-bomb, never knowing when he might snap and explode” (9). in an essay, tshilidzi marwala opines that the 2020 compulsory lockdown necessitated by covid-19 brought men's violence against women to the fore. this is a very apt observation as violence against women is evident in our focal novels. this scholar recounts five female victims of femicide in south african society and posits: “as africans face an invisible threat in the way of the coronavirus, our women face another perennial enemyviolence at the hands of men” (n.p). marwala's observation about the violence to which these south african women are subjected coheres with beatrice's situation in purple hibiscus. it is pertinent to note that none of these critics explores the issue of cultural transgression and sanction in purple hibiscus. consequently, we have elected to fill this gap and contribute to knowledge. instances of cultural violation and punishment in the novels an exploration of graceland reveals instances of acts that border on violation of igbo cultural values. the igbos believe that a child has the responsibility of taking care of his father/parents when he is grown and established as reflected in the proverb: “nna zusia nwa, nwa azuba nna”. this presupposes that the father first owes his child the duty of care and nurture till the child grows to start catering for his father in the latter's old age in return. mr. sunday oke, the father of elvis, the novel's protagonist, violates 7 8 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus mr. oke extends the same psychological torture to beatrice's mother (oye) who comes to nurse her ailing daughter. when oye tries to call her son-in-law to order for his abnormal and unnatural behaviour, he retorts: “shut up, witch, i am not afraid of you. when oye reminds him of the need to mind his language because of the presence of some children around, the authorial voice reveals that, “he looked at her and raised his hand to strike her. it hang in the air between them as if he couldn't remember what he meant to do with it. with a sigh, he wiped his face” (43). mr. oke's treatment of his sick wife and visiting motherin-lawrespectively contravenes the igbo principles of nurturance and honour. the igbos believe in caring for the sick and according honour and respect to one's in-law and elder. apart from the fact that oye is his mother-in-law, she is also much older than him. besides, her presence in his home is more of service than for pleasure. it is an unthinkable offence among the igbos to assault one's in-law and elder because they are revered as helpers and alternative parents. no wonder mr. oke's hand gets hanged in the air when he tries to strike oye. this and other actions of his arouse the vengeance of the gods who visit him with death for violating the codes of human relationship. for abdicating his filial duties towards elvis, the only product of his marriage after beatrice's death; for withholding love and care from his sick wife, and for dishonouring and insulting oye, an in-law and elder, mr. oke invites supernatural punishment upon himself. the military regime gives a quit notice to the occupants of the premises in maroko slum where mr. oke resides. all the tenants in the apartment quit except him. he remains adamant in the face of the demolition exercise even when the bulldozer driver and other workers warn him of the coming danger. he refuses to budge. two supernatural presences: beatrice's ghost and a totem, a talking leopard also appear to warn this cultural stipulation as he abandons elvis at eight to fend for himself. his abdication of his paternal duties exposes elvis to societal danger, abuse and neglect as he has to rent his own apartment and fend for himself at the tender age of eight. he dances at the bar beach disguised as elvis priestley and does other unconscionable things to eke out a living.for instance, elvis wraps cocaine with redemption (another character), conveys human parts for the colonel; patronises night clubs where he is rented by rich prostitutes and makes friends with the society's miscreants (76).consequently, he has no option than to renounce his family and embrace the alternative world of social vice offered him by redemption (131-132). finding no succor in his family, elvis disowns it for the family and world provided by redemption (188-189). though this may not be a perfect alternative but at least it helps elvis to put food in his stomach and raiment on his body unlike his father that abandons him to his fate in a wild city such as lagos. mr.oke is married to beatrice, who few years after giving birth to their son elvis, falls ill with breast cancer. mr. oke denies her care andeven the pleasure of listening to music which she does toassuage her excruciating pains. regularly, he insults and disrespects his mother-in-law, oye who moves into the house to nurse beatrice, her sick daughter. mr. oke would yank the needle off the record thereby preventing his sick wife from enjoying the comforting music. he would also assault her mentally, psychically and emotionally by reminding her of how close she is to her death, having exhausted all her chemotherapy sessions: “the sicker beatrice got, the more often she held …impromptu little musicand-dance sessions. there were soda and cookies and smoked meat on the table[…] then sunday stopped by the veranda. he stepped by the record player and yanked the needle off the record […] “what is wrong with you people? what are you celebrating, your death?” (42-43). 9 10 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus him to leave for his life but he heeds none. thus, the bulldozer sends “its metal blades cracking his chest like a timber box as it went into the wall of his home” (286, 287). mr. oke's case depicts the danger in cutting off from the ancestors or refusing to establish relationships with them as morrison observes in the preceding pages. because he lacks such a flow with the ancestors represented by oye and the supernatural presences, he is unable to recognise or discern their presence when they appear before him in the form of a totem and a talking leopard to issue him the danger warning. consequently, he trades words with them, challenging them and boasting that they are the ones to die and not him and finally ends up in the metal blades of the bulldozer (286-287).as a result of his crime of transgressing against his cultural values such as: abandoning his son and heir, abusing his sick and helpless wife and insulting an elder and his mother-in-law, the gods give approval for his total destruction. they make him oblivious of the danger of the bulldozer and make him die off as punishment for his crimes. there are also instances of cultural violation in purple hibiscus. eugene/papaviolates his people's cultural values in his dealings with some characters. though a wealthy only son, he willfully abdicatesfilial obligations of care towards his poor widowed father, papa nnukwu. besides denying him affection and upkeeps, he forbids him from visiting his home and relating with his children. he creates a gulf-like contrast between his affluence and the penury that defines his father's existence, hinging his action on papa nnukwu's refusal to accept the white man's religion. in moments of extreme deprivation, the old man travels from his abba home to nsukka, to get momentary nurturance and care from his daughter ifeoma, who manages with her two children on a meagre salary. overwhelmed by his son's contemptuous and despicable treatment, papa nnuwku laments hurtfully: “nekeem […] my son owns that house that can fit in everyone in abba [their village], and yet many times i have nothing to put on my plate” (83). by these acts of commission and omission, eugene breaks the bonds of filial relationship as reflected in the igbo maxims: “nna zusia nwa, nwa azuba nna” and “nwa bu ndo” respectively interpreted: “a child inherits the burden of caring and nurturing the father when he is established” and “offspring is a shield”. the igbos believe that children are their parents' hope of security, strength, care and nurture in their old and feeble age. it becomes shameful when a parent is blessed with children and still suffers in his/her old age the way papa nnukwu does. in igbo society, this kind of attitude incurs the displeasure of both the parent of such an irresponsible and insensitive son and the entire community. this instant case is even worse because papa nnukwu is a lonely widower. by reneging on what is rightly his duties towards his father, eugene betrays himself as a bastard and not a son. eugene metes similar treatment to pa anikwenwa when he visits the village for christmas. he bars anikwenwa from entering his house for the same reason that anikwenwa is not a christian. this octogenarian is irked by such disrespectful behaviour and retorts: “do you know that i am in your father's age group, gbo?” with a wounded heart, he prophetically pronounces some doom on eugene: “ifukwagi! you are like a fly blindly following a corpse into the grave” (69-70). eugene loses the benefits he would have derived from contracting relationships with these ancestors exemplified in papa nnukwu and pa anikwenwa, thereby invoking “frightening threat” upon himself. by rebelling against such ancestral presence, he pitches his destiny with “destruction and disarray”, in the light of morrison's framework of ancestral presence. 11 12 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus among the igbos, a child belongsto the entire community and anyone old enough to sire him/her is regarded as the parent whose blessingsand curses have potent effect on that child. such pronouncements are even more potent when they issue from elders and grey-haired ones who are believed to co-existwith the gods and ancestors in the same realm. similarly, the prayers and wishes of one's biological parents have mysterious accuracy and potency on the offspring. eugene's crime of paternal contempt, neglect and rejection make papa nnukwu to seek vengeance in the gods and ancestors against his obstinate son in his morning ofo(prayer) routines:“chineke! those who wish others well, keep them well. those who wish others ill, keep them ill” [but for his caring daughter, ifeoma, he prays] “my spirit will intercede for you […] when i join my ancestors” (166, 83). a widower such as papa nnukwu with a wealthy son like eugene is not supposed to subsist the way he is left to do and this wounds him deeply. thus, his pain is rolled up in his intercessory prayer and resignation to the ancestors, who aresharing in the realm of gods, to avenge for him. eugene'scultural violationextends to his wife, beatrice and children: kambili and jaja, for allof whom he embodies a monster and molester. as a patriarchal society, the culture may not frown at him for always beating his wife and children without provocation but it holds him accountable for the crime of murder. there are incidents of his targeting beatricewhen battering her in such a way as to make her have a miscarriage even when he knows that she is desirous of having more children. one of such incidents as relayed by kambili in this hair-raising excerpt suffices: […] i heard the door open. papa's gait on the stairs, sounded heavier, more awkward than usual. we stood at the landing and watched papa descend. mama was slung over his shoulder like the jute sack of rice […] we cleaned up the trickle of blood, which trailed away as if someone had carried a leaking jar of water colour all the way downstairs (32-33). beatrice loses the pregnancy and is hospitalised for some days. to underscore the enormity of the loss and her devastation, the authorial voice captures her mood: “her eyes were vacant, like the eyes of those mad people who wandered around the roadside garbage dump” […] “there was an accident, the baby is gone, she said” (34). going by eugene's crimes, the gods approve that he should exit the scene through death. when she can no longer bear his tyranny and brutality, beatrice procures some poison to eliminate him. as a proof that the gods are in agreement, even when she confesses to the crime the police are unwilling to prosecute her which is quite unlike the case in igbo society. if his death is not a punishment from the gods, beatrice will be made to pass through grievous ordeals in the hands of the umuada, especially when she confesses to the crime. but the gods close everyone's mind and exact punishment on eugene for dishonouring his father and murdering his unborn children whose miscarriages he provokes. for rebelling against the ancestral presence by refusing to cultivate relationships withpapa nnukwu and pa anikwenwa, eugene's doom is determined from the onset.consequently, pa anikwenwa's prophecy comes through because in the igbo worldview, parental neglect incurs sanctions from the gods and finds expression in the igbo proverb: “nwata tulie nna ya elu, ogodo nna ya ayochie ya anya,”meaning that a child who dishonours his father invites destruction upon itself. 13 14 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus 15 16 no 1, 2005, pp. 73-98. kattanek, maria. “the nigerian coming-of-age novel as a globalization device: a reading of chris a b a n i ' s graceland”. rupkatha journal of inter disciplinary studies in humanities, vol. 3, no 3, 2011, pp. 426-433. maiwada, ahmed." purple hibiscus, adichie's debt to achebe? "nov. , 2012 , web .mar icopa .re t r i eved f rom www.maricopa.edu on 27/7/22. marwala, tshilidzi. chimamanda ngozi adichie's purple h i b i s c u s a n d g e n d e r b a s e d v i o l e n c e . july 20, 2020, 1-5. retrieved from h�p://www.voices360.com/lifestyle/chimamanda-ngoziadichie on 30/8/21 morrison, toni. “rootedness: the ancestor as foundation.” black women writers: a criticalevaluation. ed. mari evan, 1984. p. 52-80. novak, army. “who speaks? who listens? the problems of address in two nigerian trauma novels”.studies in the novel, vol 40, nol, 2008,pp.1-2, 31–51. ohwovoriole, benjamin. c. structure and characterisation as metaphors for neurological disorder in chris abani's graceland m.a. dissertation, faculty of arts, university of witwaterstrand 2009. okuyade, ogaga. "changing borders and creating voices: silence as character in chimamanda adichie's purple hibiscus". journal of pan african studies, vol 1, no 9, 2007. accessedoct. 28; 2010. web oladitan, olalere. from literature towards a law-culture discipline: an unendingquest for justice. inaugural lecture.oau press, 2011. osunbade, niyi."explicatures in conversational discourse in adichie's purplehibiscus.nordic journal of african studies vol 18, no 2, 2009, pp. 138-153. raji-oyelade, remi. "my mandate is to reposition ana for institutionalssupport “guardian nigeria, friday dec., 2011, 1-3. web. 2012.web. conclusion from the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the igbo society places much premium on honour and respect for parents and the elderly and on the execution of responsibilities towards one's children and close family members. murder, disrespect, duty abdication and other unconscionable behaviours are acts of cultural violation, which are punishable by the gods. maintaining a close relationship with elderly people confers some wisdom that is useful for successful existence and people who shun this usually end badly. these are evident in the fates of mr. sunday oke and eugene achike in graceland and purple hibiscus, respectively. works cited abani, chris. graceland. picador, 2004. adichie, chimamanda. purple hibiscus.farafina, 2006. black's law dictionary. garner ed. st. paul m n: thomson reuters. 2014. duran, jane. “adichie and the west african voice: women and power in purple hibiscus ed. ernest n. emenyionu. a companion to chimamanda ngozi adichie.james currey 2017, pp. 45-55. egbunike louisa uchum. “orality history and the production of knowledge in the works of chimamanda adichie.'a companion chimamanda ngozi adichie. ed. ernest n. emenyonu. james currey, 2017, pp. 15-29. hawley, john. biafra as heritage and symbol: adichie, mbachu and iweala. research in african literature [online] 39 (2).15-16. h � p : / / m u s e . j h u . e d u / j o u r n a l s / researchinafrican_ literatures/v039/39.2.hawley.pdf, 2 december, 2008. hewett, hetter. “coming of age: chimamanda ngozi adichie and the voice of the third generation”.english in africa,vol. 3 2, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 abigail obiageli eruaga & ethel ngozi okeke: cultural violation crimes & punishment in abani’s graceland & adichie’s purple hibiscus http://www.maricopa.edu http://www.voices360.com/lifestyle/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie%20on%2030/8/21 http://www.voices360.com/lifestyle/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie%20on%2030/8/21 http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/%20researchinafrican_%20%09literatures/v039/39.2.hawley.pdf http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/%20researchinafrican_%20%09literatures/v039/39.2.hawley.pdf christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known” 17 18 saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice and exploitation in wole soyinka's “samarkand and other markets i have known” christopher anyokwu, phd department of english faculty of lagos, nigeria. abstract wole soyinka in this poem-sequence goes, hammer and tongs, to the roots of prejudice and exploitation, two of the greatest societal ills threatening the fragile and delicate fabric of society in contemporary times. deploying the ancient city of samarkand as leitmotif in this poem-sequence, soyinka brings a lifetime of mastery of the poetic art to bear on the subject of ideological obfuscation and religious fundamentalism which have all but reduced the “marketplace” (read: the world) to rack and ruin. preaching the countervailing sermon of the “primal sanctity of man”, soyinka recommends a neo-traditionalist, return-tosources strategy exemplified by the yoruba ifa moral-cumspiritual compass as the redemptive path to universal understanding and healing. in this paper, i examine the foregoing thematics through a close reading of this single poem and conclude, with the poet, that, a return to the salvific imperative of animist metaphysics will heal the world. keywords: prejudice, exploitation, religion, ideology, samarkand, marketplace ugwuanvi, kingsley. "western mentality and emasculation in chimamanda adichie's purple hibiscus.journal of the literary society of nigeria (jlsn), vol 3, no 1, 2011, pp. 35-44. uko, iniobong i. “reconstructing motherhood: a mutative reality in adichie purplehibiscus”. a companion to chimamanda ngozi adichie.ed. ernest n. emenyonu. james currey, 2017. 57-71. zeitlin, irving. the social condition of humanity: an ndintroduction to sociology, 2 edition.1981, oup. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 chapter three.cdr njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among the mupun people of plateau state dakwom makpring longgul department of theatre and film arts, faculty of arts, university of jos, jos, nigeria email: dlonggul@unijos.edu.ng orcid: http://orchid.org/0009-0007-4100-0145 abstract njingkook is a tradition of storytelling performance among the mupun people of plateau state, central nigeria. the tradition of storytelling is a universal phenomenon and like many african communities, the mupun people had explored storytelling as a means of entertainment and education becoming a tradition and a cultural practice over time and space. the main idea here is that storytelling entertains and educates the communities long before contact with technology of the outside world. adopting the dramatic dialogue (dd) theory with a qualitative methodology, the study examines the education components and its process using one of the popular folktales talkuuldaboo, within the prism of some discursive frames i.e. process by which discovery, recognition and understanding occur to the co-players or participants of a theatrical performance like njingkook. the study details paradox, make-believe, imitation, improvisation and domestication as discursive frames responsible as quality assurance tools for teaching and learning within the njingkook theatre experience. the study concludes that njingkook theatre therefore preserves the voice and codes of the mupun moral system, epistemology, and communal philosophy. again, history is preserved, collective struggle is encouraged while a people's belief is transmitted to the young generation. keywords: njingkook storytelling, tradition, mupun education 42 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state pun mu”.! the mupun people echoed. this play indicated that they had discovered the mwaghavul people's hiding place and intended to flush them out (danfulani and fwatshak 6). the term mu-pun could also denote in mupun grammatical construction mean “the thing of the father” or “that which belongs to the father.” geographically, the mupun people are found in the eastern edge of the jos plateau which is approximately located in the centre of nigeria. the mupun, like many other ethnic groups on the eastern part of jos plateau, speak chadic languages and are mutually intelligible. chadic speaking neighbours of the mupun include the ngas, mwagavul, chakfemtambes, gung, miship, ron, kofyar, doemak, mernyang, jipal and a host of others. these groups trace their ancestry to the middle east, and then to some areas of lake chad basin, down to the southern parts claimed by the ancient kanemborno empire. the implication of the chadic relationship of mupun and the others in the group cannot be underestimated as it is fraternal hence, might share the same features. politically, with the creation of pankshin province in 1926, the mupun area became known first as a lankan village and about 1922 and later as a lankan district in 1934 according to danfulani and fwatshak (7). settlements were clan based. a household comprised a man, his wife/wives and children and their families. the household is called ngu lu while the clan head is called pup lu. the household is the smallest unit of political, social and judicial organization. the larger unit is the village head. most villages derived their names from geographical features around the community for instance the asa community drives from saak –stone traces on farms,asa is on a sloped terrain, which provides erosion control through terracing. abwor village derives from bwor, dust. jing village from jingred loamy soil.kagu from gu, cactus, which suggests the heavy use of cactus. in terms of world introduction storytelling is universal and is as ancient as humankind. before writing, there was storytelling. it occurs in every culture and at every age. it exists to entertain, inform, and to promulgate cultural traditions and values. oral storytelling is telling a story through voice and gestures. the oral tradition can take many forms, including epic poems, chants, rhymes, songs, and more. not all these stories are historically accurate or even true. they encompass myths, legends, fables, religion, prayers, proverbs, and instructions. the essence is to make people productive members of the community. this paper is interested in the age long tradition of the mupun people of plateau state, central nigeria. njingkook is a traditional moonlight storytelling performance activity shared among the mupunnatives based on a long age tradition and worldviews. it means folktale or storytelling, carried out after the day's activity is over. njingkook performance is central to the life of every mupun person as it marks the beginning of communal education, hence, the paper attempts to x-ray the process of teaching and learning in this traditional communal entertainment and education system. a brief culture-history of the mupun people according to miri about one thousand african people (nigeria the most populous black country in africa) with a population estimated at 120,000,000 can boast of 450 ethnic groups” among which are the mupun a minority tribe found in pankshin and mangu lga of plateau state (368). accordingly, oral tradition has it that, mupun as a term is composed of two phrases: mu, meaning “we” and “pun '' 'chase out of hiding. it is a term used by hunters when a game is chased out of its hiding place. a tradition of the mupun occupying the jiblik community has it that during their wars with the mwaghavul people, a neighboring ethnic group the later discovered the hiding place of the former -laying ambush, “mu 43 44 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state essential as a point of reference of an actor's actions in dramatic relationships. dialogue enables inquiry into, and understanding of, the sorts of processes that fragment and interfere with real communication between individuals, nations and even different parts of the same organization. dialogue is a communication tool that allows people to understand other viewpoints without pitting themselves against different perspectives. in dialogue, there is no defending of opinions, and no counterpoints. according to wagner, “hearts and minds too often close when we do not understand words and concepts or, understand them from a limited perspective, thus the imperative for dialogue” (14). plato (437 347 bc), introduced the systematic use of dialogue as an independent literary form. in his earliest experiment with the genre in the laches, he wrote on the platonic dialogue and postulated that dialogue had its foundations in the mime, which the sicilian poets sophron and epicharmus had cultivated half a century earlier. these works, admired and imitated by plato, have not survived, but scholars imagine them as little plays, usually presented with only two performers. today, this form of dialogue is used in classrooms, community centers, corporations, federal agencies, and other settings to enable people, usually in small groups, to share their perspectives and experiences about difficult issues. it is used to help people resolve long-standing conflicts and to build deeper understanding of contentious issues. dialogue is not about judging, weighing, or making decisions, but about understanding and learning. dialogue dispels stereotypes, builds trust, and enables people to be open to perspectives that are very different from their own. dialogue is, however, a delicate process. many obstacles inhibit dialogue and favour more confrontational communication forms such as discussions and debates. common obstacles including fear, the display or exercise of power, mistrust, external influences, distractions, and poor communication conditions can all prevent dialogue from emerging. view, the mupun world view is divided into two: a. yill-grummeaning human world inhabited by man, animals and plants. b. yill-njithe world of the ancestors consisting na'an (god) the kum institutions (embodiment of the deities), riin spirits and nji(the living dead). danfulani postulates that “the supreme deities, ancestors and spirits exist to assist the mupun man live a useful life on earth for the benefit of his clan, extended family, and for himself as an individual to aid him incarnate into the world of the living dead” (133) the kum institution in mupun worldview is second only to na'an who is the supreme being. the wills of the ancestors were sought for through paa meaning “divination” and yen meaning “medicines' ' the kum had both personal and clan deities. kum regulates and controls the socio-political, economic and cultural life of the mupun. god is approached directly only in times of crises which is beyond human remedy and that of the deities and ancestors. at the beginning of the cultivation season called the biyangmar or kop the chiefpriest performs the ritual to announce the farming season. crops in mupun land include: kas(millet) khisuk ( acha, or hungry rice), pa'at ( olive) shuwabulu ( maize) kwaklik ( local beans), kom ( groundnuts) and dangal ( sweet potatoes) however recently, other crops like rice, potatoes, and a variety of beans is grown. theoretical implication/insight dramatic dialogue (dd), is the speech of actors in drama as they interact, relate and engage one another in a story. it comes in the form of verbal words, signs, symbols and motifs which one actor passes to another and others in the course of the story. apart from the dramatic action which can be independent of dialogue and still be able to convey the intended message, dialogue is 45 46 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state performer: one day in the morning, daboo's mother sent him to pluck a garden egg in the farm and bring it to cook soup. he did as instruct by his mother but on his way back, he met an old man (dikaam). the old man deceived him and collected the garden egg and ate it all, this prompted daboo to start crying; eh eh eh eh eh. performer: why are you crying? (sang) daboo: (sang) am crying for my garden egg, the garden egg i plucked from my garden. but the dikam collected and ate all. performer: the old man had pity on daboo and gave him a piece of broken pot and then they departed with the old man. daboo walking a short distance, he used the broken pot to kill a bird. shortly after killing the bird, he met an old woman immediately. the old woman (ninkaam) saw daboo with a dead bird in his hand and she played a trick on him and collected the bird, roasted it and ate it all. daboo was troubled, no garden egg, no piece of broken pot and no bird. he then started crying and when the old woman realized that he was crying, she was cold and then asked him why he was crying. daboo (answered sang) i am crying for my bird, my bird. my bird that i killed with a piece of broken pot. an old woman collected and ate. an old woman collected my broken piece of pot. my broken piece of pot i collected from an old man. an old man collected my garden egg. my garden egg i plucked from my garden. the old man collected and ate. the brazilian educationalist, paulo freire (known for developing popular education), advanced dialogue as a type of pedagogy. he held that, “dialogue communication allowed students and teachers to learn from one another in an environment characterized by respect and equality. dialogue, is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world (8). a great advocate for oppressed peoples, freire was concerned with praxis action that is informed and linked to people's values. dialogue pedagogy was not only about deepening understanding; it was also about making positive changes in the world: to make it better. education through dialogue requires and generates trust rather than broadcast views of the teacher, policies, values and positions. in application, as characters dialogue in the performance space is also extended to the audience who are co-participants in the process hence, learning takes place as both the characters in the play carry the audience to the world of the story. for learning to take place the participant undergoes certain dramatic frames through which effective learning in njingkook theatre takes place, we will refer to the process as 'taxonomy of learning in action' borrowing from education and pedagogical studies. through dramatic dialogue indices such as: paradox, make-believe, liminality, improvisation, and domestication, we consider the performance below and try to connect our the sense in our theoretical insight and discourse njingkook as performed: title: tal kuul daboo (daboo and the garden egg) performer: my story, my story is about daboo (njingkook, njingkook fen ya daboo) response: say it, let it come and go ( saat mun duun fwa khi ni ji saet.) 47 48 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state the cow and cut it into pieces and gave it to their in-laws. daboo was troubled and started crying and he shouted and started groaning; eh eh eh eh eh. and those performing the rites asked him why are you crying daboo? daboo: am crying for my female cow. my female cow i collected from a shepherd. and those performing marriage rites collected and ate. the shepherd collected my stick. my stick that i collected from an old woman. the old woman collected my bird. my bird that i killed. i killed with a piece of broken pot. but an old woman collected and ate. piece of broken pot i collected from an old man. the old man collected my garden egg my garden egg i plucked from my garden. but an old man collected and ate. performer: the people performing the marriage rites were disturbed and so they gave daboo a flute. they taught him how to blow the flute and how to sing different kinds of songs using the flute. some of these people performing the marriage rites packed their belongings and followed daboo while he played the flute at the reception ground to his house daboo's house was far from where the wedding rites took place and it would possibly take him two rivers for him to pass before getting to his house. at the first river, there was a boy fetching water with no one to help him carry the pot of water on his head and so he shouted aloud and asks who is blowing the flute? come and help me carry my water. performer: when the old woman saw that it was beyond her power, she then gave her walking stick in place of the bird to daboo. so daboo collected the walking stick and went ahead and on his way going, he met herdsmen taking care of their flock and they were without sticks. the herdsmen deceived him and collected the stick from him. immediately, a thought came to him about the things he collected free of charge. no garden egg, no piece of broken pot, no bird and so all these things collected from him made him cry seriously. daboo: (cried bitterly); eh eh eh eh eh. performer: the shepherd now gave him a female cow in place of the stick and this was what he told them while crying: daboo: am crying for stick, my stick. my stick i collected from an old woman. the old woman collected my bird. my bird i killed. i killed with a piece of broken pot. but an old woman collected and ate. a piece of broken pot i collected from an old man. old man collected my garden egg. my garden egg i plucked from my garden. and an old man collected and ate. performer: after daboo left the shepherds, he went ahead and met a group of people gathering and performing marriage rites. the people were thinking of where they could get an animal to kill for the occasion but to no avail. as a result, they requested daboo to give them his female cow for them to use for the marriage rites. daboo gave it to them quietly and they slaughtered 49 50 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state they could not cross. as daboo arrived he met them pondering on what to do and the place was getting darker, and his friends tried all they could with the egg of bang let but it did not help them and so daboo told them that he had dove egg which he collected from the boy fetching water. he immediately carried the dove egg in his pocket and threw it inside the river and the river that was overflowing stopped immediately and then daboo took the lead. he continued blowing his flute and his friends put it in the middle as if he were a king and as they approached daboo's house, his relatives heard the flute and the songs and came out running to see the surprising thing approaching their house. the relatives of daboo came out of the house and saw somebody being surrounded in the middle and the person continued blowing the flute as he came closer and as he arrived in the front of the house then stopped blowing the flute. his relations lifted their eyes and realized it was daboo who left home for days and this brought them joy and they all joined daboo and his entourage in dancing. immediately, daboo's relations looked for an animal and slaughtered and cooked it and they also cooked plenty food for people to eat for the safe return of daboo and people came from different places to welcome daboo whom they thought was dead, the whole community continue to dance. come and help me carry water. and those with daboo answered saying. did you kill a female cow? come and carry water for what? they were in the front while daboo followed them behind and as daboo continued blowing his flute, all those who were in front went down to the river and then the boy who was fetching water gave them, he told them that they would find the river full of water and therefore they will help them to cross the river. therefore, they collected and walked straight to their houses. daboo continued blowing his flute and the boy fetching water from the river continued calling. boy: who are those blowing the flute? come and help me carry water! come and help me carry water. daboo answered saying: who is that who always stays in the river? who is that shouting? water for what? do men stay in the river? in time past, do men stay in the river with flute? be fast my boy. be fast my boy. the boy fetching water came closer to daboo and then daboo helped the boy to carry the pot of water on his head. the boy appreciated daboo for helping him and then gave him dove eggs which would help him cross the river if the water overflowed. those who were on the journey with daboo reached the river side and found out that the river overflowed to the brim, and 51 52 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state play is that it plays something” (96). even with playing a game or a sport, each requires not only a space specially marked off for play, but also confronts the players with certain tasks and risks. the freedom to play cannot be enjoyed without transforming the players' attitudes, purposes and behaviors to suit the tasks and risks involved in the game or sport. the ordering and shaping of play become a way of making 'something' come into being, this is what the french social theorist michel foucault called a “discursive formation” (38). the njingkook theatre therefore can be analyzed through these discursive frames as ways of creating kinds of knowledge concerning the reality of the community as a codified system of entertainment and education. discursive frame in this sense is when such performance is inhibited, manipulated or falsified, its purpose as a public forum for addressing and redressing people's problems, concerns and desires, being an experience that transforms the person experiencing the performance; “it turns out to be the thing, or better still, a structuring element in the process of communicating development” (chinyowa 21). as bretherton explains, the performance fulfills the need to gain say or unsay the world, to imagine and speak it otherwise, to build the milieu of social existence. what are these discursive frames of njingkook theatre? and how do these frames affect learning and development? constituting blocks of assessing quality assurance of njingkook as a tradition that entertains and educates. summarily the scheme looks like this: paradox adam and blatner point out that the aesthetic lies in being able to manipulate seemingly irreconcilable opposites, thereby creating a paradox, “a condition in which something is both real and not real at the same time” (11). by creating two contradictions the quest to unravel the web is heightened and passion helps in learning. citing o'connor in chenoa, he asserts that the gap between the performer self and the real self, between the fictional plate i shows the settings of njingkook theatre in performance. plate 1 shows a traditional setting of the performance, which is today referred to as classroom. a space for communal learning. in this space learning takes place without blackboard, marker or chalk but through dialogue. the dialogue is between characters in the story and between the storyteller and the audience. the language of the performance is mupun. with the picture above in mind, how can we account for the process of learning within the theatre of njingkook? with our theoretical underpinning as discussed above, we shall try to examine the discursive frames as mentioned above. discursive frames of njingkook by 'discursive frame' we mean the process by which discovery, recognition and understanding occur to the co-players or participants of a theatrical performance (chinyowa 19). gadamer noted, “it seems to me that the characteristic of human 53 54 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state collect from the character daboo till the end where the main character was welcomed with a dance to mark his kingship and generosity that the spectator begins to realize the paradox of the web. the story can be regarded as a 'truthful lie' because it is both real and imaginative. the duality is indeed a paradox that enhances a participant's drive to unravel the mystery of the web thereby encouraging active and participatory learning. make-believe closely related to paradox in the cognitive domain is make-believe. we earlier identified that knowledge and comprehension shall constitute the building within the frame of paradox because one is placed within the space 'known and the unknown' however in 'make-believe' is when the situation presented carries the 'subjunctive 'as if' or 'what if' it therefore reaches a stage of trying an 'application' the spectator will like to apply experiences in the world of the story to his/her existing situation hence the spectator begins to create the make-believe signs by attempting to apply the contradictions in the first stage. human beings constantly manufacture mental variants on the situations they face in life. either consciously or unconsciously, they manufacture their subjunctive 'as if' or 'what if' worlds to represent potential sources of insight into how they can organize and categorize their perceptions of the world. steinsholt and trandahl find a close link between paradox and make-believe. both involve slipping outside of ordinary reality and being in the power of play (201). the players turn their attention onto something other than themselves. they distance themselves in order to find themselves again. in other words, make-believe, like paradox, also requires that participants allow themselves to be played by the play. if their suspension of disbelief is total, they may ultimately attain the state of 'make-belief'. from a discursive point of view, therefore, it is the 'make-belief' and the real contexts, “resides the endless opportunities for reflection about who and what we are as human beings” (43). the fictional context allows reality to be suspended, yet stays very, very close as the power of the performance resonates between the two contexts. thus, the performance has a discursive significance that resonates beyond the frames in which it operates. the simultaneous existence of two disparate modes of existence enables learning to take place as play transforms lived experience during the paradoxical framing process. in the performance as discussed above, through the instruments of dramatic dialogue first, between the performer and the audience, and between characters in a fictional world. the audience are in the real or physical space, the performer calls the shot of a 'fictional reality' when he says: performer: my story, my story is about daboo (njingkook, njinkook fen ya daboo) response: say it, let it come and go ( saat mun duun fwa khi ni ji saet.) the call and response open up the line for the discourse about dramatic dialogue, however, the paradox in the same lines suggests that the spectators know that is a lie –”(saat mun duun fwa khi ni ji saet” translated as (say it so your lies can come and go..). fundamentally, the performer takes the audience to the world of the story, that is a “fictional reality”. the aesthetics of appreciation at this level is simply and squarely a revelation of the unknown, the passion to want to explore the two worlds. at this stage of paradox, the audience is carried from the simple stage which constitutes knowledge and comprehension of the fictional reality placed before him/her. the prerequisite for understanding seems to lie in giving the self over to the 'happening' but without losing it completely. in performing the story as performed above, one is caught up in the world of daboo, the main character. the spectator wonders why the community in the story continues to 55 56 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state to think, act and feel as if they are something else. winnicott describes it as “the intermediate area of experiencing” where inner reality and external reality merge (103).liminality is the transportation into the world of the characters, it can also be considered as occupying the transformational phase in the njingkook theatre experience in fact at this stage there is a relative permanent change that begins to take the conduct of the participants. the characters in the world of the stories speak to the consciousness of the participant who is caught in the world of the make-believe driven by the paradox, the participant in the line of this theatre experience begins to imitate. imitation having been transported to the world of the characters in the story, the active participant begins to recreate events by imitation, in fact, in many african cultures, for instance, children do not simply imitate roles of 'mother' and 'father', but they emulate what they have recognized with a view to recreate because of previous experiences. within the mupun communities, children imitate characters, especially the good one by way of reenactment of the stories, sometimes they share experiences of the characters to avert such a repetition. aristotle called it "mimesis", which is not just an act of copying or reproducing, but a potent source of transformation which is the goal of education. hence imitation, in aristotelian terms, is capable of reproducing, in the sense of bringing forth something that is more than the original. through emulation as one of the transforming elements in imitation, new patterns and structures are created from previous experiences. the playing child pretends or acts out something that has become familiar. by creating new patterns based on emulation, children will transfer the same patterns to other contexts. in the process, they are socialized into the adult world in a more dimension of 'make-believe' that sets the latter apart from other forms of fictional representation. boal calls it “image of reality” and “reality of the image” the fantastic world of make-believe therefore occupies an indeterminate world that is neither entirely 'real', nor entirely 'unreal'. thus, fantasy or make-believe plays with the ambiguities of ordinary reality to reveal that which cannot be but is. it reveals what a people can be by extending the limits of their epistemological and ontological frames of reference. as a discursive frame, therefore, make-believe enables the participants to transcend the ordinary world as they enter the world of 'make-belief'. with reference to the daboo's story above, the participants at a time takes in to the image of the world of the story which is paradoxical because of the contradictions which the spectator tries uncover, reflecting the imaginary world of the story, the participant when fix into the world of the characters in the story creates a make-believe reality around the performance that will take both character and the spectator into a mutual understanding of the codes, as the spectator becomes comfortable and appreciates the contradicting codes in the stages preceding makebelieve and takes the spectator to the liminal stage liminality the idea of being derived from limen meaning threshold or margin, a term coined by the belgian anthropologist van gennep (1960). liminality refers to the intervening phase of transition in tribal rites of passage. the limen phase involves moving from a previous socio-cultural state to a new condition which has few of the attributes of the preceding state of being. liminality has close links with flow as discursive frames of play. both are ways of experiencing play, with flow being the means by which liminality and, by extension, transformation come to be realized. storytelling enables participants to go through the transitional phase of making meaning through play, and ultimately 57 58 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state the existing body of knowledge. the improvisation stage comes at the end of the performance when the spectator understands and begins to share the same values in different narrative patterns. domestication what is learning if the character and personality of the student will not be affected? at what point do we measure how much is learned? ultimately, the aim of every story is to pass a message to the audience who collectively are expected to witness a relative permanent change in self and community. hence the point of doing the lessons in the performance becomes domestication. domestication therefore sees man as a storytelling animal. that means i can only answer the question 'what am i to do' if i can answer the question of what story or stories, i find myself a part of. njingkooktheatre creates a construct communal alternative to existential reality and educate the community by preserving existing cultural values and tradition that will enhance a peaceful and a progressive community. education here is local, because the mandate is to develop the human resource that will further enhance the development of the community and the sustenance of its value system, hence, while the performance tapped from the peoples cultural resources, the stage we refer to as the domestication is when the spectators now becomes what the society expected them to be, good farmers, warriors, husbands, wives, religious (doing good) and also producing children in that pattern. at the level of domestication, participants have already developed skills for adaptation and eventual change. they will accept their situation without much critical reflection. they may gradually become integrated into the dominant system under the rhetoric of local participation which takes this process: meaningful way. thus, children develop their perceptions, values and identities through emulating others or things in their world. imitation also leads to new knowledge through the function of recognition. for instance, putting on a costume is a form of disguise which requires the recognition not of the costume itself, but of something else beyond the costume. the costume may make the pleasant appear unpleasant, or the ugly appear beautiful, but the idea lies in knowing what it is that should be recognized in the imitation. imitation is not merely a second version, but a recognition in the sense that something else has been revealed. at the level of imitation, participants begin to witness a strong desire to re-create and take a change in character. improvisation as participants imitate, they advance to additional creativity by improvising. this marks the stage of additional creativity and value addition on the part of the participant who does not only try to imitate but adds to the existing body of knowledge. by observation, participants of the njingkook try to recreate or narrate stories with a creative approach thereby adding value to the existing body of knowledge. this is a psychomotor phase where knowledge acquired is applied. the nature of improvisation as a discursive play frame may be observed in its role as a form of reflection-in-action, taking spontaneous actions that incorporate new items that allows for dynamic patterns in telling stories “a formal dialogue of past and present” (hutcheon25). never settles but always renews itself, this selfrenewing quality appears to be a consequence of the spontaneity that enables the play to sustain itself. through improvisation different versions of stories emerge as a result of selection and diselection. the degree of creativity is measured in the ability of the performer to capture the codes of the moment. the researcher observed that when two performers perform the same story, their rendition is never the same at this point, the spectator adds value to 59 60 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state community. however, contemporary education system have failed to recognized the place of folk education especially with the theatre and traditional performance and play system, with the fast adopted western approach, educational policies in nigeria seems to negate this age long tradition hence, many graduates can boast to understand the entire western world but many will fail in the understanding of their immediate african community or value system. works cited blatner, a. & blatner, a. the art of play: helping adults reclaim imagination and spontaneity. brunner mazel publishers. 1997. boal, augusto. theatre for the oppressed, translated by charles a. & maria-odilia context. leisure press. 1981. chinyowa, k. c. the undying presence: orality in contemporary shona religious ritual. in r. h. kaschula (ed.). african oral literature: functions in contemporary contexts. new africa books. 2001. csikszentmihalyi, m. some paradoxes in the definition of play. in a.t. cheska (ed.). play as context. leisure press. 1981. danfulani.u.h.d &fwatshak sati. celebrating njinkook: studies in the history and culture of the mupun of the jos plateau in nigeria. lynx communications, 2012. drewal, m. t. yoruba ritual: performers, play and agency. indiana university press. 1992. foucault, michael. the archaeology of knowledge. tavistock 1972. freire, paulo. cultural action for freedom. harvard university press. 1970. freire, paulo. pedagogy in process. seabury press inc., 1978. gadamer, h. g..truth and method. the seabury press. 1975. the above model suggests the process that one undergoes as part of the learning process in njingkook theatre. it also summarizes the taxonomy of active participation within the framework of learning in the mupun njingkook theatre. to this end, appreciating the process of learning in the mupunnjingkook tradition experience is anchored on an all-round development, which includes the ability to engage in productive enterprise like community farming ( wuuk), community hunting (gwat) and internalization of roles through constant imitation and mentoring. the njingkook theatre therefore preserves the morals, philosophy, epistemology and aesthetics of the community, usually coded and transmitted orally from generation to generation. through the theatre, history is also preserved, collective struggle is encouraged, and a people's belief is preached and passed to the young. this is what the researcher would like to refer to as folk theatre –in –education. modern education policies in nigeria have failed to recognize the traditional knowledge system and a whole civilization is at the threshold of going extinct in this regard. a reassessment of traditional performance forms should be documented as a part of the education curriculum of local communities especially at the early primary school level. conclusion the paper chronicled the discursive frames within a folk theatre in education, using the mupun njingkook theatre experience. the paper identifies paradox, make-believe, liminal, imitation, improvisation and domestication as the discursive frames for teaching and learning within the space of entertainment and education which occurs in the njingkook theatre experience. the performer who tells stories orally, stands as the community teacher and scholar, he/ she takes the medium of his art to transmit and sustain the value system, philosophy and educating the 61 62 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dakwom makpring longgul :njingkook: a corollary of tradition, entertainment and education among themupun people of plateau state hutcheon, l.a poetics of postmodern history, theory and fiction.routledge. leal, mcbride. theatre communications group, 1985. mbiti, john. african religion and philosophy.heinemann:1969. miri, angela.“ mernyang women satirists in se-chan per formance” in afr ican women drama and performance(ed) salami agunloye irene ibadan evergreen books,2011. steinsholt, k. & traasdahl, e.the concept of play in hans-georg gadamer's hermeneutics: an educational approach. in s. riefel (ed.). theory in context and out: play and culture studies, ablex publishing. 2001. van, gennep.the rites of passage. routledge and kegan paul. 1960. wagner, david. definitions for multicultural dialogue. new dynamics york: paj publications, 1982. 63 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 page 21 page 22 page 23 page 24 page 25 page 26 page 27 page 28 page 29 page 30 page 31 page 32 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr 125 126 brutally, psychologically and physically. in wounding words, hayate who is a radical metaphor of freedom in the conservative tunisian society transcends religious barriers to fight for and demand the liberation of women who were working under indecorous conditions in textile factories. in her activist consciousness, she defends a female victim who does not feel the pain of losing her husband to adultery and promiscuity. in both texts, the writers create awareness of the damaging effects of oppressive patriarchy on the wellbeing of women. they call for an attitudinal change that is gender friendly and guarantees the fundamental human rights of women which are assured in the law. keywords: dehumanisation, protest, violations, law, liberation introduction during the age of enlightenment in europe, between 1715 and 1789 precisely, an intellectual movement sprang up emphasizing reason, individualism, scepticism and science. the period also signified the time women began to stand up for their rights and benefits in the society. they began to assert that all persons were born equal and there should not be any discrimination based on gender. the enlightenment age was a period of female consciousness. it was a time when women began to write to air their views. they wrote to express their dissatisfaction with the plights of women in many european societies. female writers who engage in such quests for liberation are called feminists. in other words, a feminist is someone who supports the idea that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men – someone who believes that the fundamental human rights of women should be respected. charles nnolim, in his feminism in african literature views “feminism as a movement and ideology that urges in simple terms, the recognition of the claims of women for equal rights with men in legal, political, economic, social and marital patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad's wounding words and neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantu dele maxwell ugwanyi department of english and literary studies, enugu state university of science and technology enugu, nigeria & ethel ngozi okeke department of english and literary studies, enugu state university of science and technology enugu, nigeria & gabriel kosiso okonkwo department of english, chrisland university, abeokuta abstract feminist writers protest against dehumanisation, political enslavement, and social oppression which are violations of fundamental human rights guaranteed by the law. existing feminist literatures of african focus privilege a utilitarian and collaborative approach to the plights of women in africa. using evelyne accad's wounding words and neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantu, this study interrogates patriarchal subjugation immanent in african cultural spaces. andrea dworkin's radical feminism is employed to account for the characters' radical actions that are geared towards a holistic liberation of the woman from the shackles of oppressive patriarchy. in the purple violet of oshaantu,kauna's refusal to mourn her late abusive husband marks the height of radical protest of gender discrimination and oppression. not even the conspicuousness of the fruits of her marriage to the late husband was enough to persuade her. she is abused by the late husband, dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 127 128 the fundamental belief behind feminist theory is that from the beginning of human civilization, women have been given a secondary status by masculine dominated social discourse and western philosophical tradition. the history of every civilization shows that women have always been subordinated to a position where they have no means to re-claim their unique identity unless and until they re-visit the history, explore it and finally re-establish it through their own experiences and insights (3373). it is worthwhile to note that the term “feminism” was not there originally. it emerged much later to be used to describe women who come together to examine the prevailing societal ideas about women, assert women's roles in the society, discuss how women are being treated by fathers, husbands, boyfriends and brothers, and seek a shift from the norm. feminist writers, therefore, began to protest against dehumanisation, political enslavement, discrimination, imbalances and social oppression. they began to demand equal rights for both male and female genders. this began to raise serious questions about cultural orientations and traditional stereotypes that had created gender imbalances. margaret waltersaffirms that sense of individuality which is often mistaken for misandrism. she argues, “i only know that people call me a feminist whenever i express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute”(1). another factor that prompted women into writing was the belief that men were not in the right position to write exhaustively on the life of women; and even when they do, they cannot or may not write effectively on the subject. take the issue of barrenness: the major problem that a woman faces in the world especially in africa is the pain of not being able to bring forth a child from her situation''(135). for modupe marykolawole: feminismis a rejection of inferiority and a striving for recognition; it seeks to give a woman a sense of self as a worthy, effectual, and contributing human being. it is a reaction against such negative stereotypes that are targeted at women” (29). she further points out that feminism is based on the theory of individuality, recognition of the personhood of women and equal opportunity for development (37). from its etymology, “femina” (meaning female), feminism conveys the ideology of womanhood – that is, any organized social or political philosophy about women. does the world or the different societies of the world have a concept of womanhood? is there a body of ideas about the female gender? the word, “feminism” entered the oxford english dictionary in 1894, long after the intellectual movement of the enlightenment era as mentioned earlier, but ever before then, there had been an ideology of women in the western world as well as in other societies of the world. according to r. bossan, feminism is, “a socio-political awareness that stirs up in women the agitation for equality in all forms of rights and privileges between sexes” (230). bossan believes that feminism embodies the idea that it is necessary to struggle against the oppression of women on the social, economic and ideological planes. the struggle comes in various forms and with different objectives, which is why goring, hawthorn and mitchel describe feminism as “a broad church, one within which many different emphases and persuasions … can be found.” thus, as an ideology of women's emancipation, feminism has enough rooms to accommodate the various types of feminisms.according to javeed ahmad raina: dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 129 130 “exposing the sexist tragedy of women's history, protesting the ongoing degradation of women, celebrating their physical and intellectual capabilities, and above all, unfolding a revolutionary vision of role” (16). it is left to the creative writers, male and female alike, to explore this new awareness, this new image of women's sensibilities, possibilities and realities and produce works which the modern african woman can relate to. with the affordance of evelyne accad's wounding words and neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantu, this study, therefore, interrogates patriarchal subjugation and objectification of women as immanent in african cultural spaces. it also gives reasons why oppressed women often react to subjugation in extreme ways. finally, it creates awareness about the plights of oppressed women and discourages such oppressive tendencies streaming down from patriarchal structures so as to encourage a harmonious co-existence between men and women in the society. andrea rita dworkin's feminism andrea rita dworkin, a radical feminist author, speaker, and activist, is best known for her scathing criticism of pornography and prostitution and for being vocal in condemning oppressive tendencies of patriarchal institutions and cultures. in her 1983 speech entitled “i want a 24-hourtruce in which there is no rape”, she is acclaimed to have declared thus: “the power exercised by men, day to day, in life is power that is institutionalised. it is protected by law. it is protected by religion and religious practice…” (1). in a nutshell, dworkin's writings are purposed to assert the universality of oppressive patriarchy and decry the injustices in institutionalized and normalized sex-based harm against women. this paper is therefore mainly anchored on her viewpoints. for instance, she sees pornography as an oppressive practice which enables suppressive men to possess women as objects and commodities. her radical views are womb, a feat that no man can perform. the pain is great if she is denied this function and this is why the theme of barrenness is explored by many african writers, particularly the female ones. a wife is more often betrayed and abandoned by her husband if she does not have a child. therefore, the desire to be pregnant, to procreate is an overpowering one in the life of a woman. she is ready to do anything to have a child, single or married. to the women writers, it is practically impossible for men to adequately capture, refract and reflect women's conditions in their writings. women writers believe that it is only the person who wears the shoes that knows where it pinches the most. they believe that no man can adequately write on the feelings of a barren woman, a prostitute, a divorced woman, a widow or a pregnant woman. it is only a woman that can express these feelings through writing. although a few male writers have written on feminist issues, they have often done so to portray how women are politically enslaved in a particular society but have failed to capture the inner feelings of women. women have, therefore, enriched the existing knowledge base by writing about their own experiences within the african context. it is deducible from flora nwapa's works that a woman's role in africa is crucial for the survival and progress of the race. this is of course true of all women across the globe, be they black or white. in most of her works, nwapa tries to project a more balanced image of african womanhood. recent changes in nigeria from the civil war era, economic changes, and an emphasis on the education of women, have affected men's views about women. women have started to redefine themselves; they have started projecting themselves as they feel they should be projected.more than anything else, nwapagives examples of the crucial roles igbo women play in their traditional communities. the african female creative writers arevery much alive in africa today and occupy an important place, breaking new grounds by dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 131 132 reality of the choices open to kauna and the path that she takes to understand and deal with her predicament. africa is replete with stories of marital abuse which often have men as preys and women as victims. mee ali is married with four children and enjoys her marriage because she married a man who loves and adores her. for her, marriage should be enjoyed and not endured and it is not worth staying with an unfaithful husband. she fears for her friend and does all that she can to bring attention to her friend's plight.meekauna is also married with five children and her marriage is not a happy one because her husband in addition to beating her every now and then also cheats on her without trying to hide it. she sees marriage as something that should be endured and even though she no longer loves her husband, she has chosen to stay with him. marriage in the traditional sense is the union of a man and woman that is based on mutual consent and love. when love and consent suffer inequality in marriage, violence becomes the order of the day. the third woman, mee maita, who attends church with ali and kauna, believes that whatever joy that is to be derived from marriage is in the first few years. after that, the honeymoon is over and a woman should accept whatever comes her way. mee ali and meekauna are best friends. in their friendship, kauna finds respite from most of her marital problem. mee ali and her husband, tate michael help in saving kauna from many a fight with her husband, tate shange.other women, notably kauna's aunt, speak for kauna but the reality is that kauna's options are few. as a married woman, she cannot go back to her parents' house. kauna's aunt tells her that the ball is in her court and she can decide whatever it is that seems best to her. her mother's advice to her is to appreciate the man that god has given her. with time and prayer, shange will change. she has little sympathy for her daughter, believing that privileged in this study because they reflect on domestic imperatives and marital sexuality. the central concern in dworkin's work is re-evaluating the culture and politics of the male gender against the female. she does this by creating a prism of men's sexual violence against women in a patriarchal context. her concept of radical feminism is evident in her examination of subjects historically written or described from men's perspective. she goes further to theorise the sexual politics of intelligence, fear, courage, and integrity and weave it around presumed biological superiority (dworkin: 1987, 127-128). she, indeed, submits that male supremacist political and cultural ideology is made manifest in rape, battery, prostitution and pornography (dworkin: 1976:25). consequently, the authors foregrounded in this study create male characters who violently abuse the dignity of women within the marital space, and immediately evoke a condemnation of sexual violence against women. in neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantu, kauna suffers physical, psychological and sexual abuses in the hands of her late husband. she loses her pregnancies due to constant beatings. similarly, in evelyn accad's wounding words, hayate becomes an advocate in a largely conservative society defending oppressed and abused women. the nuptial entrapment in the purple violet of oshaantu thepurple violet of oshaantu is set in a village in northern namibia. it reflects on a number of issues – marriage and widowhood, economic status of women, reproduction rights, domestic violence, religion, and (dis)inheritance rights – to critique an oppressive patriarchal system. in this novel, the author exploresthe different views on marriage held by various women. this is a story about a young woman called kauna. kauna's story is narrated by her older friend mee ali, who unlike kauna enjoys a good marriage. kauna's husband is abusive. the novel is about the dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 133 134 to her dead husband. instead, she is vocal about her suffering in the marriage: “well, i'm sorry you all feel uncomfortable about my behaviour, but i cannot pretend. i cannot lie to myself and everybody else in this village”(34).kauna realises her victimhood and the need to fight for emancipation. it is quite ironical that a wife loses her husband and all she feels is resentment instead of a solemn feeling of loss. kauna's attitude is realistic because human beings naturally respond to the effects of actions. while positive actions are likely to get positive responses, negative actions get negative responses. her husband gave her doses of negative actions while alive and she will not pretend to respond with positive actions in his death. in fact, she relishes the wind of freedom she feels. she goes further to say, “...all know how i was treated in my marriage. why should i cry? for what? for my broken ribs? for my baby, the one he killed inside me while beating me? for what'' (53)? this is a very radical break from the required traditional demeanour that would have her pretend or show some squeamishness even contrary to her true emotions. it is at this point of rebellion to the existing order and self-assertion that she begins for the first time to imagine herself as an individual, and not as a woman in relation to a man. this and a combination of other things make shange's family angry withkauna, especially when she tells them that she doesn't know anything about shange's money. they suspect that she is keeping the money for herself. after the funeral rites, they ask kauna and her children to leave the house. kauna goes almost too willingly because she is ready to live a life, ready to start afresh as a free woman. kauna's refusal to mourn her husband among other acts of defiance shows that she has, finally, got a bit of her self-worth back. this is a radical protest which signals psychological freedom from oppression. shenge's family's attitude to kauna's pains says something critical about the whatever has happened to kauna is her own fault and she should not bring shame to their family by leaving shange. this is essentially the goal of oppressive patriarchy, to perpetually keep women subjugated. in her mother's thinking, a good wife must stay to make her marriage work irrespective of the kind of circumstances surrounding such a marriage. this is what women in many cultures of the world are trained to imbibe religiously. they are made to believe that choosing to leave the marriage to protect themselves from harm is akin to disgrace. hence, many women have had to suffer in their marriages until such marriages take their lives.dworkin's feminism challenges depraved structures that oppress women and dent their dignity. it is quite ironical that a woman is urging a fellow woman to continue enduring victimisation. on the surface, one might see culpability in kauna's mother's advice but the fact is that she is only responding to the culture of subservience that she has learnt. oppressive patriarchy uses control to subjugate women. the oppressive system makes a male-inclined system that is called culture and uses it to stifle the voice of women. they create gender identities and roles to shortchange women.the village community and the church are both unsympathetic. but there is an acknowledgement of kauna's suffering when almost all the village women,including children, join hands in preparing kauna's large farm land for the planting season. they all sing different songs of victory,friendship, sorrow and love. when shange dies all of a sudden, accusing fingers are pointed atkauna, especially since she does not cry or show any sign of bereavement. she only keeps telling everybody that shange just came home and did not touch the food she had prepared. mee ali does not like the fact that kauna does not mourn the death of her husband and when she tries to reason with her, kauna retorts that she has no interest in pretending she misses her husband. kauna does not cry and refuses to speak a word of tribute dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 135 136 community to perceive herself as a victim in her marital relationship. she is rather expected to accept her experience as something normal within the marriage institution. there are, at any rate, several female characters whose voices, friendship, and support remind kauna of her worth and also provide respite, however brief, from her situation. the latter help her to regain her dignity and humanity. she soon realises that she is a being with right to personal thoughts and perception, a being with intentional capacity to reason and make good and bad decisions which she and she alone should be responsible for. kauna regains her freedom. on the other hand, the vicious attitudes of the enablers of the patriarchal cultures infringe on her right to personal dignity guaranteed by the natural law and that of the united nations. there are many vulnerable women in kauna's shoes in many parts of the world. many of them find it difficult to find and assert their voices for the fear of being labeled disrespectful women. many thanks to the different waves of the feminist movements which have consistently helped women to speak out on different cultural issues affecting them as a social group. they have over the years won the right to vote and be voted for in many progressive climes – even though this right is slowly being enforced. they have also won the battleon segregation in the corporate and academic worlds, social organisations, to mention but a few. however, the road to the paradise of gender equality is many miles away. the awareness created by movements like the me-too has also helped tremendously in foregrounding the plights of women in many strata of the society. kauna's experiences constitute a definition of women in many oppressive cultures of the world. womanhood as solace inevelyne accad'swounding words the novel is a clear autobiographical exploration of women's concerns in the contemporary tunisia. evelyne accad is a feminist writer born in beirut. as a lebanese-american with arab root, evelyne's perception of her ancestral society and the oppressive patriarchal culture in many parts of the world especially africa which sees culpability only in the woman in every instance of nuptial hitch. even when it is clear that a woman has done her very best to make her marriage work, the hegemonic culture has a funny way of shifting blames to her. kauna is not ready to continue living with the identity of servitude. she has been pushed to the wall and she is now turning to fight back. she is grateful to her friend, mee ali, who has stood solidly by her during her stay with shange. thus, psychologically liberated, kauna confesses how she has desired and always wished she were married to tate michael, mee ali's husband. aside from the fact that tate michael is very loving and caring, she feels that she deserves the best of all men. she feels that she is supposed to have married a good man as a reward for keeping her virginity till marriage. but the reverse has just been the case with her. she is at last able to express her frustration at respecting a sexuality code that fails to compensate her with an equally chaste, kind, and caring husband. this is one instance of inequality in codes of many patriarchal cultures. what favours a man will be coined not to favour a woman. while it is cultural and normal for kauna to keep her virginity, the idea of chastity is not even conceived for a man let alone being ethically enforced. the concept of virginity is only defined in relation to a woman's conducts. that is inequality of human dignity. although mee ali is very angry at kauna's open interest in her husband,she later pardons her in the understanding that her friend's misery is a factor of socially approved sexual conduct for the males that robs women of kindness at home from their husbands. mee ali only happens to have been fortunate with her own husband, tate michael, otherwise she would have been in the same unfortunate state as kaunaherself. one would indeed conclude that the power exercised by men against women in the fictive world of the novel is so firmly entrenched that at no point in the narrative is kauna allowed by the dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 137 138 their experiences. hayate mobilises an army of aggrieved women who are ready to take back their humanity and dignity forcefully taken away by hegemonic patriarchal cultures. nayla symbolizes the voice of many women which has for long been stifled by oppressive cultures. the tunisian society of the novel is not open to progressive changes and ideas which favour the progress of women. hence, just like the biblical jews who for many years hoped for the coming of a saviour who would liberate them from the claws of the roman empire, the women in this fictive tunisian society eagerly anticipate the coming of saviours like nayla and hayate. their bondage in the patriarchal culture of the novel kills the poise in them and hayate is not happy about the reality. she and her friends functionally become the messiahs the vulnerable women in tunisia have long been waiting for. the most pressing concern is finance; where can they obtain the fund to begin? they decide to refuse all help from institutions or individuals to whom they would be accountable. they do not want to see themselves limited in what they have to say by economic pressure, however friendly. they decide to contribute, even at the cost of enormous sacrifice. for some of them, fifty dinars is more than a quarter of their monthly salary. even so, they give it whole-heartedly.they organise themselves into committees assigned to cover different experiences with men and how their society treats them badly. it is important the goal of a project is understood and carefully understudied from the beginning. the women who are constituting themselves into change agents understand clearly what they want to achieve with their project. hence, the need to shut all opposing or would-be opposing doors. shutting such doors will allow them to focus on the crux of the project which is to liberate tunisian women from the shackles of patriarchal culture. on the willpower that enables a revolution of this nature, hayate motivates aida, “the sea has a power to renew that always surprises me. i chose to live here for world view therein is represented in the idiosyncrasies of her main character, hayate. she is certainly not given to inequality and oppressive tendencies hence, her firm position as portrayed in the character of hayate. being the protagonist, hayate's feminist ideals are put to the test during her stay in tunisia. her friends face the choice of leaving the arab country to live where women can find more freedom, or stay to work for a better society. the women in accad's novel fight against male oppression. the protagonist is a lebanese feminist who spends a year on a research grant from an american university, meeting up with tunisian feminists. the story opens withhayate's visit tonayla. nayla's wall was covered with posters and photos, calling for the liberation of the oppressed. she seems very excited at the sight of hayate. she pleads with hayate to help her prepare an article on women textile workers in the area, whose working conditions are inhumane. she says, “they have to be talked about, even if it's dangerous. if we don't have the courage to reveal injustice, who will? people are so apathetic” (112). hayate responds positively and agrees to help her. hayate is a messianic figure for the oppressed women in the arab nation. nayla cannot hide her joy in sighting hayate. they forge friendship with other women like-minds and discuss ways of bettering the lots of women in the regimented cultural space. they hold their first meeting, where one of them, a psychiatrist, explains an article which establishes the link between sexuality and identity. the article's ideas contradict her sexual life and her professional life. the other women take the floor; they express their uneasiness and difficulties, the sexual problem they have encountered and what these may signify for the tunisian society. they plan to create a publication for women, a magazine in which they would finally be able to express what torments them. in this way, they could make their voices heard, unveil and reveal society's ills. through hayate's experience and resolve, accad opens an uncomfortable conversation on the rights of women and dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 139 140 she realises that their conditions of living suggest that they are seen as “mere objects” who have nothing else to offer except the “forbidden city”. the sexualisation of women in tunisia reeks of the parochial mentality slavish cultures have about women. accad protests thisideation of the woman. redefining the sexuality of women will in the words of hayate mean that her army of women's activists will have “scars in their words, open wounds in their hearts, tears in their writing, cries in their tears…light a thousand fires of rebellion and hope” (17). their fight requires perseverance and consistency. dworkin's feminism corroborates the fact that patriarchal ideology drives on the wheels of rape, battery, prostitution and pornography – the sexualisation and objectification of women. aida never likes doing household chores. she values her job a lot. her husband befriends her girlfriend for a very long time without her knowledge. at a point her husband announces that he is going to live with her friend. she allows him go, and in a way, it was a relief. they don't get along on a physical level, nor on emotional or psychological level. they divorce and she gets through the trial with the help of the women's group which is being formed. all the women have similar experience which takes little effects on their private lives. fortunately, there is a group association where they could talk about their odd experiences and try to overcome the suffering.halima tells of her life story, the death of her husband, and her conflicting feeling of liberation as well as guilt.each of them speaks of how they came to feminism. zahra takes the floor first. to her,feminism is a personal and political response to her situation and relationship with power. for a long time, she has refused to go out with a militant. living the life of a militant feminist would mean not refusing all of her family's pressure regarding marriage. feminism helps her to establish her identity and to be independent. the latter, of course, are the hallmark of feminism. it helps women to de-objectify just that reason, even though for a woman alone, staying in such an isolated house by the sea is risky.”(2) an isolated space is indeed not ideal for a revolution that is intended to overthrow a tyrant. hayate encourages her army to build safe zones from where they will launch out. the propelling force for the movement of emancipation as far as hayate is concerned is urgent and critical. she outlines the plights of women in the arab society, “women singing through the darkness of their time, women crying out so that others may hear the call, women writing to denounce fear, cowardice, and injustice…” (7) the stifling culture of oppression creates the thick cloud of darkness, the loud cries and flowing ocean of tears, and the fear and cowardice which all come together to deny women of their dignity in the novel. the oppressive culture contravenes their basic human rights. hayate's diary is detailed in narrating the experiences of women in the tunisian society. as a tourist to tunis, she is careful to observe and see the conditions of living of women in the city. she marshals her observations: the damp dust of your walls clings to the skin like the insistent eyes of your men on women's bodies and faces violent glances which incite revolt cries of rage, a call to action, a walk in the forbidden city a table in barred restaurants… solidarity of women approaching spaces closed to them… the story of these women silent and strong daring to challenge. women have become 'mere objects' for the fascination of men (7). dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 141 142 longer feels marginalised and alone, she becomes comfortable. the club therefore becomes a symbol of freedom for the women who seriously feel caged and oppressed. they see it as a platform for expressing themselves and cooling off. the oppressing tunisian culture is choking. they all in one voice acclaim, “we won't allow repression to become established” (14). control is used effectively by the hegemonic culture to make women subservient. their feeling of insecurity makes them brandish control as a tool of oppression.according to the female psychiatrist, “the arab male is afraid of the female orgasm…afraid she will be unfaithful to him. in a relationship, the man's stakes are higher than the woman's…men are therefore very afraid, for in losing their sexual identity, they can lose everything” (16). the sexual control they usually have over women against their consent is one tool they will never want to lose. to dalale, religion prevents her from moving forward. but when a woman drags her to the club, she begins to blossom. after god, it is the club. at the club, samia talks about her research on the image of women in the society; she gets people from different areas to speak to her. she speaks to one woman who narrates how she has refused to have intercourse with her husband for the last seven years because he refuses to give her money to feed the children. the activities of the activist women create awareness of the need for total emancipation for the woman in tunisia. the novel is basically a journal of meetings and ideas dotted with numerous accounts of women reworking their society. it is less a novel, more of an exploration of the complex issues that confront mainly middle-class, arab feminists. it becomes an avenue for narrating tales of women's struggles in the societies and against conditions that threaten their well-being. themselves and assume an identity of independence and responsibility. if women are independent of men, it is not equal to insubordination. it simply means that they can relate better with men and be more useful to them. in fact, it is vice versa. men's independence should also enable same amiable relationship. it is equally interesting to know that oppressive cultures use religion as a contrivance of hegemony. the women are surprised to realise in their first meeting that religion which should ordinarily protect the interests of women who are vulnerable is used effectively to oppress them.samia narrates the experience of a group of women who protests the many injustices against women in monastir. they were “silenced with a reminder that the koran had proclaimed that nothing good could come from a woman leader, that women are too emotional , do not have the intellectual capacity of men…” (14) this is nothing but circumscription of inferiority to women. while patriarchal norms of cultural leaning oppress women, religious doctrines equally canonised by men do further harm to them. kevin harrison and tony boyd corroborate that, “feminism…attempts to analyse the social position of women, explain their apparent subsidiary role in history and offer the basis for reform and the advancement of women in all areas of society” (296). patriarchal cultures leave nothing but subsidiary roles for women. samia speaks of how women are oppressed. she learns of how girls who are not virgins are killed in her small village. her father beats her mother. later on, she learns of her mother's trials and resolves that she will not live like her. she decides not to get married. she wants to study. some of her illiterate cousins die under the blows of their husbands, and she says that she will never accept that fate. at age twenty two, she does the opposite of what she says, gets married but later divorces her husband. she goes back to continue her studies. when she discovers the club and no dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 143 144 bossan, rita. “feminist tendencies in chimamanda ngozi adichie's purple hibiscus”in gender and power in contemporary africa: essays in honour of prof. sophia obiajuli ogwude, gboyega, k, egya s. e. and ifamose, s. (eds.), bahiti and dalila publishers. p. 230. 2014. bryce, jane. 'the unheard voices': a review of female novelists of modern africa by oladele taiwo. 1993. dworkin, andrea rita. intercourse.basic books, 1987. --“i want a 24-hour truce in which there is no rape”. 1983. h�ps://www.guardian.com. --our blood: prophecies and discourses on sexual politics.g.p. putma's sons, 1976. goring, paul, jeremy hawthorn, domhnall mitchel. studying l i t e r a t u r e : t h e e s s e n t i a l companion.oxford up, 2001. harrison kevin and boyd tony.“feminism.”understanding political ideas and movements.retrieved on 30/10/2022 from manchesteropenhive.com. 2018. kolawole, mary e. modupe. womanism and african consciousness.trenton, african world press, 1998. lloyd w. brown, women wri ters in black afr ica . westport.greenwood press, 1981. neshani. andreas. the purple violet of oshaantu.heinemann books, 2001. nnolim, charles e. “a house divided: feminism in african literature”.issues in african l i t e r a t u re . tr e a s u r e books, 2009. pp. 134-147 raina javeed ahmad. “feminism: an overview”. international journal of research, vol 4, no 13, 2017, pp.3373. stratton, florence. contemporary african literature and the politics of gender.routledge, 1994. walters margaret. feminism: a very short introduction.oxford university press. 2005. conclusion this study has been able to show that literatures of arab origin also explore themes of women concerns. the two novels – evelyne accad's wounding words and neshani andreas' the purple violet of oshaantuare characterised by oppression and subjugation. most of the female characters live under the oppression and suppressionof their husbands. most of the male characters are portrayed as oppressors who deprive the female characters of value-defined lives. inthe purple violet of oshaantu, kauna suffers victimhood in the hands of shange, her abusive husband.when shange eventually dies, kauna refuses to mourn him because she has not recovered from the gory memory of her late husband's abusive actions. unsuspecting persons who do not really know what she has passed through in the hands of her late husband see her actions as wicked, vindictive, and unreasonable. hayate in wounding wordsassumes the responsibility of an activist going about preaching in conjunction with other like-minded women the need for women to be free from every form of oppression. abusive patriarchy is portrayed as a dangerous societal ill which must be discarded for the freedom of women and the society, to the end that thefundamental human rights of women must be respected. the authors, therefore, have successfully exploited the instrumentality of literature to protest against as well as seek amelioration for the difficult circumstances women suffer within their societies. works cited accad, evelyne. wounding words: a woman's journal in tunisia.heinemann books, 1996. aidoo, ama ata. “unwelcome pals and decorative slaves: or glimpses of women as writers and characters in contemporary african literature”. literature and society: selected essays on african literature, edited by ernest emenyonu. heinemann, 1986. pp. 8-17. dele maxwell ugwanyi & ethel ngozi okeke & gabriel kosiso okonkwo: patriarchy as infraction in evelyne accad’s wounding words and neshani andreas’ the purple violet of oshaantu coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 https://www.guardian.com page 63 page 64 page 65 page 66 page 67 page 68 page 69 page 70 page 71 page 72 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee chioma f. emelone department of english language and literature nwafor orizu college of education, nsugbe (b.a.ed., m.ed., m.a., ph.d.) (08063830898) emelonechioma@gmail.com abstract this study specifically examines social support as a norm in the igbo society of the western africa using ikenna okeh's deportee. with the use of freud's psychoanalytic theory, this study explores the african standard of social support as portrayed in the novel. through the explorations of some characters in the novel, this research examines the writer's presentation of african view on social support and the effects of its denial on those who need it. it is ascertained that despite the fact that social support is an african norm, everybody is not readily available to conform to it. it is equally discovered that family and friends are the key sources of social support, and that emotional pain and anxiety are the major effects of the denial of social support on the deprived. this paper is a call to africans to imbibe the attitude of social support for one another as that is an antidote to dejection and depression which could lead to loss of life and property. keywords: social support, norm, oral tradition, deportee, psychoanalysis chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 22 introduction in the pre-colonial african society, oral tradition occupied a significant status because it was completely acknowledged as the embodiment of the philosophy and wisdom of the people. oral tradition, which is the total of all the testimonies about the past orally handed down from one generation to another, includes knowledge, memories, norms, values, and symbols generally created with the words of mouth. these possess a non-literacy nature because they are conceived in a non-literate society and are also founded on anonymity where no particular individual is said to be an originator of any given form of oral tradition which include proverbs, riddles, folktales, folk songs, myths and legends, folk dance, etc. (finnegan 2012). admonitions and approvals are given using these principles as stances, and the socially accepted behaviours are equally imbued in them. this is to say, therefore, that they serve as laws because they control human behaviours thereby engendering peaceful and harmonious co-existence of citizens. the igbo philosophies of ọ nụrụ ube nwanne agbana ọsọ and onye aghana nwanne ya are the bases of this paper. literally, the proverbs are translated as “a sibling's cry should not be ignored” and “one should not leave one's sibling behind” respectively. it is a norm among the igbo people of nigeria in west africa that a person's predicament is a concern of his relatives and that no one should be left behind in struggles of life because there is strength in unity. achebe clearly depicts this attitude in things fall apart when okonkwo, in his earlier days borrowed some yam seedlings from nwakibie. again, when he is exiled from umuofia, okonkwo is sheltered by his maternal uncles at mbanta. he is given some pieces of land to cultivate and some yam seedlings are contributed for him too. these two proverbs, in essence, are calls for brotherly support as that is the only way the society experiences peace and progress. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 23 mailto:emelonechioma@gmail.com lack of social support is among the major factors that hinder individual and community development inafrica. when a needy is denied of help or rejected by his immediate society, he is bound to suffer some psychological pain which may advance into deadly actions or cause some security challenges thereby derailing the society from the path of progress. this study, therefore, is an investigation into the african standard of social support, and is carried out using ikenna okeh's deportee. specifically, this study explores the writer's presentation of africans' view of social support as well as the effects of denial and rejection on the needy. the concepts ofsocial support, norm, oral tradition, deportee, and psychoanalysis are reviewed for a better understanding of the topic under study. social support, according to drageset (138), refers to “any process through which social relationships might provide health and well-being”. dean and lin (qtd. in song et al. 5), opine that it is the “functions of primary groups that meet instrumental and expressive needs”. it helps in both mental and physical health because it reduces psychological distress such as depression or apprehension during traumatic times. social support expresses love and care from people, and the fact that the recipient is valued or held in a high esteem. this support, according to taylor (192) “may come from a partner, relatives, friends, coworkers, social and community ties and even a devoted pet”. norm, another concept under review, is defined by teilanyo (66) as the “guidelines of how we should or should not behave that have a basis in morality”. norms offer certain rules for behaviour; they are specific behavioural models, rules and guides. though some norms are culture-bound in the sense that they describe attitudes, practices, or behaviours that are morally accepted by a particular culture, others are universal because they are widely found and accepted in many other parts of the world. in other words, some certain behaviours which are considered important among africans may have little or no importance in chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 24 western societies. paluck (596) sees norm as a “socially shared definitions of the way people do behave or should behave”. this is in line with the part toed by granovetter that norms are shared ideas about the proper way to behave. this explains the unique feature of norms: they are learnt, established, and utilized when there is a contact between persons (35). teilanyo, drawing a difference between norms and values, asserts that “values are the beliefs about what is important, while the norms are the behaviour and attitudes that support and indicate these values. it can also be said that values are manifested through norms” (66 – 7). for a better understanding of the concept of deportee, it is pertinent to delineate the concept of deportation. deportation is “a practice of forced removal of unwanted individuals or groups of people from a given territory” (drotbohm 1). from this definition, it is deduced that a deportee is one who is deported. as defined by the international civil aviation organization, it is “a person who had legally been admitted to a state by its authorities or who had entered a state illegally, and who at some later time is formally ordered by the competent authorities to leave that state” (icao 3). it is indisputable that this group of individuals is thrown into some psychological conditions right from the time of arrest – because the first step in the process of deportation is the arrest of the victim – through the jail or detention centre before he/she is eventually let out of the territory. this research is anchored on sigmund freud's proposition of psychoanalytic theory. in this theory, freud, an austrian neurologist, opined that the unconscious plays a major role in the behaviour, feeling, and words of individuals who are not aware of its presence or operations. the tripartite psyche is an important aspect of freud's psychoanalysis because it is here that he described the mind as having three operative parts namely; the id, the superego, and the ego. mcleod (2016) has it that the id engages in primary process thinking which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. the ego which makes use of coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 25 reason, on its part, seeks to consider the rules of behaviour. it seeks for other means through which the demands of id will be realistically achieved without any ugly effect on the society. this it does through either compromising or a postponement of id's satisfaction. the third which is the superego is an agency that seeks to enforce the striving for perfection as it holds out to the ideal standards and moralistic goals of the ego. it can as well retaliate against the imperfections of the ego by inducing guilt (dobie 2012). the superego deals with the values and norms of the society. this theory is considered appropriate for this study because there are revelations of the unconscious and the manifestation of the freudian tripartite psyche as seen in writer's presentation of the characters. social support as an african norm as portrayed in the text in deportee, one of the novels long-listed for 2022 the island prize, okeh presents a story of anayo, a northern cyprus deportee who feels stranded and apprehensive on his return to nigeria because he is penniless and disappointed in himself for the reason that he has fallen short of his people's expectations. the writer tells of his protagonist's predicaments and the social support he gains from his family and friends which consequently aids him in regaining his pride as he later migrates to bulgaria. okeh could be said to fall in the category of those novelists described by nwachukwu-agbada as the “nigerian debut novelists at the turn of the new century … who consciously want to say something new, create ferment in the artistic arena and consciously imbue their writing with a new vigor” (544). the title of the text alone makes an intentional and strident statement; a kind of tag borne by a certain group of people in the society. this particular group, in essence, only needs the support of people in their immediate environment to detach the tag from themselves. chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 26 the african norm of social support is vividly presented in this novel. social support is portrayed as a guideline of how africans should behave, and this has a basis on morality. the glory land book club (2022), in a review of the novel, opined that every man, overtly or otherwise, is a deportee needing help, adjustment of attitude, and some hope to grip on. this buttresses the importance of social support in our society. okeh, through his story, upholds it as a proper way to behave, bringing the writer's role as a teacher to the fore. in an interview with onuoha chris of vanguard newspapers, in 2022, the writer succinctly asserts that his intention of writing the novel is majorly for entertainment and enlightenment. the writer condemns those characters that hear a brother's cry and decide not to come to their aid, through the effect of their actions on the protagonist. loneliness is the opposite of social support, and “emotional support, belonging in a social community, being valued, practical help, and information and guidance” are encapsulated in social support (drageset 137). these are offered to okeh's deportee protagonist by his immediate family, extended family, friends, as well as women. these groups of people save the protagonist from going totally into depression which bhowmik et al. describe as being “among the leading cause of disability worldwide” (42). for emotional support, anayo's family is not found wanting; his parents and siblings throw their weight behind him despite the fact that they part with two plots of land to enable his migration to northern cyprus. upon hearing of his son's deportation, maazi oji quickly refurbishes his house so that the sight of things will not throw his son into depression. the phone call conversation which anayo has with his family to inform them of his arrival into nigeria is one of the first cooling agents for his anxiety. okeh puts it thus: the phone call had gone on for longer than he had expected and there was no hint of sadness at the other end despite his fears. if anything, everyone's excitement for his return had rubbed off on him, and he'd felt the urge like never before to get home as quickly as he could. his mother asked to know what food he missed the most so coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 27 she'd make it for him. (71) he is well received at home and everybody ensures that he lacks nothing. although the consequences of deportation can be devastating to both the deportee and his loved ones, anayo's family proves onye aghana nwanne ya ideology to the letter. his father, maazi oji plays his fatherly role in dropping some pieces of advice for his son, guiding him, and rendering some practical help to him such as giving him the permission to take his car and go wherever he wishes. to anayo's father, returning from the foreign land in good health is paramount. the extended family is another source of social support in deportee. this is portrayed in the characters of ify, the protagonist's cousin, and her husband, uka. the home of this couple in aba is the protagonist's saving abode as he journeys from abuja to obigbo where his immediate family resides. because his journey to obigbo continues into the dark hours of the day, anayo, ignorant of what areas are safe to ply at night, decides to pass the night in aba and continue his journey the following day. the couple happily welcomes him and tries as much as possible to have him lodged in a hotel because they feel that he will be more comfortable there. it is when it becomes impossible to get a hotel accommodation due to early weekend rush that the couple resorts to taking anayo to spend the night at their home. despite being out of job, uka finds it important to help anayo in any possible way because he sees his hospitable acts as the proper thing to do; that which is expected of him as a relative; a norm. uka, not only provides accommodation for anayo but gives him some words of encouragement as he helps him to unwind in an outdoor bar over some bottles of drink. song et al. assert that social support “is accessible to an individual through the social ties to other individuals …” and “the content of social ties” (5). this social tie is manifested in the novel under study through some characters who prove their friendship chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 28 with the protagonist. friends such as chike, zion, dede, and ozo are used to exemplify the principle of ọ nụrụ ube nwanne agbana ọsọ. despite the fact that there are the likes of blondie, abuchi and jonas who despise him because of his predicament, these four prove themselves as friends in need who, definitely, are friends indeed. chike provides him with emotional support, renders some practical help to him, as well as ensuring that he does the right thing despite his fears and apprehensions. he ensures anayo's peace and safety when he first arrives in nigeria and lodges in an abuja hotel, and visits him as often as possible in his hotel room. dede, on his own part, is his advisor and confidant while he is at obigbo. the moral support which he provides for anayo is estimable as he takes him for evening strolls round their neighbourhood and encourages him in his escapades with women as well as the necessity of facing his life and ambitions not minding the gossips that fly around the town. dede advises anayo that his condition as a deportee is the best time for him to get a woman who will take him for who he is and not what he can offer. anayo then goes in search of chikaodi who, at the end, is disappointed in his lack of sexual prowess and the fact that he returns with nothing. it is dede who convinces anayo to seek financial help from his friends who reside abroad. zion is one of them, a good friend of his whom he always runs to whenever he needs a financial assistance. the social support given to okeh's protagonist offers him the courage to join his family to celebrate the christmas in his home town. there, he attends a wedding ceremony where he courageously joins ozo and some other young men of his town to relax and have some good time. ozo commends anayo's courage in handling the ugly incident and condemns his own brother who “is too ashamed to return to the neighbourhood” (okeh 119). while he is with ozo and other friends, anayo realizes that he has surmounted the stigma of deportation, and the worries about what people think of him. instead, he feels delighted that he is being used as a model of resilience to others. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 29 lastly, women also provide a form of succour to anayo. the glory land book club book review (n.p.) has it that anayo engages in them – as many as will not see him as a failure – while not wanting to commit to any. the women in nigeria, unlike those he meets abroad, are good enough for the release of sexual tension, and so he jumps from fiona to chikaodili, and then oma, anne, and the prostitutes, including mercy who offers herself even while she is in her monthly period. okeh puts it that “women had become for him a perfect grace from the despair that deportation offered” (okeh 135). additionally, this study investigates the effects of denial and rejection on the needy as portrayed in the novel. taking anayo, the novel's protagonist as a paradigm, one deduces emotional pain and anxiety as major effects of denial and rejection on the needy. it starts with angelina's polite rejection of him when he arrives abuja. that sustains his anxiety as he wonders what the situation will be at home with people who “are not so cultured and are known to throw their sentiments and feelings at people's faces” (okeh 41). he feels disappointed when abuchi, his childhood friend apparently ignores his company while he is at his home town for christmas; and he feels ostracized when jonas, his cousin denies him of financial help. the pain worsens when jonas's mother and siblings begin to avoid him. moreover, the entire obigbo has him as the major topic of their gossip and all of those cause him some degrees of emotional pain. the social support he receives from family and friends together with his desire to prove his mockers wrong pushes him to try and achieve leaving nigeria the second time. conclusion this study borders on the presentation of african view on social support and the effects of its denial on those who need it. it is discovered in this research that notwithstanding the truth that social support is an african norm, everybody is not enthusiastically and willingly available to measure up to it. it is chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 30 equally discerned that family and friends are the foremost sources of social support, and that emotional pain and anxiety are the major effects of the denial of social support on the deprived. this paper is a call for africans to see the necessity of imbibing the attitude of social support for one another. this behaviour will help bring remedies to some emotional breakdown such as dejection and depression, and that can forestall loss of life and property. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 31 works cited bhowmik, debjit et al. “depression: symptoms, causes, medications and therapies”. pharma innovation journal.vol. 1, n o 3 , 2 0 1 2 , p p . 3 2 – 4 5 , h � p s : / / w w w . researchgate.net/publica�on/284651508_depression _symptoms_causes_me dications_and_therapies. dobie, ann. theory into practice: an introduction to literary criticism. wadsworth cengage learning, 2012. drageset, jorunn. “social support”.health promotion in health care – vital theories and research, 2021, pp. 137 – 44. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-63135-2_11. drotbohm, heike. “deportation: an overview”. the encyclopedia of global human migration, e d i t e d b y e m m a n u e l n e s s , b l a c k w e l l , 2 0 1 3 , doi:10.1002/9781444351071.wbghm591. finnegan, ruth. oral literature in africa. open book, 2012. granovetter, mark. “the impact of social structure on economic outcomes”.journal of economic perspective, vol. 19, n o . 1 , 2 0 0 5 , p p . 3 3 – 5 0 . d o i : 10.1257/0895330053147958. icao regional facilitation seminar. 11 september, 2014, h� ps : / / w w w. i ca o . i nt / sa m / d o c u m e nt s / 2 0 1 4 fa l s e m / 3 . 5 % 2 0 1 1 0 0 1200%20iata%20inadimissiblepersons.pdf m c l e o d , s a u l . “ i d , e g o a n d s u p e r e g o ” , 2 0 1 6 , www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html. nwachukwu-agbada, j.o.j. “nigerian debut novelists at the turn of the new century”. justice and human dignity in africa, edited by g.m.t. emezue, inge kosch and maurice kangel, hpc, 2014, pp. 544 – 560. chioma f. emelone: social support as an african norm: a study of ikenna okeh's deportee 32 okeh, ikenna. deportee.abibiman, 2022. onuoha,chris. .https://www.vanguardngr.com>with>deportee> i>se t>out>to>enter ta in> whi le> enl ightening >ikenna>okeh, april 14, 2022. . paluck, elizabeth levy. “what is a norm? sources and processes of norm change”.journal of personality and social psychology, vol. 96, no. 3, 2009, pp. 594 – 600. song, lijun et al. “social support”.the sage handbook of social network analysis, edited by j. scott and p. j. carrington, s a g e , 2 0 1 1 , p p . 1 1 6 – 1 2 8 , 10.4135/9781446294413.n9,doi. taylor, shelley. “social support: a review”, 2011, h � p s : / / t a y l o r l a b . p s y c h . u c l a . e d u / w p content/uploaded/sites/5/2014/11/2011_social-support_areview.pdf. teilanyo, diri. “cultural values and norms in intercultural communication”, 2015, h�ps://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fsroot/s3fs-public/file/05-diri-l-teilanyo.pdf. the glory land book club. “august book review”, 26 october, 2022, h�ps://thisisafrica.me/arts-and-culture/a-review-ofikenna-okehs-deportee coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 33 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284651508_depression_symptoms_causes_me https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284651508_depression_symptoms_causes_me https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284651508_depression_symptoms_causes_me https://www.icao.int/sam/documents/2014-fal-sem/3.5%201100https://www.icao.int/sam/documents/2014-fal-sem/3.5%201100http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html https://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-%09content/uploaded/sites/5/2014/11/2011_socialhttps://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-%09content/uploaded/sites/5/2014/11/2011_socialhttps://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/file/05-diri-l-teilanyo.pdf https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/file/05-diri-l-teilanyo.pdf https://thisisafrica.me/arts-and-culture/a-review-of-ikenna-okehs-deportee https://thisisafrica.me/arts-and-culture/a-review-of-ikenna-okehs-deportee page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 chapter three.cdr factor for mutual understanding and respect among various world cultures, and that there is the possibility of african ontology remaining impervious or losing itself to it. based on the findings, the paper concluded that though a cultural datum, african ontology should expand its world-view and refuse to be left behind in positive changes of inter-culturalism that would bring about mutual understanding and progress among all cultures. it was then suggested that more attention should be given to those things that are similar and connective to all cultures than those which separate them. keywords: ontology, culture, africa, inter-culturalism, philosophy introduction different groups of people or societies have always been identified with one form of culture or another. in other words, culture serves as the principal identifier of a people or society. society in this sense can be taken at the continental level, national level, regional level, ethnic nationality level, or community level. hence people talk of african culture, european culture, western culture, eastern culture, igbo culture, yoruba culture, enuguezike culture, awka culture, and so on. culture is generally referred to as a people's way of life. within each society, there are certain practices common to all its members, but often at variance with outsiders, thus fact of cultural specifics. it is within these cultural specifics that each people's ontology emanates and makes meaning. people's ontology is therefore culture-bound, and it forms the basis of their being, world-views, interactions among themselves, with their environments, and in relation to others outside their cultural enclave. in philosophical perspective, ontology has to do with the reality of human beings or existing objects (homework.com, 2023). african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa: a philosophical reflection dr greg ekeh g.ekeh@unizik.edu.ng 08030533141 department of educational foundations nnamdi azikiwe university, awka & dr. adaoma igwedibia ae.igwedibia@unizik.edu.ng 08036915201 department of english language and literature nnamdi azikiwe university, awka abstract this paper is a philosophical reflection on african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in contemporary africa. the aim of the paper was to establish the truth of african ontology as authentically rooted in the african culture, and the need for it to be open to inter-culturalism in a positive way, without losing its core values and identity. methods of analysis of concepts, contextual interpretation and critical analysis were used. concept of ontology and itscharacteristics were explored. african ontology, intercultural realities, multicultural education, as well as intercultural communication training, the meeting points of all cultures, implications of intercultural realities for african ontology were critically and objectively investigated and ascertained. the findings of the study showed that african ontology is truly a cultural datum, without any admixture of borrowing from external cultures or as a result of intellectual gymnastics. it was also discovered that intercultural reality has gained global attention and acceptance as a veritable 83 84 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection mailto:g.ekeh@unizik.edu.ng http://g.ekeh@unizik.edu.ng http://ae.igwedibia@unizik.edu.ng understanding as a cultural datum. next will be intercultural realities, the meeting points in intercultural realities, implications of intercultural realities to african identity, and a critical appraisal. philosophical methods of concept analysis and meaning, contextual interpretation and critical reflection will be employed throughout the discourse. in the course of doing this, references will be made to relevant literature. the aim of the paper is to contribute to the growth of literature and knowledge about african culture and its peculiar characteristics and values. the paper also aims to underscore the need for african ontology to be open to positive changes as a result of inter-culturalism, but at the same time retain its cherished particular core values, so as to maintain its identity rather than be bamboozled in its interaction with other cultures, or lost in the maze of intercultural realities, which has become the feature of the contemporary era. ontology ontology is a branch of metaphysics that studies the origins, nature, and mode of human existence and operations. it also studies being as being, as well as other related concepts such as existence and reality. it is a philosophical study of beings which is interested in the categorization of entities and their fundamental levels of existence. thus ontology can discuss beings in terms of humans, substances, properties, states of affairs, spirits, relations and events. ontological concepts such as particularity and universality, contingence and necessity, abstractness and concreteness, are characteristically applied to such entities to determine their dependent or independent existence at their most fundamental levels. over the years, debates have been going on as to whether entities within a certain category do have their independent existence, and if they have, then what are their relationships to other entities (hofweber). ontology is also understood as the science of being in general, or the study of being alive and existing (vocabulary.com dictionary). before the advent of civilization, scientific and technological breakthroughs, most cultures were closed in on themselves, with rigid tenacity on their primitive rituals and social practices, both positive and negative ones (for example, communalism in africa, individualism in europe, the killing of twins in igbo land, slavery, widowhood practices, and lots more), some of which persist till today in some remote areas. among the maasai people of kenya and northern tanzania for instance, spitting is viewed as a mark of respect, and so is used to say goodbye to friends, seal a bargain or wish someone good luck (marchant, 2018). however, with the advent of civilization, colonialism, science and technology, cultural contacts have become the order of the day, to the extent that intercultural reality is now taking the centre-stage at various levels of human encounters across the globe. with the world now a global family, no culture, no matter how superior or ancient it feels, can boast of remaining the same or aloof, and african culture is not an exception. to dig into and explore african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of this reality is deemed an idea whose time has come. african ontology is deeply rooted in the heart of african cultural tenet and perception about the being of human person. “in traditional africa, the individual exists corporately – communally. they depend, for existence, on the community, which includes past, present and future generations” (shimiyu 45). against the above backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and present african ontology as a cultural datum (given), inherent in african culture, in the face of intercultural realities sweeping through the contemporary africa and the world at large. specifically, the study focuses on conceptualizing ontology and its characteristics such as particulars and universals, abstracts and concretes, dependence and independence, and identity. this is followed by african ontology and its 85 86 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection reflected in every culture. in general, all the visible entities are said to be concrete, while the invisible ones are regarded as abstract. human beings, animals, and trees are examples of concrete entities, while spirits, thoughts, souls, propositions, and numbers are examples of abstract entities. in spite of these outstanding features, based on the visibility and invisibility of the concrete versus abstract, it is difficult to arrive at an agreement regarding the essential marks that differentiate the concrete from the abstract. however, most of the differentiations are made on the basis of spatiotemporal existence of the concrete and nonspatiotemporal of the abstract, or that the concrete has causes and effects while the abstract has not, or on the basis of contingency and necessity on the parts of concrete and abstract respectively. in every culture, these differentiations are witnessed in one way or another. in the african culture, there is always a belief in the existence of the abstract and the concrete, the former being assigned to the invisible and the latter to the visible. one is believed to be in the realm of the spirit, and the other in the realm of the physical universe. ontological independence and dependence independence and dependence are two opposing concepts that have been major areas of discussion in philosophy. it is clear from human experience that some beings cannot exist on their own without the existence of another. these kinds of beings are referred to as dependent beings. where the opposite is the case, the beings are referred to as independent. for instance, a branch of a mango tree cannot exist on its own without the mango tree itself. as a consequence, it can be said that the branch is ontologically dependent on the tree. all the entities that exist as properties or characteristics (such as the shell of an egg, or the peel of bananas) in their basic entities are categorized as dependent. ontological dependence as explained above, is different from particulars and universals the problem of particulars and universals has been a persisting one in philosophy. there has always been a contrast between the particulars and universals (ted). the term “particular” refers to the individual, with its peculiar characteristics or attributes, which the individual does not share with other entities. “universal”, on the other hand, refers to features that are manifested by various different particulars (macleod). in the case of a black colour, for instance, a charcoal and black-stone manifest the universal blackness. this means that universals can be manifested in various places at the same time, while the particulars cannot. the problem is how to come to terms with different things having the same feature, and whether the universal can exist on its own without being exemplified by something (ante res), or must be exemplified in things (in rebus). in cultural context, this implies that there are particular as well as universal characteristics of all cultures. for instance, valuing life, dancing, marriage, and farming, among others, are universal to every culture. that is to say that every culture cherishes life, engages in dancing, marriage and farming. however, the ways these are done vary from culture to culture. mode of dressing, types of food and world-views, for instance, are not the same in every culture. even in the midst of cultural contacts, people are always conscious of their own world-views, especially as they concern their idea of being in their various dimensions. understanding and appreciating these similarities and differences are essential factors that bring about mutual respect, harmony, peaceful coexistence and progress. abstract and concrete another important issue in ontology is that of abstract and concrete. philosophers are in accord regarding the existence of these concepts and the differences between them. this is also 87 88 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection of what it is in itself (williams). in other words, each entity or being is identical with itself. the problem of identity has been an enduring one in philosophy. sometimes it is confused with unity. however, (guarino and welty 2) state that strictly speaking, identity is related to the problem of distinguishing a specific instance of a certain class from other instances by means of a characteristic property, which is unique for it (that whole instance). unity, on the other hand, is related to the problem of distinguishing the parts of an instance from the rest of the world by means of a unifying relation that binds them together (not involving anything else). the above view indicates that identity is an indicative of a thing's wholeness devoid of fragmentation or constituting of parts that augment to make it what it is. the identity of anything resides in its own unique quality and character. in other words, a thing is what it is, and on that basis it should be identified. however, identity can be approached from multiple perspectives, since it is one of the contested constructs in the light of other variables (moghadam). identity, therefore, is classified into certain categories by scholars. such categories include individual identity (ericson), social identity (tajfel), collective identity (melluci), philosophical identity (derrida), and cultural identity (norton). cultural identity is the focus in the context of this paper. culture refers to the beliefs, values, norms, behaviours and attitudes that are considered acceptable by and within a group of people (wilson). cultural identity depicts the unique interaction between the individual or group and the components of culture, embracing nationality, language, history, ethnicity, geographical location and religion (moghadam). (vygotsky) states that culture is a significant factor in the formulation of the individuals' identity. causal dependence. in ontological dependence, there is an inseparable attachment between the dependent and independent entities, while in causal dependence there is a separation between the being of the dependent entity and that of the independent. for instance, fire can cause a smoke, which has its own separate being from the fire. this is not the case with regard to a ball of orange and its peel. according to (tahko and lowe), ontological dependence is of two types: rigid and generic. as explained by (erics) rigid dependence refers to a dependence on one specific entity, such as the surface of an apple on its specific apple, while generic dependence involves a weaker form of dependence, merely on a certain type of entity. an example of this, according to (tahko and lowe) is the electricity which depends on charged particles, but not on any specific or specified charged particle. african ontology is very much characterized by this idea of relational dependence and independence of beings. in the african cultural setting, it is believed that the independent beings are superior to the dependent ones and vice versa; hence there is a hierarchy of beings in the african world. individuals depend on the community, the community depends on the larger society, and so it goes till the apex is reached, which is the supreme being. ontological identity identity is at the root of being and existence. according to erikson and agerfalk (2021), identity is fundamental to ontology since it addresses the very existence of objects and conceptual systems as a whole. identity is one of the three basic laws of thought. the other two are the laws of non-contradiction and excluded middle. these three laws are believed to have originated from aristotle, who argued that they are necessary for rational thinking, and that without them rational thinking would not take place. (williams). the law of identity states that each existing thing is made up of its own particular characteristics that are part 89 90 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection world.according to (ekeh 89), “african ontology refers to the traditional african metaphysical convictions about the nature of beings that inhabit the african world”. “african world” in this context is not to be understood in a geographical sense, but in a conceptual sense, that is, the way the africans conceptualize, understand and attach meaning to the world and its events, especially with regard to beings and their interactions. although all beings are seen as beings, the african believes that god is the creator and owner of every other thing that exists, both visible and invisible, especially in their socioeconomic politicoreligious activities. this is not only in relation to the living, but also the yet-to-be-born and the ancestors, who are in continuous interaction among themselves. according to (ukwamedua and omokpo 272), “there are three worlds in the african worldview, namely the ancestral world, the world of the yet unborn and the world of the living, and they are interconnected”. the ancestral world belongs to the world of the spirit, which includes deities and other spirits. these spirits are god's agents and messengers. while the living pray to and honour the spirits, including the ancestors, the spirits and ancestors offer them protection and intercede for them in the presence of god, the supreme being. with their own efforts and the assistance of the spirits and god's benevolence, the living are able to see to their own welfare and that of the future generation. this word-view is rooted in the african culture, the elements of which they see as inherent components of their lives. such components include cuisine, religious beliefs, socio-economic activities, and politics, among others. all these various aspects of life are viewed as a unity. there is no severance of one being from another in african ontology, even though all beings are not the same. for the african, every being is relevant in one way or another. with the exception this is because, from their childhood, they had been learning from multi-dimensional interactions with the more experienced and elderly people and other environmental elements around them, and this plays a vital role in shaping their mindset and cognitive growth. cultural identity involves sharing of characteristics by a group of people who are recognized by exhibiting such characteristics. such characteristics include birth-place, language, religion, social behaviour, art, literature, music, dressing, cuisine, and marriage rites, among others. these characteristics are often cherished as values by the people of the culture, and they form the basis of their interactions among themselves as well as their relationship with people of other cultures. people form their cultural identity by subconsciously imbibing, interpreting, incorporating, assimilating and practicing values and signals from the people and events around them into their own pattern of life, without questioning or critical reflection on their objective validity or implications in life. african ontology african ontology is the african metaphysical perspective on being and life in general, and particularly the being of humans, their living and interaction with others and their environments, both as individuals and as communities. african ontology is the african's understanding of all beings as being in their hierarchical order. in african ontology, god is at the apex of beings, followed by the spirits, human beings, animals, plants and inanimate objects, with the human person at the centre, however (kanu). it is worthy of note that in the african world, there are various categories of being, having their specific roles and yet in constant interaction among themselves in various dimensions. this belief is at the heart of african culture and informs the african worldview – a comprehensive view of life, humanity and the 91 92 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection perspective on being is fundamental and basic to every other perspective. as has been noted, african ontology is the african's metaphysical perspective on being and life in general. there is no other basic way this could have emanated save from african way of life, otherwise known as culture. it implies that african ontology is a cultural datum. it is a product of african culture, that is. some of the african core cultural values include sacredness of human life, respect for elders, communal living, socialization, oral communication, sense of belonging, kinship identity, collaboration, filial love, responsibility, hospitality, harmonious living, empathy and common good of all. having got thus far, it is worthy of note that attentions of scholars are now being so drawn with rapidity to the truth of cultural realities globally that it can perhaps be argued that a melting pot for all cultures is in the offing. apparently, there is no longer any hiding place for any culture, whether considered as superior or inferior. yet, there is this undeniable yearning, coupled with effort making, by every society, to uphold their core cultural particularities and stand out authentically even in the midst of these intercultural realities. in other words, every society would want to maintain its cultural identity, in spite of all the mix. this being the case, one would wonder what would become of african ontology, which stands africa out culturally amid other cultures, in this sweeping era of intercultural realities. intercultural realities the world in which we are living is increasingly becoming interconnected in virtually every aspect of human life. the era of “we are here; they are there” is speedily phasing out. with technological and scientific advancement, most of the factors that held people apart in the past, such as distance, lack of fast means of transportation, easy means of communication, language barriers, of the supreme being whose existence is absolute, necessary and independent, all other beings are inter-dependent. the way the african sees beings, their nature, their interactions and impacts on the affairs of the world is apparently original to them. it is borne out of lived experience in their cultural settings. it is not as a result of intellectual dictates, book learning, research or external influence. african ontology as a cultural datum in the african context, ontology is a foundational fact of african culture. it is a basis from which conclusions may be reached or drawn. it is not as a result of studies, investigations or cultural contacts. it is deeply imbedded in the cultural fabrics of africa. it is the root that gives germination, growth, fruit, meaning and sustainability to all the aspects of african beliefs and practices, life and activities. what is inferred from this is that african ontology is indigenous to africa and the africans, rooted, as it is, in the african indigenous culture. in other words, african ontology is a given by the culture and from the culture of the people. it was not borrowed; it was not imported; it was not taken over from other people. according to (agbo 53), “african ontology envisages a hierarchical ordering of beings and forces in their categories in order of primogeniture with god at the apex”. in african culture, “the content or subject matter of afrocentric ontology emanates from the physical, human/social, and spiritual situations of indigenous african societies” (tchombe and wirdze 63). these are the spiritual, physical and human dimensions of being, and the three are inseparable. they are so connected that the idea of one existing without the others is alien to the african. these different dimensions of being or reality are held fast by a spiritual power known as a “vital force”, which itself underlies all the dimensions. it is hardly arguable that a people's world-view is informed by their culture. now, a people's 93 94 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection describe relationships between the indigenous and western cultural ideals on the basis of mutual respect. arising as a response to the criticisms of policies of multiculturalism which has failed to address the issue of inclusiveness of different cultures in the society, inter-culturalism is based on the recognition of both differences and similarities between cultures (ewijk). this calls for in-depth studies of multiculturalism as well as various cultures in their similarities to, and differences from, one another, and the implications they may have on social interactions and human relations. what is at stake, therefore, is for people to learn how they should go about their differences with mutual understanding and respect. multicultural education the need for multicultural education is more urgent in this era than ever before. according to (smagorinsky 2), “multicultural education is oriented to including people of all forms of socialization, bodily makeup, and other factors of differentiation as respected members of society”. smagorinsky's view is very apt to the current situation of things where people invariably do not care about others' needs for honour, respect and entitlement to decent treatment in scheme of things. for effective education in multiculturalism to occur, people need to learn to be empathetic to one another and make deliberate efforts to understand the peculiar conditions of one another, be it on the individual, group, community, national or international level. the aim of multicultural education is to get people well informed on the inevitability of the differences that exist, and will continue to exist, among cultures; to be more sensitive to the needs of the people of other cultures; and to learn the practice of social inclusion rather than discrimination. this multicultural education has opened a vista of knowledge about different cultures in the society at various levels: to name but a few, have almost completely collapsed. intercultural reality is a result of increased migration across the globe, technological development, social interactions and widespread communication systems among various societies and cultures, so that there is interconnectedness everywhere. intercultural reality, according to (bekemans 2), refers to a situation in society where people from different cultures, nationalities and ethnic and religious groups live in the same area, but are not necessarily in contact with one another. what we see in intercultural societies is that the mutual d i f f e r e n c e s a r e o f t e n t h e b a s i s f o r discrimination, where minorities may be tolerated, but are seldom accepted or appreciated. even the law is not applied equally to everyone, despite the fact that legal rights exist to counteract these practices. from the above view, it follows that intercultural reality, while it brings people together, can also a cause of discrimination among people. however, it is worthy of note that the essence of inter-culturalism is not to lump all cultures into one, or for the socalled superior cultures to swallow up or overshadow the so-called inferior ones. actually, there can never be a one-culture-world, due to differences that are inherent in human nature and culture, nor can one culture be truly superior to another, since every culture has its odds and evens in various aspects. the essence of interculturalism rather “involves moving beyond mere passive acceptance of multiple cultures existing in a society and instead promote dialogue and interaction between cultures” (penas and saenz 15). inter-culturalism is now stepping beyond its often use to 95 96 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection cultures. (leanne) has a list of such things to include marriage, dancing, singing, story-telling, personal names, class systems, and standards of beauty. apart from these, there are other things such farming, cooking, legal systems, funeral rites, child upbringing and trade. there can be more others. although the way these things are done may differ from culture to culture, the fact remains that they are obtained in every culture. there is no culture that is alien to marriage, farming, dancing, story-telling, and those other things as mentioned above. focusing on these similarities brings people closer than focusing on the differences. molinsky and (jang) argue that in approaching a person, people usually do not think about the potential differences that could exist between them, but rather focus on finding the meeting points, that is, the things they have in common. this gives a better and positive ground for establishing relationships. this is to say that focusing on similarities among cultures enhances cultural connections, whether at the individual or group level. this does not however cancel the need to know the differences. knowing the differences helps in adjustment and adaptation. it is advisable to respect the differences, while enhancing the similarities. in the presence of similarities, differences are transcended or made insignificant. implications of intercultural realities to african ontology intercultural practice is a necessity in this era of technological and scientific advancements. these advancements have made the entire world a family of a kind, with virtually no barriers between and among people of different climes and cultures. to expect some implications of this truth for african ontology is not out of place. thus the following implications can be drawn: 1. african ontology is communal, compared to the western ontology, which is individualistic (ekanem, 2012). in this community, local and international, both one's culture and other cultures. people are learning that difference does not mean or imply contradiction or enmity, and that they can learn a lot from the perceived differences; hence the intercultural reality that is gaining wider attention and acceptance world-wide, not only among scholars and writers, but also among individuals, groups, businesses, institutions, nations and international communities. there is now a step forward from conceiving different cultures as independent (multiculturalism) to different cultures as interactional and empathetic (inter-culturalism). there is now a shift to an intercultural society where people of different cultures coexist, interact, share ideas and experiences, and learn from each other and one another, and thus grow in mutual understanding and progress. intercultural communication training with multicultural education leading to inter-culturalism, there is need for training in intercultural communication. in intercultural communication, information, ideas and experiences are shared among people across board: different cultures, individuals, groups, social settings, religions, ethnic groups, as well as educational, social and economic backgrounds. by so doing, differences in world-views are understood and utilized for the mutual benefit of all. more beneficial still is the knowledge and understanding of the similarities and connectedness that exist among different cultures. thus intercultural training enhances the practical aspects of intercultural reality. the meeting points from studies on multiculturalism, most of the differences and similarities between and among cultures have come to the fore. it has become obvious that there is a higher level of connectedness among various cultures than was thought of before. there are so many things that are similar among world different 97 98 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 dr greg ekeh & dr adaoma igwedibia: african ontology as a cultural datum in the light of intercultural realities in africa a philosophical reflection should a continuous dialogue, interaction and openness among cultures, within and outside africa. 7. african ontology is informed by the sense of religion or sense of the sacred. this can expose it to attacks or oppositions from various quarters in this era of extensive secularism. there is need, therefore, to guard this sense of the sacred jealously, for it is one of the foundations of the authenticity of african worldview. it is the ground on which african moral values thrive and have meaning for the africans. this ontological inclination to religion plays significant roles in the lives and activities of the african people. a critical appraisal following from the discourses so far, a clear picture of african ontology can be discerned. in this, one can see both sides of the coin. objectively viewed, african ontology can be said to be authentic in that it has its root in african culture. it is not a borrowed ideology or a product of intellectual gymnastics, rather it is part and parcel of the people's existence. it is a good thing to know that african ontology is original to the people of africa. a lot of good things are experienced from african ontology that are of vital importance to humanity. such values as human life, sense of the sacred, sense of the divine, communalism, extended family, intergenerational concern and many more, are very important for people to live in peace and progress. african culture can offer these to other cultures to emulate. however, a deep look at the african ontology will also reveal some shortfalls. for instance, it has been argued that african ontology is primitive and incoherent (munda), and that it is overly influenced by western ontology, which is individualistic (okolie and ogbonnaya). african ontology is, therefore, deemed to have fallen short dynamism and open-minded approach to issues. this has brought a drawback to africa's engagement in the case, the tendency is for african ontology to perceive itself or be perceived as a contradiction of the western ontology. this should be avoided. rather, efforts should be made to learn from this difference, by asking and seeking answers to such questions as “what are the positive aspects of being communal and being individualistic, respectively?” “what are the negative aspects?” 2. sticking to african culture alone is now a challenge to be overcome by african ontology. it should no longer restrict itself to the triad of the ancestral world, the world of the yet unborn and the world of the living. it should be more open to dialogue with views of reality as found in other cultures. this is of particular challenge to african philosophers and scholars, since “there has been attempt by scholars and philosophers from different cultures or traditions to systematically and actively engage one another in dialogue” (amadi 35). 3. african ontology has the duty of liberating itself from selfinsulation, through intercultural education, and leave behind the encumbrances imposed by bias as a result of many years of colonial domination. 4. while it must maintain its identity and particularity, african ontology should not shy away from borrowing ideas from other cultures and transforming and adapting them to the suitability of the african indigenous needs. 5. african ontology is also challenged to stand its ground in the face of criticisms of its peculiarly cherished core cultural values, such sacredness of human life, respect for elders, cuisine, dressing, respect for the dead, communality, sense of kinship, songs, dances, games, agriculture, story-telling, proverbs, riddles, and languages, among others. 6. even in africa, there are different cultures, and the scenario goes on even within a particular country, state, or local government. so, overemphasis on “africanness”, as if africa is simply a mono-cultural entity, should be avoided. rather, there 99 100 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore 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intercultural emancipation. to do this, greater emphasis should be placed on the similarities and interconnections of different cultures than on the differences and independence. conclusion there has been an extensive discourse on intercultural realities in the context of african ontology as a cultural datum in this paper. from the various areas that have been looked into, it is the conclusion of this paper that african ontology is in reality a cultural datum. as such, it should not be allowed to be swallowed up or overshadowed by the reality of inter-culturalism sweeping across the globe. at the same time, african ontology should open itself up to the ongoing globalization of culture by embracing those inputs coming from other cultures, especially the inputs of science and technology, and integrate them into the african context. in other words, african ontology, while remaining authentically african, should expand its world-view and refuse to be isolated or left behind in positive 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circumstances surrounding the family and the birth of the name bearer. sometimes, these names serve as appellations and a means of communication to the interpelled who are usually ancestors or deities. keywords: anthroponym, basà, death, ethno-pragmatic, morphological processes, personal names and onomastics introduction basà language is spoken in different locations in northcentral nigeria such as, the six area councils of the federal capital territory; kokona, nasarawa, toto and doma local government councils of nasarawa state; bassa, dekina, ankpa and kotonkarfe local government areas of kogi state; kontagora local government of niger state; agatu and markurdi local government areas of benue state. some of these locations are characterized by different dialectal variants, each is identified by its name, but all varieties are mutually intelligible. basà language is classified as belonging towestern-kainji of kainji language family, also referred to as rubasa (basa benue) (crozier and blench, 1992:32). linguistic onomastics is a sub field of onomastics that studies proper names, especially, personal names also called anthroponyms, place names referred to as toponyms and animal names technically called zoonyms. naming practice, though universal or cross-cultural among human societies, is remarkably idiosyncratic in style, custom etc. this work focuses on death prevention names as attested in basà ethnic group. death prevention names are bestowed on children who suffer cycles of child mortality and rebirth in the family. to forestall this unacceptable happening, the people have strategized how to overcome it by bestowing weird or strange names on children that basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basa death prevention names: wishes and lamentation philip manda imoh phd philipimoh@gmail.com philipmanda@nsuk.edu.n, +234813228368 and friday dansabo nasarawa state university, pmb 1022, keffi,nasarawa state abstract this paper investigates personal naming practice as a strategy for preventing death among the basà people of north-central nigeria, from the socio-cultural perspective, that is, it seeks to identify and analyze certain names and naming pattern as a way of preventing infant mortality. in this language, death prevention names can generate and maintain some level of assurance and security that is vital for the survival of a child given the belief that certain spiritual forces are responsible for incessant child mortality. these names are believed to link the bearer with their past, ancestors and deities. the qualitative approach was used with the study population as well as introspection to elicit the primary data supplemented by school registers in the study area. the secondary data were obtained via the onomastic literature. different factors are responsible for the bestowal of the first name, but this study focuses only on those influenced by death, particularly, those used to appeal to ancestors, deities and used to taunt or dare death as a way of lamenting the death of their children and also expressing wishes. the study discovered that personal naming among the basà people goes beyond mere personal labels coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 mailto:philipimoh@gmail.com mailto:philipmanda@nsuk.edu.ng 61 62 and (2017) mensah & ishima (2020); psychology: steele (1988), steele & smithwick (1989); anthopology bean 1990, obeng (1998), ukpong (2007); sociology: ngade (2011), suzman (1994), author (2016) etc. study on personal names is very pivot to the socio-cultural fibre of every society as there is no known society in the world which does not give names to every new born child. the foregoing fact justifies the academic interest cultivated by researchers to study personal names as they are not just indices of identification rather, underlain by different forms of communication. anderson (2004:435) presents a syntactic and morphological comparison of french, english and greek names where he proposes the universality of names belonging to the category of determinatives such as pronouns and determiners but are inherently neither definite nor indefinite whose functions differ from regular argument of the predicator. conclusively, he argues that each language varies. his argument reveals that the grammatical structure of personal names usually synchronizes with the grammar of the language. mensah and ishima (2020) argue otherwise that this may not always be true for all languages. they proof this with contemporary german names where plank (2011:269) shows that family names in this language have “subtle but comprehensively severed ties with their ancestral word classes in their morphology upon attaining name status in spite of their origin in nouns and adjectives and in spite of retaining the phonology and syntax of their origin”. he (plank) further argues that this manifests in inflection and derivation and thus, renders the traditional word class categorization of family names as a type of noun in languages, especially languages like german which can affect both the lexicon and grammar. in virtually all african naming systems, names have meaning based on their semantic and pragmatic contents. this assertion is contrary to researchers like searle (1958), dixon and lyons (1977) whose opinion is that are portrayed as very unusual. these names are believed to protect the name bearers from the spirit of death, other underworld forces and forestall further death, which are believed to control the spirit of the affected infants and their right to live. this subtle strategy is a sociocultural method of daring or appealing to the spiritual or underworld forces to free the affected children from the cycle of death and reincarnation and allow them live. though this approach is quite common among africans, it portrays an idiosyncratic strategy among the basà sociocultural practice in combating child mortality. the focus of this study is not just the ethno-pragmatic implication of these names but their grammatical structures. research questions this research intends to answer the following questions: i. how are death prevention names structured in basà? ii. do these names differ in structure from other personal names? literature review names exist as part of the socio-cultural setting of every society. being part of the society that gives them, they act as a window through which the world is understood and appreciated (mutunda, 2014). they are used as conduits of information, especially, on society's attitudes or observation towards the named (mapara et al, 2009:9). musonda, ngalande & simwinga (2019) state that it is important that one has a good knowledge of the imagery and metaphor of the language under consideration to appreciate their names. studies on personal names have been carried out in the onomastic literature in different disciplines such as linguistics: akinnaso (1980), ubahakwe (1981), uduoyoye (1982), essien (1986), aceto (2002), agyekum (2006), mensah (2013), (2015), philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 63 64 ishima which says that personal naming practices, especially in africa, “act as narrative discourses where stories that provide insights to live experience are told'' (2020:4). haviland et al define it “as a social transition from a state of nature to a state of culture” (2013:130). in basà naming tradition, personal names are given based on certain social and cultural parameters which require reflecting the situation or circumstances surrounding the conception and birth of the child, the situation surrounding the parents, family, community etc. imoh, 2019 studies the structure of basà personal names, where he outlines the various structure of basà personal names, namely; words, phrases, clauses and sentences. imoh amende and dansabo (2021) study the ethno-pragmatics of basà personal names, where they did a general investigation into the language and socio-culture of basà naming practices; imoh and dansabo (2020) examined basà sentential names, focusing on those names that are composed in sentences and undergo complex morphological and morphosyntactic operations to derive their surface forms; imoh (2020) surveys onomastics and names as indirect communication in basà, where he studies anthroponyms, toponyms and zoonyms as a strategy of indirect communication in basà language. this work differs from the former in that, it seeks to dwell mainly on the ethno-pragmatics of death prevention names by lamenting infant mortality and expressing wishes and prayer which are targeted at forestalling further infant mortality. in the onomastic literature of african naming practices, especially the aspect of grammatical description, there are a number of related studies in linguistic onomastics such as mensah & ishima (2020) who investigate sentential names in tiv and categorized tiv names into several categories of sentences, examining the semantic, pragmatic, social and spiritual meanings. their investigation shows a reflection of grammatical structure of personal names do not have sense or meaning but what they only represent is unique and individuating. mensah & ishima (2020) argue that in the african context, little attention has been paid to the grammatical description of personal names. they reported that (nwangi, 2015:259) undertook a linguistic study of kikuyu grammar and observes that the coding of information into names is basically characterized by lexical, syntactic and pragmatic roles of the language. he demonstrates in his investigation that kikuyu grammar is largely contained in its personal names. his investigation was based on certain morphosyntactic phenomena like compounding, affixation and reflexivization which show how the feminine names in the language are grammaticalized. this plausible fact reveals that names are words that are attested in the lexicon which have semantic structure and exhibit morphosyntactic characteristics of lexical items; thus, constitute abstract properties of grammar (mensah & ishima, 2020). hussein (1997:25) submits that personal names are ambiguous properties of every linguistic community given that names are words (with expression character) that exist in a language which are an essential part of the linguistic repertoire of their bearers, users and givers and are valuable carriers of identity that reflect the dominant attitude and socio-cultural value of a community. names are founded on people's cultural heritage, and therefore reflect major currents in their history and worldview. for this reason, they show deep attachment to indigenous traditions and embed significant psychological and pragmatic attributes. it is also believed that names in africa have deep spiritual context and cosmology (obeng, 1988; mensah, 2015). mapara, 2013:15) opines that personal naming in shona culture practice is seen as a rite of passage marking the transition from the womb into the community. this opinion is supported by the claim of mensah and philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 65 66 tiv language. mande (2009) discovered that in tshivenda, names have referential and cultural meanings composed from nouns, verbs, adjectives and larger units like phrases, compounds and relativization. he claims that in this language, naming forms an indispensable part of grammar. linguistically, mapara argues that names are part of language and constitute phrasal, clausal and sentential categories. he further argues that, they may be semantically characterized in complete statements, questions, or commands which are appropriately situated in the realm of language study. jauro, ngamsa & wappa (2013) undertook a structural study where they categorized names into their morphosemantic attributes namely; word, classes and studied their semantic and pragmatic meanings. linguistic onomastics of personal naming practice reveals that these names can be coded in different linguistic categories such as lexemes, phrases, clauses and sentences of various types and functions. these possibilities have not been explored extensively to explicate the various grammatical structures, especially, in the nigerian situation which is productive in this wise. hence, this study aims at exploring to fill the existing gap on the grammar of basà names, especially, those that are ethnopragmatic in nature as a way of contributing to the linguistic onomastic or the onomastic literature in general. concerning meaning of names, oluwale (2005:9) argues that “in africa, there is so much meaning in a name. if you are given the right name, you start off with certain indefinable but very real advantages”. this supports the assertion of mbiti (1975:213) that says, naming in africa is a big social event being that, it is characterized by numerous roles. personal names in bantu, according to moyo (1996), especially the ngoni-tumbuka ethnic group in malawi, prefer names with historical undertone such as mopara (wilderness, named after several deaths of infants) and tafwachi (what is wrong with us). they are based on the family or society's antecedents. koopman (1990) undertook a study on the zulu society, reached a conclusion that name givers and bearers are aware of the names, that the ability to read between the lines depends on the cultural continuity in which language is embedded which is not applicable or known to all. it is argued, therefore that pragmatics comes into play complimented by semantics. epstein and kole (1998:26) maintain that “every utterance occurs in a culturally determined context of situation”. hence, the meaning of a name can only be understood by the knowledge of the context in which naming is based. it is therefore important as the meanings of names are based on “complex social negotiations, learned and interpreted through socialization.” thus, this implies that only those who are members of the society and participate fully in its activities can construe the deep meaning embedded in the names and such communicative interactions (battie, 1957:37). finnegan (1976:173), considering names whose meanings are not deciphered from their surface suggests that “the colourful, often figurative quality of many of these names should be brought out. there are, of course, many names which are relatively straightforward with little overt meaning. others, however, are richly allusive” in deciphering their meaning adequately. musonda, ngalande & simwinga (2019) maintain that one should have adequate knowledge of the language's imagery and metaphor to fully appreciate the aspect of naming. matunda (2011) asserts that a name is like a document where one can read the history, culture and heritage of the individual or of the family in time and space. this view is related to the current investigation as it is used to unveil the bearer's cultural identity, the family's wish and prayer. he further says that in addition to psychological role in establishing a person's identity, names convey to those who know their origin and meaning the social and cultural experiences of the people who created them. these names, in addition, show how members of the community regard themselves because they philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 67 68 selection was also based on their experience of good knowledge of basà naming convention and also vast knowledge of culture, both as name givers and bearers/users. data presentation and analysis death prevention names can be studied from the morphological, morphosyntactic and syntactic perspective. these names, like other categories of basà anthroponomastics range from the simple lexemes to complex sentences which provide a window to the basà grammatical structure. at the structural level, this category of names does not have any contrastive properties that distinguish them from other names. they only differ in terms of the content of their referents. this category of names at the lexical level are dominantly nouns, there are few adjectives and fewer idiophones. these names are characterized by some complex morphological processes to derived personal names such as nominalization, deadjectivization, conversion and adjectivization of verbs. in what follows, simple words are presented and analyzed. table 1: nouns names (simple words) underlying noun derived noun meaning i. ùdukwo dukwo market ii. tù'wo tù'wó death iii. ùdàkwò ̣ dàkwò ̣ ant hill iv. òḍ ájẹ dájẹ i n s t r u m e n t f o r siting a grave site v. cèṇ jẹ cènjẹ land vi. ùtwotwo twotwo gravel vii. àgàzama gàzama herbaceous viii. àwara wara giant grass the data in table 1 are noun stems which undergo the process of elision of the initial sound of the basic word or syllable to derive reflect values, tradition and events. a similar assertion to that is what mashuri et al (2013) made saying that naming in african societies always reflects sociocultural and ideological realities of the societies that give or bear them. this, according to musonda, ngalande and simwinga, shows how sociocultural factors play a major role in the selection and bestowal of names. research methodology data generation/elicitation and research participants the study was conducted using the qualitative research a p p r o a c h a n d e m p l o y e d a d e s c r i p t i v e l i n g u i s t i c s framework/survey. the primary source of data elicitation included oral interview, partial integration, observation, metalinguistic interaction and focus group discussion with the sample population. the data elicited were verified by the researcher, given his native intuitions of basà language. all the recordings were done during the interviews and were jotted down in a note book for easy identification. in some instances, the data were gathered through discussions and these discussions aided the researcher to verify the authenticity of the data gathered. these procedures were also supplemented by introspection, based on the fact that the researcher is a native speaker. the field work was carried out in basà speaking areas of kogi, nasarawa states and federal capital territory, north-central nigeria. the data were analyzed in four tiers, namely, the raw data presentation follow by the leipzig glossing rules then the semantic meaning and finally, the pragmatic meaning (where applicable). selection of informants was done randomly considering the fact that the consultants are native speakers with native intuitions, who were between twenty (20) to seventy-five (75) years of age and their willingness to participate in the investigation. these randomly selected informants were both literate and non-literate native speakers of basà language. the philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 69 70 tone in the last or second syllable. the implication of the name is, 'the deceased child has returned/reincarnated'. the given name is a wish to prevent another cycle of death and rebirth. the people believe in reincarnation that the deceased child is the same that returns by the process of rebirth or reincarnation. this, they prove by incising the body of a deceased child on a particular part before burial and mysteriously, in the next rebirth, the child is born with a mark on the position the deceased child was incised. this incision is also another mysterious strategy of forestalling further child mortality. námá and fwósò maintain their basic form as present infinitive. meaning wise, námá means 'stay', it appeals to the spirit of death to the spare named child. fwósò means 'get rotten'. it dares the spirit of death by telling it, through the named child that they killed the child as usual and get it rotten. its implication is a strategy to ensure the survival of the named child. pragmatically, the name giver(s) present their wish through the name, the reverse way. the verb in (iv) is derived from a basic verb nwóma which means 'misfortune'. the derived verb is suffixed with a suffix -ne which is an applicative marker whose additional meaning is, 'misfortune' for either the name bearer or the name givers inclusive. the meaning derives from the misfortune, particularly, infant mortality which the family has suffered. the name bestowed on the child is an expression of lamentation, fear and prayer to their ancestors or deities to show mercy on the named child and subsequent ones and spare them. the next category of names is those composed in adjectives. majority of this category of names are derived from verbs by certain morphological processes. this category, like the verbal category is not as productive as the nominal category, it was very difficult eliciting this category during the field work. this can be personal names. this process applies to the derivation of proper noun for every noun that begins with a vowel. this is because, basà personal names rarely begin with a vowel sound; hence, those that begin with an initial consonant sound are not affected by this rule (process). for instance, see data table 1 (ii) & (v) where cènje maintains its basic form because it begins with a voiceless affricate sound (/tʃ/). in (ii) the rule of elision does not apply, but in the derived word, the tone of second syllable is modified from its basic mid tone to high in the derived proper noun. in (v), cènjemaintains its inherent form without any morphological or phonological process or adjustment. in the field work embarked on to elicit data for this study, few names composed of verbs were found. there were two categories of this type namely; those that make command and those that are inflected. those that make command, although could be regarded as imperative sentences are composed of just one or more verb in their present infinitive form and those that are inflected verbs are formed based on the appropriate method of inflecting such verb stems. the category of single verbs as names can be furnished with the examples in table 2. the other category will be discussed in table 12. table 2: verb names underlying verbs derived noun meaning i. gúré gûre returned ii. námá námá stay iii. fwósò fwósò get rotten iv. nwóṃa nwọma-nẹ misfortune vi. misfortune misfortune-appl in tab. 2 i, the verb base of the derived name gûre whose both syllables are characterized by [hh] tones are modified in the derived names with falling tone in the initial syllable and a mid philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 71 72 table 4: nominalization underlying verb gloss d e r i v e d n a m e gloss i. nyíngátángà 'console' à n y ì n g à t ò ̣ consolation ii. lásò ̣ win t ò ḷ a s ọ victory iii. nwóṃ a misfortune t ò ṇ w ò ṃ à misfortune the morphological processes deriving the names in table 4 are: in (i) nyíngátángà 'console' the basic verb, which derives ànyìngàtò ̣ 'consolation'. the derived noun is derived by prefixing the verb stem with aand eliding the last syllable -gá. in (ii), tòḷ asọ is derived by affixing the verb stem with the nominalizing prefix -tó and modifying the tones of the basic verb from [ll] to [mm]. in (iii), the name is derived by affixing the verb stem with a productive nominalizing prefix -tó and modification of the basic tones from high low to low low. socioculturally, ànyingàtò ̣means 'consolation' that is, trusting god that the named child will survive. tòḷ asọ in (ii) is also an expression of faith or optimism that the named child will have victory over the spirit of death. (iii) is contrary to (i & ii) in that, in retrospect, it expresses a lamentation as a result of the death(s) of the earlier infants and assumes that the named child will bring more misfortune as it is expected to die. the study also discovered a very few set of verb phrases headed by a negative verb stem to show lack of what is specified in the object position. this can be furnished in table (5). table (5): verb phrases as names i. zá utumwa → zátumwa neg.have message 'has no message' presented in table 3 below. table 3 names as adjectives underlying verbs derived noun meaning i. fwósò fwéshí rotten ii. shíngò shinji fed up fwéshí is derived from the verb stem fwósò, that is, it is a process of adjectivization where the adjective name fwéshí is derived from a verb base fwósò. the meaning of the derived name is related to meaning of the underlying verb. the morphological behavior of table 3i is characterized by internal modification, the vowel of the first syllable (i.e. back high vowel) is replaced by high-mid front vowel, the consonant of the second syllable, i.e., alveolar fricative is replaced by a palate-alveolar (post-alveolar) fricative and the vowel of the second syllable, (back low vowel) is replaced with front high vowel. the socio-cultural meaning of fwéshí is, 'the child will die and get rotten like other infants' (who preceded to her). it is noteworthy that the modification in the first syllable is a progressive assimilation because it is engendered by post-alveolar fricative following the high-mid tone. the name is a lamentable appeal to the deities to forestall further infant mortality. shinji in (ii) derives from the verb shíngò 'fed up' which expresses the lamentable frustration of the name giver(s) over the frequent child mortality. the morphological processes underlying its derivation are, the tones of the two syllables are modified, where the hl tones of the basic verb are replaced by mm tones and the velar stop is replaced by the voiced affricate. during the field work, few data were elicited where nouns were derived from verbs by various morphological processes. table 4 below presents data for this category. philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 73 74 the structure of names in this category comprises subject verb and complement or object, which is the basic word order. they are the most productive source of names in the language. examples: table 6: affirmative statements as names 1. bò ̣ mâ nyisa → mânyísá 3sg 2sg entice/deceive 's/he is enticing me' ii. ń ta hânsà → tâsà 1sg prog think 'i am still thinking' iii. bò ̣ zhananẹ → zhananẹ 3sg go-hab 's/he will go again' iv. ń tà 'wanẹ 1sg prog hold 'i am still holding' examples in table (6) are statements of facts or truth. they give information to the listener. anybody familiar with basà socio-culture, upon hearing these names could infer what is responsible for their bestowal because, they summarize the story of the bearers and givers. structurally, the constituent of the name (i) includes the subject and predicate. the subject, the dominant noun phrase serves as the head of the sentence. the predicate is headed by the verb nyísá which subcategorizes the object nâ '1sg'.it implies, the named child is only enticing or deceiving the name givers as it is expected not to survive like others, that is why the habitual marking morpheme is attached to the verb stem. ii. zá ùwè ̣ ìbìye → zábiye neg.have thing good 'have nothing good' iii. zá ilimwẹ̀ → zálimwẹ̀ neg.have usefulness 'have no value' the verb phrases in table (5) are all preceded by a negative verb, followed by a direct object of those object whose lack is expressed in each example, the initial vowel of the direct object is elided to derive the surface form. in (i), the surface meaning of zátumwa is, the named child 'has no message', i.e. the child will not be useful for messaging as it may die like others. the name givers lament the uselessness of the named child. the initial vowel of the object of the compound ùwèị̀ bìye also elides deriving wèḅ ìye, which means, nothing good is expected from the name bearer. the name giver expresses their fear from their previous experience. (iii),zálimwè ̣means, the named child has no value because it is a candidate of death. the name cautions whoever is rejoicing over the named child to be cautious and take a cue from the past experience. the names are lamentable expressions and prayers to deities to reverse the cycle of death and rebirth in the family. at the sentential level, basà death prevention names are very productive and demonstrate a number of structural types. in this language, sentential names are basically declarative, imperative, very few interrogative and riddles. this category of names is characterized by complex morphological processes to derive nouns from larger linguistic units. in what follows, the data for this category are presented and analyzed unveiling their structures and intricate morphological processes and meanings. philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 75 76 ii. ń jéríshi → jéríshi 1sg want-neg 'i don't want' iii. ń zá iyi mè ̣ hiẹñ → zệmèḥiẹñ 1sg neg thing to say 'i don't have anything to say' (7i) láshe ̣ is structurally characterized thus, the subject ń occurs before the vp which deletes in the derived from. the vp is made up of only the verb stem because it is intransitive. the verb is suffixed with a negative operator which negativizes the entire proposition. the implication is, it is a lamentation from the name givers' desperation as a result of their past experience (infant mortality), the name givers are not worthy of the blessing of the child. (ii) is structurally characterized thus, the sentence is headed by first person singular subject and followed by a verb phrase(which deletes in the surface form) which comprises the verb stem suffixed with a negative operator which implies, the name givers are fed up with the disappointments occasioned by incessant death and rebirth cycles and express their aggression and lamentation that they are no longer interested, death should carry the child as usual. (iii) comprises the subject, a negative verb 'to have', an object and an independent clause. the derived form undergoes the derivative processes of clipping the subject, the negative operator subsists but its tone modified form high to falling tone, the direct object of the negative verb clips. the implication of the name is, the name giver(s) is speechless considering their past experience. one common thing in each of the cases in the foregoing data (i.e.7) is that, the subject, in each case is (first person singular) nominative pronoun. for (i & ii), the name givers, out rightly reject the offer of the named child, whereas in (iii), there is a condition that is based on their antecedent; the name giver will only make their remark if the basà is basically svo, as earlier stated but, where the patient is first person (singular or plural) the object occurs before the verb. in (ii), the verb is intransitive. the sentence is characterized thus: it is headed by a first person singular subject, followed by a progressive marker and the verb phrase made up of the verb only. the name giver, regardless of the arrival of the named child still ponders on the mishaps that have befallen him/her; a concern that threatens their faith about the survival of the named child. data (iii) structure is headed by a third person singular pronoun and followed by a verb phrase composed in a complex verb stem: the verb zhẹ and the bound morpheme (suffix) –nane ̣ which is a habitual marker. their ethno-pragmatic meanings are: (iii) implies, the name bearer, based on their (name givers) established fact, will die. their reactions through their expressions differ, still they have similar implications. (iv) is characterized by subject ń, future marker (tá) and vp 'wane,̣ a sentence whose derived/surface form requires deleting the subject and compound the progressive marker and the verb phrase and it implies the name giver is keeping the infant pending when the ancestors decide what to do with it. it is a lamentable prayer to the ancestors, pleading for the survival of the named child. the study also discovered a set of sentences that are negative statement as death prevention anthroponyms. these set of names are characterized by a negative operator to the affirmative which negativize the whole proposition. this category is furnished with examples in table 7 below. table 7.names as negative statement i. ń lánéṣhẹ → láshẹ 1sg worthy-neg 'i am not worthy’ philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 77 78 the dead reposes. this is born from the desperation of the cycles of death and rebirth the name givers suffered. the name in (ii) is also a lamentable expression and desperation by the name givers, speaking as if on behalf of the child that 's/he should be allowed to die'. (iii) shílόba is a death prevention name given to a male child, command or advising the people concerned to be careful in making merry for the named child that it is better they watch and see if she will survive first than make merry and mourn him at last. this is also based on their past experience. there is another subset of imperative names found in the course of the field work which make a negative command. structurally, they are not different from the set in (8), but are preceded by a negative operator which in this case, is not an affix but an independent morpheme, but equally negativizes the whole proposition. this subset of imperative can be presented and analyzed in table 9 below. table 9 i. tà mà hóṇ gá →tàhóṇ gá neg 2sg.obj laugh 'don't laugh at me' ii. tà ínà → tà'ínà neg lost 'don't get lost' iii. tò 'wó →tò'wo neg die 'don't die' example (i) is derived by eliding the sentence object which occurs sentence medially and combining the negative operator and the verb stem. it is a command by the name giver to his/her interpelled or antagonists, instructing them to stop their named child survives. names as command this study uncovered death prevention names that are structured in imperative constructions. this category of names semantically functions as command or constitutes an order (crystal, 2007). typically, this sentence type has no overt subject and it is made up of the verb in the imperative mood and a direct object for transitive verbs or a complement. this category can be exemplified in table 8 below. table 8 names as imperative i. zhága nà ambẹ̀ → zhánămbẹ̀ go.imp to bush 'go to the bush/woods' ii. ñdá mó 'wo →ndómó'wo leave.1sg agr die 'leave me, let me die' iii. gó ì shilo ba → shilóba let.3sg 3sg lay there 'leave it there' (8i) is characterized by clipping the second syllable of the verb base zhágaand merges with the preposition and the object of the preposition. the initial sound of the complement elides and leaves its mid tone on the subsisting vowel of the preposition before they are compounded. hence, the vowel of the preposition is characterized by rising tone. in (ii), the verb, the agreement marker and the verb stem compound to derive the surface form. (iii) is derived by clipping the initial verb and the third person impersonal pronoun and merge the second verb and the adverb of place ba. the meaning of (i) is a command to the named child commanding it to go to the woods where it is believed the spirit of philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 79 80 3sg out-applneg death anger-emph 'getting offended with death is only futile' this category of basà names is quite productive but those that are death related are quite scanty. only a few were found in this search. table (11 i) tègèri, the founder of a city does not enjoy its inheritance. it is given to a male child and it means, the fact that a child is born does not guarantee its survival. this is given to a child whose birth is preceded by series of infant mortality. mêjida in (ii) interpreted as 'getting offended with death is only futile'. death is so powerful that one cannot dare it in a fight or physical affront no matter how frustrated or hurt one may be, i.e. no matter the number of infant deaths recorded in the family, one is handicap as there is nothing they can do to combat death. the name is bestowed on a male child as a way of demonstrating the superiority of death in relation to human beings. another category of death prevention names in basà are those composed in serial verb constructions. during the field work, very few of this category were elicited which were clearly serialization of verbs, where a name comprised two verbs in a simple sentence. they can be furnished with examples in table (12) below. table 12 names as serial verb construction i. nâ ndá zhaga → ndâzhaga 2sg.imp do go.prog 'keep doing and going' ii. úmâ nyísá→mânyísá take deceive/mock 'deception /mockery ' mockery as the name givers are hopeful of a better family future. (ii) is derived by a simple process of merging both lexemes, commanding the named child not to get lost (die) like other children who suffered infant mortality. (iii) is like (i) in its derivational process which is an instruction to the named bearer (male child) not to die. this instruction is born by the anticipation that the named child is likely to die like those born before it. hence, the commands 'don't die'. anothersubcategory of names are those in question form but not conventional questions question like wh-questions or polar questions but riddles. riddles are questions that describe things or people in extremely difficult and confusing ways which are answered in clever and amusing manner, and are considered as a clever way of teaching. they usuallyrequire an answer as their meaning, followed by a deeper or pragmatic meaning (imoh, 2009). they are also used as personal names andzoonyms (impersonal names) in the basà language. thesehumorous puzzles are related to the meanings of these names byvirtue of circumstances surrounding the birth of a child etc. the riddles themselves are not sentences but they trigger a response or an answer in a sentence form. interrogative sentence type can be furnished with examples in (11) below. table 11 names as riddles i. riddle: tègèri bùjwê bò ̣ ọna yéṣhe ògú ìbe-̣ ò n.pre-inventor of city eat.-eg inheritance it-emph 'the founder of a city doesn't enjoy the inheritance of it' ii. riddle: mêjida è benenishi tu'wo isẹbwẹ-o philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 81 82 grammatical information on the basà naming practices which unveils the phonology, morphosyntax, semantics, and pragmatics and also stirs other aspects of information beyond the domains of linguistics (extra-linguistics) that underlie personal naming. the study has unearthed facts about the intricacies of sentential names in basà such as simple sentence which derive names by complex phonological, morphological and morphophonological processes such as elision, clipping, replacement, modification, compounding, affixation, desententialization etc. that is, larger grammatical units such as clauses and sentences shrink into smaller grammatical units such as lexemes and compounds to derive personal names. in conclusion, this study aligns with (chomsky, 1986) which argues that grammar constitutes a tacit knowledge of what the native speakers know about their language, a fact that is applicable to the grammar of names. abbreviations appl – applicative refl – reflexives pst – past agr-s – subject agreement agr-o – object agreement imp – imperative neg – negative/negation isg – first person singular fut – future hab – habitual prep – preposition aux – auxiliary prog – progressive 3sg – third person singular o (bj) – object 2sg – second person singular posspossessive iii. ǹdá mό 'wo → ndámó'wo leave.1sg let.agr.o die 'leave me, let me die' table (12 i) is derived by clipping the second person singular imperative marker and merging the serial verbs. it is a name bestowed on a male child to guarantee its survival after series of deaths and rebirths. the derived name comprises two verbs of equal grammatical value. this category of basà names is quite productive but those that are death related are quite scanty. in this search, only few were found. the derived names comprise two verbs each. (i) mânyísá implies, the addressee should do what they can within the little period available to the child before it goes (dies). (ii) is composed of two verbs mâ 'take' and nyísá 'mock/deceive' bestowed on a male child. it implies that the named child only came to mock and deceive the beneficiaries. (iii) is derived by merging all the lexical items to form a compound. ǹdá is a verb that means 'leave' (for first person singular), mó means 'let' and agrees with first person singular number and 'wo means 'die' the derived form is characterized by a reduced number of syllable as the subject ǹdá characterized by lh reduces to one syllable forming a consonant cluster i.e. nd where the first syllable ǹ loses its status as a tone bearing unit. conclusion this study investigates the phenomenon of the structure of death prevention personal names in the basà language whose communicative tendency can deepen one's linguistic knowledge. this investigation shows that this category of names is characterized by important linguistic properties which can provide more empirical insights and facts into linguistic onomastics. it has attempted a systemic investigation of formal philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 83 84 haviland, w., p. h. &mcbride, b. 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(2011). differential time stability in categorical change: family names from nouns and adjectives illustrated from german. journal of historical linguistics, vol 1,269-292. philip manda imoh phd & friday dansabo: basà anthroponomastics: a linguistic study of basà death prevention names: wishes and lamentation coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 page 30 page 31 page 32 page 33 page 34 page 35 page 36 page 37 page 38 page 39 page 40 page 41 page 42 page 43 coou jofocus journal 2021.cdr african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide's delta blues and home songs jude zeal adegoke department of english and literary studies, kogi state university, anyigba. 07031068023 judezealous@yahoo.com & grace obada department of general studies, kogi state polytechnic. lokoja & otaru friday john department of general studies, kogi state polytechnic, lokoja abstract when one reads through the critical opinions of many anglo-american ecocritics on the ecocritical praxis, one who knows nothing about africa and the vigorous struggle against environmental and ecological degradation would conclude that ecocriticism is the exclusive literary practice of the west. this is a problem, because, though subject to and often affected by cultural demands, practices as well as world view, ecocriticism is a global practice, predicated on the modern environmental crises that have continued to raise serious concerns among men of differing cultures. using the analytical method, and the ecocritical theory as framework, this paper establishes the ecocritical praxis as 'a familiar bedfellow' in african literature, exploring the extent of the presence of the ecocritical tradition in african literary canon, using tanure ojaide's delta blues and home songs as a paradigmatic example. it is discovered that african writers, especially as evident in the aforementioned text, use their works to agitate against environmental degradation and despoliation, with the sole aim of recuing it from further damage. it is concluded that though, ecocriticism started in the western world, it has spread across the globe, including africa, where it has come to gain so much acceptability, following the growing unease over environmental degradation on the continent. keywords: african, cultural spatiality, praxis, ecocriticism, angloamerican introduction the way ecocritical practice is perceived by western critics, categorically establishes it as an exclusively western literary engagement. it thereby cuts off the entire african continent and the advocates of this literary practice from the global struggle against the ecological question. but the universal truth about ecocriticism is that, it is a practice that sweeps through continents of the modern world. this is following the growing environmental damage that tends to propel man and his environment speedily to a catastrophic end, and which demands urgent attention. while it is true that there is a subtle variance in the degree to which critics engage in ecocriticism across cultures, no culture in modern times can be cut off from the vigorous struggle against global ecological crises. this is because there is hardly any society that has not seen industrialization nay modernity with their large-scale negative effects on the natural environment and ecology. this paper, therefore, examines the ecocritical praxis within the african cultural space, establishing the fact that, like western observers, africans are worried about their environment and how it can be rescued from further despoliation, thus defining them as ecocritics, and ecocriticism as a global practice. 123 124 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs mailto:judezealous@yahoo.com ecocriticism in african literature: a critique according to aswin prasanth, african writers are in a “state of nature,” in perfect harmony with environment. their literature has therefore a rural orientation on the one hand and despise of urban background on the other. there is an inherent longing for lost rustic serenity in african literatures. in african literatures, the celebration of nature and wildness is more dynamic than in any other literatures. this celebration is part of community life. african communities have close relationship with nature and conservation ecology is part of everyday practice. writers like amos tutuola, camara laye, mongo bette, ferdinand oyono, cyprian ekwensi, ngugi wa thiong'o, chinua achebe, wole soyinka, nadine gordimer, alan panton, ben okri, chimamanda ngozi adiche, ama ata aidoo and j.m. coetzee have attempted to demonstrate these facts through their works (59). the above assertion is obviously true considering the affinity the traditional african man had with his natural environment, before the advent of colonialism. this relationship is captured by achebe in his novel things fall apart, where we see the natives struggling against the white settlers in an attempt to rescue their natural environment from desecration. before the term ecocriticism was coined by william rueckert in 1978, african writers had already started decrying the rape of their natural environment, by foreigners. for instance, “okara's poem “piano and drums” is a subtle nostalgia of the primal life of africa before foreign intervention, and the exploitation of africa's natural environment” (ayinuola 42). he also adds that, “the fisherman's invocation” and “the call of river nun” are poems that have a leaning towards the purity of the natural environment of the niger delta before the negative effects of oil exploration” (31). in a similar way, sikiru adeyemi ogundokun interprets john pepper clark's poem “night rain” as an eco-poem following the fact that it reveals the intrinsic relationship between literature and the environment, and the representation of nature, which constitute the environment in a literary work. all this points to the fact that environmentalism had always found great expression in african literary studies, before rueckert finally used the term ecocriticism to delineate the relationship between literature and ecology. in fact, in africa, there had been a communion between man and his ecological space, and that relationship was maintained until western capitalists violated african spatiality, fabricated social spaces, and broke that sweet bond, with their cruel activities on the virgin land of africa. these excesses are what they refer to as modernization, which, in itself, is a phenomenon of selfnegation. this modernisation fails to recognize that there exists an inseparable tie between man and his natural environment as against the african's belief that, “the survival of man is entirely tied to his environment (ogundokun 25). from the above explication, one can affirm that emily potter's supposition about ecocriticism, where she seems to restrict ecocritical studies exclusively to western literary canon, seems racially affected in a way. in her words: literature and the environment as a socio-political issue are of course familiar bedfellows in western literature, and their relationship in the latter part of the twentieth century appeared promising to literary critics, in a context of increasing public discourse on ecological shifts and environmental horrors (2). if, however, potter's claim with regard to the mutual exclusivity of ecocriticism is to be taken seriously, it must be from the angle that modernisation, − the cradle of the global environmental problems plaguing man today− originates in the west. potter's assumption must be reacted to through the post-colonial critical prism, following his failure 125 126 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs to take into cognizance the rich exposition of the african environment in african literature. as evident in african literature, african writers are cognizant of the endemic pollution, environmental degradation and other ecological problems that are currently ravaging the world− africa not excluded, hence their environmental agitations. in their quest towards rescuing and conserving the ecological space, we see writers' unwavering literary and even non-literary environmentalism in africa. in pre-colonial africa, man had great respect for his environment, and would not mistreat it for any reason following “traditional african ethical view”. chuka albert okoye is of the opinion that this ethical view presupposes that …nature has its respect which must be accorded it lest man is bound to suffer for it. thus, despite the fact that man is at the center of the ethical system, he does not have a monopoly of it. man seeks to preserve his environment according to the traditional african system not just for himself but for the future generation and in honor of the tradition (reference to ancestors and worship). the african traditional system is replete with this weak anthropocentricism following their belief that man is a keeper of nature not a master to it (143-144). since african traditional system had deep-seated roots in weak anthropocentricism, the pre-colonial african regarded his environment with utmost respect and treated it with caution, because any harm done to the environment is invariably harm done to man. but the case varied largely upon the intrusion of the civilisers, the 'enlightenment' missionaries and the eventual colonisers, who failed to acknowledge any intrinsic nexus between man and his environment. in western societies, anthropocentricism takes centre stage, and their values are constructed from this position. this is why they keep engaging in debates on whether or not nature has an autonomous existence as distinct from that of man. byron caminero-santangelo tells us thus “angloamerican ecocriticism frequently embraces the ethical position that humans need to do away with “anthropocentrism” by rejecting the nature-culture dualism which objectifies nature and places the category of culture/humanity at the center of things” (699). in africa, this is not a subject for debate, because while they may obviously have autonomous existence, they remain intertwined, hence, interdependent on each other, burying therefore the binary idea of superiority and inferiority. this is the mind-set of the african, which sets him worlds apart from his western counterpart. thus, in african literary ecology, the ecocritic may not set out to answer the same pressing questions that western literary ecological critics bother themselves with. african ecocritics simply struggle to conscientise the people on the need to rekindle their severed relationship with their natural environment, so that man, like a prodigal, would return to bygone days, and begin to enjoy the fullness of nature he once enjoyed. so, jonathan bate's revelation of what constitutes a critical discourse in western literary ecology−“a central question in environmental ethics is whether to regard humankind as part of nature or apart from nature”(8)− is of less relevance in african literary ecology. however, the african ecocritic, in his enterprise, also bothers himself with the question: “what is the place of creative imagining and writing in the complex set of relationships between humankind and environment, between mind and world, between thinking, being and dwelling?” (8). this remains an essential meeting point between the african ecocritical scholar and his western counterpart. generally, ecocritics “lay emphasis on the preservation of landscape in order to save the human race”(fenn 114). he adds that, “ecocriticism not only lays emphasis on the 'harmony' of humanity and nature but also talks about the destruction caused to nature by the changes which take place in the modern world for most of which man is directly responsible” (fenn 114). this constitutes the ultimate focus of african literary ecologists. they recognise that things have changed greatly, especially negatively, and they remain perturbed by the current state of their natural environment. this worrisome state is often located in modernisation and the gross expansion of global capitalism whose strength springs from modernisation itself. 127 128 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs there is no doubt about the extent to which modernisation has powered the expansive energies of global capitalist values and practices. so, the african writer now has an environmentalist role to play to help in saving both man and the natural environment, from total destructionbecause he knows that the death of the natural environment would invariably toll the demise of the entire humanity. in africa, the quest for environmental justice is the commonest engagement of literary writers of today, and this “environmental justice reflects justice not only in human communities but also towards other species, ecosystems, landscapes, and the environment as a whole” (sahu 548).in the niger-delta landscape, writers struggle to avert the harsh realities of “acid rain” which “acidifies their lakes and streams and damages their vegetation.” this is done by conscientizing the people on the likely damage gas flaring and bombing of oil pipelines have on human beings, the atmosphere, and the entire human and animal environment. the creative writer, like the non-literary writer and other environmental activists, share the revolutionary vision of the group friends of the earth nigeria, as captured by godwin uyi ojo and nosa tokunbor, who state thus: our vision is of a peaceful and sustainable world based on societies living in harmony with nature. we envision a society of interdependent people living in dignity, wholeness and fulfilment in which equity and human and peoples' rights are realised. this will be a society built upon peoples' sovereignty and participation (8). from every indication, “the world of literature throngs with works dealing with beauty and power of nature. however, the concern for ecology and the threat that the continuous misuse of our environment poses on humanity have only recently caught the attention of the writers” (fenn 115). fenn's assertion is true to some extent but certainly not in its entirety, especially in the african context. this is so because africans have always been aware of the environmental problem with which they have been faced. they knew this fact from the epoch of the colonising force, and they started writing about it when they developed the knack to reduce their creative imagination to paper. this cry has continued to be heard. for the above reason, fenn's claim would be much more appropriate if it declares that there has recently being a tremendous increase in literary works expressing solidarity with nature, and the growing havoc being done to our environment and its repercussion on man. that way, fenn would simply have expressed an outstanding opinion on literary ecological studies in contemporary times. another assertion worth responding to is the one by william slaymaker. though an african literary critic, slaymaker does not seem to be correct in his investigation of african writers' engagement with ecological or environmental issues. he declares that: general anthologies, review, and summaries of black african literary and critical practices from the late 1980s through the 1990s bear out the thesis that global ecocritical responses to what is happening to the earth have had an almost imperceptible african echo. books that deal with black african criticism and literary theory rarely take up environmental or ecological topics (689). . it could be true that, 'critical practices' in africa have not responded ecocritically to the issues as stated above. but we refuse to accept, predicated on the evidence seen in the works of earlier writers, the assumption that 'literary practices' expressed virtually no concern for the plaguing global environmental and ecological crisis. obviously, the reason why critical scholars could not respond to these environmental challenges is because the critical tool called ecocriticism had not been coined. but they, however, condemned the damage being done to the earth. wole soyinka's swampdwellers, ayi kwei armah's the beautiful once are not born, alex la guma's a walk in the night, ngugi's a grain of wheat, in addition to the ones mentioned early on,also explore the 129 130 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs theme of nature, environmental pollution and degradation. and these literary works are a product of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. truly, there might not have been the preponderance of creative works exploring the degradation of the earth in earlier decades, but there were still works that responded vigorously to the issue. the only factor that delayed the expansive exploration of environmental or ecological criticism is the absence of a generic theory. that is,a theory that categorically underpins ecological issues, (and like marxism would reveal class struggle and the mode of production, and how it affects concrete history), uncovers the hidden elements of ecologism in any given literary text. thus, if ecocriticism as a modern literary theory had been coined three or more decades earlier, it would have received adequate literary and critical responses just like every other sociological theory that has found expression in african literary circle. though he claims that ecocriticism is a 'global movement', slaymaker uses “a primarily anglo-american ecocritical framework” (caminerosantangelo 698) as a paradigm for the appraisal of texts, “to determine if a piece of writing is properly environmental”(698). this surfaces as a serious pitfall in slaymaker's critical evaluation of african ecocritical output from the 80s and 90s. as we have earlier mentioned, there are questions that bother the western ecocritic, but are taken with levity, in africa, because they have, from the primordial soup, found answers in orthodox african cultural values and practices. so, it is improper for slaymaker to judge african literary ecological imagination using american and british ecocritical criteria and principles. with this kind of engagement, one is forced to think and argue from the post-colonial viewpoint. such argument may include the justification that africa is detached from 'global' network, and her values cannot be incorporated into the differing sets of values that make up any global engagement or action. hence, what is global is in every sense western, since anything that falls outside the values and practices of the west is grossly deficient and irrelevant in determining what is acceptable as global. if ecocriticism is truly global in outlook, it should be able to take into account certain ecological, environmental, and cultural realities of the african universe in relation to the african being. this is so because, africans have inextricable relationship with their natural environment, and have come to concern themselves so much with the crises plaguing it, with concerted efforts made towards its rescue and conservation. but, this singular act, namely, the failure of western ecocritics to integrate african ecological practices into what they term 'global' (which is by every means western), makes ecocriticism a theory that could be fully realised based on cultural beliefs, values and practices, of the milieu of the text. if one takes into cognizance glotfelty fromm's assertion that “environmental writing supports a dualism that asserts nature as totally separate from humanity while ecocritical writing unifies the two, or at least analyzes the relationship between them” (xx), one would be quick to locate a chasm between the anglo-american and the african praxis of ecocriticism. in africa, the union between humanity and nature borders more on a natural bond than any artificially fabricated nexus. the traditional african is born with the knowledge that he is his environment and his environment him, and not like the american or british, who focuses on unifying man and nature artificially. so, against western misapprehension and bias that, the african does not understand his environment, and hence needs the westernised african, or at worse, the western critic to interpret for him his natural environment is an illusion. in fact, it is another way of imposing imperial culture on colonies, so that their cultural practices would continue to maintain a hegemonic space in 'global' cultural discourses. ecocriticism is like feminism, because the culture in which it operates plays an indispensable role when it is used to evaluate a text. this is so because; human attitude towards nature and the ecosphere vary substantially from culture to culture. in traditional african society, when modernity had nothing to do with her, man depended solely on nature for survival. herbs and plants served man extensively. mountains, hills, and 131 132 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs trees were also there to serve man. but upon the intrusion of modernity or western civilisation, everything changed, and then the need to be in tune with it became paramount. roads were constructed, which meant the destruction of mountains, trees, and plants and species, without taken into cognizance the essence of nature to the african man in his natural habitat. then, furniture replaced seats constructed with clay, and the hewed trees were mostly exported by the colonialists to the centre, for commercial purposes. like feminism, culture matters greatly when ecocriticism is mentioned, because of variations in cultural experiences, beliefs, and values. at this point, we can infer that though it started in the west, ecocriticism has spread across the world, and has since become an established literary tradition in the african cosmos. in fact, in the last few decades, environmentalism and the study of man and the ecosystem have become a fast-spreading area of literary engagement, which has found a ubiquitous voice in many works of african creative writers. slaymaker contends thus: black african critics and writers have traditionally embraced nature writing, land issues and landscape themes that are pertinent to national and local cultural claims and that also function as pastoral reminiscences or even projections of a golden age when many of the environmental evils resulting from colonialism and the exploitation of indigenous resources have been remediated. a review of any number of bibliographies, literary histories, and anthologies of black african literature and criticism in the past several decades will bear out this intense interest in the local recapture of a violated nature (683). also, in his appraisal of eco-criticism in african literature with regard to the journey thus far, byron caminero-santangelo articulates thus: in the past fifteen years, african environmental activism has been brought to the world's attention through the martyrdom of ken saro wiwa and more recently, by the awarding of the nobel peace prize to wangari maathai. these figures point not only to the ways that africans have mobilized against environmental degradation, but also to the grave environmental problems faced by africa which have become, especially in conjunction with social problems, a significant threat to its present and future-well-being(698). in africa, environmental activism has continued to grow tremendously. this growth is often attributed to the global struggle against ecological crisis. by writing about the degradation of their environment, the african writer aims to demonstrate his drive to play his part in the ecological struggles. the modern african writer cannot be silent because, “more than a century of imperial and neo-imperial attitudes and practices has resulted in intractable environmental problems as well as in the need for new kinds of environmental discourses” (caminerosantangelo & myers 2). the attitudes have further compounded the environmental crisis ravaging the african society. this is supported by nwagbara who states that ecological imperialism “has left the nigerian society environmentally battered” (19). this accounts for the reason why, like ojaide, the african creative writer “allows the social facts in his lived environment to find expression in his art”(23). african ecocritical writers work round the clock to ensure that nature's wounds are healed, and the hitherto inextricable relationship that traditionally existed between man and nature resurfaces to replace what currently obtains between humanity and the natural environment. this way, man's negative attitudes towards his ecological space would terminate, and careful and positive attitudes would be what issues from man to her, and then our ecosystem would rejuvenate. according to hamoud yahya ahmed & ruzy suliza hashim, “ecosystems are highly sensitive and frequently disrupted by human misdeeds and ill-treatment of the natural world, leading to extinction of species of plants and animals whose ecosystems have been compromised”(9). 133 134 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs the entire impulse and focus behind both african and anglo-american ecocriticism is rightly captured in the words of shoba and nagaraj thus: now-a-days, almost all people have turned their attention towards the planet of life, the earth. the ecosystem which accommodates human beings acts reflexively. whatever humans do to the mother earth, have the deeds reflected on them. a sudden attraction towards the ecosystem came about when scientists found a hole in the ozone layer. then the people began probing the planet more and more. they became more conscious of the environment in which they live (639). so “when people slowly started understanding what is happening to the ecosystem where they live, they started relating the ecological study – which considered the ecological problems like pollution, global warming, etc. – to literature” (shoba & nagaraj 639). this has also been the situation in africa, where ecocriticism has become domesticated, and has being growing considerately due to the indiscriminate exploitation of nature, especially birthed and encouraged by colonialism. gitanjali gogoi's avowal clearly illustrates and justifies the grounds on which ecocritical practices started and has continued to expound, in africa: the present day environmental predicament is a sure result of the age-old practice of exploitation of nature and abuse of the environment for the benefit of human civilization. while the reshaping of nature has been executed throughout human history, the episode of european colonialism is the most outstanding example of human interference with nature as the whole enterprise of colonization was based on the idea of exploiting nature and its resources. the western cultural tradition of using nature for human benefits was most strongly propounded through colonialism. in fact, it is not only during the era of colonization, but the practice against nature is being carried out in the neocolonial period in the present day circumstances. therefore the blame for environmental crisis falls primarily on the west as it is inspired by the western principle of separation of the human from the non-human (1). we can, therefore, conclude that, “even though 'ecocriticism' is comparatively new as the movement started only in the late 20th century, study of nature and man in literature dates back to the ancient times”(chingangbam 60), and it has continued to surge due to increase in the havoc constantly wreaked on our ecological sphere by local and foreign capitalists. african literary writers have also contributed significantly to its growth, just the same way the west has. if by any means the west has engaged more committedly in literary ecological activism, then it is a way of cleaning off the mess they have created with their 'civilising missions' and inventions, as posited by gogoi in the foregoing assertion. ojaide's poetry and the ecocritical tradition nwagbara is of the opinion that “ojaide uses literature for environmentalist purposes. he places premium on the biotic community—its sustainability and preservation” (28). this artistic vision is fervently demonstrated in the poem 'when green was the lingua franca”, in which he unequivocally paints the idyllic landscape retrospectively and juxtaposes it with the current state of the same environment that once paralleled the much talked-about eden garden. the word 'green' in the title of the poem is symbolic of fertility, thereby defining the niger-delta ecology as a fertile landscape before its desecration. in this poem, ojaide takes a historic and retrospective journey into his blissful childhood, and relays to us, how much of thrills and fascination defined it: my childhood stretched one unbroken park, teeming with life. in the forest green was the lingua franca with many dialects (12) 135 136 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs he goes on to reveal the seascape and its fullness before toxic wastes were unfeelingly sent into it, killing its inhabitants: “i remember erhuvwudjayorho/such a glamorous fish”. the poet seems to be expressing great pain over the disappearance of this beautiful creature of nature. in his reminiscence, he continues to recount the cordial relationship man used to maintain with nature, how he (the poet) dashed freely into the eden garden to obtain whatever fruit he wanted, and how beautiful it was at that time when he could commune with nature. before the rape of the natural ecological landscape of the deltas, ojaide tells us: snails and koto lured me to tear through tangles that seasoned my soles to defy every distance. urhurhu grapes coloured my tongue scarlet, the owe apple fell to me as cherries and breadfruit on wind-blessed day (12) in the first line of the above excerpt, ojaide particularly humanises snails and kotos by personifying them with the exclusive human attribute of luring. this means therefore that, they too had tangible existence and could give happiness, as we see in the poet who abandoned himself to the beautiful images of these creatures and covered distances just to behold them. we see also 'the owe apple' falling willingly to the poet, in form of an embrace, an action only humans are capable of carrying out. the entire essence is to highlight man's hitherto original closeness and rapport with nature, and nature's own consistent desire to satisfy man. the poet's sublime childhood in a stainless, well-afforested, environment is seen in the last part of the second stanza. at this time, we are invited to inhabit a forest of assorted trees; a forest of a thousand trees, and share the exuberance of a child overwhelmed by nature and its aesthetic bounties. he gallivants endlessly in a forest, playing with nature. he tells us that: the cotton trees made me fly for tossed-out fluffs; the gum tree took fingerprints before invisible policemen ikere froglets fell from skies (12) his admiration for the bucolic scene and the halcyon days continues, as he recalls how fishermen laboured less but harvested fish in abundance. we are told how “the skipper-fish overflow/culverts into fisher's ambush. this was, when nature could still conveniently serve man without complaints; when everything was still green and the ecology was in its best shape. the above is one pole of the dialectic created by ojaide to compare and contrast nature as it was and as it is at the moment, when man has fragmented it with sabres of greed. this second pole lays bare the pollution, despoliation, desecration and degradation of the niger-delta ecology and its corollary effects on the biosphere, biodiversity and the ecosystem. in fact, the ozone layer has become so dangerously depleted that species have become consequently endangered. we are told how: …shell broke the bond with quakes and a hell of flares. stoking a hearth under god's very behind (13) pained by this deprivation of his idyllic ecological space, the poet continues to articulate gory and devastating images which divorced him and his people from nature, and sounded a death knell on the environment and the entire biosphere. he attributes this inhumanity to 137 138 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs the multinational industry, which incessantly engages in gas flaring and emission of other noxious wastes into the atmosphere and seascape. he reveals that: explosion of shells to under mine grease-black gold drove the seasons mental and to walk on their heads (13) in the third to the last stanza, the poet bemoans the demise of some creatures of nature, which gave man succour and sustained his existence. here again, we see the personification of trees as creatures, with heads to behead. this kind of personification reveals ojaide's perception of these plants as human beings. the tone of the poem unveils ojaide's disappointment over the capitalist activities that have so damaged the delicate fabrics of nature, the same nature that has served man altruistically in all spheres. ojaide laments: i see victims of arson wherever my restless soles take me to bear witness the ethiope waterfall wiped out by prospectors? so many trees beheaded and streams mortally poisoned (13) we are again to sympathise with the poet whose ecology is now bereft of its natural endowments. the herbs which provide healing to the ailing have been destroyed and can serve man no more, and the herbalists have been inevitably rendered useless, with their communion with nature abruptly broken. ojaide states thus: now i commune with ghosts of neighbours and providers whose healing hands of leaves and weeds have been amputated (14) in the poem “seasons” ojaide continues to lament the pathetic state of the niger-delta landscape, its despoliation, his people's deprivation and marginalisation. he draws our attention to how imperialists' exploitation of oil in the region has done a great disservice to not only the landscape, but the seascape, in which case the people no longer have access to potable water. the imagery of 'oil slick' reminds us of the oil spillage that ravaged the area decades ago. he tells us that 'our towns rose from riverbanks of barter/once the waters sustained colouring from oil slick (15). knowing full-well the grave damage this spillage caused and still liable to cause, it became imperative to liaise with the necessary authority so as to rescue the ecology from further destruction and help in the fight against global warming currently plaguing our world. but those who took up the challenge are sent off 'from the promised land' to continue to wallow in their suffering. the 'promised land' is a biblical allusion, and it delineates an oasis, and this paradise is abuja, where the lords reside and work in cahoots with the multinational companies exploiting the niger-delta and destroying its fragile ecology, with repercussions on its habitants. in this poem, abuja is again personified, and at this time it is a metonymy that stands for the people occupying the seat of authority and power; it is a human being who receives complaints. their effort to rescue the environment from further pillage and revive it is captured in: our constitution cannot remain the same again− we selected delegates to take our prayers to abuja, but guns scared them from the promised land (15) in the poem “wails” ojaide laments the unlawful execution of an environmental activist, who had attempted to salvage the situation in the niger-delta region. everybody tends to mourn their beloved revolutionary, who knew the essence of nature and had championed the war against its destruction and its people. the poet reveals how: 139 140 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs streets echo with wails a terrible thing has struck the land, everyone is covered with shame or sorrow− this death exceeds other deaths they murdered a favourite son, this news cannot be a hoax; they have hanged a favourite son and eight other bearers of truth(18) this tragic execution of this warrior constitutes great pain and worries to the poet and his people. with rhetorical questions, the poet seeks to know how they hope to overcome their pathetic environmental devastation, and bring joy to the land. he asks: who will make me laugh, who will bring bassey &company to life? the lingua franca of the coastline? who will tell the forest of flowers? who will traverse the darkling plain of the delta? who will stand in front as the iroko shield to regain the stolen birthright of millions? it's for his immeasurable services that the giant's remembered there will be no end to this wail (18) the resistance activities of the dead warrior are certainly immeasurable and profound. these account for the poet's interrogation on whether there will ever be anyone who can manifest such valour and altruism in the environmental struggles and the struggle against deprivation and marginalisation. the impact of his revolutionary measures is ubiquitous, that is why “there will be no end to this wail.” (18) their defence is broken and they have become much more endangered than they were, since their messiah and other fighters are gone: the hardwood shield is broken, the people are exposed to a storm of abuse; the diviner's spell is broken & everybody's left in the open (19) at this point, he resorts to aridon, and conjures him up in his readiness to fight the battle for his people and his environment and the entire ecosystem: aridon, give me the voice to raise beyond high walls. in one year i have seen my forest of trees cut down, now dust taunts my memory if i don't open my mouth, i will be a dumb-and-deaf who's unable to forewarn after a bad dream (17) the poem “delta blues” begins with a reminiscence of the arcadian life of the poet's childhood, and he is plunged into nostalgia, causing him to paint the pitiable images of the present state of his environment, which sharply contrasts with what he had known as a child. in fact, he calls the environment of his childhood 'paradise'. he states thus: this share of paradise, the delta of my birth, reels from an immeasurable wound barrels of alchemical draught flow from this hurt to the unquestionable world that lights up its life in a blind trust.(21) he goes on to list the resources with which the environment is endowed and had enjoyed before humans broke the bond with nature, via toxic substances and negative activities in the biosphere. these resources were yields of nature that provided man with satisfaction (both materially and otherwise). but nature has been made unproductive and frail by man's unhealthy relationship with the natural environment and the entire ecosystem. plants are withering, animals are disappearing, their natural habitat has become inhabitable and endangered, the seas 141 142 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs have become toxic, murdering sea creatures, and the fisherman stripped of his means of livelihood. the farmer who no longer has arable and fertile land to cultivate is not left out, as well as the soul-killing drought and famine midwifed by man's insensitivity to the demands of the natural environment. he sadly tells us that: the rivers are dark-veined, a course of perennial draught this home of salt and fish stilted in mangroves, market of barter, always welcomes others− hosts the guests flourished on palm oil, yams and garri the home of plants and birds least expected a stampede; there's no refuge east or west north or south of this paradise(21) the metaphors and imagery in the above excerpt suggest that the region was a place that was home to everyone because of its evergreen, with its rivers that overcame heat and prevented diseases that could result from excessive heat and exposure to scorching sun. it was a self-sufficient land in terms of foodstuffs and natural resources. but today deforestation has claimed these trees, and the plants claimed by contamination of the soil. all this has synergised to inflict the people with diseases and penury. at this point one is prompted to query: what other disservice could be done to nature than the one already painted? ojaide reveals the glamour that defined the land and how it attracted outsiders: did others not envy my evergreen, which no reason or season could steal but only brighten with desire? did others not envy the waters that covered me from sunstroke, scourge of others the year round?(21) the use of rhetorical questions in the above stanza is quite emphatic, and draws our attention to the state of the original delta landscape and ultimately prompts us to decry the great loss that the environment as well as the ecology has suffered in the course of time as a result of man's shortcomings. ojaide's lamentation does not end here; he goes further to uncover how counterproductive the oil which should be a great source of joy is at the moment. it is a blessing-turn-doom. so instead of living in luxury, penury and sorrow describe the state of these hapless people. he achieves this with the concrete use of symbolisms and personifications. he says: my nativity gives immortal pain masked in barrels of oil− i stew in the womb of fortune. i live in the deathbed prepared by a cabal of brokers breaking the peace of centuries & tainting not only a thousand rivers, but lifeblood from beginning, but scorching the air and soil (21) he finds this whole scenario pathetic and wants urgent change in the status quo. but who are those to fight fervently and altruistically in a world where the self takes precedence over communal interest. at this point, the poet reckons with the selfless engagement of the late activists, spearheaded by ken saro wiwa. he acknowledges them as true to the cause of the people and their environment, and then begins to wonder if there are people who can transcend their bounds in the course of the revolutionary struggles. he concludes that there are none. he says, for instance: nobody can go further than those mounds in the fight to right chronic habits of greed and every wrong of power (23) 143 144 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs in “elegy for nine warriors” ojaide reflects on the valiant struggles of executed environmental revolutionaries, who had always stood up for the environment and the people of the niger-delta region. they understood the benefits of nature to man and strived to insulate it from total destruction. these are “those i remember in my song” and they are expected to “outlive this ghoulish season”, because they were those who walked “back erect from the stake.”(25) he uses a paradox to a certain effect here. we are made to believe that they remain alive even in death, because they will produce avatars to continue the struggle. this is what is meant when he states that “the nine start their life after death”. he believes their death will only spur more people to action and engender a call to arms, instead of dampening people's spirits. he tells us: the hangman has made his case, delivered nine heads through the sunpost and sored his eyes from sleepless nights. the nine start their life after death as the street takes over their standard (25) these valiant warriors are simply unforgettable, because they lived and died for the cause of the environment and the marginalised population of the niger-delta region. he states that, “nine marchers who died carrying/our destiny on their broad chests−/will surely outlive the blood-laden season” (25). conclusion in the poems analysed above, ojaide explores the society from the prism of ecocriticism. he draws readers' attention to the damage currently being suffered the african environment, which comes as an upshot of man's exploitation of his natural environment, for his selfish interest. we see ojaide's agitations against environmental degradationand his campaign for man's changed attitude towards nature, thus establishing the ecocritical praxis in the african cultural space. dialectically, he creates an avenue for people to see the likely benefits nature would yield to man when his attitude is positive, and then the lack that man would experience when he privileges negative attitudes to it. he achieves this through a retrospective journey into his idealistic childhood, when man tended the earth like its own child, and the earth in turn served man abundantly. it was a time when varieties of food were available to man; when seafoods had not turned scarce commodities, and animals were also available as meat in man's food. it was a time when man had free access to varieties of fruit, and like the biblical eden garden, man ate them at will. also, vegetables of different species were sufficiently available to man. but today, as ojaide captures, those bounties of nature have disappeared, and just like the punitive measure meted out to adam and eve upon the fall, man now finds himself deprived of those things he used to access with much ease. the hitherto fertile and attractive landscape has now become infertile and unattractive as a result of the release and flaring of toxic substances into rivers, land and the atmosphere from the greedy exploration of oil in the region by imperialist multinational companies in cahoots with the federal government of nigeria. today, fishermen and women, farmers, and all those who used to earn a living from the fullness of nature have now become disempowered economically, and many of them have taken to arms. all this portrayal is a pointer to environmentalism; the presence of the ecocritical theory, in african literary circle. the african natural environment as captured in ojaide's poems is a degraded one calling for urgent rescue and conservation. it is an environment suffering untold despoliation where african environmentalists are striving hard to preserve, conserve, recreate, in order to avert an environmental apocalypse. the fact that africans now inhabit a world plagued by unabating ecological crises, and have joined in the global fight against the environmental crises, is enough reason why africa's environment should constitute a global concern. 145 146 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs works cited ahmed, hamoud yahya & hashim, ruzy suliza. “an ecocritical reading of selected poems of muhammad haji salleh”. malay literature, vol. 25, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-17. armah, ayi kwei. the beautiful ones are not yet born. pearson, 1989. asika, ikechukwu. “poetry and militancy: niger-delta crisis and environmental concerns in odia ofeimun's go tell the generals and peter onwudinjo's camp fire songs.” ansu journal of integrated knowledge,vol. 1, 2011, pp. 190-201. ---“oily tears of the niger delta: perspectives on helon habila's oil on water.” ansu journal of language and literary studies ajlls,vol.1, no. 5,2019, pp. 147-161. --“the parasite and the host, oil exploration and exploitation of the niger delta: the poet's reflection.” five decades of oil production in nigeria: impact on the niger delta, 2012, pp. 215230. ayinuola, fortress isaiah.the natural environment in the selected poems of john keats and niyi osundare: an eco-critical perspective. an unpublished phd thesis submitted to the department of languages, covenant university, ota, ogun state, 2013. bate, jonathan. romantic ecology: wordsworth and the environmental tradition. routledge, 1991. caminero-santangelo, byron and myers, garth a.environment at the margin: literary and environmental studies in africa. ohio up, 2011. caminero-santangelo, byron. “different shades of green: ecocriticism and african literature.” in african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory.tejumola olaniyan and atoquayson eds. blackwell, 2007. chingangbam, anupama. “an eco-critical approach: a study of selected north east indian poets.” the c r i t e r i o n : a n international journal in english, vol. 5, no. 2, 2014, pp. 59-67. fenn, vathana. “roots of ecocriticism: an exploration of the history of ecocriticism, a literary theory of the post-modern world”. veda's journal of english language and literature (joell): an international peer reviewed journal, vol. 2, no. 2, 2015,pp. 104109. glotfeltry, cheryll, fromm, harold. the ecocriticism reader: landmarks in literary ecology. university of georgia press. 1996. godwin, uyi ojo & nosa tokunbor. “access to environmental justice in nigeria: the case for a global environmental court of justice”. environmental rights action friends of the earth nigeria. 2016. gogoi, gitanjali. “an ecocritical approach to chinua achebe's things fall apartand arrow of god”. in iosr journal of humanities and social science iosr-jhss, vol. 19, issue 11, nov. 2014, pp. 01-04. gogoi, gitanjali. “an ecocritical approach to chinua achebe's things fall apartand arrow of god.” in iosr journal of humanities and social science iosr-jhss, vol. 19, no. 11, 2014, pp. 01-04. gore, al. earth in the balance: forging a new common purpose. earthscan, 1992. la guma, alex. a walk in the night. heinemann, 1970. ngugi, wa thiong'o. a grain of wheat. heinemann, 1974. ogbowei, g'ebinyo. marsh boy and other poems. kraftgriots, 2013. ogundokun, sikiru adeyemi. “representations of nature in j. p. clark's “night rain”: an ecocritical study.” global journal of arts humanities and social sciences, vol. 1, no. 3. 2013, pp. 20-28. ogunpitan, s.a. ecology and the poetic imagination: niyi osundare's earth poetry. department of english. lagos state university, ojo. ojaide, tanure. delta blues and home songs. kraft books, 2007. okoye, chuka albert. “an evaluation of the evolved african concept of the environment.” african identities, vol. 12, no. 2, 2014,pp. 139-151. potter, emily. “ecological consciousness in australian literature: 147 148 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 jude zeal adegoke, grace obada & otaru friday john: african cultural spatiality and the ecocritical praxis: an insight into tanure ojaide’s delta blues and home songs outside the limits of environmental c r i s i s . h a w k e research institute working paper series no 29, 2005. prasanth, aswin. “ecology in african literatures.” the creative launcher: an international & refereed e-journal in english, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 58-68. rueckert, william. “literature and ecology: an experiment reader.”in glotfelty cheryll and harold f r o m m , e d s . t h e ecocriticism reader: landmarks in literary ecology. university of georgia press, 1996,pp. 105-123. shoba, v. & nagaraj p. “'lovers of nature' in willa sibert cather's o pioneers! and my antonia− an ecocritical analysis.” in language in india strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, vol. 13, no.2, 2013, pp 637-653. slaymaker, william. “ecoing the other(s): the call of global green and black african responses.” mla vol. 116, 2001, pp. 129–44. soyinka, wole. the swamp dwellers. in w. soyinka ed. collected plays 179-112. o.u.p., 1974. the refection of voodoo in toni morrison's sula and tade adegbindin's the saint nasir hashim department of english and drama, kaduna state university, kaduna nasirhashimhydara78@gmail.com 08135295865 & hajara b.k. mohammed department of languages, college of administrative studies and social sciences kaduna polytechnic hbkmohammed@kadunapolytechnic.edu.ng abstract despite the existence of islam and christianity, lots of africans and their displaced relatives in america tend to retain certain ideas associated with traditional religion, such as voodoo, occultism and magic. this paper traced and examined these ideas in toni morrison's sula and tade adegbindin's the saint. the paper exposed how some africans africanamericans blend christian practices with voodoo, magic and occultism. it highlighted how religious perception varies in these communities. also, the paper exposed the category of people that regards voodoo and occultism as relevant religious traditions even in the twenty first century. as text-base, the study relied on textual materials: the primary and the secondary texts. the study found that many africans and africanamericans practice syncretism. keywords: voodoo, occultism, myth, magic and syncretism 149 150 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 nasir hashim & hajara b.k. mohammed: the refection of voodoo in toni morrison’s sula and tade adegbindin’s the saint mailto:nasirhashimhydara78@gmail.com mailto:hbkmohammed@kadunapolytechnic.edu.ng page 62 page 63 page 64 page 65 page 66 page 67 page 68 page 69 page 70 page 71 page 72 page 73 page 74 page 75 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr psychopathological disorders. the performance poetry interrogates the issues of gender disorder and sexuality in patriarchal community. the paper concludes that the oral texts serve as subliminal coping mechanisms deployed by the traditional song artists impersonating housewives who are experiencing mental fragmentation in their matrimonial homes. keywords: performance, sublimation, mental fragmentation, sexuality, introduction oral performers like literary writers communicate their psychic and emotional pains to audience through their artistic productions. they employ performances as therapeutic method of addressing their personal psychological sufferings instead of directly confronting individuals and institutions that are responsible for psychopathological condition. psychological sufferings of individuals can manifest in forms of anxieties, phobias, thought broadcast, neurosis, psychopathy, antisocial personality disorders and substance abuse disorders, to mention a few. these psychological problems are diagnosed and handled by physicians, psychologists, and social workers and so on in formal settings while elderly people, experienced parents, cultural orators and oral artists deploy song performance for such intervention purpose in traditional society. in some cases, individuals can employ self-therapeutic strategy such as singing and dancing. oral productions are to a large extent the outcomes of thoughts, feelings and perceptions of artists. in marital context, psychological problems could be triggered by various threat of divorce, economic hardship, food insecurity, disagreements, affection, communication gap and distress, to mention a few. an attempt to provide peace and conflict resolution within marriage informed the intervention of marriage therapy, using expressive psychopathology, mental fragmentation and subliminal performance poetry friday akporherhe, ph.d department of languages (english & literary studies unit) university of delta, agbor, nigeria e-mail: friday.akporherhe@unidel.edu.n https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3910-9989 phone no.: 08033596583 and peter oghenerioborue udi, ph.d department of languages (english & literary studies unit) university of delta, agbor, nigeria https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5266-6583 e-mail: peter.udi@unidel.edu.ng phone no.: 08063841019 abstract the performance of song-poetry is an expressive method of communicating introspective and observational experiences, worldview, thoughts and feelings to psychological expectant audience in socio-cultural settings. the psychic materials which encapsulate ethno-cultural, religious and economic values are capable of co-activating the unconscious minds of listeners and improve their wellbeing. in this paper, the researchers examine song-poetry of two traditional urhobo musical minstrels, johnson adjan and orhire okoro with a view to establishing how the oral performances address women psychopathological condition activated by existential experientially in postcolonial society. the study adopts the library-based research and the psychodynamic theoretical framework to foreground the discourse. the oral texts purposively collected from the numerous songs of the artists are subjected to literary analysis. the study shows that song-poetry is the manifestation of the mental fragmentation of oral artists whose expectations of behavioural patterns of individuals in postcolonial soc ie ty a re overwhelming and capable of caus ing coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 111 112 http://friday.akporherhe@unidel.edu.n preservative drives (sexuality).”the instinctual drives are predominant in every individual and it influence thoughts and behavioural patterns.omiegbe (2005) notes that behaviour disorder is a deviant behaviour exhibited by a person who has a disturbance of the normal processes of the body or mind, which irritates or has negative effect on other people. the scholar maintains that “behaviour disorders imply any abnormal behavioural pattern shown by individuals that adversely affects interpersonal relationships.” research has also shown that “the mind is responsible for both conscious and unconscious decisions based on drives and forces. unconscious desires motivate people to act accordingly”(shahwan, 2017:1). the human mind essence contains repressed psychic materials including emotions, memories, experiences and symbols observed in society or assimilated through introjection. the unconscious mind contains repressed feelings, images, experiences and memories, to mention a few, which are either pleasant or unpleasant. these can be activated or expected to surface unconsciously in the physical world. “bhuvaneswari (2017) observes that “the state of repression, being between preconscious and unconscious state, functions like a storehouse of all the unfulfilled desires or traumatic past events and experiences. the reflections of this storehouse have a powerful influence on all the human actions. when the feelings of repression become excessive, they make the people sick” (49). it is therefore helpful for individuals with emotionally disturbed minds to express themselves openly instead of suppressing their psychic and emotional pains. psychological disorders are also referred to as psychopathology and such abnormal condition requires urgent therapeutic intervention from healthcare specialists in sociocultural settings. ojiofo (2016:109) acknowledges morgan (2006) who states that “in everyday life, the terms insanity, mental illness, psychopathology, emotional disturbance, behaviour disorder, oral performances. marriage therapy or counselling is a form of therapeutic intervention that is employed for the treatment of psychological problems with a view to strengthening interpersonal relationships in marriage institution. research has revealed that the unconscious mind that contains repressed memories inherited from parents and those introjected into the mind from childhood till maturity. it contains the instinctual drives, urges, excessive demands, and uncontrollable desires for gratification. ahamefule (2003:138) notes that “the id is inaccessible to conscious awareness. it is entirely buried in the unconscious layer of the mind. the id follow the pleasure principle, and caring along a motivating force oriented towards the immediate and total gratification (satisfaction) of sensual needs and desires (instinctual needs).” the instinctual energy underlies the driving (cathexes) or restraining forces (anticathexes) of the id. the uncontrollable forces of the latter result in impulsive disorders, destructive or aggression, and so on. all these are beyond the conscious layer of the human mind.the ego is the realistic principle of the human mind that is conscious, logical and rational in thinking. it is located at the center for conscious awareness and functions to give the individual the mental capacity for judgement, memory, perception and decision making which will enable the individual to adopt to the realities of the external world ( ahamefule, 2003:140). the superego refers to the aspect of the personality structure that strive independently towards perfection. it is morality principle and conscience of individuals. it creates the emotional feelings of guilt when the ego is overpowered by the id and vice versa. the superego is the level of righteousness, heroism, self-sacrifice and idealism. in investigating the behavioural disorders and dysfunctional thoughts of people particularly in marriage. the concept of instincts must be explicated.sharf (2010:33) asserts that in freudian psychoanalysis, “the term instincts and drives are often used interchangeably. he observed self-preservative drives (including breathing, eating, drinking, and excreting) and speciescoou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 113 114 conflicts in traditional society.sublimation is the diversion of libidinal energies to something that is socially acceptable and economically viable. sharf (2010:36) notes that sublimation refers to “the modification of a drive (usually sexual or aggressive) into acceptable scial behaviour” this research explores how the oral artists in an antiphonic and dramatic monologue employed subliminal ego defense mechanism by channelling their physical and mental energies into singing, dancing and dancing.the current study therefore examines performance poetry as subliminal coping mechanism for psychopathological and mental fragmentation, using folksongs of two popular urhobo traditional artists. the researchers examine song-poetry of two traditional urhobo musical minstrels, johnson adjan and orhire okoro with a view to establishing how the oral performances address the psychopathological condition activated by marital experientiality in postcolonial society. methodology the study adopts the psychoanalytic theoretical framework and ethnographic design, exploring cultural materials to determine their psychotherapeutic values in traditional society. the oral texts purposively collected from the numerous songs of the artists based on their thematic relevance are transcribed from indigenous urhobo language into english for non-native speakers to understand. the oral resources were subjected to literary analysis. apart from the primary data used in this research, secondary materials sourced from the internet were consulted with their relevant information used to buttress arguments and views in the discourse. literature review studies abound on performance of songs in traditional society particularly in urhobo land. however, no significance attention has been paid to the aspect of subliminal coping mechanisms deployed by traditional song artists experiencing mental fragmentation in marital context. darah (1982) focuses on mental disorder, abnormality and psychological disorder have roughly similar meanings”. the foregoing therefore implies that psychopathology deals with the study of mental disorders and abnormal behaviour in society. schwarz, et al (1993) note that psychopathology is “the part of psychology that deals with abnormal workings of the mind; an abnormal psychological condition” (cited in ojiofo, 2016:109). psychopathological condition can cause mental fragmentation which refers to disintegrated or inorganic psyche of individuals. fragmented mind results in abnormal behavioural patterns, dysfunctional thoughts and even depressive symptomology. coyne and fechner-bates (1992) note that “depressed persons may have trouble reciprocating pleasantries, showing enthusiasms or affection, or simply being attentive enough to participate in a conversation. they may find it difficult to express how badly they are feeling and may simply withdraw rather than face the lack of sympathy, useless advice, and outright hostility that they receive from others”(204). the scholars further reveal that “the serious stressors precipitating depression in a parent and the marital problems that are associated with it may have direct effects on both parenting and the well-being of children” (207). in relation to family system discourse which is the thrust of this research,coyne and fechner-bates (1992:204) acknowledge (coyne et al., 1987) who state that “the depressed person's relationships and family are distressed. conflict and inadequacies in these relationships are likely to have played a role in the person having become depressed. yet it is also difficult for depressed persons to maintain their relationships, and life with a depressed person can prove burdensome.” subliminal coping mechanismis essential in management of psychological sufferings in socio-cultural settings.since psychopathological condition can lead to emotional depression and untimely death if not promptly addressed, individuals are expected to adopt subliminal coping strategy to tackle psychological problems especially those triggered by marital coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 115 116 exploration of unconscious thoughts and feelings, understanding aspects of the relationship between therapist and client-which may relate to underlying emotional conflicts.” levy (2009:182) establishes that “the terms psychodynamic and psychoanalytic are often used interchangeably. however, within the psychodynamic and psychoanalytic communities, psychoanalysis is the term used when referring to a psychological treatment where the therapist, called a psychoanalyst or analyst, adheres to standard techniques focused on interpretation leading to insight in the context of the transference.” psychoanalytic psychotherapy is rooted in the theory of psychoanalysis which was founded by sigmund freud. though there are psychoanalysts like alfred adler and carl jung who deviated to develop their own theories, freud's achievement in psychology has become indelible with his introduction of psychoanalysis which focuses on conflict between the conscious and the unconscious. wright (2013:56) notes that “psychoanalysis is a science that concerns itself with the interaction between the unconscious and conscious. psychoanalysis was founded by sigmund freud on the basis that people can be cured by making conscious of their unconscious motivations and thought processes.” psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies focus on factors that are responsible for dysfunctional thoughts, maladaptive behaviour and negative feelings of individuals. these factors are repressed memories of events usually unpleasant that happened in the past which are mediated by unconscious processes. these memories are buried in the unconscious of individuals and they can be expressed spontaneously in several patterns of behaviour that affect their relationships and wellbeing. in actual sense, “the psychoanalysis makes it possible to understand the meaning of the analysand's symptoms, psychological patterns, internal conflicts, adaptations to trauma, self-deficits, deprivation, and other conditions” (american board of examiners, 2004:16). however, during the verbal communication that takes place between the psychoanalyst satirical nature of udje tradition of urhobo, ojaide (2000) investigates poetry, performance and art in udje dance songs of nigeria's urhobo people while idamoyibo (2010) explores conceptual analysis of igoru musical communication. aleude's (2006) study examines music therapy in traditional african societies with a focus on origin, basis and application in nigeria. aleude (2012) explores music as adae, focusing on the implications for music therapy in nigeria while awhefeada (2007) investigates praxis and aesthetics of urhobo “disco.” chambers (2008) explores song and metaphoric imagery in forensic music therapy while chiwome (1992) examines traditional shona poetry and mental health. moreso, coker (2012) investigates poetry as psychotherapy with a focus on orin aremo in yoruba folklore. the foregoing studies illuminate the current research which focuses on deployment of oral performances as subliminal coping mechanism for mentally fragmented of women in traditional marriages. the term, “therapy” is the short form of psychotherapy which is traceable to sigmund freud's psychoanalytic theory. psychotherapy is a psychological method of treatment for mental and behavioural disorders in society. this psycho-theoretical approach that originated from sigmund freudian psychoanalysis is synonymous with psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalytic therapy. sommers-flanagan and sommers-flanagan (2004:6) find that “psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of clinical practice based on psychoanalytic theory and principles.” shoai (2014) establishes that “psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of clinical practice based on psychoanalytic theory and principles. these multiple theories focus on increasing self-understanding and deepening insight into emotional issues and conflicts that underlie the presenting difficulties.” this clinical orientation will foreground the current study because the primary objective is to examine the application of poetry therapy as intervention for behavioural disorders in society. shoai finds that “therapists pay particular attention to the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 117 118 in polygamous marriage system in traditional society. the notion of permanence in human existence is faulted to activate the psychological consciousness of the husband who has instinctual drives for women with firm breasts. emotional disturbances can be express through thought broadcast, complaints and singing. davis (2010:126) affirms the unquantifiable function of performance or folkmusic and establishes that “music creates powerful connections between people as it provides a means to communicate, entertain, remember, mourn, or celebrate the lives of people.” the poet-minstrel describes the psychic and emotional sufferings of betrayed an old housewife but respectfully addressing her husband by chidren's names, “ose iboyi” (iboyi's father) and “ose ititi” (ititi's father). the culture of addressing husbands by children's names in the song depicts the high regards which married women bestows on their spouses in matrimonial homes. the referential use of “masa” which stands for the english equivalent of “master” further reveals housewives' total submission and declaration of lordship status of african men, particularly in urhobo socio-cultural settings. the foregoing is vividly captured in the excerpt of the performance below. lead singer: obrare re masa me chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: oshare me onana wo rue na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ose re iboyi ona wo ru vwe na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ose re ititi ona wo ru vwe na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: obrare re masa chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: obrare re masa chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ose re iboyi ona wo ru vwe na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: oyota! and the analysand (patient), both parties are bound to be beneficiaries. apart from other ego defense mechanisms used in addressing psychopathological disorders, subliminal technique which is often employed by oral artists. in this research, therefore, the performance serves as purgatory strategy for the artists and their choral groups. discussion of findings the psychological performing artists chosen for this study have performed several songs which address issues of affection, marital conflicts, childbirth, divorce, forgiveness, criminality and punishments, inevitable death, materialism and hospitality, to mention a few. johnson adjan's song, “emeya ri tete na je ka ghwa” (the young wives shall also get old) is performed through the technique of dramatic monologue, being a method of expressing the sufferings of female characters who undergo psychological torture in a patriarchal structural family system. an excerpt of the song is presented, thus: lead singer: emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na ooo! emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na gbe nughe, emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na chorus: emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na emeya ritete na je ka gwa vwe orovwe na lead singer: the young wives shall also get old in the marriage ooo! the young wives shall also get old in the marriage chorus: the young wives shall also get old in the marriage the young wives shall also get old in the marriage the young wives shall also get old in the marriage the young wives shall also get old in the marriage the performance is presented in purgatory style with the oral artist imaginatively exposing the mental fragmentation of older wives coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 119 120 metaphysical with cultural proverbs introduced to illuminate the subject matter. in this purgatory song, the oral artist deploys the proverb, “ame ro te osho je ke te ivwrite” (the water that touches penis will also get to the testis) as a notional illustration of non-permanence of beauty of women. lead singer: obrare re masa chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo rovwe ivie me she nure chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo gbo bo ye vwe ere rharan koye wo ne chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ame ro te osho je ke te ivwrite chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ame ro te osho je ke te ivwrite chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: e-eeeh! inene mo-ooo! chorus: obrare re masa playing of gongs… lead singer: it's not bad master chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: you have caused the sagging of my breasts chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: you abandoned me to seek firm ones. chorus: t's not bad master lead singer: the water that touches penis will also gets to the testis chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: the water that touches penis will also gets to the testis chorus: it's not bad master. lead singer: e-eeeh! my mother –ooo! chorus: it's not bad master playing of gongs… the rendition provides audience insights into the psychologically fragmented world of the imaginary character who is an old housewife with uncontrollable desire to marry a young lady with firms and pointed breasts whose husband demonstrates lead singer: it's not bad my master chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: my husband what you are doing to me now chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: iboyi's father this act you are displaying towards me chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: otiti's father this act you are displaying towards me chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it's not bad master chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it's not bad master chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: iboyi's father this act you are displaying towards me chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it is true! despite the emotional brutalization metted on the older wife by her husband, the former also acknowledges the supremacy of the “masa.” the performance thus serves as a psychological coping mechanism, deployed by the emotionally depressed housewife. through the rendition, the underlying factors that triggered the emotional outburst of the older wife is exteriorized. moreso, the song-poetry provides therapeutic support to audience particularly married women who experience similar marital conflict, in terms of counselling and encouragement. research has shown that “use of song lyrics in counselling is common and effective as an emotional recessing tool to evoke deep emotional responses from client” (gladding, et al, 2008). psychological performative arts among the urhobo are presented in indigenous language and they contain other linguistic resources such as myths, legendary stories, folktales and archetypal characters, to mention a few. all these are infused alongside the oral performance to activate and sustain the mental consciousness of listening audience. johnson osetejevwore adjan is among the legendary folk minstrels in urhobo society whose performances are philosophical, didactic, expository and coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 121 122 song leader: ivie me sheri ye emo rhe vwe!! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: ivie me sheri die ababo re-e chorus: obrare re masa song leader: omo re ovie re ye ghwaro rhe-e! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: omo re ovie re ye ghwaro rhe-e! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: my husband, i know. chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i knew before. chorus: it's not bad master song leader: man is for everyone! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: man is for everyone!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: god has even done it. chorus: it's not bad master song leader: my breasts are sagging but i have children! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: my breasts are sagging but i have children!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: my breasts are not sagging for nothing. chorus: it's not bad master song leader: the child who sucked them caused it! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: the child who sucked them caused it!! chorus: it's not bad master the psychological reflections of the older wife on her achievements in the marriage provide consolation and emotional stimulant to her. according to her narratology, they include procreation of both male and female children who shall be inheritors and inheritress of her husband's estates in accordance with urhobo customs and traditions. song leader: ehware vwe rhe re chorus: obrare re masa cultural instinctual drives for younger women as a polygamist. the performance could be reminiscent or imaginative presentation of nostalgic experiences that require attention of conflict mediators. the artist demonstrates close psychological observation and philosophical investigation into the plights of female characters being symbolic reflection of happenings in life. the rendition provides audience insights into the psychologically fragmented world of the imaginary character who is an old housewife with uncontrollable desire to marry a young lady with firms and pointed breasts whose husband demonstrates cultural instinctual drives for younger women as a polygamist. the performance could be reminiscent or imaginative presentation of nostalgic experiences that require attention of conflict mediators. the artist demonstrates close psychological observation and philosophical investigation into the plights of female characters being symbolic reflection of happenings in life. the old wife adopts defense coping mechanism by acknowledging the nature of man in traditional african society, particularly among the urhobo. man is perceived to be polygamist in nature and the old wife in the performance ascribes the cause of her sagging breasts to feeding of children. however, she expresses euphoria over her childbirth: song leader: oshare me me rie re chorus: obrare re masa song leader: me rie re jo vwo chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oshare ke ohwo re otu! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oshare ke ohwo re otu!! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oghene ko ye chobo ruo chorus: obrare re masa song leader: ivie me sheri ye emo rhe vwe! chorus: obrare re masa coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 123 124 inheritance of the man. the excerpt below indicates the therapeutic utterances of the old wife: song leader: ode-e! oshare me chorus: obrare re masa song leader: asa ro je we wo me yan te! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: asa ro je we wo me yan te!! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: wo re ye aye ofa dede chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oda die oyibo ko ye ovwie re-o chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oye na ke obuko re emo me! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: oye na ke obuko re emo me!! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: erawevwi re okobaro ghwe us inure-e! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: erawevwi re okobaro ghwe us inure-e!! song leader: o-oh! my husband chorus: it's not bad master song leader: you can go to anywhere! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: you can go to anywhere!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: even though you marry another wife chorus: it's not bad master song leader: even if the born child is a white, chorus: it's not bad master song leader: that child queues behind my children! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: that child queues behind my children!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: the rat at front has become famous! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: the rat at front has become famous!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: ehware vwe rhe we omo re-e! chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie owaran chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie odede chorus: obrare re masa song leader: emo ive re die erivwin-o chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie aye gba chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie omoshare chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie omote-e chorus: obrare re masa song leader: mi vwie omoshare-o chorus: obrare re masa song leader: sex is pleasurable chorus: it's not bad master song leader: sex is pleasurable but it's incomparable to a child chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i have the heir apparent chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i have the heiress chorus: it's not bad master song leader: the two children found in the spirit world chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i gave birth to them chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i gave birth to a male child! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i gave birth to a female child!! chorus: it's not bad master song leader: i gave birth to a male child!!! chorus: it's not bad master the first wife acknowledges her husband's freedom to explore the world and establish polygamous family system with several wives and children. nevertheless, she is optimistic of bright future for her children who are the major beneficiaries of the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 125 126 chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ophrophro me, we muophu-n! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ophrophro me, we muophu-n!! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo mre akpo re arhe re na, chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo de je okare emu ovuovo erio, oyovwiri-n! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: asa ne emu ria, oda vwe rha! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: asa ne emu ria, oda vwe rha! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: johnson, i called the woman! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: i called the woman!! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: my co-wife, don't be angry! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: my co-wife don't be angry!! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: in this life we are… chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: if you always eat one kind of food. chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it's not good! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: one selects food to eat, there lies delicacies! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: one selects food to eat, there lies delicacies! chorus: it's not bad master the performing artist provides uchebro, counselling to the depressed housewife and posits that man deserves the right to consumption of varieties of food. the concept of “food” in this context connotes heterosexual intercourse between man and other the foregoing excerpt reveals the thoughts and popular views of most urhobo housewives from primordial period till date where the procreation of first male and first female children are considered paramount. in urhobo society like other communities, these children play vital roles in a traditional family system because they can represent their parents, provide counsel and support to the entire family members when the need arises. in the song performance, the old wife acknowledges the foregoing hence she declares that her children have assumed the leadership role while others irrespective of their genders and race must abide by the decisions of the heir apparent and the heiress. the intermittent repetition of the chorus by the performing artist indicates the degree of psychological conflicts causing disintegration world of the old wife. this is captured in the excerpt below: lead singer: oshare me, asa ro je we wo me yan te! lead singer: oshare me onana wo rue na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ose re iboyi ona wo ru vwe na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: ose re ititi ona wo ru vwe na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: my husband what you are doing to me now chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: iboyi's father this act you are displaying towards me chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: otiti's father this act you are displaying towards me chorus: it's not bad master. the performing artist through this song counsels the senior housewife, reveals the underlying factors responsible for the polygamous nature of married men in matrimonial homes through circumlocutory utterances: lead singer: johnson, me kparunu se aye na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: me kpare unu se aye na coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 127 128 chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: spiritual being ignores its murderer chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it continues to look sideways! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: it continues to look sideways!! chorus: it's not bad master uchebro is a psychotherapeutic technique, usually verbal utterance, that is deployed by experienced people particularly elders to alleviate psychological sufferings and moulding of characters in socio-cultural settings. the housewife through the voice of the performing artist cautions her husband against the consequences of sexual promiscuity such as contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (stds). the performing artist introduces proverbs, myths, legendary stories and other verbal arts into this songs to further activate mental consciousness of audience and enhance their emotions. through the opiri music performative art, johnson adjan objectively interrogates happenings in society. okpeki (2021:166) notes that “urhobo music consists of different genres, which include udje music, igoru music, opiri music, ema music, opre music, adjuya music and, most recently, urhobo disco music.” the scholar maintains that “each of the listed urhobo music genres are engaged as an entertainment medium employed by urhobo musicians to convey the socio-cultural experiences of the urhobo people”(166). the communication of experiences through indigenous language is common among urhobo song performers even though there are infusion of english and pidgin into the performances. omokomoko osokpa, d. djanere, diamond icheghe, egwheyanudje otubure, okpan arhibo and recently ovedje ayonowe, orhire okoro, nathaniel oruma, to mention a few, mostly perform their songs in urhobo language. awhefeada (2007:137) finds that “language is the most important element of one's identity, but most people who are ignorant of this, women in society. john owhona, a community leader who was interviewed in the field argues that having sexual intercourse with only one wife psychologically affects manhood and reduce sexual urge of man. he asserts that a monogamous husband sees his wife as a sibling due to familiarity. the respondent concludes that sexual orientation with other ladies promotes mental health of man. lead singer: oshare me uchebro vuovo me vwo ke we chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo mue emiavwe re ugbere bru vwe cha-a! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: wo mue emiavwe re ugbere bru vwe cha-a! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: because wo mre akpo na re arhe re na chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: e-eh, okpetu she bere abo! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: e-eh, okpetu she bere abo! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: erivwin gbo bo ye oro hwere chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: okoko ke oye one! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: okoko ke oye one!! chorus: obrare re masa lead singer: my husband, the only advise i have for you chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: do infest me with veneral diseases! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: do infest me with veneral diseases!! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: because in this world we found ourselves chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: trouble falls and spread its wings! chorus: it's not bad master lead singer: trouble falls and spread its wings!! coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 129 130 or starvation from her husband even though she prepares delicious meals for him. according to the song performance, after eating the delicious meal she prepared, her husband who she fondly calls, imasa (master) deprives her of love play and sexual intercourse. she condemns this sexual denial and wonders why her husband neglects her with her emotions growing beyond her control on daily basis. the introductory part of the song is literally translated as follows: song leader: ifry ke ro phe nene, utitan ke ro phe. ifry ke ro phe nene, utitan ke ro phe. me fry re utitan ke imasa imasa re nu ko re ye uko vwo ni vwe mi dje obo te imasa, imasa sa re obo me kufia omana ru vwe vuvuu okebe si vvwe vuvuuu ki die mi rue imasa-a?song leader: frying is free mother, onions are free. frying is free mother, onions are free. i fried onions for master master ate and turned his back against me i touch master but, master pushed my hand away. i feel sensations all over my body i feel sensations on my buttocks what should i do to master? the song performer employs this song to explore the inner world of married women who are facing emotional distress owing to sexual denial by their spouses. the song is meant to appeal to married couples to perform their primary responsibility with their spouse in matrimonial homes to avoid adultery or promiscuity. the above songs function as supportive therapy, providing advice and encouragement to married patients with a view to strengthening their coping skills and promote their interpersonal resort to speaking other languages to the detriment of theirs.” awhefeada's submission is corroborated by akpofure-okenrentie (2018:206) who notes that language is “a binding force, for, when a people can communicate with one another there is an unbroken chain of understanding which holds a people or peoples together.” johnson adjan's performance under discourse contains several poetic devices such as antithesis, synecdoche, metaphor and irony. the expression, “those young wives will still get old” is antithetical, setting the “young wives” with firm and pointed breasts against “the old ones” who have sagged breasts. there is synecdoche in the expression, “when my breasts were firm you used to praise me.” here, “firm and pointed breasts” represent young brides who have just been married into the extended family while “sagged breasts” depicts the old wives. metaphor is also evident in the song especially in the expression that “water that touches penis will not spare the scrotum.” these devices are significant in marital life, depicting that age comes with time and no one is exempted. it is ironical that the once-sought-after young wives will become old like the rejected old lover in the song. the repetition of the above expressions will make the subject matter memorable in the minds of audience until their unhelpful thoughts and negative mood are gradually eliminated. the deployment of poetic devices will help activate the mental consciousness of audience about the psychological condition of women in polygamous marr iages . research has affirmed that “consciousness indicates the entire area of mental attention, from pre-consciousness on through the levels of the mind up to and including the highest one of rational, communicable awareness”. (hoffman 1945:126-129). most urhobo songs performed by johnson adjan, okpan arhibo, orhire okoro, ovedje ayonowe and a host of others usually focus on peace and harmonious coexistence within family units and urhobo society as large. in orhire okoro's song, “ifri kere ophe” (frying is free), the emotionally distressed mistress laments over her sexual denial coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 131 132 references ahamefule, k. 2003. psychology: the science of mind and behaviour. enugu. jones communications publishers. akpofure-okenrentie, carole ejomafuvwe. 2018. towards revitalization of the urhobo language: a return to orality. international journal of literature, language and linguistics, vol. 4(2), pp. 206-216. aleude, c. o. 2006. music therapy in traditional african societies: origin, basis and application in nigeria. journal of human ecology, 20 (1), p.31-35. ............ 2012. music as edae: the implications for music therapy in nigeria. ujah: unizik journal of arts and humanities vol 13 no 1. american board of examiners in clinical social work. 2004. the practice of psychoanalysis: a specialty of clinical social work. shetland park, .www.abecsw.org awhefeada, s. 2007. praxis and aesthetics of urhobo “disco” music. in: tanure ojaide and rose aziza (eds), the urhobo language today. lagos: malthouse press limited, pp. 133-135. bhuvaneswar, p. 2017. dream analysis and l i terary interpretation.international journal of english and literature (ijel), vol. 7, issue 3, pp. 49-54 chambers, c. 2008. song and metaphoric imagery in forensic music therapy. thesis submitted to the university of nottingham for the degree of doctor of philosophy. chiwome, e. m. 1992. traditional shona poetry and mental heal th.department of african languages and literature.university of zimbabwe. zambezia, xix (i). coker, o. 2012.poetry as psychotherapy: the example of orin aremo in yoruba folklore. isel vol. 10, no. 1. relationships within family unit and the urhobo society in general. chorus: me de die ore uchere ovo, gba vue vwe. chorus: me de die ore uchere ovo, gba vue vwe.chorus: if i am for only cooking, please tell me. chorus: if i am for only cooking, please tell me. the performing artist through the performance illustrates sexual satisfaction as important as food consumption in marriage. the denial of a spouse this marital responsibility is counterproductive and capable of activating emotional depression. in the above song captures the psychological sufferings being experienced by the mistress which requires urgent attention. conclusion the study shows that the oral texts are presented in narrative mode where intrapsychic and emotional conflicts, unhelpful thoughts and feelings of the female sufferers are presented by way of uninterrupted flow of thoughts from the mind of the narrator-performing artists. there is also externalization of negative thoughts and feelings of the imaginary complainant in the song performance. there is therefore the exposure of subjective life and experience of characters in the renditions. there is articulatory dramatic voice as the artists echo thematic thrusts of sexual denial, alienation, marital conflicts and disillusionment. the entire performances are presented in urhobo language. akpofure-okenrentie (2018:206) notes that “language is a means of expression amongst people of a given community. by means of language a people can express their emotions, emotions such as joy and sorrow; wants and needs; feelings such as cold and warmth. language is used to express, to articulate aspirations and ambitions.” coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 ezennadiri chukwudi samuel & nnemtem olanikke tony-ugbejie: reaffirming cultural identity: igbo folksongs as imperative tools in ikechukwu asika's omalinze 133 134 http://www.abecsw.org ojaide, t. 2000. poetry, performance, and art: udje dance songs of nigeria's urhobo people.urhobo historical society. dow jones and company. okpeki, p. i. 2021. interrogating the socio-cultural experiences of the urhobo people in the urhobo disco music and the role of the radio media.adam mickiewicz university press. omiegbe, o. 2005.introduction to behaviour disorders.in omiegbe, o. and omumu, f. c. 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'one culture is a unique mix of ideas struggling and competing; it is never exactly the same in two places' (the is engmann, why culture differ). cultural disparities exist in certain beliefs, attitudes, languages, various practices, and other expressions that are identifiable with members of a specific society. it is these differences that lead to cultural discord especially among the ignorant who can hardly tolerate others without knowing that cultural difference means different ways of doing the same thing. in the same way people practice different religions such as cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives ezeugo, anthonia e., phd department of english, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus abstract culture is a compendium of social behaviour, norms and values found in human society. in most instances, culture refers to beliefs, accumulated experiences which came to be a way of life. when two cultures come in contact there is always cultural discord. this paper examines cultural discord that occurred between owa people and their english colonizers as presented in iredi warby sam ukala ; and the conflict which occurred between obiorah, his afroamerican wife and obiorah's village folks in nwabueze's echoes of madness. in iredi war by ukala, the high handed assistant commissioner struggles to displace the traditional values of owa people to his english culture and dies as owa people rise against his hostility to preserve their way of life. in nwabueze's echoes of madness brenda's pride of superior culture even pushed her to call the custodians ''bald -headed folks'' (nwabueze, 11). her negative vibes affect her husband's people's consciousness; it destroyed their sanity and left them insane. they snatch her bag took her and kill her. hostility against each other led to catastrophic consequences because the characters refused to apply cultural democracy. for the different cultures to coexist there must be adaptation of multiculturalism. the theory multiculturalism describes a way a society handles cultural diversity as it exists between the groups portrayed in the plays. the study reveals that sam ukala and emeka nwabueze as custodians of culture opened our eyes to the pressure of abandoning traditional cultural pattern in favour of the alien and the pressure of 'sophiscated' culture in its bid to swallow the prevailing one with the usual 97 98 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives works) of culture, sam ukala and emeka nwabueze open the eyes of the audience to the prevailing problems of the pressure to abandon traditional cultural patterns in favour of alien ones, pressure of sophisticated culture in the bid to swallow the prevailing culture, and the usual considerable psychological stress that leads to lamentable consequences. such consequences are normally psychological and it occurs when a society is helpless to resist massive cultural and strong pressure to abandon their traditional and cultural patterns in favour of sophisticated one. the situation likely calls for ugly conflict and confrontation of 'us and them' which consistently cause dichotomy in the whole universe. in his description of dichotomy mazrui holds that: dichotomy can take a variety of formsthe native versus the foreigner, the friend versus the foe, the familiar versus the strange, the orient verses the west, the north verses the south, the developed verses undeveloped countries, and so on; this dichotomous framework of world perceptions amounts to iron law of dualism, a persistent conceptualization of the of us and them (214). multiculturalism as the theoretical anchor it is expected that people of different cultures can live in peace with each other even as matter of policy. this concerns many cultures existing side by side in harmony. this is another aspect of cultural phenomenon which is confirmed by asika, as ''another part of cultural studies'' (422). it is predominantly identified with american critics perhaps because of the interrelated condition of american states. it can also be identified in other places with similar contexts. multiculturalism describes a way a society handles cultural diversity. robert longley asserts that ''multiculturalism expresses the view that society is enriched, respecting, and even encouraging cultural diversity'' (thought co,what is multiculturalism? definitions, theories, and examples). stanford encyclopedia of philosophy holds that multiculturalism ''is about how to understand and respond to the challenges of cultural and religious diversities'' (stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). lonely recalls that in ''2001, the general conference of unesco took this position when it asserted in its universal declaration on cultural diversity that … ''cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature'' (what is multiculturalism? definitions, theories, and examples, thoughtco.). this culminate to this fact that people of different cultural background must come together for one reason or the other and when such occurs it is important that those involved must apply acculturation to ensure peaceful coexistence. this is exactly what the playwrights are trying to portray. what ukala is trying to suggest is that the assistant british district commissioner, crewe –read and owa people would have benefited from increased diversity through harmonious coexistence if they adhere to the tenets of multiculturalism. the blame is more on crewe – read who would demand owa to turn overnight to his way of life which is alien to them. nwabueze in his effort expresses that the society obiorah and brenda met would have been 'enriched' if they respected and even acknowledged cultural diversity. ii iredi war by sam ukala is a play he uses to create the 1906 uprising of the people of owa kingdom now in ika northeast local government area of delta state nigeria against the british colonial oppression. the play is a typical reconstruction of past events in this twenty-first century. owa people called the oppression 'iredi war' captioned from the name of the assistant district commissioner, o s crewe-read who spear-headed the discord. iredi war describes the highhandedness of the assistant commissioner as he struggles to displace the traditional values of owa kingdom to his english culture. this struggle for cultural dominance which is encountered in the battle by owa kingdom for their cultural preservation are all illuminated in ukala's'folkist' play. the british district commissioner, mr. chichester had come into owa acknowledging the disparities between the culture of his people and of 101 102 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives owa kingdom. as a wise man he tolerates and respects the culture of the majority. he understood the need to adopt a common set of social norms between him and the indigenes. igboba, the obi of owa kingdom, a man whose philosophical experience, ability to discern inner qualities of human relationships and sense of judgments has placed him above other members of his society, struggles for perspectives for a common ground for inter culture. but before this convention could be achieved, a ''power hungry and a powerdrunk…young and inexperienced'' (38) crewread was sent to replace mr. chichester. the playwright portrays owa people responding to adverse changes brought about by the overzealous crewe-read. due to his highhandedness, owa people experienced adverse cultural changes and depressing encounters on her heritage. he destroys the cordial relationship anticipated by igboba and chichester and is ready to destroy anything or anybody that works against his plan of taking over the administration of the kingdom. his aim is to introduce christianity, improve technology, and change the culture which he sees as inferior. he continually reminds owa people that their culture is a joke. he negates the cultural reception given to him at igboba's palace and condemns the people's manner of praying instead opted to pray during his reception. the playwright presents his prayers as a portrayal of pompous and over blown words embellished with a chorus of amen from his members. chief igboba pours libations and breaks kola which symbolizes his welcome, but he refuses all. and with his negative attitude crewe-read rejects acculturation; then makes himself an ignoramus that fails to understand that he needs to adjust to the culture of a larger group before simultaneously and concurrently introducing his own culture in a situation of mutual understanding if there is any need. from this stand, it becomes obvious that the assistant commissioner is not aware that there are many similarities between his culture and that of the natives. in the administration of the kingdom, igboba is at the highest hierarchy followed by other subordinates in the system; similarly the british people have their authoritative officials organized in nested ranks. their highest in rank is his majesty king edward v11 king of the united kingdom and british dominion. both parties believe that the supreme god is the highest and supreme ruler. but when the people of owa talks about the almighty god, crewe-read sees it unacceptable. at this misunderstanding, igboba meekly explains to him: ''mr. dc, we do not know your god. our fathers did not introduce him to us. that is why we do not offer him kola and palm wine''(ukala, 16). crewe-read arrogantly responds: ''chief igboba, your fathers were primitive, ignorant, uncivilized and barbarians'' (ukala16). even an imbecile would feel offended by crewe-read's insolent and contemptuous statement against the ancestors of owa kingdom. this is a mere expression of cultural superiority. and it is this cultural superiority that breeds discord and intensifies hostility between owa and the colonists while they struggle to overcome the devastating blows on their inheritance. wherever there is no agreement or harmony in handling of affairs in a relationship, the result is discord. ukala presents this conflict tactfully with its catastrophic consequences: it resulted in the murder of creweread with many people at the helm of affairs from the british side while owa young men were also slaughtered in cold blood during the struggle for supremacy. despite the destructive atmosphere, the playwright is still able to depict the african value. he proves that an african ruler in a typical african setting deserves great respect. the play also appraised some powers possessed by africans. in the play, nneka uses her magical power to cast pebbles, pieces of irons and big needles into a soldier's flank by just stretching out her right hand to the air; lawani attempted a shoot at iwekuba, the gun magically went numb; when rudkin's soldier wanted to shoot a gun at igboba and his subordinates, his hand hung in the air in a supernatural manner. these powers are either powerless to an extent or they are negatively used. that is perhaps why africans still gave in to the 103 104 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives forces of colonialism even with those intimidating powers. there is something in the character of chief igboba which should be emulated by the present african rulers; that is the way chief igboba surrenders himself to the colonial masters because of his subjects held by the alien forces and proves himself as a persistent defender of the people he governs. he addresses chichester concerning his subjects at the custody of the colonists to prove his defence and solidarity: chief igboba:…listen, if my people deserve to die by hanging because they dared to defend their father land against oppressive aggression from your people, i desire to die with them because they ran my errand. take me to them. if i must live even in exile, my people must live also. exile will end one day, whether you like it or not, and i need my subjects, for what is a king without subjects? owa will need them, for what is a kingdom without people? (ukala, 95) iii there is also another dimension of cultural discord in the work of emeka nwabueze in his echoes of madness. its main crux is portrayal of nonconformity to igbo social values by obiora and brenda and its subsequent calamity. obiora studied in america where he married an afro -american. both come back to be established at home. their home coming coincided with obiora's appointment as the new chief priest of the village. obiora is already absorbed in the culture of his wife who is ethnocentric and racially biased. obiora's words and reactions against his people's demands are clear evidence of xenocentrism. he becomes a bat that perches on the fence between the two cultures. when the divination was made and result was obiora, nzeduba raised his brows: my people, there is snake in the rafters. we have a thread wearily or kiss the fangs of death …osuofia, our diviner told us that the gods have chosen a new person to replace the old priest, but we know the person he has chosen as his successor is living in the land of the white man… i raised a voice of protest but i was told one does not doubt the potency of an oracle invoked by the acolyte of the ancestors…(nwabueze, 5) as if in alliance, odukwe expresses his fear over the possibility of obiora's acceptance of such ancestral position when his wife does not even speak igbo. another fear he expressed was obiora's possibility of coming home. to this, osuofia promised to perform rituals that would force him home. so, when he came home nzeduba tried to convince him that the deity has brought him home to replace the dead chief priest after all: ''there's a shorter road to your father's house but you chose the one that passes through the shrine. that indicates that avuja supports your selection as his chief priest'' (nwabueze,12). obiora refutes the claim. but said that not only that he travelled his usual road, he came back because he had ''a big job as director of a newly created government parastatal…(while his wife) will go into the business to help this damn country by contributing to its economic development''…(nwabueze,13) obiora sees the demand for him to become a chief priest of a deity, a worshipper of avuja as an echo of madness for an american trained man. to him again it is total dementia for his people to force him to leave wife and marry a village girl they recommended. he sees these cultural demands as aberrations to the american standard. his rejection of his kinsmen's 'imposed culture' made them regard his attitude as a derangement and he suffers from what bakke edward portrays as a carrier of imposed culture (bakke, 355). cultures may be different but the worship of the supreme being is universal and substantially consequential though the approaches of worship may be different. there is also universality of marriage institution, yet ways and methods are quite different. the same thing applies to the selection of priests who would mediate between the people and the supreme being. the method each society applies leads to the same destination. it is like cooking the same food in different ways. the culture of a group influences their thoughts, actions characters and of 105 106 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives course their destinies. that was the reason abraham asked his trust worthy servant to go to his relatives to get a wife for isaac (genesis 24: 34). he desired a woman who shares the same culture with them. david krech et al affirm that: once a group accepts a given arrangement, and the arrangement becomes a typical means of coping with a problem, it is transmitted to new members of the society as the approved way, and very frequently as the only decent or civilized way…failure to recognize the diverse ways in various peoples of the world cope with universal problem makes for misunderstanding and conflict (krech et al 344). as a result, every society sticks to their culture even if it is universally unacceptable and pessimistic. onuama clan has refused to see through the eyes of obiora that the worship of carved images which they call deities is aberrant. there is also other binding philosophy of an igbo man – brotherliness hewed into the extended family system which obiora ignorantly ignores. moreover, in the present times the family members are not completely obliged to choose a wife for their son, the son at the same time should not scare everybody away because his training in the school kept everybody at home hungry. ''and those that sow in tears shall reap in joy'' (psalm 126: 5).therefore, obiora's afroamerican wife should not interfere with the good aspect of african culture in her selfishness and mere show of cultural superiority because no culture is good all through. she is expected to acculturate. to affirm this ugwu holds that they need to ''create an avenue for cultural democracy, and remove the prevalence of what may be described as dominant culture, destroying patterns of allegiance in opposition'' (ugwu, 189). when the 'patterns of allegiance' gets destroyed, chinwe, obiora's half sister reacts obtusely. she laments and justifies her irrational action: only a person who doesn't know how much we've suffered for obiora will blame us for whatever way we've decided to treat him…our dead father treated him like a king. he sold our land even our house in the city to train him in school… poor mother died of poverty and heart break because of obiora… now that same boy has returned with a stick which he calls a wife to destroy our life…the memory …hunts me like evil spirit (nwabueze 31). obiora destroyed the patterns of allegiance of his own culture by failing to adhere to something which he is bound by duty. that 'something' is his obligation to his parents who lost their valuables in order to see him through his studies abroad. he owes allegiance to the parents for all they spent on him. he should at least care for them at least a year or two before even thinking of marriage. besides, his siblings were deprived a lot of just to see him through in the school, those sibling should not be abandoned while dancing only to the tune of the alien wife he is very weak to control; and whose culture negates extended family system. in her pride, brenda manipulates obiora to abandon the values that molded him. pride in any way, whether cultural, racial, intellectual is equal to suicide; it is toxic. the reaction meted by obiora's people against him and his wife is fired by brenda's pride. she even calls the custodians of her husband's people ''bald -headed folks'' (nwabueze, 11). her negative vibes affect her relations-in-laws' consciousness, it destroyed their sanity and left them insane. at the climax, akamuonye arranges with dimgba and other unscrupulous youths to snatch brenda's bag which they thought contained much money and killed her. they steal obiora's documents and collect his wares from the wharf. conclusion whenever people from different cultural backgrounds come together there are dissimilarities in values, beliefs, needs or priorities, aims and methods of competing and achieving goals. these differences breed discord. the different philosophies are what the playwrights are trying to convey through their works. in ukala's iredi war the artist displays cultural dominance and power control exhibited by crewe-read amidst 107 108 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives cultural differences between the british colonists and owa kingdom. chief igboba and subordinates struggles to find a way of preserving their values and this led to calamities. the same misfortune occurred in emeka nwabueze's echoes of madness when obiora manipulated by his afro-american wife, defies brotherliness of african philosophy in their bid to intimidate igbo priorities. works cited acculturation, ''the four essential forms of acculturation.'' retrieved thon 6 july, 2020 https://en.m.wikipedia. org/wiki/acculturation bakke, edward wight. bonds of organization: an appraisal of corporate human relations.harper, 1950. brown, donald. human universals. temple university press, 1991. emeka, odo onyeka. ''towards a universal tragic vision in j p clark's song of a goat''journal of literature, languages and linguistics vol. 3, no.2, 2017. pp.1-7 david, krech et al. individual in society; a textbook of social psychology. mcgraw-hill, 1962. engmann, theis. ''why culture differ'' w.w.w. quora. com. october 21, 2017. longley, robert. ''what is multiculturalism, definition, theories and rdexamples'' june 18, 2019. retrieved on 3 www.thoughtco.com april, 2020 mazrui, ali. ''the moving cultural frontiers of world order: from monotheism to northsouth relations'' culture, power, and global transformations. world order model project, 1980. nwabueze, emeka. echoes of madness. abic books, 2001. nwosu, okoli, ifeoma. ''perspectives on cultural values: an appreciation of emekanwabueze's echoes of madness'' a lion on ijele dance a festschrift in honour of professor p.emeka nwabueze(ed) by ngozi anyachokeya ojiiaka press 2015. pinola, melanie. ''seven important lessons from world religions th everyone should know''lifehacker . retrieved on 6 july, 2020 lifehacker. com/ seven –importantlessons -from -world religions e v e r y o n e – s h o u l d k n o w 1 6 1 3 6 1 5 8 3 2 ? s a = 2 a hukewiztc3arrijqahuncxokhwikbqqq9qf6bagheal stanford encyclopedia of philosophy at www. plato.stanford.edu rd retrieved 0n 3 april, 2020 ugwu, ifeanyi. ''igbo masquerade drama and emeka nwabueze's vision of intercultural performance in nigeria'' in theatre and new horizons: selected essays on emeka nwabueze. abic books, 2011. ukala, sam. iredi war. a folk script drama kraft-griot 2014. 109 110 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives http://www.thoughtco.com page 50 page 51 page 52 page 53 page 54 page 55 excellency coou jofocus journal 2022.cdr christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known” 17 18 saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice and exploitation in wole soyinka's “samarkand and other markets i have known” christopher anyokwu, phd department of english faculty of lagos, nigeria. abstract wole soyinka in this poem-sequence goes, hammer and tongs, to the roots of prejudice and exploitation, two of the greatest societal ills threatening the fragile and delicate fabric of society in contemporary times. deploying the ancient city of samarkand as leitmotif in this poem-sequence, soyinka brings a lifetime of mastery of the poetic art to bear on the subject of ideological obfuscation and religious fundamentalism which have all but reduced the “marketplace” (read: the world) to rack and ruin. preaching the countervailing sermon of the “primal sanctity of man”, soyinka recommends a neo-traditionalist, return-tosources strategy exemplified by the yoruba ifa moral-cumspiritual compass as the redemptive path to universal understanding and healing. in this paper, i examine the foregoing thematics through a close reading of this single poem and conclude, with the poet, that, a return to the salvific imperative of animist metaphysics will heal the world. keywords: prejudice, exploitation, religion, ideology, samarkand, marketplace ugwuanvi, kingsley. "western mentality and emasculation in chimamanda adichie's purple hibiscus.journal of the literary society of nigeria (jlsn), vol 3, no 1, 2011, pp. 35-44. uko, iniobong i. “reconstructing motherhood: a mutative reality in adichie purplehibiscus”. a companion to chimamanda ngozi adichie.ed. ernest n. emenyonu. james currey, 2017. 57-71. zeitlin, irving. the social condition of humanity: an ndintroduction to sociology, 2 edition.1981, oup. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 19 20 introduction there is no gainsaying the fact that wole soyinka's poetry is generally regarded as difficult or obscure. the reasons for its alleged obscurity have been debated and argued over among literary critics and scholars of african poetry over a long period of time. consequently, years of critical reception of wole soyinka's poetry have significantly helped reduce the degree of this alleged obscurity of his poetry. soyinka has, to be sure, produced several volumes of poetry including idanre and other poems (1965), a shuttle in the crypt (1971), ogun abibiman (1976), mandela's earth and other poems (1988) and samarkand and other markets i have known(2002). if anything, charges of “private esotericism” and “wilful obscurity” have trailed his work and as a result of this, foremost poet and critic, donatus i. nwoga argues that “there are degrees and variations of obscurity in modern african poetry”. he further adduces one of the reasons for this problem of incomprehension to the fact that “the poet takes his images and figures from areas ranging from distant civilisations through a variety of literary sources to local myths, legends, and rituals, and it would require the same breadth of reference for the reader to come to terms with his work” (36). for his part, tanure ojaide posits that there has been “controversy over [soyinka's] authenticity, obscurity, and difficulty” (1). he cites the now well-known acerbic criticism of wole soyinka's poetry by the “troika” of chinweizu, onwuchekwa jemie and ihechukwu madubuike in their jointlypublished book entitled toward the decolonisation of african literature, pointing out their strong attack on soyinka's “obscurity, difficulty, and lack of authenticity” (2). it would appear that many critics of african poetry queued up behind chinweizu et al in their collective denunciation of soyinka's poetry. the phrase “failure to communicate” or “lapse of rigour” is nearly always used in condemning his poetry as has been suggested in ojaide's book by critics such as roderick wilson who claims that soyinka's performance only succeeds in highlighting his “deficiencies” (wilson, 1973, 69 cited in ojaide 2); and omolara-ogundipe-leslie who also bemoans soyinka's obscurity (ogundipe-leslie, 1976, i – iv cited in ojaide 2). lewis nkosi is no less unsparing in his assessment of soyinka's poetry as he also accuses him of failing to communicate in his poetry (nkosi, 1982, 102). the story is the same with derek wright's contention (1993, 130), niyi osundare (osundare, 1983, 3 – 5), osofisan and jeyifo (see “introduction”, songs of the marketplace), and funso aiyejina (“alter/native tradition”) tayo olafioye in his book the poetry of tanure ojaide appears somewhat ambivalent about the vexed issue of obscurity in soyinka' poetry. he concedes that soyinka's poetry is “difficult” but suggests in the same breath that such “difficulty” creates room for critical manoeuvring and affords protean interpretive engagements with the text. whilst other critics such as chinweizu et al reject this polysemic overcoding, others stoutly celebrate it. segun adekoya, for instance, comes to the defence of this alleged obscurity of soyinka's work, citing a variety of reasons for the obscurity of soyinka's poetry. adekoya argues quite compellingly that soyinka's obscurity is traceable to the complex nature of reality itself as well as the poet's attempt to capture this complexity of human experience through his deployment of astoundingly wide field of reference going to the farthest reaches of the globe. he also notes that the obscure nature of soyinka's poetry can be traced to his thorough immersion in the animist metaphysics of his native yoruba culture. and, part of the result of this immersion is the utilisation of paradox as the main trope in his work including prose fiction, drama and poetry. thus, adekoya quips, “paradox is the tenor of his writing as well as his chief vehicle of expression. it is the template of his literary enterprise. indeed, it is elevated beyond a mere figure of speech to an artistic christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 21 22 great, the arabic conquest, genghis-khan conquest and lastly tamerlane's. hence its culture was developed and mixed together with the iranian, indian, mongolian and a bit of western and eastern cultures. samarkand is unique as a centre of islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the timurid renaissance. dotted with domes of mosques and ancient mausoleums and holy shrines and madrasas, the ancient city of samarkand is also the site of the famous bibi-khanym mosque, said to be rebuilt during the soviet era. samarkand, to be certain, has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts such as embroidery, goldwork, silk weaving, copper engraving, ceramics, wood carvings and wood painting. islam is the main religion in samarkand, which was thintroduced to the city in the 8 century during the invasion of the arabs in central asian (umayyad caliphate). thus most of the inhabitants of samarkand are muslim, primarily sunni (mostly hanafi) and sufi. as we earlier remarked, the city is distinguished as the crossroads of trade routes among china, persia and europe. however, historical records show that samarkand has always been a battlefield of sorts for the world's leading abrahamic faiths, viz: christianity, islam and judaism. the dominant faith practised at any point in time in the city has always been at the behest of the reigning power. fittingly, today, samarkand is home to numerous islamic, christian and russian orthodox church sects. the resultant schismatic situation in this famous civis constitutes part of the thematic concerns of “samarkand and other markets i have known”. a word or two on the two epigraphs, beginning with: “we take the golden road to samarkand”. this line was taken from james elroy flecker's verse drama hassan … the golden journey to samarkand published in 1922. in his own poem, soyinka deploys the journey motif derived from hassan as well as from the method and a poetic technique” (4). it is against this backcloth that we can begin to meaningfully appreciate the poetic method of wole soyinka, namely “the inner eye” strategy which frustrates literalism or/and the play of superficies. with this in mind, we may be able to approach the poem in the collection entitled samarkand and other markets i have known and do justice to its thematic concerns and formal strategies. soyinka uses as epigraphs two quotes, the one from the yoruba culture (african) and the other, from asia (nonafrican). the first epigraph reads: “the world is a market place … (yoruba song); the second reads: “we take the golden road to samarkand”, a line taken from james elroy flecker's hassan. the question to ask therefore, is: why does soyinka use these two quotes as framing devices in this poem? let us begin with the lexical item “samarkand”. what or where is samarkand? and why has the poet elected to use it in his poem? etymologically, the name samarkand comes from sogdian samar, “stone”, “rock” and kard “fort”, “town” (see google.com) samarkand “ uzbek” samarqand, persian: samarqand), is a city in southeastern uzbeskistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in central asia (wikipedia.com). there is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late palaeolithic era, though there is no direct evidence of when samarkand was founded; th th several theories propose that it was founded between the 8 and 7 centuries bce. prospering from its location on the silk road between china and the mediterranean sea, at times, samarkand was one of the largest cities of central asia (wikipedia.com). samarkand's official name is “crossroads of culture” and was also designated in 2001 unesco world heritage site. besides, samarkand is the capital of tamerlane. it is situated in the valley of the river zerafshan. it is the second largest city of uzbekistan and is of the same age as the city of babylon or rome. it has witnessed many upheavals during the times of alexander the christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 23 24 some etymological and historical contexts whilst religion is used by the powerful and the influential to wreak havoc and exterminate others who may not share their religious ideologies, trade is deployed as a weapon of choice to exploit and pauperise the poor. furthermore, soyinka argues in his poem that religion is equally used as a basis for business transactions, of unequal economic exchanges. that is to say, religion is not used as a medium of knowing or seeking god and living a holy life but for crass materialism and profiteering. in a word, exploitation undergirds religious practice. some critics have attempted to explicate and interpret not just the poem under discussion but the entire collection. among these scholars and researchers include niyi akingbe, charles alex patrick, biodun jeyifo and segun adekoya. in his exegetical effort, niyi akingbe is primarily preoccupied with the protest tradition and how both femi fatoba and wole soyinka in their respective volumes of poetry launch a blistering and vitriolic broadside at the military establishment as a pseudo-corrective regime and at the reign of terror that was the infamous general sani abasha junta in particular. employing an exploratory strategy, akingbe homes in on a few poems in the collection to underscore his focus on the use of protest and satire in nigerian poetry (akingbe, 2017, 28 – 53) for his part, charles alex patrick itemises the issues that wole soyinka wrote about during his period of exile induced by abacha's murderous persecution of pro-democracy activists in nigeria at the time. patrick singles out “tyranny, assassination, corruption and exile” as some of the foci of soyinka's poetic gaze. describing nigeria under abacha as “a socio-political junkyard” (95), patrick furnishes an analytical explanation of a few poems in the collection, emphasising in the process soyinka's anger at the deplorable state of affairs at the time (patrick, 2019, 93 – 101). associative echoes intimating, among others, the atmospherics and socio-spiritual temper of the ancient habitus, samarkand, a tone and temper of history which continue to inform and influence contemporary events. interestingly, this journey motif, borrowed from hassan, dovetails seamlessly into the traditional yoruba belief which is expressed in the song: “the world is market place…” (aiye l'ojà, orun nilé/ the world is a market place, heavenis home). soyinka, thus, seizes upon the two epigraphs to foreground the iconicity of market place; its universality. but it would be grossly simplistic, if not downright myopic, to suggest that wole soyinka is in the context of this poem merely preoccupied with the economistic reverberations of the marketplace as a leitmotif. fundamentally, his sense and sensibility regarding this trope must be understood and interpreted from the viewpoint of the traditional yoruba notion of marketplace as not just emporium but, crucially, as the human world or the earth as we know it. small wonder, then, soyinka, in this poem, regards every human habitation, be it a hamlet, village, town or city as marketplace where people haggle over and negotiate a better deal in existential terms. it is in this regard, therefore, that, as our analysis of the poem shall demonstrate, the poet ranges freely across time and space, problematizing multiple temporalities and loci as he lyricizes the socio-economic, historical and spiritual/mystical dimensions of the market. but beyond this lyrical or poetic celebration of the market as a locus of human activity and beyond highlighting the essential antiquity of the market trope through the use of the samarkand trope, the poet is more interested, it would seem, in threnodising the twin evils of prejudice and exploitation which are propagated and disseminated through the instrumentality of religion and trade, respectively. christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 25 26 a market is kind haven for the wandering soul or the merely ruminant. each stall is shrine and temple, magic cave of memorabilia. bargain hunters all, from pole to antipodes, annulling time, evoking places and lost histories (49). the market as “a kind haven for the wandering soul” bespeaks man as being at root an existential peregrine, a wanderer through life on earth, seeking watering-holes of fulfilment and lasting happiness in sundry activities both religious and secular: “each stall is shrine and temple”. all people are looking for in life is a better deal, hence soyinka characterises everyone as “bargain hunter” in the emporium called life. used as a “play word that connotes several things” (adekoya 512), samarkand insinuates itself in stanza two into johannesburg: “a market is where samarkand invades johannesburg, and, as the shutters close/departs without regrets or trace” (49). as earlier noted, samarkand is the leitmotif for humans' living-spaces, the world itself. samarkand here represents the age-long, habitual temporal strivings of people, exertions which are as old as creation itself. not even the passage of time can alter this human predisposition to crowd his/her life with activity which in turn invests human life with meaning. johannesburg in this context is an extension of samarkand as locus of human habitation and activity. stanza three reads: chimes of faith assail the market place – the muezzin's prayer alert, a shrine within the warren, a lean-to church dispenses chants at war with handbells (49). the phrase “chimes of faith” announces the nature of the world as a site of religious activities. religion has been described as man's thus, while akingbe and patrick try to throw some elucidatory light on some of the poems collected in samarkand and other markets i have known, jeyifo does not comment at all on the particular poem we are dissecting at the moment, that is, the titular poem. instead, he analyses rather breezily few poems in the collection (see jeyifo, 2014, chapter six: “poetry, versification and the fractured burdens of commitment”, 220 – 276). segun adekoya, however, meticulously dissects the thematic and structural features of all of the poems. however, adekoya's rather panoramic, and, hence, ambitious project of exploring all of wole soyinka's poems inevitably leaves a lot of textual silences and interpretive lacunae begging for further and more penetrating interrogation. it is in the light of this research gap identified that this paper is poised to address. we have adopted the anglo-american new critical concept of close reading in the textual explication of the poem. our choice is informed by the fact that the new critical approach is supremely apposite and appropriate for the exploration of the formal features of tension, ambiguity, irony and, more importantly, paradox. as has been highlighted above, paradox is always at the heart of soyinka's poetic method and worldview and what better theory is most suited for the analysis and interpretation of his poetry than new criticism? we shall, in the remainder of this paper, engage in disambiguating and unpacking the lines and stanzas of the poem, “samarkand and other markets i have known.” denouncing prejudice and exploitation divided into five parts, the poem is highly critical of all forms of extremism – be it political or religious. it makes a strong statement about human limitations, calls for a sense of balance, moderation, and proportion in all we do or think (adekoya, 2006, 511). christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 27 28 market and religion have been sites of both physical and spiritual activities, places where people go to have their physical and spiritual needs met. places of worship, however, equally double as trading centres, especially tourism, the memorabilia business where people buy and sell fancy bric-a-brac and other antique souvenirs. accordingly, the seventh stanza “depicts the contiguity of religion and trade: trade and holy places, saints and salesmen have ever lived as soul companions, caterers for the needs of flesh and spirit-bread and water, wine and holy water, homilies talismans and rosaries […] (50, adekoya 513). in stanza eight, soyinka recalls the biblical story of how jesus christ resorted to using the whiplash on traders and usurers who were selling and buying things right inside the holy temple, thereby desecrating it. soyinka confesses to envying the luck of these bible-days merchants who got away with mere strokes of the cane for more grievous offences than the ones people commit these days and face stiffer penalties, including the death sentence. as a result of the intolerance and bloody-mindedness of the present-day, soyinka in stanza nine holds up orisa worship of the yoruba as the gold standard in religious tolerance and accommodation: go to the orisa and be wise. ifa shuns the excluding tongue… (51) apart from being rendered in italics for emphasis, the stanza highlights the unifying values of animism – the value of live and let live. unlike foreign faiths noted for gross abuse of the fundamental human rights of people, for instance, right to freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and association, the ifaorunmila, the yoruba god of knowledge, order and wisdom, prioritises the paradoxical resolution of human problems and challenges. hence, soyinka indirectly indicts jesus christ who search for god or man's way of making sense of the mysteries of life. the “muezzin's prayer alert”, “a shrine,” “a lean– to church” and “white-robed dervishes”, all foreground the various beliefsystems and religious practices with which the world is riven. even in isale-eko, i.e., downtown lagos island where the natives live, one can hear “buddhist mantras” rending the air. such is the globalisation of religion in contemporary society. stanza four highlights the phenomenon of religious conflicts in society. imported faiths operate side by side with indigenous african traditional religion, represented here by orisa worship by the yoruba. claiming primacy and ownership of the land, the orisa (pantheon of gods and goddesses numbering hundreds) will not brook being shunted out of the limelight or being stifled or even “killed” by foreign imported religions such as christianity, islam, judaism, hare krishna, and buddhism. thus, “tibetan souls” referred to in stanza five points to the followers of buddha as exemplified by the dala lama of tibet. wole soyinka in effect is saying that africa has been infiltrated by oriental religions such as buddhism and hinduism that place high premium on asceticism and self-abnegation. stanza six reads thus: let all contend. let a hundred thousand flowers diffuse exotic incense and a million stars perfume the sky … (50) here the poet preaches tolerance, inclusivity and diversity as an antidote against religious bigotry and zealotry which at present is ripping the world apart and laying it waste. islamic fundamentalism, zionism and other forms of religious persuasion are stoking the fire of prejudice and setting people against one another. soyinka echoes in equal measure bertolt brecht and yoruba adage in this passage. the yoruba say that the sky is wide enough for a thousand birds to fly without clashing. brecht also expressed a similar sentiment bordering on freedom of access and equal opportunity. in stanza seven, soyinka agrees that both christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 29 30 beatrice, a comparison adekoya finds inappropriate. yet soyinka tells us that poets, lunatics, moralists, and lovers, dreamers and visionaries, all imagine an alternative utopia of sensual bliss in “afterlife”, hence they all suffer from the incurable virus of quixotic yearning for post-apocalyptic elysium. again, the reference to the “slumbering virgin” recalls john keats's “ode to the grecian urn”, mona lisa and other iconic sculptures which celebrate the myth of “a slumbering virgin”. this myth is a variation on the dream motif, which itself animates all human endeavours. the twelfth stanza opens thus: and samarkand? o samarkand! i cannot stroll through markets but i dread lest i see samarkand again, yet long to see how exchange has merged with change… (52) beyond the wordplay or punning implied in the line: “how exchange has merged with change…”, the poet-persona is here bemoaning the duplicity and fraud inherent in the heart of religion. he specifically references matthew 5: 5 that says the meek shall inherit the earth. but centuries on, after that declaration was made by jesus christ himself, the millennial plight of the lumpenproletariat has not changed. they have not yet inherited the earth. they have not “metamorphosed/into princesses and masters of the promised land” (52). in stanza thirteen, soyinka pooh-poohs attempts to break the buoyant and boisterous spirit of the african emporium; attempts to corrupt and stymy the african world distinguished by its communitarianism, its bonhomie and gregarious spirit of joie de vivre: such feeble scarecrows to my market mammas of accra, abidjan, huambo, cairo, ibadan, plum mistresses of markets' riotous fare. queens/of fiesta, theatrics, courts of arbitration, crèche, but – (52 – 3). claims that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (john 14:6) but soyinka contends: “go to the orisa. none but fools/claim guardianship of the final gateway” (51). the tenth stanza unveils some dangerous, illegal contraband items, notably narcotic drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana, which are being sold on the sly in the marketplace to a select clientele: “fumes that ransack, then bare the mind/ to ecstasies unknown in ancient samarkand …” (52). these lethal substances induce disturbed states of mind such as astral travel and levitation. the marketplace here is transformed by stealth into pseudo-religious centres, caverns of occult science, among others. furthermore, the marketplace as uncharted territory, an off-limits space where mundane articles of trade are replaced with deadly weapons (such as gatling guns) is the focus of the eleventh stanza of the poem. according to the poet, these weapons of mass destruction are used to prosecute both private and public wars, especially, of the religious variety. the poet-persona references dadi fayed and the late princess diana as metaphor for fun-seeking tripsters who, like the moth, are burnt by the flames of hedonism. it is common knowledge how fayed, the egyptian billionaire, and diana were hounded to death by european paparazzi in paris, france in a tragic car accident. fayed is the “wandering prince” while diana is the “slumbering virgin” referred to in the stanza. however, adekoya remarks that: “there is too much of muck and mortality in diana for her to match beatrice, a rare compound of untold beauty, heavenly splendour and stainless virtue, who leads dante through hell and purgatory to the blessed queen of heaven” (515). thus, soyinka alludes to dante's divine comedy, thereby comparing princess diana to christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 31 32 sequence starts thus: “o samarkand. remember samarkand?” (53) this is a refrain deployed as a mnemonic device to sustain audience participation as in a live theatrical performance which the logistics and mechanics of the poem clearly encourage. if anything, the mere vocalisation of the word “samarkand” evokes simultaneously the antiquity of the interfusion of trade and faith, both traditionally utilised as an instrument of economic exploitation, social exclusion and cultural prejudice as well as an organising principle for the world-as-marketplace. it also figures as “utopia” for humanity, the snag being that it is illusory, a will-othe-wisp. this ironic and paradoxical “celebration” of samarkand recurs throughout the entirety of the poem, especially from part iii. soyinka laments the high-handedness of the ruling socialist or communist party in the u.s.s.r. where dissent is terrorism or treason. he debunks the propaganda of the party as “a straw masquerade” – a charade confected to hoodwink the credulous herd. he denounces the bureaucratisation or the iron-fisted and rigid regimentation of the creative imagination of the citizenry. this often leads to a loss of faith in the dream (adekoya 516). thus, for the poet, officialdom stifles initiative and defeats enterprise leading to stasis, if not downright atavism. in the sixteenth stanza, the poet switches from the first-person singular “i” pronoun denoting the poet-persona to the first-person plural pronoun “we” suggesting both the poet-persona and the readerlisteners. in a sense, “we” imbricates and corrals the audience/readership into a unanimity of opinion with the narrative (poetic) voice. i/we coalesces into one against the adversarial “other”. accordingly, soyinka and the audience are imaged as tourists or travellers surveying the topographic contours of the marketplace and trying to soak up the sights and sounds, and smells of the marketplace. however, rather than encounter “bloom” and “shine” on the faces and skin of the people, we accordingly, “the women of soviet samarkand are invisible, marginalised, and powerless. metaphorised as “feeble scarecrows” they constitute a false threat to capitalist controllers of the world market” (adekoya 515). segun adekoya notes that state regulation of socio-economic activities geared towards the actualisation of world communism is responsible for the biblical misery and exploitation of the hoi-polloi, symbolised here by the soviet women. thus, this spectacular show of the privation and poverty of the soviet masses underscores the dismal and dreary failure of socialism. the stark contrast between the luxurious lifestyle of the african “market mammas” and the deplorable living conditions of the “feeble scarecrows” (i.e., soviet underclass) underscores the relative advantages of capitalism over socialism. little wonder, the poet sandwiches naguib mafouz, the egyptian winner of the nobel prize for literature, within this rich world of capitalist prosperity: “it's there i pictured him. mafouz, his soul in tune/ with priests and peddlers of the souks (53). stanza fourteen is, perhaps, the diaphragm of the poem; its mid-point in which soyinka changes gear and turns his attention to the contemporary scene. he says: “the strings are muted”, meaning that there is a lowering of the volume of the celebratory temper and tenor of the preceding stanzas in response to the elegiac atmosphere of the present dispensation, a period in time where “continents have fallen to dry dirges, dropped/to thin laments beneath collapsing thatch. to make a killing on the market now may prove too literal, where zealots strut as middlemen to market lords of unseen paradise (53). impliedly, the marketplace has been radically corrupted by the profit motive, by sheer mercantilism and, more poignantly, by incendiary forces of prejudice. the third part of the poem christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 33 34 we left samarkand as a market town in uzbekistan on a denotative level, but more significantly, “we” (i.e., poet and reader) missed the very essence of market which samarkand symbolises. the last two lines of the stanza simply tell us of how the poet hitches a train-ride and departs samarkand more as a specific place than anything else, for moscow. he takes the same train that carried away “the missing cries” – the sounds, the hubbub of real living human beings, and heads for “moscow's hidden stores”, meaning that he goes to moscow in his storytelling trips (cf: geoffrey chaucer's the canterbury's tales) where he believes more illegal and unjust and unlawful business activities take place, unfortunately sanctioned by law. this reveals the nauseatingly egregious hypocrisy of the socialist system, a system which thrives on exploitation (cf: animal farm). stanza eighteen speaks of a worse scenario in which what the poet had encountered before now pales into insignificance. he says he feels as though he had moved “from frying-pan to furnace, from slough of despond/to turbid ponds named law of marketforces…” (54). this new place which he refers to as “a mafia kingdom”, where life and living are strictly regimented by state regulations and rules take away people's rights. on the surface, thus, it appears “a consumer's paradise” where buying and selling take place without let or hindrance but in actual fact, it is a police state, although, as the two last lines suggest, the traders manage to give the authorities the slip by defiantly doing their own bidding: “an elixir of escape” (55) in stanza nineteen, it seems as though things get worse as the poet moves from place to place in his peregrinations, as he observes the workaday activities of the market. the rules of market forces are skewed to favour a few powerful people while the majority of the citizenry are short-changed and exploited. he calls this situation “double counterfeit”. he says here in the discover atrocious suffering induced by oppression, repression and mass impoverishment. only food items such as “tubers, pears, deep purple aubergines, ponderous cabbages and lean spices…” (54) are displayed as though they are of greater value than the productive forces that grow and produce them: joy had fled the faces of the eternal women. they lined the market outskirts, silently, winter twigs, dark shadows framed in rags limp greens outstretched; limp socks and shawls – the regulation surplus they could hawk at will for those few kopeks they would call their own (54). reference to “the eternal women” in stanza seventeen reminds us of iya agba and iya mate, both earth mothers or “witches” in the positive traditional yoruba sense in madman and specialists, as does the reference to the “market outskirts” which equally brings to mind the activities of the mendicants shunted to the roadside in the same play. that “joy had fled [their] faces” is tragic and very worrying because the market revolves around their joyous activities. they are the producers of not just humans in their role as mothers, but they also sustain society as productive forces. it might seem as if soyinka is here being pro-feminist but he is just being realistic without being gender-conscious or partisan. the issue of class, or of oppression appears to be more uppermost or paramount in his mind, in this regard. the draconian regime of the soviet authorities has stymied and hamstrung the women – the traders from doing their business and making profits. soyinka bemoans that “they lined the market outskirts […] the regulation surplus they could hawk at will/ for those few kopeks they would call their own” (54). thus, they could only eke out pittance with which they could barely scrape through. in this market “no human sounds” are heard. it has become a graveyard of human activity; a hecatomb of dreams. consequently, “we bade adieu/to samarkand …” that is to say, christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 35 36 religious text, sanctions violence: holy or unclean, taboos proliferate. like the bazaars of beirut, algiers or teheran, will a store display, an order form, satanic' music, poster, a fable on a tapestry, a catalogue of books, second-hand merchandise a dog-eared copy of arabian nights, a pamphlet poem – prove the trader's violent passport into paradise? (55 – 6) as revealed in the excerpt above, the ussr regime rigorously represses and denies people their rights, reducing them ultimately to zombies and virtual slaves. there is hardly anything to choose between life under the socialist soviet state and jihadist reign of terror as practised in the middle east. the twenty-first stanza simply adumbrates the focus on religious fundamentalism as practised in the middle east. here the market is a busy site for “soul and sale”, i.e., for religion and business. but in the charged universe of religio-economic activity, the lot of the common folk is much worse as “dacoits of deity”, i.e., hypocritical, selfopinionated, holier-than thou defenders of faith prowl the community killing anyone considered guilty of apostasy, heresy or blasphemy. it is this age-old repressive and exploitative regime of zealotry in the middle east, this reign of terror in, to echo president george w. bush, the “axis of evil” that has defined that part of the world, thus: they sanctify the blade, still dripping from its last jihad. it carves a path through an old man's neck, but the moving finger writes… though the ink of kandahar has turned to blood. the heir of ancient dynasties of letters … khorassan, alexandria, timbuktoo …. lies sprawled in the dirt and dust of a passage way (58). market “barter is debased”, that is, no room is created for proper trade by barter and workers and traders live like beasts of burden. and wole soyinka execrates: “samarkand, what bargain you have made! utopia sold for this? will chernobyl pay wageless scientists/in enriched uranium, to solve the state's insolvency?” (55) again, the very productive, life-sustaining essence of market is torpedoed by expediency, by state dictatorship, thus making it look as if utopia has been exchanged for collective immolation which the chernobyl metaphor indicates. in a sense, stanza nineteen reveals the unimaginable degree of the debasement, the corruption of the essence itself instigated by the powerful in order to maintain the status quo. the price for this is the mass sacrifice of the poor: or maybe – as allah wills – since soul and sale have ever shared their space – samarkand will turn the other sort, twin face of that tarnished paradise, whose sauce for goose was not for gander. we bid adieu to kulak, comprador, bourgeois deviationist revisionist capitalist running dog false consciousness … (55). in stanza twenty, soyinka is saying that the hapless people do not get any kind of reprieve. when power-holders are tired of running their lives aground through the subterfuges of ideology – “kulak, comprador …”, they conveniently switch over to the use of religion as an instrument or tool for repression and rabid exploitation. just as it is in society, so it is in religious practices, or, as wole soyinka puts it, in “tarnished paradise” – class consciousness is pervasive. what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander. in this “gulag”, “new heroes of the revolution” emerge, not hailing economic or political theory but “anointed text” probably the socialist text, which, like the christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 37 38 freedom of conscience and association. as highlighted earlier, it is curious that young minds would permit themselves to be brainwashed into fighting jihadist wars, engaging in terror attacks and wreaking havoc across the world in the hope of being rewarded with “doe-eyed virgins” in paradise. for soyinka, this act of taking human life is simply unacceptable. hence, he counsels in stanza twenty-four: it's time to raise the rafters, time to chant the primal sanctity of man beyond coarse politics, beyond meagreness of race and faith, time to disinherit nationhood, episcopacies – we declare this questing biped heir to cosmic legacies. who kills for love of god kills love, kills god, who kills in name of god leaves god without a name (56 – 7). this is the clincher, the lodestar of soyinka's artistic vision, a vision that derives in the main from the animist metaphysics of his yoruba culture. for him, therefore, “coarse politics”, “meagreness of race”, “faith” (or religion), “nationhood” or “episcopacies” (sects) cannot measure up to “the primal sanctity of man”. human life is inviolate, supreme and superior to all creeds and must be treated with utmost respect. man is the “questing biped” who is “heir to cosmic legacies”. the entire world is his oyster, his home. it is indefensible, therefore, to kill anybody in the name of any religion, or any god. to kill a person is to kill love, and to kill love is to kill god (since, as the bible says god is love) – to destroy the metaphysical ecosystem and render existence utterly meaningless. it is this practice of killing in god's name that soyinka poetises at great lengths in this poem as the following lines exemplify: adekoya copiously comments on the excerpt above thus: “the moving finger writes” is an allusion to omar khayyam, the great persian poet born in nishapur the capital of khurasan, who, in soyinka's view, is the “patron saint of all agnostics”. his agnostic and epicurean philosophy can preserve the world and its peace, which are perpetually threatened by sword-wielding jihadists represented by a stool-pigeon, “the waiter-stalker, a youth/fed on dreams of sarabands of houris”, that is, illusions of eternal bliss and carnal enjoyment in the afterlife (518 – 519). adekoya also explains that: “houris are nymphs of the muslim paradise and four of them are believed to be reserved for every jihadist who dies fighting to advance the cause of islam. does the belief, or the hope of savouring “doe-eyed virgins, wine and sweetmeats in the afterlife”, not expose jihadists as hypocrites and hedonists?” (519) he is no alien. no roots than his grow deeper in the market place, no eye roved closer home… (57). it is not particularly clear or obvious who “he” refers to here, but it is reasonable to assume that soyinka is referring to omar khayyam who in the ruba'iyat states his philosophy of life thus: “my rule of life is to drink and be merry. to be free from belief and unbelief is my religion” (omar khayyam, the ruba'iyat of omar khayyam, trans. peter avery and john healthstubbs. harmondsworth, middlesex: penguin, 1981, p. 65 quoted in adekoya 519). in contradistinction to the admirable agnosticism and moderate irreverence of omar khayyam, the poet presents us with the gory image of bloodthirsty jihadists who violently snatch away people's right to life and christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 39 40 the world even though they are “one-eyed arbiters”, i.e., they know pretty little about the mystery of human life, and yet arrogate to themselves omniscience and, hence, omnipotence. in stanza twenty-seven, soyinka muses on the paradoxical power of the religious mind-set which turns even the most sceptical into superstitious jellyfish. we people artefacts/from ivory, skin and herbs, from aromatic wood/ sifts of powder guaranteed for ailments old and now/dark mysteries in clay jars, beauty gels […]/like fake piety, they exact veneration” (58). the lexical item “still” is critical in that it alerts the reader to the obverse of the power of belief. the world-as-market place might be filled with fakes and counterfeits, we have been socialised to accept them the way they are: probable bulwarks of equanimity: “their patina is peace”, the ironic poet intones. further, the poettraveller who also doubles as poet-raconteur chants the paean to globalisation and multiculturalism, two powerful forces sweeping across the world. regardless of where you are, the postmodern condition that facilitates the accelerated exchanges in everything ranging from telecommunications to trade and commerce has made it practically impossible not to be affected directly by outside influences, religion inclusive. thus, we share other cultures' taboos, mores, norms and superstitious and religious beliefs, be it christianity, islam, buddhism, hinduism, animism, etc.: “we share the gods of distant lands…” (58). soyinka preaches understanding, tolerance and wisdom in the light of the confounding diversity of humanity. he invites the reader to look beyond the superficies of quotidian life to come to grips with the unspoken, deep-seated painful concerns of common humanity: “dirges of bereavement seep through ancient mats/ the ochresmeared antique, or a faded photograph – […] we jostle strangers the market place of hate is quartered on the pious tongue but this the old man knew, yet kept his daily tryst with haggling cries, mock wars of merchandise mint tea and gossip, an avocation to observe and chronicle. he shares the dreams of samarkand with traders and the traded, with sinners and the sinned against, with infidels and the self-assured of paradise a dream that never ends, a glimpse that still recedes, that shimmering golden road to samarkand (57). the poet here emphasises the problem of religious fundamentalism and intolerance. the old man is the voice of vision, the unsullied muse of memory who “observes and chronicles” the goings-on in this “market place of hate”, allowing people pursue their bent – traders and traded… (i.e., oppressors and the oppressed). he nurtures the samarkand dream of inclusiveness, and egalitarianism: “that shimmering golden road to samarkand” (57). stanza twenty-six further dramatizes movingly the poetpersona's passionate plea for “one love”, given the fact that “the ocean meets the sea in a marketplace…” (57), there should be no artificial boundaries of class. in other words, the doctrine of unity in diversity is promoted. he also counsels that we must all nurture this dream of universal brotherhood and uniteagainst prejudice, exploitation and allied misanthropic practices. for the poet, therefore, “the space of dreams remain [sic] inviolate/egalitarian in the market place/though desecration stalks in priestly garb/ by surrogates, by one-eyed arbiters” (57). it, thus, cuts him to the quick that society has allowed religion or/and religious proselytizers to sow schisms, rifts, and divisions among the colourful peoples of the world. these hatemongers “desecrate” christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 41 42 aiyejina, funso. “alter/native tradition in modern nigerian poetry”, yemi ogunbiyi (ed.), perspectives on nigerian literature: 1700 to the present vol. 2, the guardian books (nigeria/limited, 1988, pp. 112 – 115. akingbe, niyi. “subverting nationalism: historicizing horrors of the past in femi fatoba's they said i abused the government and wole soyinka's samarkand and other markets i have known”, matatu, vol 49, 2017, pp. 28 – 53. jeyifo, biodun. “introduction”, niyi osundare, songs of the marketplace. new horn press, 1983, pp. vii – xv. . wo l e s o y i n k a : p o l i t i c s , p o e t i c s a n d p o s t colonialism.cambridge university press, 2004. khayyam, omar. the ruba'iyat of omar khayyam. trans. peter avery and john heath-stubbs, penguin, 1981, pp. 65. nkosi, lewis. tasks and masks: theme and style. oxford university press, 1982, pp. 102. nwoga, donatus i. “obscurity and commitment in modern african poetry”, e.d. jones editor african literature today 6. heinemann, 1973, pp. 10 – 30. ogundipe-leslie, omolara. “ogun abibiman”, opon ifa,vol i, no 3, 1976, pp. i-iv. ojaide, tanure.the poetry of wole soyinka. malthouse press ltd., 1994, pp. 1 – 6. olafioye, tayo. the poetry of tanure ojaide: a critical appraisal. malthouse press ltd., 2000, pp. 35. osundare, niyi. songs of the marketplace. new horn press, 1983, pp. 3 – 6. who turn guests and kin – the market is that kind of meeting place” (58). paradoxically, in spite of ancient pain and sorrow which are the lot of man, these same problems underscore the commonalities of the human race. conclusion in the final analysis, both self and other are one, inseparable. the “inner eye” compels us all to discountenance external signs and symbols of xenophobia, exclusion and prejudice and appreciate the essential oneness of all humanity. death is a common leveller, regardless. and it is death that draws the curtain on our earthly sojourn and leads us back home to the ancestor world where we await reincarnation to resume our “haggling cries” all over again – in samarkand, the “market place of hate”. in concluding, it is important to remark that the poet in this poemsequence plays the traditional role of a satirist as practised in his native yoruba oral culture. according to tanure ojaide: “soyinka […] seems influenced by the etiyeri tradition of yoruba satire. the poet is a masquerade, who wants to maintain the social and moral ideals of his environment. in that pursuit, he ridicules and accuses violators” (ojaide, 1994, 7). although ojaide was writing about soyinka's early poetry here, it is evident enough that his submission still holds true for soyinka's later works, especially the poem under discussion. a citizen of the world for whom there are no borders, soyinka freely travels both literally and figuratively from “pole to antipodes” observing people's actions and critiquing them in equal measure with a view to upholding the ethical health of society. works cited adekoya, segun. the inner eye: an oriel on wole soyinka's works. obafemi awolowo university press limited. 2006, pp. 4, 511 – 17. christopher anyokwu (phd): saints of lucre, salesmen of faith: denouncing prejudice & exploitation in wole soyinka’s “samarkand and other markets i have known”coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 43 44 b e t w e e n o r a l a n d w r i t t e n l i t e r a r y f o r m s : (re)understanding the dichotomy dele maxwell ugwanyi department of english and literary studies enugu state university of science and technology, enugu & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani department of english and literary studies enugu state university of science and technology, enugu abstract arguments about the contradiction of oral and written forms of work of art generally known as literature have been posited by many scholars. however, there are hardly studies on what primarily constitutes oral literature and the correctness and appropriateness of the phrase and the literariness of those constituents. the seeming negligence on this critical perspective may be motivated by the fact that folklore, orality and oral heritage are mistaken to mean oral literature by many scholars which is an obvious misconception of the discipline. even though early researchers on the field of oral literature were not literary scholars, it is pertinent that the misconception about the field is corrected and the record set straight. this paper, therefore, concerns itself with proper categorisation of what oral literature is not with keen conceptualisation of the literariness of what constitutes oral literature; attempt is also made to invite scholars to a consideration of a universalised categorization of genres of african oral literature. drawing insights from classical literary theories and hermeneutics, the core of oral literature is established thereby filtering out what were hitherto mistaken to be oral literature. fur thermore , ora l l i te ra ture i s cont ras ted wi th i t s patrick, charles alex. “the role of anxiety and anger in wole soyinka's samarkand and other markets i have known.” iafor journal of arts and humanities, vol. 6, issue 2, november 2019, pp. 93 – 101. soyinka, wole. a shuttle in the crypt.methuen, 1971. --idanre and other poems.methuen, 1967. --madmen and specialists. university press limited, 1971. ---mandela's earth and other poems.random house, 1988. ---ogun abibiman. rex collins, 1978. --samarkand and other markets i have known.methuen, 2002. wilson, roderick. “complexity and confusion in soyinka's shorter poetry”, journal of commonwealth literature, vol 8, no 1, 1973, pp. 69. dele maxwell ugwuanyi & richard ifeanyichukwu nnamani: between oral and written literary forms: (re) understanding the dichotomy coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022 page 9 page 10 page 11 page 12 page 13 page 14 page 15 page 16 page 17 page 18 page 19 page 20 page 21 page 22 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini department of humanities, federal polytechnic nekede, owerri, imo state phone number: 07035213478 e-mail address:lovelyamara106@gmail abstract several postcolonial migration narratives reveal that the pressing need to subsist in a new environment predisposes the african immigrant to changes which affect almost every aspect of life. such changes may entail adopting a lifestyle of mimicry in order to fit into the mores of the host society. the result of this scenario can be a mindful or unconscious loss of the individual's native values and the prevalence of the foreign values. thus, the migrant may become a product of neither his native world nor that of his new world, and the struggle to maintain both values simultaneously may create what most literary critics explain as hybridity. this research adopts the postcolonial theory in studying the traces and results of mimicry, cultural displacement and hybridity as it affects the migrant characters depicted in micheal afenfia's leave my bones in saskatoon, helon habila's travelers, chimamanda adichie's americanah and chika unigwe's on black sisters' street; all of which are migration novels written by postcolonial nigerian authors. the research argues that even in a foreign abode, the migrants should endeavor to uphold their native culture because this is a sure way of maintaining a balanced identity while they are abroad and even when they eventually return home. keywords: postcolonialism, mimicry, cultural displacement, cultural assimilation and hybridity. amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 42 introduction the tendency to tilt one's mores towards those of the host has been st observed to characterize the 21 century african migrants. in most cases, it is regarded by the migrant as a profitable strategy for surviving the downsides of migration experience but at some points in the individual's migration ventures, a complete return to the initial values may become difficult or even impossible. these cases produce an individual who eventually is neither home to his nativity nor to his host society. even in cases of physical return to the migrant's homeland, the struggle to return to or maintain the former native norms creates a sense of unhomeliness in the individual. postcolonial literature has been explained in diverse ways by critics. some regard it as a literature which analyses the experiences of formerly colonized people or societies even after the exit of the colonizers. for ann dobie, postcolonial literature is the literature written in english by people in formerly colonized countries, some of it authored by the colonizers and their descendants, but more of it by those they colonized. the subject matter of postcolonial literature is marked by its concern for ambiguity or loss of identity. written by culturally displaced people, it investigates the clash of cultures in which one deems itself to be superior and imposes its own practices on the less powerful one (theory into practice, 207). the migration texts chosen for this work underscore the experiences of migrant characters who suffer physical, identity and cultural displacement as a result of their relocation to countries in europe and america; where almost everything about them is deemed immaterial by their host society. thus, the values of the host are imposed on them, plunging them into assimilating those of the seemingly powerful ones. helon habila's travelers tells the story of characters whose migration from african countries to places like berlin, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 43 united kingdom, america as well as their encounters with the natives of such countries change their whole notion of their original african culture. these characters like the unnamed narrator who hails from nigeria, gina his wife who is an american, mark who is a malawian and the others from burkina faso and so on are representatives of the african continent. their reasons for migrating from their homeland to the foreign countries include insecurity, the need for a better standard of education, harsh economic conditions and many others. these factors reveal the prevailing effects of colonialism on their societies even in a postcolonial era. chika unigwe's on black sisters' street narrates the anxieties of characters from african countries like nigeria, liberia and uganda, who encounter such incidents as poverty, sexual exploitation, unemployment and other problems in their postcolonial societies. these predicaments influence their decisions to migrate to belgium. however, their mingling with people in belgium leads to their assimilation of the foreign ways of life at the expense of their native norms. chimamanda adichie's americanah reveals the failures of the nigerian postcolonial society which are products of the colonial legacies. thus, such issues as unemployment, decline in the nation's standard of education, financial difficulties and so many others become reasons for which the major characters migrate to america. in their new abode, they face various forms of displacement and new forms of colonialism from the natives of their host country. micheal afenfia's leave mybones in saskatoon depicts the miserable conditions of individuals in a postcolonial nigerian society for which they migrate to canada. owoicho the protagonist suffers the sad realities of insecurity in nigeria, in which his wife and three children are killed on the same day. for other characters like damiete, bimpe, oroma, and obinna; unemployment, a failing education standard and financial difficulties rouse their desire to leave nigeria. while they live in saskatoon, these migrant characters in the novel get exposed to amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 44 displacements for which most of them become a hybridized version of their original self. it is remarkable that the writers of these four novels underscore similar issues which reoccur in different decades after the exit of the colonialists from various african countries. these issues expose the failures of most postcolonial african societies for which individuals feel frustrated and prefer to engage in transnational migration. shockingly, their target destinations are countries of those who once colonized and marginalized them in diverse ways. furthermore, their relocation to such places make them vulnerable to more instances of marginalization under which they have no other option than to forfeit their real worth in order to survive. it is based on these considerations that the postcolonial theory has been adopted as a framework for this research paper. the postcolonial theory according to pourjafari fatemeh and abdolali vahidpour, 'has its roots in the frustrations of the colonized and tensions and clashes between their culture and that of the dominant group. it also deals with the oppressed group's fears, hope and desires for their future and their own identities, and by regarding them as individuals worthy enough to be discussed and talked about, it gives them the authority and political and cultural freedom to gain independence by overcoming political dominance (the dawn journal, 683). these frustrations, tensions and clashes between the cultures are often divulged by various postcolonial literature with the issue of migration forming their major focus. mitchell philip irving explains that the term postcolonialism is: broadly a study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. it is concerned with both how european nations conquered and controlled “third world” cultures and how these groups have since responded to and resisted those encroachments. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 45 postcolonialism, which is both a body of theory and a study of political and cultural change, has gone and continues to go through three broad stages: a) initial awareness of the social, psychological, and cultural inferiority enforced by being in a colonized state; the struggle for ethnic, cultural, and political autonomy; and a growing awareness of cultural overlap and hybridity (1). the stages of postcolonialism which are highlighted by irving confirm the earlier assertion that the unpleasant experiences of people in most societies after the colonial era lure them into the delusion that life outside their homeland is more palatable. however, some of them discover that such notion is a mirage as they arrive their host destinations and are treated as inferior beings. as such, they begin to feel displaced and unaccepted in such abodes. they therefore, tend to mimic the seemingly superior culture of their hosts. based on this premise, one can state that mimicry, cultural displacement, hybridity and unhomeliness are common concepts which are associated with the experiences of postcolonial african migrants. mimicry mimicry is a notable concept which draws the attention of many critics of migration literature, especially as it relates to the postcolonial factors which surround or influence migration. mimicry in colonial and postcolonial literature is most commonly seen when members of a colonized society imitate the language, dress, politics, or cultural attitude of their colonizers (say, british or the french). in the context of immigration, mimicry is seen as an opportunistic pattern of behavior: one copies the person in power, because one hopes to have access to that same power oneself. presumably, while copying the master, one has to intentionally suppress one's own cultural identity, though in some cases, immigrants and colonial subjects are left with a dominant foreign culture that there may not be a clear preexistent identity to amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 46 suppress (amardeen singh, 3). in another sense, ann dobie posits that: “colonial subjects practice mimicry-imitation of dress, language, behavior, and even gestures instead of resistance” (208). in the light of the migration narratives under study, most of the characters tend to imitate the lifestyles and norms of the people they meet in their new environment, even when such norms negate those of their native countries. in adichie's americanah, ifemelu one of the major characters begins to enjoy different types of drinks just like her boyfriend curt. she does this in order to play along and maintain her relationship with the american companion even while her conscience reminds her that such practice negates her moral standard: with kurt, she became, in her mind, a woman free of knots and cares, a woman running in the rain with the taste of sun-warmed strawberries in her mouth. “a drink” became part of the architecture of her life, mojitos and martinis, dry whites and fruity reds. she went hiking with him, kayaking, camping near his family's vacation home, all things she would never have imagined herself doing before. she was lighter and leaner; she was curt's girlfriend, a role she slipped into as into a favorite, flattering dress, she laughed more because he laughed so much. his optimism blinded her. (229) furthermore, other characters like bartholomew and ginika get so engrossed in mimicking the white skin that they consider their black skin unacceptable. so, they engage in bleaching their skin. this creates a strong dislike in ifemelu towards bartholomew, so she expresses her disgust to aunty uju in the novel: “he uses bleaching creams” couldn't you see? his face is a funny color. he must be using the cheap ones with no sunscreen. what kind of man bleaches his skin, biko?” (140). coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 47 in helon habila's travelers, theunnamed protagonist who is also the narrator in the novel marries an american artist named gina, and they move to berlin in germany where she applies for her zimmer art fellowship and attends art competitions. but as gina loses her seven months old pregnancy, their sweet marriage suddenly turns pale, boring and full of loneliness. thus, the narrator resorts to hanging out with fellow africans at different parts of berlin and this exposes him to a life of mimicry. he, confesses his new lifestyle: i had met others like them here in berlin, at readings, on the train, young men and women, in threadbare sweaters and tattered jeans, mostly living in communes in abandoned buildings, purveyors of an alternative way of life, often not agreeing on what exactly that alternative should be, just an alternative status quo, otherwise what was the point? i drank, and smoked and listened… even in my tipsy, sedated state, i sensed how ephemeral this moment was (13). the narrator's mimicry is not just an imitation of the lives or values of the natives of his new abode, it is also a survival strategy in the midst of some u n w e l c o m e c h a n g e s w h i c h m a k e h i m uncomfortable. he confesses these earlier challenges which lure him into mimicking the lifestyle of the other migrants: but we got married, and it was a good marriage, stable, we had our routines, like most married people, we woke up together, we went to work, … two months after our marriage, gina got pregnant. we hadn't planned on that, and we certainly hadn't foreseen losing the pregnancy after just seven months. devastating for both of us, but something shifted in gina. she stopped going out; she cried all day; she stopped eating. gina was sleeping all day–she wouldn't wake up till late afternoon when amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 48 she'd emerge looking drawn and ethereal only to grab a sandwich from the fridge. i was left alone to stumble from place to place, mostly art galleries and libraries. (8-9). the narrator begins to engage in the activities of those with whom he spends more time, even though these are not his original lifestyle. for some characters in afenfia's own novel, mimicry becomes a means of blending in a new and somewhat unwelcoming environment. for this reason, bimpe who is one of the characters chooses a name which will suit the canadian accent without being mindful of the distortion it brings to her original name and its meaning. the novel reveals her bold declaration of what she gains by distorting her real name: all i'm saying is that bree is a simple, sweet name that gets me into places oluwabimipe cannot. bree good, bimpe bad. you get? bimpe mimicked something she saw on tv a while back, even though she couldn't remember who exactly made the hilarious remark (158). oroma, another nigerian migrant character in the same novel mimics the canadian style of expressing or showing unusual fondness for pets. so, she suddenly develops an unusual fondness for dogs. she does this to the point that getting two dogs becomes part of the items in her wish list. she frankly expresses these wishes to owoicho who visits her apartment: but you know what i would really, really like? someday, when i'm qualified for mortgage, i want to have my own house in a nicer neighborhood. a three-bedroom duplex with lots of space, a garage, a garden for flowers and vegetables, and a packet fence, including two bolognese dogs. two dogs. yes. one white and one black. i would name the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 49 black one white and the white one black (240-41). this description by oroma simply displays the extent to which many african migrants mimic the choices and ventures of their host societies even if it contradicts what is obtainable in their native land. a character like owoicho sees this as absolutely unimaginable when assessed through his normal african values. thus, as owoicho refers to that as “the craziest thing i have heard all week”, asking whether oroma “has turned full canadian”; oroma's only response is “i dey tell you. one hundred percent canadian” (241). oroma's response to the issue of mimicking the canadian way of life is as flimsy as that of bimpe. in response to ochanya's questions as to why she feels like bimpe is not a good name in a new country, bimpe answers: i don't have an answer to that question ochanya. but don't worry, shebi you'll start school here, and your dad too will be going out to look for work, abi? when that time comes, you'll know how important it is that canadians can pronounce your names easily, or better still, that you have english names that can at least open the door for you until you walk in and they realize you're not white like them but black (158). this response suggests the rate of baseless imitation of the western lifestyle to which most african migrants succumb in the postcolonial age, just in the pretext of maintaining a comfortable stay abroad. stressing on the details portrayed in most migration narratives, kosmalga avers that: migration writing gives highly informative accounts of migration experience, exposes the stereotypical representations of migrants, gives piercing insights into migrants' host and home cultures, explores the issues of identity, nationality, borders and belonging, provides alternative about current social and cultural transformations. (331-32). amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 50 one may analyze the assertion above by stating that most writings on the subject of migration often search through the entire initial principles of the migrants before they engage in migration, their experiences with others during migration as well as how these reflect on the migrants' personalities after their encounter with their host locations. all of these are vividly illustrated in the novels being used in this research. cultural assimilation and migration experiences most likely, migrants' thought patterns may change as they mingle with individuals in their host countries. consequently, most of these migrants may relinquish some aspects of their native culture so as to assimilate those of their new abode. they may do this voluntarily or under pressure. frantz fanon explains that, “the inferiority complex created in black people who have accepted the culture of another country as their own will cause them to imitate the codes of their colonizers” (209). in this sense therefore, the concept of cultural assimilation is strongly linked to the subject of migration and is portrayed in the experiences of characters in migration writings. it is seen as “the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assimilates the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. (wikipedia, 1). in habila's travelers, a character like manu relinquishes his african culture of protecting children from looking at the nudity of an adult opposite sex. having travelled to berlin where the new culture attaches little or no value to people's nudity, manu freely allows his daughter to look at the naked man on the sign post. the narrator reveals: as they get off the train, they face a billboard with a completely naked man seated on a stool, leering into the camera, his crotch barely covered by his hands clasped over it. a few months ago, manu would have stepped in front of his daughter to block her view, but now he simply turns his gaze coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 51 away. it is a new world, another culture. she'll get inured to it. (54) in adichie's americanah, cultural assimilation is so rampant among the nigerian characters who migrate and reside in america that the marriage institution is grossly affected by numerous cases of divorce in such country. based on this, one of the characters who is an igbo accountant in massachusetts observes that, “igbo women came to america and became wild. this was an unpleasant truth but one that had to be said. what else accounted for the high divorce rates among nigerians in america and the low rates among nigerians in nigeria?” (139). in the same vein, afenfia's leave my bones in saskatoon illustrates bimpe's assimilation of the western cultural standards in marriage affairs. therefore, in a conflict with her husband, bimpe does not seek a polite or peaceful way of settling issues with damiete as she should have done based on the african culture rather, she resorts to abusiveness and threatens to call the cops on him as it is done in the western culture. she abuses him thus: “useless man. liar. if you continue with these lies, i will call the cops on you again. you think this is nigeria? we are in canada, and i will deal with you. i will make sure you sleep on the street this night” (261). on the aspect of parenting styles and how the cultural ways of child upbringing in the western world are being assimilated by nigerian parents abroad, another character in the novel who lives in united kingdom remarks, 'i was just thinking that nigerians here really forgive too much from their children because they have foreign accents. the rules are different' (280). the fear of not belonging to a particular group makes people experience a cultural crisis and adopt the culture around them and claim it as a part of their own culture. this phenomenon happens because people who grow up with two different cultures cannot determine which culture belong to them and end up adopting these two cultures as theirs (yolanda viviani and robby satria, 2). amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 52 this very issue reflects in the way aunty uju responds to her son's disrespectful remarks on her appearance in the novel. thus, dike boldly tells her; 'mum, you look ridiculous' (189), and she sees nothing wrong with that even when such a remark from a child should have earned him a punishment in the nigerian context. in addition, the same auty uju further exhibits her adoption of the american culture as against her native nigerian culture by opting that ifemelu calls her by her first and not attach any special title to her name, she even instructs ifemelu to avoid speaking igbo language which is her native language to her son dike: “don't speak igbo to him, two languages will confuse him” ((131). afenfia in his own novel portrays another instance of cultural assimilation by nigerians who live in canada through the discussion between his characters; owoicho and bimpe. as owoicho attempts to punish his daughter for trying to expose her nudity to a boy in nigeria, bimpe advises him: in fact, the worst thing you can do here is touch a child or dare get physical with even your own pikin. you may land yourself in a big problem. you can't hit her or scream at her or something like that. here, you talk to them. it is called negotiating. you have a conversation (218). these remarks from bimpe depicts the extent to which she abandons her original african culture which endorses discipline as an essential aspect of child upbringing, and how she prefers the foreign style just because she lives in canada. unigwe's novel illustrates this state of cultural assimilation in the attitude of the three migrant characters; ama, efe, and joyce in antwerp, belgium. at the strange disappearance and suspected death of their colleague, sisi; they choose to mourn her in a very silent manner, even though they feel emotionally depressed by such incidence. the narrator reveals efe's thoughts about how they should respond to sisi's demise, comparing the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 53 absence of sympathizers in their apartment in antwerp to what would have happened if they are in nigeria: it is not appropriate that they should talk about food when they are supposed to be grieving. the sorrow is supposed to take away your appetite, take precedence over food. it would be unseemly for one of them to go to the kitchen and start cooking. even madam seems to understand this, so she did not bother to ask any of them to cook before she left. back home in nigeria, neighbors would have gathered to cry with us. nobody will let you cry alone! here, their grief has to be contained within the four walls of their flat. no matter how large it becomes for them, they must not let it crack the walls (54). hybridity this is another concept which is connected to migration literature just as the ones in this paper. in explaining this concept, dobie states that; “interaction of cultures creates blended ones, mixture of the native and colonial, a process called hybridity or syncretism. characterized by tensions and change, this process is dynamic, interactive and creative” (208). characters depicted in the selected texts exhibit traits which are products of their interaction with other cultures. habila's protagonist who is also the narrator begins to change his relationship pattern and communication with his people back in nigeria. this can be traced to his marriage with gina, an american lady who does not even communicate with her own people while they both reside in berlin. the narrator complains: i haven't spoken to my mother in a while. when i first came to america, i used to call every sunday, talking through five-dollar call card, the phone being passed from her to my father, to my sister amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 54 and my two brothers. the plan was for me to return after my ph.d, but then i met gina, and days turned into months, and the months into years, and then i stopped calling home. (35) for the narrator, gina his wife becomes a symbol of his interaction with a foreign culture, a reason he becomes a hybrid. thus, his bond with his people back home and the fondness he had for maintaining a regular communication with them gradually fades. also, mark in habila's work becomes a smoker just as a result of his contact with the lifestyles of the people he meets in berlin. although he has been the child of a clergyman throughout his childhood, the migration experience and encounters change his lifestyle to a wild personality, even to a transgender. even though he is formerly known as mary chinomba and as a girl, the encounter with foreign environment and individuals makes him choose to become a male, with the name 'mark'. in adichie's work, a character like ifemelu experiences the tensions and changes produced by hybridity according to dobie's definition. ifemelu's interaction with people in america plunges her into applying relaxer on her hair and she eventually becomes a mixture of her original self and a strange one in appearance. first, wambui explains to her the forms of tension which are linked to her hybrid state: relaxing your is like being in prison. you're caged in. your hair rules you. you didn't go out with curt today because you don't want to sweat out this straightness. that picture you sent me, you had your hair covered in the boat. you're always battling to make your hair do what it isn't meant to do. if you go natural and take good care of your hair, it won't fall off like it's doing now. i can help you cut it right now. no need to think about it too much (242). coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 55 consequently, she begins to suffer emotional discontent and laments as she looks at her hybrid facial look: “i look so ugly, i am scared of myself” (242). adichie further presents characters like the returnees in lagos whom ranyinudo who is another character in the novel complains of that: “every day, you see them carrying bottles of water as if they will die of heat if they are not drinking water every minute” (25). these characters have become so hybridized by the american lifestyle of being allergic to heat that even when they return to nigeria which is their native country, they still fail to come to terms with realities of the weather in their home country. furthermore, joel kuortti throws more light on the concept of hybridity, asserting that “as one of the most recurrent concepts in postcolonial literature, hybridity represents itself in the contact zones between the colonized and the colonizer and their mutual interdependence (“hybridity in postcolonial literary contexts”, 2023). afenfia's own novel shows a character like jason, whose hybrid nature is a product of his change of environment or contact with the canadian ways of life. and so, his taste for the native black pepper which his mother bimpe uses to cook while they were in nigeria changes. having been asked whether he was like that in nigeria, his parents disclose his real state of hybridity: “you know these nigerian-canadian children, they only want to eat cheese and burger… i can't cook with our local pepper anymore because of his allergies. in nigeria, he ate everything and anything. these allergies started when we got here” (163). similar instances of hybridity are seen in unigwe's narrative, a character like madam becomes a smoker just because of her relocation to antwerp. but she confesses that she never engaged in such lifestyle while in nigeria. in her confession to sisi who rejects her offer of a stick of cigarette, she remarks: “i didn't before i came here. but this is a different world. this place changes you. you learn to eat corn flakes with cold milk. can you amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 56 imagine? they clear the head, cigarettes” (66). having become a hybrid of two cultures, madam who never tested cigarettes before migrating to antwerp does not only smoke cigarettes, she now recommends it for people. conclusion it is obvious that migration experience is usually accompanied by changes for which the original emotional, physical, economic and even cultural conditions of the individual apparently shift from what they were before ever the migration decision and relocation were made. these are issues highlighted by the migration novels in this work, such vicissitudes of migration are therefore exhibited in such concepts as mimicry, hybridity, unhomeliness and cultural assimilation, which in diverse ways characterize the postcolonial experiences of african migrants outside the african soil. a major point to note is that these experiences notify the african migrant of the prevailing nature of a masked form of colonialism even in a postcolonial age. works cited adichie, chimamanda. n. americanah. lagos: farafina, 2013. afenfia, micheal. leave my bones in saskatoon. canada: griots lounge, 2023. asika, ikechukwu, ifechelobi, jane and akabuike, ifeoma. “words made flesh” a formalist reading of helon habila's waiting for an angel.” international journal of english literature and culture. volume 3 (4), april, 2015. pp 96106. bhabha, homi. k. location of culture. london: routledge, 1994. dobie, ann. theory in practice an introduction to literary criticism. u.s.a: wadsworth, 2012. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 57 habila, helon. travelers. nigeria: w.w. norton and company, 2019. irving, mitchell. p. key terms in postcolonial theory. https://www.dbu.edu.2024. kosmalga, joanna. “defining migration writing”. journal of literary theory. new york: de gruyter, 2022. kuortti, joel. “hybridity in postcolonial literary contexts”. engagements with hybridity in literature: an introduction, 2023. online. pourjafari, fatemeh and vahidpour, abdolali. “migration literature: a theoretical perspective”. the dawn journal. vol. 3, no. 1, page 683, 2014. online. singh, amardeen. “mimicry and hybridity in plain english”. postcolonial global literature and film, modernism, african american literature, and digital humanities, 2017. online. h�ps://www.ectrostani.com unigwe, chika. on black sisters' street. london: vintage books, 2009. online. yolanda, viviani and robby, satria. journal basis. vol.8, no.1, page 2, 2021. online. amarachi christiana kelechi-ejingini cultural displacement, hybridity and postcolonial mimicry in selected nigerian migration fiction 58 https://www.ectrostani.com page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr introduction environmental degradation is among the most critical global challenges, particularly for marginalized communities whose livelihoods are inextricably tied to the natural environment. through literature, the interdependence of human and ecological systems becomes both a subject of critique and a call to action. arnold judoka's longwalk to a dream examines the intersecting crises of environmental exploitation, social injustice, and resistance in nigeria's niger delta. by dramatizing the lived experiences of oppressed communities, udoka critiques the exploitative practices of multinational corporations and the complicit negligence of political authorities. this analysis, through the lens of ecocriticism, unpacks the narratives portrayal of environmental resistance and the moral imperatives it demands of humanity. synopsis of long walk to a dream long walk to a dreamis a play set in the oil-rich, ecologically devastated niger-delta, specifically peteke kingdom. the story begins with wariboko, the first son of king pereware, who is reluctantly helping odum, the priest; prepare a shrine for a council of elders. wariboko's reluctance stems from his involvement in the pogwa boys, a radical group opposing prime oil's exploitation of the land. the group, made up of young men from peteke kingdom, is divided on how to respond to the crisis, with some advocating for violence, while wariboko and boro push for restraint. during the council meeting, a madwoman named sekiri interrupts, warning of plenty of mad men. after her dismissal, the pogwa boys surround the shrine and are allowed to present their grievances. the situation escalates when a bloodied altar boy, woman, and catholic priest burst into the meeting, followed by senator ibinabo, who reveals that the catholic church in ogiri was bombed during morning mass. she narrowly escaped death and expresses concern for miene, a journalist who was also ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka's long walk to a dream charity a. angya and iveren i. sambe benue state university, makurdi charityangya@gmail.com iverensambe@gmail.com& 08069113116 &08054501748 abstract this paper examines an eco-critical analysis of the environmental and social consequences of oil exploitation in nigeria's niger delta, as depicted in udoka's long walk to a dream. the aim of the research is to examine how the play critiques the intersection of environmental degradation, social injustice, and resistance movements in the region. the findings of the study show that the play highlights the devastating effects of oil extraction on local communities and the environment, while also exploring the resistance of local groups demanding ecological justice. the conclusion emphasizes the need for systemic changes to address environmental and social equity. based on these findings, the paper recommends strengthening environmental regulations, holding corporations accountable, empowering local communities, and promoting international advocacy for environmental justice. keywords: ecological justice, ecocriticism, environmental degradation, resistance movement niger delta coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 59 60 mailto:charityangya@gmail.com mailto:iverensambe@gmail.com environmental degradation and resistance in long walk to a dream the niger delta, as depicted in long walk to a dream, is not just a geographical setting but a contested space where environmental degradation and social injustice intersect. udoka portrays the devastating effects of oil exploitation through vivid imagery and the experiences of his characters. gas flaring, pipeline explosions, and oil spills that have become the lot of the people termed by the author as "earth-shaking explosions" (udoka 23) underlining the multifaceted crises plaguing peteke kingdom. this depiction also corresponds to the ecojustice movement, which emphasizes how the ecological harm. is borne disproportionately by marginalized communities. as boro declares in the play: the first reason for the struggle is the environment. the second reason is the environment. and the third reason is the environment! not cash! if the environment dies, we die (udoka 37). this statement reflects the ecojustice critique of neoliberal exploitation. boro's advocacy for cautious, collective action highlights the tension between violent rebellion and nonviolent resistance, a recurring theme in postcolonial ecocriticism. his leadership contrasts with teke's impulsive aggression, illustrating the moral and strategic dilemmas faced by resistance movements. symbolism and localized resistance udoka integrates potent symbols to emphasize the stakes of ecological resistance. the recurring motif of polluted waterways, as described by sekiri, encapsulates the degradation of life-sustaining ecosystems: “i caught the fish in the creek last week… my canoe could not go far because of the black oil on the water. as i was waiting, the poor, dead fish floated to me quickly; i rescued it” (udoka 29). involved in the bombing and has gone missing. the tension rises further when monsignor ekaikaw, the priest, limps in after receiving medical treatment. the reappearance of miene reassures ibinabo that the events will be reported to higher authorities, including the governor and president. ibinabo contacts the president, who promises justice. the play concludes on a hopeful note, with the community uplifted by the president's promise, which carries weight due to his reputation for integrity. theoretical framework ecocriticism, as a literary theory, analyzes the representation of nature in literature and the ways in which these representations influence cultural perceptions of the environment. as greg garrard notes, literature concerns "how literature reflects, engages with and influences our attitudes towards the environment" (15). it bridges literary studies and environmental theory, emphasizing how texts represent the relationship between humans and nature (salma monai & joni adamsen 5). while traditional ecocriticism often focuses on preserving the natural world for its intrinsic value, more recent approaches such as ecofeminism and postcolonial ecocriticism challenge the systemic inequalities that perpetuate ecological harm. for instance, greg garrard's concept of ecojustice examines how marginalized communities disproportionately bear the brunt of environmental degradation. these frameworks are particularly pertinent in the niger delta, where oil extraction exacerbates economic inequities and ecological crises. udoka's long walk to a dream conforms to these theories, critiquing the ecological destruction caused by multinational oil corporations. beyond portraying physical devastation, the play interrogates the sociopolitical systems enabling this exploitation. the protagonist, wariboko, embodies a community's resistance, illustrating the power dynamics between local traditions and global capitalism. such themes resonate beyond the niger delta, offering insights into global struggles for environmental equity. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 61 62 historical resonances and global parallels while long walk to a dream is rooted in the specific struggles of the niger delta, its themes resonate globally. the exploitation of peteke kingdom parallels ecological injustices in other resource-rich regions, such as the amazon rainforest and indigenous territories in canada. in each case, multinational corporations prioritize profit over the welfare of local communities, perpetuating cycles of poverty and environmental destruction. the historical allusions to figures like isaac boro and ken saro-wiwa reinforce this broader relevance. these characters signify the sacrifices made in the fight for ecological justice, their legacies serving as a rallying cry for continued resistance. however, udoka's nuanced portrayal avoids hagiography, instead highlighting the complexities and contradictions inherent in activism. for example, boro's shift from militant resistance to caution reflects the internal tensions within the niger delta's struggle for self-determination. udoka's long walk to a dream critically examines the devastating consequences of environmental degradation in nigeria's oil-producing states. in a 2016 interview with iveren sambe, udoka explained: “although long walk to a dream borrows from the story of the summary execution of four ogoni chiefs in a shrine; and the characters bear annang and izon names, the play speaks for all the oil-producing communities in the niger delta” (sambe interview). this perspective aligns with jonas akung's observation that the play “portrays liberation struggles tied to the niger delta question, using compelling narratives to illustrate ecological and socio-political issues” (203). udoka further elaborated in a separate interview with edozie udeze, revealing his firsthand experience with oil pollution and its impacts: “as a native of abak in akwa-ibom state, i grew up amidst the throes and throngs of oil sekiri's dialogue weaves personal tragedy into a broader narrative of ecological collapse. her mental state mimics the disarray of her environment, drawing attention to ecofeminist readings that link the exploitation of land to the marginalization of women. furthermore, her seemingly nonsensical statements about sharing the poisoned portray the communal suffering induced by ecological harm. the pogwa boys embody the region's resistance to systemic oppression. their debate over strategy whether to adopt violent measures or seek dialogue points to the historical struggles of niger delta activists. wariboko's preference for diplomacy brings to the forefront udoka's overarching message: sustainable change requires collective action grounded in reason, not reaction. this complies with ken saro-wiwa's nonviolent advocacy, which the play explicitly honours through the character kenule. broader implications: from niger delta to the world the play's depiction of ecological devastation transcends its local context, inviting audiences to consider its implications for global environmental policies. just as peteke kingdom grapples with the consequences of oil exploitation, other regions face similar challenges under the anthropocene's framework. this indicates that the environmental era, marked by humanity's profound impact on the planet, demands urgent reevaluation of development paradigms. by juxtaposing peteke's plight with global examples, long walk to a dream critiques the systemic inequalities perpetuated by extractivism. it calls for an ecocentric worldview that prioritizes sustainability and equity. udoka's vision extends beyond mere critique, advocating for actionable solutions rooted in community empowerment and international solidarity. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 63 64 the historical context of figures like king jaja of opobo, isaac adaka boro, and ken saro-wiwa further enriches the play's narrative. king jaja's resistance to colonial exploitation typifies an early struggle against ecological imperialism. similarly, boro's 1966 declaration of the niger delta republic marked the first armed protest against systemic oppression, while his eventual death underscored the region's fraught battle for autonomy (akung 203). ken saro-wiwa's leadership in the movement for the survival of ogoni people (mosop) represents the non-violent counterpoint to boro's militancy. saro-wiwa's activism culminated in his 1995 execution, which amnesty international decried as a government clampdown on dissent (amnesty international). his martyrdom galvanizedglobal awareness of the niger delta's plight, highlighting what human rights watch described as “systematic repression” aimed at silencing opposition (human rights watch 18). udoka honours saro-wiwa's legacy through the character of kenule, who embodies resilience and resistance. the narrative's exploration of ecological degradation and sociopolitical oppression invites reflection on the systemic issues that perpetuate exploitation in the niger delta. as a. rowell notes, multinational corporations like shell have long benefited from governmental complicity, enabling the continued devastation of the region (rowell). this complicity is further evidenced by j. r. udofia's 1990 letter to the police commissioner, highlighting threats of disruption during peaceful protests against shell (udofia 2). ultimately, long walk to a dream illustrates how the intertwined struggles for environmental justice and human dignity persist in the niger delta. the play's dedication to eco-martyrs such as king jaja, isaac boro, and the ogoni nine underscores the pollution, oil exploration, and the attendant consequences… now, the people are avowed to pay the ultimate price to redeem their situation.” at its heart, the play underscores the inseparability of ecological health and community survival. boro, a central character, encapsulates this message in the first scene during his conversation with the king, emphasizing that the environment poses a threat to the survival of peteke kingdom, and that it's degradation is the primary cause of struggle because if the environment perishes, the very existence of the kingdom and it's people is. at stake. this sentiment relates to the ecojustice movement, which, as saro-wiwa declared in his 1992 address to the un working group on indigenous populations, seeks to ensure that communities devastated by resource extraction receive justice and reparations (saro-wiwa 1). the plight of ogoni land is emblematic of this struggle. chief nzidee's 1970 petition to the then rivers state military governor decries shell-bp's operations, asserting they were “seriously threatening the well-being and even the very lives of the ogoni” (nzidee 3). this ecological crisis is vividly depicted in the play's opening, where a pipeline explosion disrupts the shrine meeting. odum laments, “oh, pipeline explosions. another spillage, i suppose, and that has become our lot” (udoka 23). similarly, sekiri's fragmented dialogue highlights the pervasive despair: “i caught a fish in the creek last week… my canoe could not go far because of the black oil on the water. as i was waiting, the poor, dead fish floated to me quickly; i rescued it” (udoka 29). this portrayal harmonizes with j. ushie's assertion that the niger delta has been “completely vandalized”, leaving its people “amid oil spillages and round-the-clock gas flares” (ushie 8-9). coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 65 66 being and even the very lives of the ogoni” (nzidee 3). the environmental justice movement's most poignant moment, however, revolves around ken saro-wiwa. saro-wiwa, as human rights watch describes, tirelessly campaigned for the rights of the ogoni people through the movement for the survival of ogoni people (mosop). his activism highlighted the ecological destruction and human rights abuses inflicted by oil companies operating in ogoni land. in 1992, during the un working group on indigenous peoples in geneva, saro-wiwa declared: “petroleum was discovered in ogoni in 1958, and since then, an estimated $100 billion worth of oil and gas has been extracted from ogoni land. in return, the ogoni people have received nothing” (saro-wiwa 4). saro-wiwa's leadership culminated in the publication of the ogoni bill of rights in 1991, which empowered mosop to seek international intervention in the face of federal neglect. however, his activism led to his arrest and eventual execution in 1995, alongside eight other ogoni activists. amnesty international denounced saro-wiwa's death as a miscarriage of justice, emphasizing his role as a prisoner of conscience (amnesty international 12). the systemic militarization of the niger delta, vividly depicted in long walk to a dream, was intensified under general abacha's regime. leaked directives from shell to its nigerian counterparts illustrate corporate complicity in suppressing resistance (rowell 304). additionally, human rights watch revealed that the murder of the ogoni four was used as a pretext for the military's brutal “wasting operations” in ogoniland, spearheaded by lt. col. komo and major okuntimo (human rights watch 14). these operations targeted protestors, resulting in arrests, beatings, and the widespread destruction of property. enduring fight for liberation and ecological restoration. the niger delta's environmental crisis is central to the narrative of arnold udoka's piece, long walk to a dream. the play captures the devastating consequences of oil exploitation, particularly for women and marginalized communities. female characters such as senator ibinabo, usenekong, and miene suffer severe injuries from a bomb blast linked to prime oil, a fictionalized symbol for oil cartels like shell, chevron, and texaco. these corporations, as amnesty international reports, have perpetuated cycles of violence in the region, with peaceful demonstrations met with systemic repression, harassment, and violence against communities (amnesty international 6-7). udoka mirrors this reality through his characters' experiences. wariboko's declaration reflects the plight of these communities: “this council is aware that all the communities that have decided to call the attention of the oil gangs to their plights have been invaded, bruised, raped, and annihilated on the accusation of being sponsored by faceless moneybags. we are putting it to this council that enough is enough” (udoka 61). this statement underscores the pervasive use of violence to silence protestors, a pattern that amnesty international also documented in its 1994 report on the ogoni crisis. the report highlighted systematic military repression and human rights abuses orchestrated to safeguard corporate interests. similar patterns of intimidation occurred during peaceful rallies against shell in iko in 1980 and 1987, where homes were destroyed, leaving hundreds homeless (rowell 16). the play's narrative also identifies with historical records, such as chief w. nzidee's 1970 petition, which decried the environmental degradation caused by shell-bp operations in ogoni land. nzidee's letter to the military governor emphasized that the company's activities were “seriously threatening the wellcoou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 67 68 conclusion udoka's long walk to a dream offers a scathing critique of the ecological and social consequences of oil extraction in the niger delta, underscoring the imperative of community empowerment and ecological justice. through an eco-critical lens, the play advocates for sustainable development and emphasizes the need for corporate and political accountability in mitigating environmental degradation. policy recommendations based on the ecocritical insights gleaned from long walk to a dream, the following actionable recommendations are proposed to address environmental conservation challenges in the niger delta and beyond. 1. legislative reforms for environmental accountability anti-gas flaring laws: the federal government of nigeria should enact and enforce stringent anti-gas flaring legislation. the national assembly should pass such laws, while the ministry of environment and the department of petroleum resources (dpr) enforce compliance through periodic inspections and penalties. oil companies like shell, chevron, and exxonmobil should adopt flaring reduction technologies as mandated by these laws. oil companies must only proceed with projects that meet eia standards, with oversight from local state governments. 2. corporate environmental responsibility mandatory clean-up commitments: the federal ministry of environment and national oil spill detection and response agency (nosdra) should require all oil companies to establish dedicated clean-up funds. these funds should be monitored by third-party organizations, such as the international union for conservation of nature (iucn). ecological restoration targets: the nigerian government should mandate restoration targets for oil companies, with udoka symbolically represents the ogoni four in the play as chief timi, chief sokari, chief nimi, and chief etete, who suffer "emotional death" due to their inability to alleviate the community's suffering. this narrative parallels historical realities, reflecting the unrelenting environmental violence that has plagued the niger delta. furthermore, pere's advocacy for dialogue reflects udoka's vision of non-violent conflict resolution. pere advises, “never respond to conflict with conflict. embrace and employ dialogue. dialogue slaughters conflict, and that way you win both the war and the battle” (76). this perspective echoes ken sarowiwa's principles of peaceful resistance and the pursuit of ecological justice. while saro-wiwa's vision remains unfulfilled, udoka's play reaffirms hope for a sustainable future in the niger delta. recent efforts, such as the $1 billion clean-up program initiated in ogoniland in 2016, signify incremental progress. however, as highlighted by j. ushie, the region's environment remains deeply scarred: fifty years of crude oil exploitation has rather left the niger delta environment completely vandalized, its people living amid oil spillages and round-the-clock gas flares… instead of fetching niger delta gold bracelets, crude oil has fetched them handcuffs; instead of fetching them gold necklaces, it fetched them nooses (ushie 8-9). through its nuanced portrayal of the niger delta's struggles, long walk to a dream amplifies the voices of those fighting for ecological justice, serving as both a tribute to past martyrs and a call to action for future generations. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 69 70 6. strengthened international collaboration global partnerships for environmental justice: the nigerian government, through the ministry of foreign affairs, should collaborate with organizations like the united nations environment programme (unep) and amnesty international to hold oil corporations accountable for environmental degradation. global advocacy platforms: environmental ngos, including friends of the earth and climate action network, should use forums like the un climate change conference (cop) to highlight the plight of niger delta communities and lobby for global support. 7. integrated monitoring and accountability mechanisms legal support systems: the national human rights commission (nhrc) should provide legal aid to affected communities, enabling them to seek compensation for ecological damages through courts and arbitration bodies like the international criminal court (icc). works cited akung, jonas e. “the portrayal of liberation and the niger-delta question in arnold udoka's akon, long walk to a dream and inyene: a dance drama.” in international journal of applied linguistics and english literature. vol. 5, no.3. 2016, pp 203. amnesty international. “ken saro-wiwa: nigeria: military government clampdown on opposition”. november, 11, 1994. garrard, greg. ecocriticism. oxfordshire: routledge, 2024. human rights watch. “nigeria: the ogoni crisis: a case study monitoring by the environmental audit committees at the federal and state levels. restoration projects should involve local ngos and scientific experts from nigerian universities. 3. community empowerment strategies community resource management committees: local governments, in collaboration with traditional rulers, should establish these committees to oversee natural resource management. they should be supported by ngos like friends of the earth for training and capacity building. revenue sharing mechanisms: the federal government should institute revenue-sharing policies where 10-15% of oil royalties are directly allocated to host communities. the revenue mobilization, allocation and fiscal commission (rmafc) should manage disbursement to ensure equity and transparency. 4. educational and advocacy initiatives cultural preservation programs: the national council for arts and culture (ncac) should collaborate with playwrights and artists to create performances that highlight ecological issues, using works like long walk to a dream as inspiration. 5. technological innovations for sustainability real-time monitoring systems: the national space research and development agency (nasrda), in partnership with international organizations such as nasa, should deploy satellite technology to monitor environmental violations in the niger delta. energy transition initiatives: the federal ministry of power should collaborate with renewable energy firms like solar nigeria and international donors, such as the world bank, to establish solar and wind power projects in oil-producing areas. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 charity a. angya & iveren i. sambe ecological justice and human struggles: an eco-critical study of arnold udoka’s long walk to a dream 71 72 of military repression in southeastern nigeria”. vol.7, no.5. 1995 pp18, 30. monani, salma and toni adamsen, (eds.) eco-criticism and indigenous studies: conversations from earth to cosmos. routledge, 2016. nzidee, w. chief. “humble petition of complaint on shell-bp operations in ogoni division.” letter to his excellency, the th military governor on 25 april, 1970. rowell, a. green backlash: global subversion of the environment movement. routledge, 1996. sambe, iveren ivy. personal communication with arnold udoka thon 27 april 2016. lagos state, nigeria. saro-wiwa, k. “statement of the ogoni people at the tenth session of the working group on indigenous populations, geneva.” july 28, 1992. udofia, j. r. “threat of disruption of our operations at umuechem by members of the umuechem community”. letter to the commissioner of police. october 29, 1990. udoka, arnold. long walk to a dream. ibadan: kraft books ltd, 2009. ushie, j. a. “challenges of the creative writer in the nigerdelta”. the ker review: a journal of nigerian literature 2. vol.1. 2006 pp 8-9. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 73 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 the aesthetics of orality in ojukwu’s biafra war speeches uchenna david uwakwe +234-803-798-9970 davdumga69@yahoo.com & adaeze regis-onuoha +234-803-333-8220 adaezeregiso@gmail.com directorate of general studies, federal university of technology owerri, nigeria. abstract one of the many apprehensions that attend the criticism of biafra war literature is the certification of its artistic warrant, given the perceivable inclination to facts and historicity. nonetheless, the war event has yielded all the genres of modern literary creativity, and for which criticism also is rife. seemingly, chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu’s biafra war speeches, which have been an inalienable condiment of this literary inclination, scarcely have a place in the discourse of african literature. however, it is possible to underscore the linguistic patterns often identified among distinguished igbo orators such as are also bequeathed upon tortoise in the igbo folktale tradition. particularly noteworthy of the circumstances of ojukwu’s speeches is the underdog and survivalist placement of biafra in the face of what was regarded as a civil war. that the better equipped federal side had an unrestrained support of britain had aroused sympathy from within and without the biafra enclave and instructed the propensity of ojukwu’s speeches to the imperatives of survival. all these justify the correlation of the known conflicts in which the tortoise figure is often portrayed. it is in this regard that this work hypothetically implicates the igbo oral literary tradition and the possibilities of appraising its consequence on the rhetoric of ojukwu’s war speeches. therefore this work examines how the language forms in the speeches translate into modes whose figures do not diminish the verbal, yet aesthetic elements of orality. mailto:davdumga69@yahoo.com mailto:adaezeregiso@gmail.com introduction chukwuemeka ojukwu’s biafra war speeches remain a phenomenal influence on what is prevalent today as biafra war literature. extracts of these speeches have often been made to embellish the narratives on this subject matter. however, the language in use in these speeches maintains a balance between the oral and the written patterns of expression. in the discourse of language, the transition from the oral to the written mode generates multimodal levels of analysis which integrate the potentials of the oral tradition in the written medium. these speeches may be examined with particular recourse to such language theories as speech act, pragmatics and other levels of discourse – discourse analysis and even the extension in critical discourse analysis. in the core literary studies, there are possibilities of structuring discursive frameworks around such theories as marxism cum revolutionary aesthetics, sociological criticism, new historicism, postcolonialism and even eco-criticism. indeed, extensive research has gone in these regard. however, little has been done to appreciate the aesthetics and culture of orality within the texts of these speeches. the texts containing the speeches for analysis in this work, are authored by lt. colonel chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu, the head of the then proclaimed biafra nation. these two texts are – biafra: selected speeches with journals of events and random thoughts of c. odumegwu ojukwu. very many speeches were rendered at various points, but those that proceeded from the biafran commander attracted a greater audience. they did not only give the required update on the war events, but they mostly stimulated the will of the biafran people to keep up their struggle for survival. the assumption which propels this research is that there are forceful literary effects as there are ideological constructs in all the speeches as will be seen in the analysis here. they appear more succinct in recollecting patterns that are peculiar to the igbo narrative tradition. these speeches are considered to be unique because of their significance in the upshot of biafra war literature, in both the creative and critical works. in chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun, an instance recollecting one of the speeches is found here: “fellow countrymen and women, you the people of eastern nigeria: conscious of the supreme authority of the almighty god over all mankind...i do solemnly proclaim...”(161-162). some of these factual and historical echoes inundate both the autobiographical and fictional narratives on the nigeria-biafra civil war. in summing up his editorial, emenyonu cites a previous work which had investigated the fictions and memoirs of the biafra war. his judgment is that “the commitment in political terms overwhelms the artistic vision”(xiv). ijeoma nwajiaku who had embarked upon a comparative review of chukwuema ike’s sunset at dawn and adichie’s half of a yellow sun identified some of the sociological consequences of the biafra war. simply, nwajiaku relates how much literary works have been derived from the war experience: “in the case of nigeria, one could safely assert that the civil war remains a singular important event that has remained a source of inspiration for creative writing in the years following the event” (40). in this regard also, charles nnolim (145), views half of a yellow sun as the kind of historical novel whose accounts are detailed and precise in recalling the horrors of massacres, mass starvation and the struggle for survival which marked the vicissitudes of the biafran war. perhaps, it needs to be observed that the biafra challenge is comparable to the varied conflicts in the igbo folktales. chimalum nwankwo’s estimation of biafra war literature is that what has been produced is inadequate. he places the estimation of the inadequacy against the artistic recollection of war events in zimbabwean writings, in which “agonies run like fresh springs in the fictions of its authors” (7). furthermore, nwankwo recollects eddie iroh’s forty eight guns for the general, ossie enekwe’s come thunder, wole soyinka’s the man died, and concludes that the works appear to evade the confrontation of the battle front while dwelling on the excesses of general yakubu gowon. he mentions a few other works that are adjudged to be “robust”. these include: elechi amadi’s entrangement, cyprain ekwensi’s survive the peace, chinua achebe’s girls at war, flora nwapa’s wives at war and festus iyayi’s awaiting court martial. clearly, these critics have paid less attention to the aesthetics of the biafra war literature that are latent in the culture of orality. in half of a yellow sun, chimamanda adichie scintillatingly captures the personality of ojukwu as well as the substance of his speech: i came to ask you a question,’ he said. his oxford-accented voice was surprisingly soft; it did not have the timbre that it did over the radio and it was a little theatrical, a little too measured. ‘what shall we do? shall we keep silent and let them force us back into nigeria? shall we ignore the thousands of our brothers and sisters killed in the north?...are you prepared? are we prepared?...(170). what this presentation does is to generate the facts of the war in giving veracity to her fictional narrative. half of a yellow sun also recollects a biafra war song as a consequence of the aroused survival instincts and the spontaneous response to ojukwu’s speeches: “yes! yes! ojukwu, nye anyi egbe! give us guns! iwe di anyi n’obi! there is anger in our hearts!”(171). half of a yellow sun presents sights at the relief centres where some more biafran songs touch on the enormity of food scarcity (283). in olusegun obasanjo’s my command, the highpoints in the take-off and the progression of the war: the fall of nsukka, enugu, bonny, port harcourt, calabar and the extent to which the recapture of some of these towns kept up the charge of the battle. ironically, obasanjo reveals the quintessence of the ojukwu’s submissions at the aburi meeting. obasanjo presents, somewhat inadvertently, the foresight and brilliance in ojukwu’s aburi submission. obasanjo’s observation is that all the other participants, with the exception of ojukwu, were naïve, inarticulate and unintuitive. this observation is captured here: …although ojukwu was given to overstatement and hyperbolic expression there was no doubt that, by the time he had secured arms and ammunition from french, spanish and portuguese sources while he had assurance of support by both france and south africa. the federal side, at that time, were getting their small arms from britain, italy and west germany…(65) rose adaure njoku’s account of the war which stretches through the events that preceded the war, the entire thirty months of war experience and indeed beyond the cease-fire recollects the desperation of the ill-prepared biafran side: …more and more civilians were streaming into the army headquarters asking for uniforms and arms to defend biafra. civil servants, lecturers graduates and undergraduates, students, teachers, traders and farmers became soldiers with little or no training. in front of the barracks of 1st battalion at abakiliki road, you would hear them sing: ojukwu nye anyi egbe anyi je gbagbue gowon (ojukwu give us gun to go and shoot down gowon)…(109) in rebels against rebels nelson ottah takes a specific focus on the details of the execution of the four saboteurs on the 24th of september 1967. this emotive occurrence remains one of the most significant events that bothered on the survival of the biafran nationhood as well as the survival of art that pertain to the civil war. the identification with the poetics of orality, as the theoretical framework for this study, receives evocation in the propositions of chinweizu, jemie and madubuike in their decolonization project. part of what the troika assert is that a critic’s obligation is to supply to the writer as well as to the audience “a well researched and well analyzed knowledge of things valued in traditional african orature, and why these are valued” (286). they also recognize that every orator requires to present certain basic ingredients of orality. in justifying their argument, they had gone ahead to cite achebe thus: “the good orator calls to his aid the legends, folklore, proverbs & c. of his people; they are some of the raw material with which he works” (263). in the consideration that the oratorical force in these speeches came as a consequence of his study at oxford university and the quintessence in historical studies, it becomes imperative to decolonize the linguistic forms and aesthetics by interrogating their leaning on the poetics of igbo rhetoric. locating the culture of orality in ojukwu’s speeches the word ‘oral’ has always been used to relate to the act of speaking and is often located in its primal position to writing. the parallelism in the primacy of speaking over writing succinctly resonates in the perception that the oral tradition has become a veritable source of raw equipment for the modern african literary tradition in writing. the term ‘orality’ has been in use in contemporary literary discourse as a derivation from oral literature. it ostensibly evolves as the term ‘orature’ did, but has received a wider acceptability in the criticism of modern african literary art. the assumption is that ‘orality’ serves a fitting significance not just in the adoption of the properties of the verbal art in writing but that it serves a greater purpose in preserving the african oral tradition. therefore, with the discourse on ‘orality’, there are possibilities of analyzing the processes and transformation of the original oral text in the written medium. it is in this regard that this work considers how the ingredients of traditional igbo orality yield the communicative force in ojukwu’s war speeches. in this consideration, there is a requirement to examine the implications of orality and aesthetics in the texts of the war speeches, some with more or less adherence to their established and original forms of expression. what has often been interrogated as oral literary traditions are often interlaced with the life, culture and ritualized festivals and festivities of a given people. the word ‘culture’ is often associated with the way of life of a people, particularly as it also relates to their social organization. the perception of culture is often tied to a certain geographical locale. in this regard, schaefer views culture as “the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behaviour” (65). generally speaking, culture embodies the habitual elements that have the potentials for impacting positively or negatively on the lives and preoccupations of a people. in this light, culture may be seen to reflect the patterns adopted by groups in order to actualize their goals and aspirations. in the consideration that the art of literary criticism pertains to a given group whose inclination is to appreciate the degree of alignment or departure from the known precepts, it is valid to identify the approach by which this is done. fuery and mansfield observe that, “language is the lifeblood of culture” (14). in this regard, language remains the vehicle through which the components of culture are seen. each artist, whether in the oral or written mode adopts the properties of specialized language. usually, it is the kind of language that is structured to enforce emotional power. while language remains the basic equipment in the literary culture, it is often contrived to thrust measures of emotional appeal on the audience. while one artist’s style may be seen to differ from another, metaphors, euphemisms, ironies, rhetorical questions and varied allusions have become the key ingredients that are common in the culture of employing literary language. the configuration of ojukwu’s rhetoric becomes the subject of investigation in this work, with particular attention to how certain patterns of the oral literary expression, of the igbo kind extend to the written medium, with some more or less refurbishment. as a creative writer, achebe accepts the english language as a burden, and with this consciousness embarked upon the project of domesticating it. indeed, such craft draws a close attention to wali’s suggestions on “the dead end of african literature?”. in its real consequence of provoking crucial interrogation, wali appears to place a demand on the stakeholders, suggesting that “literature after all, is the exploitation of the possibilities of language. it is the african languages that are in crying need of this development” (283). it is easy to see in achebe’s works, varied adoptions of the igbo literary tradition. by the term ‘varied’, the multiple genres of this literary tradition as well as the seeming complexity in their contextual application are all significant in exploiting the elements of the igbo language, indeed with all accompanying cultural implications. in this regard, achebe’s identification with the proverb as ‘the palm oil with which words are eaten’, is phenomenal. in the sphere of african literary creativity, as well as criticism, the view of the proverb as language delicacy with fitting correlation to given contexts cannot be overemphasized. proverbial variations may be structured as the abridgement of certain folktales, parables or parodies, relating figures that draw from their original adaptation. the components of the oral tradition as seen in ojukwu’s speeches may not be recognized in their original form. rather, there is some kind of language engineering which ensures that the compatibility with standard english usage is made obvious. therefore, whereas the narrative style in the biafran war speeches is described as being parodic, there are components of the oral tradition which sustain the varied use of metaphor. these include: adopting certain patterns that are known to pertain to folktale, myths, proverbs, riddles and parables. in some instances, cursory allusions are made which are no less evocative. the parodic adoptions which occur in more or less degrees in the speeches are seen to be laden with the properties of orality. we shall examine how the components of orality; parables, proverbs, riddles, allusions to the igbo folktale, myths; are made to carry literary effects as they express the specificity of the igbo culture and patterns of communication, especially within the war speeches. there are metaphoric adoptions in ojukwu’s speeches that assume the figure which cuddon prefers to recognize as ‘exemplum’ (259). the adoption of proverbs is also seen, not usually in the known bipartite structure, but with some kind of transition. in such transitions, the basic symbols that form the core of the meaning are pinpointed. cuddon’s definition of the proverb as “a short pithy saying which embodies a general truth …. common to most nations and peoples, it is a form of expression of great antiquity” (566), finds elucidation in the speeches under analysis here. while they do not exactly come in the traditional structure, their pertinence to the igbo tradition remain pronounced. there is this instance of adopting a parable here: “this has been a people’s war. our people know that our struggle is a race for life. in such a race, nobody ever tires. we have a united people. we have a clear goal. we have a just cause.” (random thoughts: 47). in this, we find a recapitulation of the igbo proverb, osondu agwu ike – no one gets tired in a race for life. the truth which is reiterated here relates in clear terms the igbo penchant for the struggle for survival – igba mbo. and by affirming that the biafrans “have a just cause”, there is an emphatic pronouncement of the fundamental rights that are inalienable in a just society. there are certain adoptions of the elements of the igbo riddle in the speeches. we find a unique style in which ojukwu’s speeches pose questions that are similar to the igbo riddle game. chukwuma demonstrates how the questions in riddles are presented, in what she regards as “the variable premise”. according to chukwuma, there is “a puzzling element in the riddle. the variable premise is sometimes implied and sometimes mentioned or given” (115). cuddon corroborates chukwuma in defining the riddle as “an ancient and universal form of literature, in its commonest form it consists of a puzzle question” (611). there is this instance where the speeches bear the evidence that rhetorical questions are displaced with what we regard as ‘riddling questions’. in a riddle, the contrivances and clues to each answer should make the ‘riddling questions’ more like an objective test – that is, having just one option. we find this kind of riddle effect created in this speech: we have made so many sacrifices in the past, and i am sure that you all agree with me that we cannot continue making sacrifices indefinitely. we now have our back to the wall. one more push and we either have to fight back or be crushed. (selected speech: 39) there are pertinent suggestions on what the speaker aims at achieving in this speech without mentioning it directly. in pointing out that “we cannot continue making sacrifices indefinitely” and that, “we either have to fight back or be crushed”, the implication is made obvious here. another kind of riddling device which the speaker adopted is seen in same speech here: “you will, therefore, have to consider at this meeting the form of association which we want the eastern provinces to have with the rest of the country. we have tried a unitary system of government in nigeria; and we have also tried a federal system” (selected speech: 39). in presenting the kinds of government that proved to have failed, “the unitary system” and “the federal system”, the speech does not go on to relate the confederation which had already been proposed, but the audience is allowed to make out the preferred option. it is in this logic that a riddle pattern is seen to have been adopted in the speech here. simply put, riddles are questions which precede certain figures, indeed affirmations that give the audience a clue to the expected answer. also, allusions to the igbo folktale take different patterns. let us see this merger of biblical allusion and the igbo folktale symbols: “to us, war becomes a david-andgoliath struggle – a struggle which david inevitably must win” (random th: xvi). the adoption of this biblical allusion also stands as a parallel to the image of the tortoise and leopard/lion as found in the igbo folktales. this is seen as a fitting rhetoric in the dire need to motivate the people to remain alive to the challenge. while the traditional symbol of the lion surges forth again, we see it not with the same hope but some form of litotes; “what does one do if one finds one’s arm locked in the jaws of the lion?... if we do not struggle for our independence, we all die. we have to balance slow death and the possibility of life. that is why we are fighting” (random th: 57). this expression parallels how achebe uses the character ikem osodi in presenting the ‘tortoise and leopard’ paradigm in anthills of the savannah (128). the style in igbo rhetoric is revealed; how the people are led into the tradition of enforcing the logic and thematic thrust in each context of speech performance. this brings out the vitality which allusions embody in narrative performances. according to cuddon, “when using allusions, a writer tends to assume an established literary tradition, a body of common knowledge with an audience sharing that tradition and an ability on the part of the audience to ‘pick up’ the reference” (25). the use of allusions is not only symbolic but involves also, those forceful communicative elements that reflect the background knowledge which the artist shares with his audience. ezenwa-ohaeto observes that, “the witty rhetoric is sometimes enhanced by a connotative allusion to a folktale” (148). there is another example in the speeches here where there is an allusion to the igbo folktale: “ours is the classical story of the elephant and the ant. the elephant is driven frantic with ants all over its enormous bulk. the elephant has its powerful tusk but can find no respite…” (random th:144). in each instance where these folktales are adopted, two contrasting characters are pitted against each other. usually, the tales point to the myth of the political ethics among the igbo. there are also variegated submissions of the myth of igbo political ethics that make the presentation of gowon’s dictatorship rather outlandish. in such presentations, the abuse of authority is revealed as an aberration, and that which the biafrans had to reject. edna aizenberg discusses myth as being imperative in african literary discourse thus: “myth is useful in exploring dictatorship because the dictator is the product of an unresolved search for forms of government in societies still negotiating the breach between tradition and modernity (510). in the instance of biafra, it is the juxtaposition of the igbo political heritage and the dictatorship of gowon from which the people had to obtain their freedom. again, in analyzing the myth of dictatorship, aizenberg shows how achebe’s works portray the igbo aversion for the abuse of authority thus; “in fact, the voice of myth is significant in the examination of authority and its limits” (511). the myth of igbo enwe eze is seen to run through the ideology behind the biafra war speeches. the leader’s responsibility towards his people is what presupposes oha zere eze, eze ezere oha (the people respect their leader, as the leader respect the people). azuonye fittingly observes that “the true eze rules by divine grace and the commonweal and his goal should be to protect and care for all, not to exploit or plunder them and their land” (79). this has always been a fitting explanation for the proposition that the igbo people never had kings. it is the attempt of the biafran leader to justify his responsibility to his people that informs why his speeches take their coherent posture. ojukwu achieves this by attempting to revoke the rationale in gowon’s intellect: “the foremost duty of a soldier is to protect the integrity of his country….as a non partisan member of his country’s community, his path of duty is expected to be clear and objective, free from encumbrances” (selected sp: 77). there is also the myth of the underdog which eventually becomes the hero through a steady pursuit of a desired goal. this draws from the portrayals in the igbo folktales of the theme, ‘slow and steady wins the race’. this theme is explored in such tales as, ‘the building contest between the tortoise and lion’, ‘the race between the tortoise and the dog’ and ‘how tortoise married the king’s daughter. just as tortoise is the underdog in igbo tales, the place of biafra was constantly identified with this underdog image. this is particularly seen in the repetition in the speeches that biafra was engaged in the war of survival. in the speeches ojukwu also captured from time to time how gowon had continuously failed in his bid to overrun biafra after he had set a deadline for each of such assignments. in a broadcast on the 30th of june 1967 ojukwu said: “it is a month today since we took the irrevocable decision to assert our autonomy and sovereignty by becoming the republic of biafra. gowon’s immediate reaction was to vow to crush us. since then he has consistently described his decision as irrevocable” (selected sp: 203). one year after, at the first anniversary of biafran independence, ojukwu recollects again the strength of the nigerian force thus: “the massive military assistance which nigeria received from britain, russia, and other countries encouraged nigerians to build an oversized army for her ‘total war’ against us” (selected sp: 257). nonetheless, he goes on to emphasize what should be the resoluteness and commitment of the biafran people thus: we are fortunate as a people to have developed a profound appreciation of the importance and dignity of labor. we believe that as long as a man does honest and useful work he is entitled to a fair appreciation and reward. thus, the village farmer, the fisherman, the truck pusher, the artisan, the civil servant, the professional, the big business executive, the trader, and indeed every class of worker has an important part to play in the life of the community and should be proud of that part” (selected sp: 265). in identifying with this class of people in the biafran society, the speaker does not just relate the commonness of purpose in the struggle for survival, there is also the view of a resolute people. here is an expression of the never-say-die attitude of the people. it is in this regard that we perceive the resoluteness, wisdom and longevity for which tortoise is identified in teaching the paths to survival, in a world where the jungle law is in active operation. in 1969, ojukwu said again: the war continued with our enemies more than ever determined not only to wipe us off the face of our god-given earth but to do so with such brutality and in so short a time as to be a lesson to us for daring. today, i am happy and proud to report that their miscalculations have persisted.” (selected sp:367). this persistent presentation of the survival of the underdog, against the view of ruthless dictatorship which the animal kingdom bears of leopard in the igbo folktale has been observed. it is in identifying with these images from the igbo oral tradition that the view of this element of the culture of orality is evoked in this work. the application of these forms is well understood in the line of okpewho’s view of the transmutation into a level where, “the oral tradition is turned to metaphorical or symbolic use rather than slavishly mirrored” (90). the transition is such that the recourse to the original text consciously reactivates the given context of each speech performance. rhetoric and aesthetics in ojukwu’s speeches in spite of the fact that the nigeria-biafra event has yielded a vast body of literary writings, the consideration of ojukwu’s war speeches in a literary discourse is predicated on the underlying aesthetics that mark the presenter’s rhetoric. it is on this basis that this work requires to elucidate how the contents of the speeches, as historical facts, are embellished with such artistic elements as would only be a derivation from the culture of literary expressions. to speak of aesthetics is to appreciate the figures in use in a work considered to be literary in form, and perhaps contents. much of the propagandist charge against ojukwu’s war speeches stemmed from the force in the rhetorical employment. in my command, obasanjo does not fail in responding to the force which some of the speeches bore. it also shows how intensely the federal troops were hit by the chattels of ojukwu’s rhetoric. obasanjo says here: …although ojukwu was given to overstatement and hyperbolic expression there was no doubt that, by the time he had secured arms and ammunition from french, spanish and portuguese sources while he had assurance of support by both france and south africa. the federal side, at that time, were getting their small arms from britain, italy and west germany… (65). regarding rhetorical strategies, bonvillain says: “the power of language is not only that values, words, reveal attitudes of speakers, but also that words are used to create compatible attitudes in hearers” (62). the images that are adopted by the writer are those that are common to both the speaker and his audience. in this regard bonvillain identifies the use of ‘metaphor and metonymy’ as the “complex processes of semantic extension and transfer” (63). there is the need for the kind of logic, style and tact which marks out the war speeches. language is enforced through the use of repetitions. many of the stories that recollect the events leading to the crisis are repeated. much more, the kind of repetition which obliterates the monotony and the constancy of given lexical items, is found in the repetition of ideas. this is seen in the choice of words that are synonymous with the lexical items they precede. we see these instances here: “following wild and mischievous accusations and allegations” (selected sp: 52). in this phrase, the pairing of the synonyms: wild/mischievous and accusations/allegations, seems to give the full semantic implication as the synonym is applied in yielding the requisite support. the trickster figure that is made to presage the character of gowon is seen to assume a dimension that is visibly ironic. in the speech to the consultative assembly on ‘failure of talks’ we have this subtle indictment; “lieutenant colonel gowon has now decided to take upon himself to draw up proposals for lessening tension and for constitutional reforms” (selected sp: 72). it is in the furtherance of this speech that the irony is made clearer thus: “constitution-making is not the task of the soldier and all of us have publicly admitted that we were not trained to do that type of thing” (selected sp: 73). let us see some more of these instances of the adoption of certain kinds of repetitions. the semantic meaning of words are re-enforced by employing their synonyms. these may be single words, compound words or even ideas. here are some examples: “private gains and self-enrichment” (selected sp: 55), “as i rightly pointed out in my letter to lieutenant colonel gowon, the truth is that the public is becoming impatient, disappointed and frustrated” (selected sp: 82), “i find it necessary to put all the facts before you, indicating the issues, and difficulties and the dangers” (selected speeches146:), and “in the face of all these unfriendly and destructive acts, deliberate and well calculated against this region”(selected sp: 72). worthy of note in most of these instances is the pattern of climactic concatenation of synonyms which build up in the progression of consequence and meaning in the ideas presented. we may appreciate the adoption of climax in these groups of synonymous words and ideas impatient/disappointed/frustrated, issues/difficulties/dangers, and deliberate/well calculated. rhetorical questions are also used frequently in the speeches as we find in these instances: “what are the international observer team observing? is war a good thing? have we reached such a level in our civilization that we really have to go and watch whether killing is properly done?” (random th: 32), “…when will world statesmen awaken to the fact that the biafran race is being systematically wiped out?” (random th:31). observe that the intensity and force in these questions is in the presentation of a stretch of them in each given context of use. in the speeches, the speaker retains the attention of the audience by adopting a unique narrative style that involved merging the logical and emotive force with a view to yielding to the people’s expectation. it is the satisfaction of the people that there is a justification of the aesthetic beauty of each rendition. bonvillain’s observation is pertinent in this regard: language use has a manipulative aspect to it in the sense that speakers employ words in order to have an effect on hearers such as to convey information, ask questions, or issue commands. but the words chosen are often not neutral in their connotations. they have associated senses that presuppose culturally shared symbolic meanings” (63). again, bonvillain identifies that “conceptual metaphor is employed in crafting works with literary evocation, in translating non-physical entities into concrete images or objects” (65). the several shades of metaphor that are seen to lend vigour to the language in use in the biafran speeches become more forceful in understanding the context and performance of ojukwu’s biafra war speeches. conclusion in locating the biafran war speeches within the domain of literary studies, this study has attempted to demonstrate the significance of the survival of these texts as sub-genres of the igbo oral literary tradition. the discussion involves the exploration of the discernible patterns of the igbo oral literary tradition in the biafran war speeches. okoh had raised serious concern in this regard, following the consideration of the western parameters of literary certification. it is this concern that okoh presents thus: indeed, the fact that the aristotelian concept of drama lays much emphasis on imitation, plot, dialogue, conflict, and suspense which has given rise to so much controversy about the basic question of whether africa has any dramatic traditions. (141) what is seen in okoh’s assessment as dramatic traditions relates to the models in the other generic classifications of the african literary forms – oral and written. it is the concern of this research to present a justification, in appraising ojukwu’s war speeches, which allays such apprehensions as have always been raised. chinweizu, jemie and madubuike have argued that part of the process of decolonizing african literature is to avoid being coerced into accepting those parameters which are perceivably alien. much as this stand is supported by theories on cultural studies, it must be observed that the key elements which okoh pinpoints, and many more, are embedded in the igbo oral literary tradition. emenyonu identifies pertinently how achebe’s submission of critical poetics reveals “an enchanting imagery”(xii). it is in achebe’s adoption of igbo proverbs that the said imagery is revealed in a spectacular confluence of imaginative creativity and criticism. it therefore gives vehemence to the focus which he identifies as the central challenge confronting the works of literature that pertain to the biafran war: the imaginative work (a by-product of war), must still meet certain known aesthetic and critical standards by which it should be judged as a work of art….it is easy for the creative writer to stray away or be derailed from the objective artistic visions because of partisan or passionate involvement in a cause. (emenyonu: xii) it is in this regard that this paper has attempted to discuss the pertinence of ojukwu’s biafra war speeches in the literary discourse with specificity to how the potency of the igbo orality provided the ingredients for the presenter’s rhetorical employment. while some of the biafra war novels and autobiographies have attempted to incorporate these speeches, they have been intended to lend credence to the historic-political events that had precipitated the nigeria-biafra challenge. even where critics venture into the discourse of the biafra war aesthetics, they eventually find a soft landing within the spheres of the historicity of the event. with seeming difficulty, nwahunanya attempts to locate what he captions ‘the aesthetics of nigerian war fiction’. the complication in this critic’s burden is however glaring in his summation that – “viewed strictly as artifacts, nigerian war novels would be seen to reveal various degrees of artistic success, and this is often determined by the extent of each writer’s weaving of history into art…”(296). perhaps, it had been to expand the postcolonial picture from which nwahunanya’s probing had done of biafra war novels. all the same, this approach recollects the aggregation of the simplistic enquiries into the literature that proceeded from biafra. more contemptible still, is the fact that the recourse to politics and history has impeded the full appropriation of the core literary theories in the criticism of biafra war literature. it is in this light that the perspectives of orality and rhetoric in the speeches of ojukwu generate this significant outlook and informs the imperative call for a foray into the deep-seated aesthetics within the broad corpus of biafra war literature. works cited achebe, chinua. anthills of the savannah. ibadan: heb nigeria, 1988. print. adichie, ngozi chimamanda. half of a yellow sun. lagos: farafina, 2006. print. aizenberg, edna. “the dictator and the intellectual: myth as a socially symbolic act in achebe and asturias” eagle on the iroko (selected papers from the chinua achebe international symposium) ibadan: heb nig plc 1990: (507-525) print. azuonye, chukwuma “igbo enwe eze: monarchical power versus democratic values in igbo oral narratives” power marginality and african oral literature. eds. graham furniss & liz gunner. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1995 63-82 print. bonvillain, nancy. language, culture and communication.4th ed. new jersey: pearson education inc. 2003. print. chinweizu, onwuchekwa jemie and ihechukwu madubuike. toward the decolonization of african literature. enugu: fourth dimension publishers, 1980. print. chukwuma, helen. igbo oral literature: theory and tradition. abak: belpot, 1994. print. cuddon, j.a. dictionary of literary terms and literary theory. london: pengium books, 2013. print. emenyonu, ernest. “war in african literature: literary harvests, human tragedies” (editorial) african literature today vol. 26 2010. 145-151 print. ezenwa-ohaeto. contemporary nigerian poetry and the poetics of orality. bayreuth: bayreuth university. 1998 fuery, patrick and nick mansfield. cultural studies and critical studies. oxford: oxford university press, 2000. print. njoku, rose adaure withstand the storm. ibadan: heinemann frontliners, 1986. print. nnolim, charles. “chimamanda ngozi adichie’s half of a yellow sun” new novels in african literature todayvol.27 (ernest emenyonu eds.) new york, 2010. (145-151). print. nwahunanya, chinyere. literary criticism, critical theory and post colonial african literature. owerri: springfield publishers, 2007. nwajiaku, ijeoma. “revisiting the nigeria-biafra war: social perspectives in sunset at dawn and half of a yellow sun” remembering biafra: narrative, history and memory of the nigeria-biafra war, eds. chima korieh and ifeanyi ezeonu new jersey: goldline & jacobs publishers, 2010. 39-54 print. nwankwo, chimalum. “the muted index of war in african literature and society” war in african literature today vol. 26 ed. ernest emenyonu new york, 2010. 1-14 print. obasanjo, olusegun. my command. ibadan: heinemann, 1980. print. ojukwu, c. odumegwu. biafra: random thoughts. new york: perennial library, 1969. print. -------. biafra: selected speeches with journal of events. new york: perennial library, 1969. print. okoh, nkem. preface to oral literature. onitsha: africana first publishers ltd, 2008. print. onuekwusi, jasper. fundamentals of african oral literature. owerri: alphabet publications, 2001. print. ottah, nelson. rebels against rebels. lagos: manson and company, 1981. print. schaefer, richard t. sociology. boston: mcgraw hill higher education, 2005. print. wali, obiajunwa. ‘the dead end of african literature?’ african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory eds.tejumola olaniyan & ato quayson. oxford: blackwell publishing, (281-284) 2007. print. short biography uchenna david uwakwe is a senior lecturer at the directorate of general studies, federal university of technology owerri, nigeria. he obtained the doctor of philosophy (phd) in literature at the nnamdi azikiwe university awka, after completing both the bachelor of arts (b.a) and master of arts (m.a) in english studies at the university of port harcourt, nigeria. his journal publications reflect the order of his research inclination to african oral literature, feminism and literacy development. uwakwe is a christian and married with children. chapter three.cdr the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi anthony odikpo nnalue department of theatre arts coou, anambra state abstract folklore has projected the ideal life situations of folks and the cyclic continuity that links the past with the present to capture the attention of the world as it regards african dramatic literature. the africans especially the african dramatists or critics need to explore the heritable traits of african traditions which are transferable to the modern stage with a view of inculcating value systems and educating the people. these heritable traits could manifest in the choice of words, and language in consonance with the people's traits, the technique or the structure of presentation, storytelling, character, characterization, and thematic preoccupation, to mention but a few. it is against this backdrop that this study sets out to interrogate the integration of communal experience using a stylized system of presentation called folkdrama. the study looked at the transformation of folklore into modern dramatic literature and its impacts using ukala's akpakaland and jp clark's ozidi. the study discovered that the robust nature of african folktale performances yields easily to the transferable demands of modern and postmodern dramatic stages with a great transfer of value systems. the study concludes that this transformation will stamp african values system, worldview, culture, and belief in the sand of time and contribute immensely in nation building, and sustenance. keywords: folklore, dramatic literature, akpakaland, ozidi 136 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi ingenious expression” (1). according to olumide: folktale (folklore) as an oral tradition form is a story by word of mouth. invariably, the african storyteller is a repository of knowledge, history, and experiences, whose position is fortified by his or her multiple mandates as a historian, entertainer, poet, musician, and educator who is duty-bound to transfer knowledge from one generation to another (23). these stories usually involve supernatural beings or forces, which have explanations or reasons, and justifications for what they do. this in other words includes but is not limited to cultural and sub-cultural heroes, legends, and myths, which form part of the existence of the folks. according to roger abraham, “without transmission, these items are not folklore, they are just individual quirky tales and objects” transformed into modern dramatic literature (35). the myths, legends, and heroes deal with metaphysical issues of life, a sociological relationship with the unseen worlds, and pedagogical lessons. my times imbibe moral lessons with universal degrees in a communal experience. the folkloric reading of akpakaland akpakaland was written by sam ukala as a way of transforming the ika cultural folktale environment into modern dramatic literature with a major emphasis on the active participation of the audience needed during the storytelling session in ika land.the play starts in the state house, “with the narrator leading the audience in the opening song for an ika folktale performance” (10). through the song, the narrator creates an enabling environment for the performance by capturing the attention of the audience. having captured and gotten the audience's approval to perform, the narrator proceeds with the introductory ritual, as ukala explains: introduction folklore was first coined in 1846 by william john thomas, an englishman. he coined it as a replacement for old antiquities and he pushes it as a study of a “subset of the population: the rural, mostly illiterate peasantry” (sims, et al: 23). since then, it has been subjected to various scholarly dialectics and roles as regards the building and the development cultures, heritage, and its sustenance. at this point, the word 'folklore' becomes so cultural that you cannot talk about it without pegging your discussion on a particular culture or race and its artifacts usually through storytelling. this process starts with a hunger for preservation and thus, the necessary demand for transformation from oral narration to a dramatic presentation on stage in terms of themes, languages, music, character, characterizations, elaborate costumes, make-ups, scenery, etc. folklore is the lore (stories, customs beliefs) of a group of people that is transformed from generation to generation usually by mouth, unearths the occupational, religious, language, belief system, ritual, and culture of the folks and gives them strength to exist side by side with other folks. by implication, the word folklore covers traditional beliefs, stories, and customs. in a social definition of folklore, “… folklore supports a wider view of the material considered to be folklore artifacts. these include things people make with words (verbal lore) things they make with their hands (material lore), and things they make with their actions (customary lore)” (wilson, 85). ukala calls it, “any traditional oral narratives which are purely fictional or are based on factual history, which has however, been so embellished and distorted that it cannot be fruitfully subjected to any empirical proof or verification” (12). nandra and bukenya see folklore as: “those utterances, whether spoken, re-cited or song, whose composition and performance exhibited to an appreciable degree the artistic characteristic of accurate observation, vivid imagination and 137 138 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi members of the audience: foolish people! so, you now support fulama narrator: (re-appearing). what do you expect? when there's a dispute between the influential rich and the wretched poor, who supports the poor? member of the audience: (dismally) no one! (33). this audience's interjection proves their familiarity with the story. by asking questions, they justify and avoid being kept in unnecessary suspense. fulama finally ate the plantain and consequently, became the one with the tail. the narrator re-appears to re-enact a mock scene of the transfer of the tail. at this point, the narrator turns into the artistic director and directs the play-within-the-play. hears him: “you are unata. you stand by this imaginary door and eavesdrop as fulama and lome battle with tail. now fulama and lome get set as i count 1,2,3,” (41). on d-day, the entire akpakaland, from every area of life gathered, and one by one the wives of president, akpaka began, starting with iyebi, from the province of the poor. each wife appears and sings in full view of the audience and then removes her clothes to prove that she is not the wife with a tail. when it gets to the turn of fulama after other wives have denuded themselves, she refuses and is supported by her mother. her reason is that of class and position of fulama's family: iya fulama: (tears her way to the center of the gathering) if the president chooses to serve the floor with the daughters of peasants and pretty contractors, he cannot do that with my daughter. is human memory so short? have you all forgotten who her father was? danmali, the great.a field marshal… have you no fear? (50-51). the storyteller seeks the blessing or the permission of the audience to perform, in ika folktale performance practice for example, the storyteller metaphorically throws white chalk on the chest of the audience to obtain its blessing. he hails the audience, “eyem unu nzu” (i give you white chalk!) and it replies, “i gwo o rere”! (if you concoct, may it be efficacious)”. having given its blessing, the audience obligates itself to collaborate or co-perform with the storyteller (3). this introductory ritual is seen in akpakaland; narrator: i give you white chalk! audience: if you concoct, may it be efficacious! (10). the narrator goes ahead to introduce the story, “there was, there was akpaka. the president of akpakaland” (10).at this point, the narrator makes way for the characters to come alive on the stage and perform the tale. fulama enters and announces to the president that his favorite wives have a tail. when asked to leave, she insisted that something be done about it. for her insistence, akpaka, the president offered to investigate privately but was turned down by jealous fulama. he then declares a public unclad of the wives so the community will know who has the tail since he was not allowed to investigate it privately. as the wives are dismissed from the palace, unata, the wife with the tail finds his way to a native doctor to avoid the public disgraced. unata through enwe, the native doctor was able to remove the tail and return it to the sender through a “diabolized plantain” (27). the narrator continues involving the audience as it is in the original folktale performance of the ika people. at this point, the audience admonishes yeiye, and seotu for pretending to be friends with unata while at the back of their minds, they are not: 139 140 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi ritual is completed, he goes on to introduce the story and characters, “there was akpaka, the president of akpakaland…. there were his wives: fulma, yeiye, seotu, unata, and iyebi” (10). immediately after this is done, he leaves the stage to come back to tie and untie some loose ends. the narrator re-appears again as the voice of the playwright urging the people to examine and re-evaluate their position in society. narrator: “by cultivating self-esteem and refusing to be bribed with crumbs from the oppressors' table. by being dedicated to the course of self-liberation and self-humanization. by looking among the poor for true and selfish leader…” (30). the playwright folklorically and artistically assigned a dual role to him as the narrator and the director because the sustenance of the value system inherent in the story or dramatic text lies in him. the narrator acquires a s-eye view of the dramatic movement in both space and time; the drama bestows on the narrator the freedom to judge the characters or to act alongside the performers who may be trapped in a level of plot and communication with other characters. at this juncture, the narrator takes a separate role of its own. on the other hand, the members of the audience are not passive but active and contribute to the progress of the story through their actions and responses. frida mbunda enumerates the functions and the position of the audience in folktale performances as follows: the audience of oral literature is often unrestricted. some of the members of the audience are familiar with the contents and often just listen to the creative variations that may result from impersonations. others offer to give moral support to the performers while others are the leaders of the community and have functions to perform during performances. the attitude expected of the the leaders compromised but the commoners, the masses did not, so they revolted against the decision and against the powers that be. they chant songs and charge the atmosphere for action. as soon as the atmosphere is tense, a young man swoops on fulama and takes her to where she was killed. and the chants continued. then the narrator comes to obey the closing formalities of the ika storytelling session: narrator: from there i went, from there i returned to! audience: welcome ooo! narrator: (with a bow) e eee (88). the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: an akpakaland example we have just seen how the play is folklorically structured on the platform of traditional african performance demand. having the audience intrude or interrupt the performance, multiple settings, call-and-response-technique, the storyteller's dual personality, the language embellished with traditional ornaments, the music, songs, and chants, etc. these traditional leitmotifs posits the preponderances of essentializing and unifying bond between the folks and their story generated and sustained through kinesthetic and material transformation of worldviews. the storyteller and the audience as the transformers of culture generally, african folktales are told by people called the storytellers but the uniqueness of the roles of the storyteller is that he transforms into a dramatic character that the progress of the drama lays in his hands. in dramatic literature, the narrator is exploited as a character and as a director who stimulates the response and reactions of the audience to some significant event as the play unfolds. for instance, in akpakalnd, he introduces the play and seeks the permission of the audience to co-perform with him through his, “ilu n'ilu nwokoro” (10). as soon as this opening 141 142 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi i thought as much a rope of her threshold she crossed it… (21). the african patterned congruity and parallel syntactic formation are observed. the language suddenly changes from a mere conversation to a semi-metaphysical tone as the narrator depicts: the plantain had begun to roast, half-ripe plantain, bathed in herbs from the land of the dead, had begun to roast. the poor must fight for themselves. the moon was full and golden. it was sweeping clean the earth. time for swelling of spirit (37-38). the speakers' use of the full moon depicts the traditional belief system of some africans that when the moon is fully ripe, it becomes a sign and an enthusiastic moment for the presence of the supernatural. fulams's, “i don't like the full moon” (30) becomes, on the contrary, the premonition of the danger that is to befall her. the plot which semantically and syntactically started as a mere gossip of a woman with a tail suddenly drifts into an advocacy for the women and the final revolution by the masses through the artistic use of suspense, imagery, characterization, etc.. the folkloric reading of ozidi as the play begins, we see the narrator dramatically pretending to be at a loss but artistically trying to capture the attention of the audience. he allows them to settle down. and then ask for seven virgins who will assist in carrying a ritual procession to the water spirits at the river bank. as soon as the narrator finishes with the selection of the cast, the orchestra and the chorus of actors emerge on stage, singing and dancing around the village square, thus, setting the pace for the performance. the narrator directs and leads the procession. he once in a while acts out the powers and positions of the priests. as the chief priest, he prays audience is not one restricted by contemplative behavior as is the case with the audience of written literature but one of dramatic expulsion of feelings (127). the non-restrictions of behavior and 'dramatic expulsion of feelings' is dramatically transformed from the oral to the stage by creating a specific character called 'members of the audience'. this creation divides the audience into immediate and remote audiences. the immediate audience is regarded as those active and responsive audiences who are willing to co-perform or are joint performers while the remote audience is those passive observers without a meaningful contribution to the success of the play. the language as an element of cultural transformation in akpakaland akwanya in discourse analysis and dramatic literature, sees language as “the chief means of revealing thought…” (182). in the play under study, the language does not only reveal thoughts but also employs a heightened tone and then garnished with traditional african innuendoes, projecting ika cultural background: idemudia: “…don't hesitate further, my daughter, it is our costume that one drinks the cup of wine out of which libation was poured on one's behalf.” she continues with the explanation “your mother's blessing is in here. if you drink it, then she will absorb it” (36). aside from the meaning of the dialogues, the linguistic maturity of the speaker, which delineates his age, the linguistic foregrounding is exceptional: the child that starves her mother of sleep will, all night, slumber in wakefulness… a man sits in his own house and crushes his scrotum in the process …the rope 143 144 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi never joined them because he knew the implication of the brother's action. the new king demanded homage and his brother ozidi protested. as a result of ozidi's protest, they made a cunning arrangement and lure ozidi into a supposed hunt and murdered him there, serving his head to the brother as homage. meanwhile, ozidi's wife, orea has a child in her womb which she spirited to her mother, odadama, a powerful old witch. the storyteller comes to prepare the ground for the revenge. he announces the birth of ozidi in the town of ododama. he also depicts the uncanny attitudes and natural phenomena of the day ozidi was born. the child was named after the dead father, ozidi. thus, ozidi be got ozidi. ozidi grows up with an unusual physical strength and so domineering amongst his mates. and the mother becomes worried but the grandmother, orea never cares because she is aware of the power that lies in the hands of the society, mindful of the cause of their exile. when ozidi returned from exile, those who murdered his father, ofe, the short, azezabife, the skeleton man, oguaran, the giant, agbodidi, and the nude, greet him with fear. by act four, ozidi has avenged his father's death as orea says to her son, “your father is fully avenged/ and after the second burial, sleeps well in company / of his compeers” (90). but ozidi's rigorous preparation for his mission has marked him in ways he cannot easily throw away. violence gives birth to violence. weary with killings, ozidi must nevertheless murder tebesonoma's sister and the child for whom she has waited so long. then orea sees the need for purification of the house polluted bloodshed. the play ends as the players dance and sing around with the storyteller in a long processional dance. the place of folklore in dramatic literature: ozidi example in the place of folklore in dramatic literature, the verbal evocation and invokes the water spirits to accept their offerings thus: people of the sea, people of the sea, two times, three times i call upon you. members of our community, in all their numbers and from all quarters, sinking here their quarrels and washing themselves of all colors and taint tonight, bring to you in all belly sweetness seven huge pots of food, each properly brought to you by a girl still untouched by man… here is biscuits, here is sugar, here is wine, all that is sweet to you. and now that you have taken of our food and drinks, please give us good wives, give us good children, and give us good money… (4). after the rituals, the virgins were relieved of their duties and they went back to the audience. then the old women emerge and sweep away malign influences, spirits whose no sacrifice will gladden their hearts. she sweeps and concocts the spirits, “they have ears but their drums beat back words of prayer…let them go off now…in great speed… for do not speak to please them” (5). when she finishes her sales, the narrator chases her away for men to have an important discussion to make in the arena. and immediately the council of orua is formed among the dancers and the actors including the storyteller. quickly, palm wine was served and distributed. hardly had it finished when the meeting started. there is a pressing need for a king. the council concludes that it is the turn of ozidi to produce the next king which was found on the rotary system. ozidi rejects the kingship for the sole reason that the throng is an enigma of death. and that all his family members are dead except him and his elder brother who is a drunkard. despite ozidi's protest, the council insists that the ozidi family should produce the next king for the orua kingdom. ironically the elder brother, temugedege, “dribbling with drinks” (10) and accepts the kingship. the crowd carried him on the high shoulder and danced around but ozidi 145 146 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi these songs or sacrifices signify the invitation of new growth and an optimistically anticipated birth of a new year. and thus, becomes a celebratory song and a communicative element. moreover, during the fight between ozidi and his father's murderers, the song changes to a praise-singing song by striking up personal tones to each fighter each time there is an attempt to defeat the opponent. the playwright artistically transforms the song to serve as an interlude, an entertainment that ushers in another action(s). the breakthrough of clark's transformation of language to the stage is the retention and the mark of the identity of ijaw people, clothed in ijaw traditional speaking mannerism of half english mixed with pidgin english as we see in the script thus: an' he no leaf any property at all? i dey ask sake of all them big big people way dey say dem dey service public no day forget to pull plenty plenty insi' e dem own pocket. dem style like small girl way day give pikin food: dem give baby small dem chop the rest (65). the language is also seen as being poetical both in the manner of speaking and the interlocutory forms. this is necessitated as a result of the intrinsic features of the saga adapted to the stage. this dramatic poetry is possessive in the dramatic quality of the narration, the ritual elements, and the atmosphere of the supernatural. the repetitive and recitative nature of the saga transformed to the stage suggests the seriousness and the needed emphasis on some of the words. thus, adding melody and beauty to the tone and voice of the actors. the soliloquy of the foolish king with a chewing stick in his mouth is laughable but ironic. the language becomes a vehicle for the transfer of wisdom and social values. of oral lore and the various elements of the theatre are transformed into the modern stage. toperform this lore is to theatricalize through movement, costumes, make-ups, scenery, and props in consonance with traditional african theatre demand. according to uwa, the artist/performer, we are told employs various gestures of both body and verbal communication, aided by the compelling and catalytic influence of music and rhythm as a binding force, harmonizing with the rhythmic beat of nature that balances all forces (38). from the foregoing, it is clear that folklore in dramatic literature has experienced multi-media experience, the structure of the folktales is no longer limited to narration but with presentation in theatrical forms. this theatrical form usurers in the use of language characterized by the clarity of diction, and all kinds of lyricism of forms and concrete images derived from the immediate community. the language as an element of cultural transformation in ozidi the songs in the play are accompanied by orchestration and hand-clapping by the members of the audience. in the play, the pool of players, including the orchestra and chorus of actors came from the audience to accompany the procession of the virgins. they sang “beni yo-yo, beni yo-yo as they moved to the imagined river. as soon as the priest finishes in the river, the song filters in as stage directions read: now the orchestra and chorus break into song, the fast jogging air of beni owou mu ne yo. the group forms again in the same other as before… at the same time, the chorus of actors and dancers fall apart, flanking their leader who is cheered on by the masterdrummer. the song leader immediately raises the group's praise song… (4-5). 147 148 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi becomes a celebratory song and a communicative element. moreover, during the fight between ozidi and his father's murderers, the song changes to a praise-singing song by striking up personal tones to each fighter each time there is an attempt to defeat the opponent. the playwright artistically transforms the song to serve as an interlude, an entertainment that ushers in another action(s). conclusion ellwood maintains that “culture includes man's entire material civilization, tools, weapons, clothing, shelters, machines and even system of industry” (cited in sorrel,2015:9) this definition expands culture as the people's way of daily activities, their value system, their likes and dislikes, their habits of life, and the root of their civilization. this is a kind of standard mark of identification of the people. thus, folklore becomes one's mark or medium of transformation and transposition of the identity of the people from generation to generation. since there is a social factor and contextual dimension of every artistic phenomenal use of language, there must be a factor that propels the kind of results achieved. thus, the contextual dimension of the artistic work transformed to the stage exhibits a direct relationship with the original just as we have seen in the folktales and the embedded message of value and virtues to the people. the influences the folktales have on the stage sustain the stage implied social and cultural behavioral change and awareness. the infusion of various traditional elements into a performative whole is explored as a strategic way of repositioning and enriching african culture, and cosmology, and directed towards community progress and effective means of cultural sustenance. the storyteller as a transformer of culture the technique of transforming the narrator to the modern stage or into dramatic literature in ozidi, just like the sage, he obeys the entire liturgical manner in which the story was told and all the ritual observances to gain divine guidance and inspiration in the process of telling the tale. this assertion was made obvious during the procession where he directs and offers libation and appropriation for the community in the river, serving as their mouthpiece. furthermore, as an actor, he plays the major roles of ozidi senior and ozidi junior. if not for other characters, the play would have been called a mono-drama as a result of the multiple roles that are assigned to the storyteller on stage. thus, it becomes a community participatory act in the closing style of the ijaw folktale performance session by dancing in a long processional dance form in which everyone is involved. the significance of the songs and the incantations the songs in the play are accompanied by orchestration and hand-clapping by the members of the audience. in the play, the pool of players, including the orchestra and chorus of actors came from the audience to accompany the procession of the virgins. they sang “beni yo-yo, beni yo-yo as they moved to the imagined river. as soon as the priest finishes in the river, the song filters in as stage directions read: now the orchestra and chorus break into song, the fast jogging air of beni owou mu ne yo. the group forms again in the same other as before… at the same time, the chorus of actors and dancers fall apart, flanking their leader who is cheered on by the masterdrummer. the song leader immediately raises the group's praise song… (4-5). these songs or sacrifices signify the invitation of new growth and an optimistically anticipated birth of a new year. and thus, 149 150 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 anthony odikpo nnalue: the place of folklore in african dramatic literature: a study of akpakaland and ozidi thus, folklore in dramatic literature using these plays posits folk plays as a participatory learning medium and so, awakens cognitive skills and human development. according to blatner folk-plays: …integrating the realms of language, emotions, imaginations, and profound feelings of the body in action and doing rather than just passively watching and hearing…fostering healthier communication and improving their critical thinking (4). it focuses on cultural transmutation and as a tool for preserving value systems, worldviews, and arts which are one of the greatest assets of a people. it becomes a means of re-asserting communal selfhood, and ideology through experiential roles and community interrogations, thus, stamping african arts in the sand of time. these will usher in a new and healthy partnership among african arts, theatre, and technology in a futuristic perspective. works cited akwanya, nicholas. verbal structures: studies in the nature ndand organizational patterns of literary language: 2 edition. enugu: acena pub, 2004. blatner, a. “considering the underlying rationale for using interactive and improvisational drama”..accessed 10.23. 2023. clark, john pepper. ozidi. london: oxford university press, 1996. enita, godfrey, “ukala, folkism and the laws of aesthetics response”. sam ukala” his works at sixty. ed, austine asagba. ibadan kraft books ltd, 2008: 142-148. kirshenblatt-gimblett etel.“folklore crisis” the journal of american folklore, vol.111. no.441, folklore: what's in a 151 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 page 68 page 69 page 70 page 71 page 72 page 73 page 74 page 75 page 76 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr framework and textual analysis used to explore the texts. keywords: economy, exploitation, betrayal, disappointment, environmental degradation introduction the discovery of crude oil in large quantity in january 15, 1956 in the niger delta region precisely in oloibiri in rivers state, placed nigeria among the rank of oil producing countries in the world, and it brought lots of revenue for the country. prior to the discovery of crude oil in nigeria, agriculture was the means of the country's revenue as the nation exported cash crops like palm oil, palm kernel, rubber and so on to other countries. as a result of oil discovery in the niger delta region, multinational companies began to invest in the country, which resulted to exploitative measures and environmental pollution. the niger delta region is of tremendous strategic and economic importance to nigeria. this is because nigeria's main strategic economic resources, oil and gas are concentrated in the region and since these minerals constitute the country's economic livewire, the niger delta region could rightly be regarded as the key to nigeria's economic prosperity and greatness. while the presence of these huge reserve of oil and gas turned the .niger delta into the most important source of revenue for nigeria, the exploitation of these resources have been carried out in such unsustainable manner that not only are people denied the benefits derived from their own land, but their very means of livelihood and sustenance have been threatened thereby. in spite of the stupendous wealth that have accrued from decades of oil activities and production in nigeria, there is surprisingly, little or no attention given to the development of the region. there is no doubt, however, that oil pollution from oil socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary's yellow yellow nwafor, john onyema department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu university, igbariam campus nwaforjohnable@gmail.com 07037828182, 07087870380 & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi department of english chukwuemeka odumegwu ojuwku university, igbariam campus, anambra state 07037465564 abstract this paper examines the exploitation of the natural resources found in the niger delta as it effects on the economic life of the youths in agary's yellow yellow. it portrays the exploitative measures used by the eminent and the multinationals oil companies to oppress and silence the people of niger delta, which they use to oppress and silence the people of niger delta and uncovers the resistance and rebellion of the people. this study reveals the excruciating pain the people of the niger delta undergo as a result of oil exploration in the region. the study also examines the dimension of exploitsof the multinational companies in partnership with the local chiefs on the people and their environment. this situation affects the youths, as it destroys their hope of a better future, leading them to commit crimes. this problem which requires urgent attention is explored in this study. the marxist approach to criticism is adopted as the theoretical coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 155 156 because of environmental pollution caused by the oil companies. this situation has warranted many literary artists and critics to engage in a battle in order to sensitise and criticise the government. writers like sam ukala, camillus ukah, grace usifo, ken saro-wiwa, hellon habila, isidore okpewho etc throughout their works have examined the experiences of the people. in a conversation with ezechi onyerionwu, ojaide explains that: ... his point of view is to touch peoples mind about what is happening in niger delta through imaginative reconstruction of episodes, events and situations. and these issues should draw sensitivity to ideas about the environment and society which concern everybody. . . (36). one of the major reasons why we should approach the niger delta crises from literary and intellectual perspective is, according to onookome okome in a conversation with ezechi onyerionwu, "to understand a problem, there is the need .to have an intellectual understanding in order to solve it" (617). creative literature by writers has increased their pressures on the society, calling for a consideration of environmental laws and rights of the people. also, these writers examine the effects this issue has on the younger generation, who feel trapped and look for a way of escape. in the words of psalm chinaka, "the case of environmental and ecological menace by multinationals... has led to the formation of resistant youths groups..." (chinaka 28).therefore, the land is the major factor in which other issues like political and economic security are hinged on. kaine agary's yellow yellow is directed specifically towards x-raying the environmental problems faced by niger delta communities. these showed their relevance by portraying activities has clearly and seriously damaged the environment and the livelihood of those living in the oil producing communities. the moist damp and humid forest within the lowland rain forest environment is home of such crops like cassava, yam, banana, pepper which are grown by the people for their basic subsistence. as the incessant spill occurs, it spreads into farmlands, and water bodies. the toxic seeps into the ground and is taken up by the plants' root. furthermore, as most of the spills are accompanied by fire, most of the impacted area is completely degraded leaving only thick encrusted earth which is black in colour. as a result of these activities, tensions have arise among the people because of environmental degradation that has polluted and destroyed both land and water within the niger delta region by various chemical and gas flares, even the atmosphere is congested with these chemicals that are harmful to human body. since then, various responses as a result of environmental pollution, economic exploitation and mostly negligence of government dominate the literature of the niger delta. literature is very important and crucial to our development. a good number of literary -works have been born out of tensions in the region. for every society to survive and withstand the test of time, it must have literature that preserves its experiences. literary artists throughout the region have presented to us aspects of the struggles of the people, their experiences, hopes, despair which fill their hearts in sharp contrast with what the media display. as onookome okome observes, "the tales coming out of niger delta are not evidence of dead dreams. rather, they are examples of dreams which the suffering people are trying to make into reality" (qtd in darah 23). through their works, we are to feel the plight of the people whose means of livelihood like farming and fishing have been cut coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 157 158 they actively fight for that. the society from which an artist rises always in most cases informs the issue he writes about. it is truth that literature is not created in a vacuum as it mediates on social and political issues that the artist grapples within his existence. charles bressler gives vents to the above when he says: society shapes our consciousness ;that social and economic conditions directly influences how we believe and value things that marxism offers us an opportunity and a plan for changing the world from apathy of bigotry, hatred and conflict resulting from class struggle to useless society, where wealth, opportunity and education are actually visible for all. (115) from the above, we can infer that the writer is an active participant of his society and by extension recreates the collective experiences of the people. africa experience transcends the concept of "art for art sake" theory in which it thrives and emerging into a moralistic light in question of societal practices. this research is taking its base from terry eagleton's view in marxand literary criticism, where he posits that what marxism has to deliver story in the struggle of men and women to free themselves from certain forms of exploitation -oppression, in other words, marxist theory is based on class struggle between the two different groups of the society. it shows a society where the lower class struggles to survive in a capitalist society that celebrates, favours and maintains the power of the upper class (bourgeoisie) that oppress the poor in a society'. marxism after examining social organisation perceived human history to have consisted of a organisation of struggle between classes; the oppressed and the oppressor. the theory goes further to explain that the ultimate driving force involving the distribution of the social and political ills, such as evils of military government, marginalization, poverty, prostitution, abuse of power, lack of press freedom, and environmental pollution in the work. there are different kinds of literary theories, but this research is going to base its analysis on marxist theory. it believes that literary works are written out of experiences which could be historical, political, economic or social to expose society's ill, then seek a solution for a change. marxist theory is an example of socialist theory that is known for its struggle for change. it is named after the propounder karl marx, a german philosopher and economist. this theory was introduced into literary criticism for it supports socialism; how we relate with each other for the achievement of change. this theory is so broad that it attracted many critics who give their own different definitions of the theory. marxist theory believes that class struggle is the bases of historical development. in communist manifesto, karl marx writes that history of hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle.... the modern bourgeoisie country that has now sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with antagonism. it has established new classes, new conditions of oppression and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. terry eagleton in his marxism and literary criticism writes "that marxist criticism is part of a larger body of theoretical analysis which aims to understand ideologies, the ideas, values and feelings by which men experience their societies at various times" (14).marxism is political, it examines the different classes of people, the attitudes of the leaders to the general masses. while marxism stands for the destruction of the capitalist state and has as its aim in the withering away of the state all forms of institutionalized violence, marxism not only supports the right of the working class to exercise a domination over bourgeoisie, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 159 160 theory operates a warning system that alerts the readers to social wrongs, it is a mentor to the proletariat pointing out how they can free themselves from the powerless position in which they are to aim at replacing, the existing, system with socialist ones. this is what lukacs calls "reflectionalism". achebe in his morning yet on creation day posits that modern african literature is based on contemporary human experiences; in order to remain relevant, and any writer who tries to avoid the big social and contemporary african situations will end up being irrelevant. the primary text shows the disillusionment and exploitation occurring in the niger delta region. events in the text calls for unity among the people to take charge of their resources and create a better life for themselves. socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary's yellow yellow agary's yellow-yellow examines critically the conditions of women in the contemporary society of nigeria, especially in the niger-delta area where women are seen as objects that can be used and dumped. zilayefa, a young girl of greek and nigerian parentage, leaves her rustic existence and the protected grip of her mother in the village in search of a better life in the city. with a recommendation from her church pastor, she is taken in and sheltered by sisia, an elderly woman, and her young friend, lolo. zilayefa is thrust into bustling city of port harcourt, unprepared for the pitfalls awaiting a young girl very unsure of herself and in desperate need of direction. in port harcourt, zilayefa is confronted by the prejudices against her racial identity. she is devoid of an encouraging socialisation she wants in the city because of bias that has gripped the society. she struggles with accepting the void left by not knowing her father and tries to fill that void with the attention of an older lover. through the experience of her budding sexuality, zilayefa grows to a higher resource's, gain production and such matter was "historical materialism". kaine agary opines that, to be in a society that is characterized by social stratification, featuring the upper class (oppressor) and the lower class (oppressed). this they portray in their novels, the marginalization of the lower class and the exploitation of their resources subjecting them to abject poverty. kaine agary is famous for her commitment to using literature to bring the travails of the niger delta people to light. the desire to change the niger delta situation to a better one has been the role of the writers in the region; this is essentially what forms agary's yellow yellow they use art to espouse an alternative order in theniger delta and nigeria in general. in agary's yellow yellow, the presentation of zilayefa's mother shows how the discovery of crude oil and its activities have brought about numerous problems to the people of niger delta. we see in the novel the degradation, exploitation and squandering of riches by very few' individuals. zilayefa's mother is said to have had life planned out through her farming. she has the dream of moving up the ladder in life, but this dream is shattered as a result of oil spillage that totally burns down her farm. agary presents a organisation of struggle in the characters of zilayefa and the village boys who strive to survive the oppression melted on their society by the oil companies and the local chiefs who are being bribed by the exploiters in order to protect their interest. they stand out to cause as much havoc, as possible, until the government takes interest in the plight of the niger delta. this they do by oil bunkering and kidnapping of oil companies executives. in conclusion, therefore one of the functions of literature is to make the populace aware of social ills, and it should be sympathetic to action that will wipe those ills away. marxist coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 161 162 leaves the farming and fishing occupation that her mother is doing to make sure she never lacks in any aspect of her life and decides to go to the city without having a static and definite thing she is going there to do which makes her to say, "to try my luck." her mother objects to this notion but all her attempts to stop zilayefa from going to the cityproves failed as she remembers her own situation eighteen years ago. after eight d.ys of silence, her mother accepts and goes to her church pastor who recommended pastor ikechukwu to take care of zilayefa when she reaches port harcourt. zilayefa is givn a great deal of advice by her mother and mama ebiye which they believe will change her life for better and suggest that she travels secretly. at port harcourt, she meets pastor ikechukwu who now introduces her to the woman that will take care of her, sisi, an elderly matriarch and her friend lolo. sisi t ces zilayefa home and introduces her to clara and esther who discloses to her that she s a jjc—johnny just come—who is eager to peace and easy to yield. she is later sent o mr moses by sisi who now offers her a job in a hotel as a waitress. she later discovers a friend, emem, who is unlike her and they discuss so many things about themselves. emem is a calabar girl who is nurtured and brought up in port harcourt. her mother did the same as zilayefa's mother who is a trader in port harcourt. she was renamed "pussycat" just as zilayefa is nicknamed "yellow-yellow." zilayefa now starts to experience so many good and bad things in the city as -he came to the city naively. she purposely gets inundated in the extravagant aspects of life as she learns how to drive. she sees how the white men come to port harcourt and mess around with girls and thereby producing so many mixed breeds in the city, her mother later writes her to make sure she is well and reminding her all that she has to know. she later travels by air to lagos through the help of damiete who is lolo's leer. during the sixtieth birthday of one of lolo's father's friend, level of knowledge and understanding and defines for herself what a girl's life has to be, most especially a girl of her age. the story has its main setting in an african country, nigeria. there are some sub-settings like port harcourt, the start where zilayefa's mother is when she meets zilayefa' s father who is a greek. this is also the place where zilayefa spends most of her lifetime as a grown girl in search of a better life in the city. this is the period during theniger-delta crises which leads to girls, like zilayefa, to thrust into the city in search of a comfortable place of settlement. zilayefa is a child got from an illicit affair of a greek man and an ijaw woman. zilayefa's mother bibi is entrusted with the hard task of solely bringing up a child without a helper because her man whom he meets when she is eighteen years old when working as a secretary in the oil company, leaves her for his home place, zilayefa grows up without knowing her father as she would always like to know her father, but her mother has always been discouraging her from asking questions about her father. zilayefa. is known by the name lage by her parent and her friends and relations. one day a nobleman, chief semoke, dies in lagos and is brought back in his village to be buried. during the funeral ceremony, zilayefa runs into a man, sergio, who comes home for the burial of the late chief semoke with his friend tarilabo. sergio was an antique-furniture dealer from spain who travels extensively for his business and has met tarilabo on one of his business trips. with time zilayefa knows more about sergio and wants to follow him go to the city as all apertures of her thought are consumed with what the city life can be. being too workaholic and diligent when it comes to running ordinary home errand, zilayefa is absolutely prolific to her mother. at studies too, she is more serious, which makes mr diseye to count her as one of the erudite ones in her class. zilayefa coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 163 164 these poor women are more vulnerable to the changes in the environment in part because social, political and economic exclusion means they almost have fewer choices about where they live. in yellow-yellow, women bear the brunt of natural hazards, loss and the depletion of forest, polluted air, water and soil and the negative impacts of industrial activities. zilayefa laments that: the day my mother's farmland was overrun by crude oil was the day u, dream for me started to wither but she carried on watering it with hope. the black oil that spilled that day swallowed my mother's crops and unravelled the treads that held together her fantasies for me (10). in her novel yellow-yellow, agary shows her daughter as yellow-yellow because of her hit-and-run sexual escapade of a greek father who the mother only knows by name. zilayefa's mother tries to ensure that her daughter's life does not take similar unfortunate path as hers did and so everything is done to protect her. she does everything to programme her daughter for success through formal and informal education that had eluded her. zilayefa her daughter gets into the same ditch that her mother wanted her to get away from. zilayefa sees herself with pregnancy not for the playboy which expatriate but for native sugar daddy who she sees as a father, dumping her like whites, as she cry thus: my mother took care of all my needs, went far to make sure that i got education. she used to tell me that i would be better than her, that aslong as i was educated, i would be able to take care of myself. she sacrifices everything to make sure i went to school. in the novel, agary portrays women as not having any option but to sell their bodies to men, especially the foreign oil expatriates who use young ladies as nothing but sex bags.i could find my way to a place like bonny, the base of expatriates working for the oil companies, and sell my body to a whity. some girls from she runs into another man, admiral, who is introduced to her by lolo as retired admitf kenneth alaowei amalayefa or admiral, uncle ken. admiral is a married man who is blessed with children but is still a philanderer. he is a handsome old man whom zilayefa likens and pictures as being as old as her father. at first, zilayefa sees admiral as being too old to be her lover but after-being inordinately and badly advised by emem, she capitulates to admiral's demands of being his lover. finally, zilayefa surrenders her virginity to admiral. she is now turned to a full woman by admiral and flourishes her with anything she wants as she has forgotten her mother's advice and the intention of her coming to the city, which is to get educated. she is now in her damnable aspect of life, as she has never thought well. on this particular stance, she now tries to immerse herself into every extravagant aspect of life as she is only interested in having fun. she later discovers that her period has ceased and after much consultation, she discovers that she is pregnant. she tells admiral about it and he recommends a clinic for her. zilayefa later meets sergio. though her love for sergio is not as strong as it is on the first day she met him, she makes no mistake of sleeping with him. being at a city, she no more remembers her education, which has been put to a stop by either sergio or admiral. she later aborts the child after she has taken some plants recommended for her. in yellow-yellow, kaine agary presents to us the current predicament of women in the niger-delta, how they are treated negatively by human and environmental factors for the nigerdelta women. environmental sustainability is fundamental to their overall wellbeing and development. the environment is important to these women living in poverty not only because their existence to a large extent relies on substantial endeavours, which depend on natural resources, but also they perceive that their wellbeing is tied totheir environment in terms of livelihood, health, vulnerability and the ability u control their lives. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 165 166 delta, foreign oil expatriates and local men see young girls as nothing but sex bags that they can use and dump. admiral fell in love with zilayefa (yellow-yellow) after promising her heaven and earth that he will take care of everything to make her succeed in life, being old enough to be her grandfather. she agrees to love him because she loved admiral and allow him take her virginity. admiral turns her down when she was pregnant. he only gives her money to see dr george for abortion. this shows that she is nothing to him except for sexual gratification. yellow-yellow says thus: there was no room for a discussion. he did not ask whether i wanted to keep the child or not. he did not care, and if i kept the baby, i was definitely on my own. admiral did not have any time to commit to me again (163). like sergio keeping his family in faraway spain and sit back here in nigeria to exploit young girls whom no doubt will never marry. rather, they dump the girls even after they impregnate them, the men believe that money can make everything. zilayefa remembering the sweet voice of sergio promising to be with her and not believing he can leave his family to anybody else. kaine agary in her novel yellow-yellow and her unique manner portrays women in the niger-delta. before now, youths, especially male folk, have been the ones crying out of the nigerian nation about their continued economic, socio and political marginalisation. agary shows us the dehumanisation, disillusionment and exploitation of the niger-delta women and that women are the major victims of the effect of oil exploitation in the region. agary puts the suffering of women in the hands of the reign oil expatriates and in the hands of local men who discriminate, subjugate and relegate women to the background. then, many questions come to her mind: my town did that in order to send money home. even when they are lucky enough to find a mistress, "the mistress would beat them daily, deny them food, and after years of service send them back to the villa without having improved their lives, as promised." at home, men expect the women to suffer and cater for the basic needs of the family. the woman is oppressed when she fails to do this men demanded a healthy meal when they were hungry, disregarding the fact that the women had to work extra kilometer to get firewood or cultivate and harvest the food now fertilised by their sweat and blood. more so, at home and at the communal levels, the women are discriminated against. they are not allowed: participate or contribute to societal issues, even if it concerns them. however, the men claim that according to tradition, it was their exclusive right to make all the decisions inside and outside the home. they draw the line for women, particularly in communal meetings on various town issues. this discrimination or denial is born out of the idea and fear that women, if given chance as thus: if we allowed women free access to this meeting, they reasoned, where would it end? the next thing, they would want to do is mount their men inthe bedroom or question their husband's decision. no real man could accept that (40). this discrimination did not exist at the communal level alone. in home economics, the men never allowed the women to decide or contribute on how money should be spent. those women who dared were beating heavily. agary in her novel yellow-yellow portrays men being encouraged in the region to take advantage of their oil wealth to engage in sexual intercourse with many young girls. in nigercoou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 167 168 life of ordinary woman in the niger deltta and people who try to survive the economic, physical environment and politics of the niger delta. in all these men see them as just sexual objects meant for their pleasure. however, women should be given equal opportunities because they will contribute to the growth of the area, despite all these sufferings and rejection, we see the character of sisi and lolo who through their creativity and hard work are able to acquire great wealth for themselves despite their level of education. unlike admiral who used his wealth to exploit ladies, lolo and sisi uses their own wealth in human development. they adopted and brought up zilayefa as if she is their relative and sisi employed clara as a sales girls in her shop finally. agary's novel has opened our eyes to see how women in the niger delta are discriminated on the part of the local men and white men who usewomen as no thing: but sexual machines and objects money can buy. i had wanted to understand what it was besides money that mad beautiful twenty year old girls look at their short, fat, ugly fifty-eight year old men and then men called them "born-throways," ''ashawo-pickins' and father unknown" (171). however, what these men failed to understand in the view of many feminists like agary and others is that the women come from the man's ribs, not from his feet to be walked upon; not from his head to be superior, but from his side to be equal in treatment and opportunity. women suffer discrimination; they are often called or labelled witches just because of their appearance. agary laments that women with distended belies that look like pregnancy caused by urine fibroids were confined to their rooms because a diviner "who is a man" had said or confirmed them to be witches. agary shows women in riverine areas and their exportation by oil expatriates, that is, the oil companies and men of the region, using young girls as nothing but sex bags. if the women of this region will sit and think about their future, like zileyafe did when she saw herself in a situation she did not want in life. also, women should stand together to fight for the equal opportunity with their male counterparts. conclusion this paper explored how the people are exploited, especially economically, in contemporary african society with special reference to nigeria. kaine agary views women in niger delta as being exploited by the oil expatriates as nothing but sexual bags. agary's novel yellow-yellow has taken our attention away from the stories of militancy and violence and in turn focus on the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 169 170 okumagba, paul. 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"let's approach the niger delta crisis from a literary and intellectual perspective." nigerian literature: the 21st century conversation. ed. ezechi onyeriomvu. kraftbooks,2012.614617. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 nwafor, john onyema & ibekwe, thaddeus osinachi socioeconomic exploitation in kaine agary’s yellow yellow 171 172 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 excellency jofocus 2025.cdr 1 2 introduction the igbo ethnic group of nigeria is found majorly in the southeastern part of the country comprised of abia, anambra, ebonyi, enugu, and imo states. however, some of them are also found in other states like delta, cross-river, rivers, edo, and benue. they are among nigeria's three major ethnic groups with highly specialized and distinct cultural values. the two other major ethnic groups are hausa/fulani and yoruba with different cultures. igbo culture is inherently dynamic and flexible, rather than static (amadi and agena 2015). the fluency and flexibility of the igbo culture ensure easy adaptation to minor changes which create room for the influence of cultural materialistic intrusions. however, there are inalienable cultures that are sacrosanct by which the people are identified and recognized. the new yam festival (henceforth iri ji ohu, in some translations iri ji ohuru) is one such culture. yam in the igbo language is called ji. to eat means iri. new means ohu. put together, the three words constitute a linguistic triad that connotes igbo identity whenever and wherever they are used together. iri ji ohu has become symbolic as part of the igbo traditional and cultural evolution which confers importance, recognition, and an enduring sense of belonging on the people. while many igbo identity emblems have been eroded by western civilization, especially the christian religion, iri ji ohu still maintains its cultural flavour even though aspects of it have been compromised to accommodate western ideas and the steady incursion of cultural materialism in the modern era. in igboland, ji is regarded as the king of all crops and granted more respect than all other crops like cassava, cocoyam, and maize. chinua achebe captures the majestic identity of the new yam festival in igboland in his novel things fall apart in the following words: men and women, young and old, looked forward to the new yam festival because it began the season of plenty – the new year. on the last night before the festival, yams of the old were all disposed of by those who igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama promise adiele phd department of english mountain top university ibafo, ogun state. poadiele@mtu.edu.ng abstract the igbo ethnic group is mostly found in the south-eastern part of nigeria. their major identity indices are language, fashion, and various celebratory cultures. one of the major celebratory cultures of the igbo people is the new yam festival translated as (iri iji ohu) marked annually at the beginning of the new harvest season between july and august. beyond its recognition as a celebratory festival that reflects the igbo identity, it has not attracted global interpretation as a cultural practice that expands the frontiers of drama as a genre of literature. through cultural materialism, this study argues that the iri ji ohufestival is a cultural drama rooted in imitation, ritual, sacrifice, and role-playing, all characteristics of the greek dionysian festival and therefore should be interpreted and appreciated as cultural drama. the iri ji ohufestival is a symbolic dramatic genre that showcases the identity of the people as a primal consideration by which they are recognized. it deserves the same academic attention as the greek dionysian festival and other cultural festivals worldwide used to explain a people's history, identity, spiritual, and cultural provenance. that way, the igbo identity can be better understood and appreciated. keywords:culture, igbo, cultural materialism, identity, new yam festival, drama coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama http://poadiele@mtu.edu.ng paper is concerned has espoused the festival as a cultural dramatic genre which deserves recognition and appreciation as the greek dionysian spectacle. using cultural materialism as a critical instrument of analysis, the iri ji ohu festival in igboland will be analysed and explained as a cultural drama with all the attributes of drama as a genre of literature. the festival also witnesses the slaughtering of goats and the sprinkling of blood, dramatic, cleansing rituals associated with greek classical tragedy. in a way, we can argue that the igbo is a symbolic ethnic group in nigeria like greece in europe because there is no historical, archaeological, or anthropological evidence to prove that they migrated from anywhere like the other major ethnic groups in nigeria. therefore, we can describe them as original sons of the soil. and whereas every other ethnic or linguistic group or tribe that inhabits nigeria today can trace their source of migration or origin, the igbo arguably are the only group that was there before others (nwafor-ejelinma 2012). indeed, iri ji ohu festival as a symbolic identity of the igbo and as a cultural drama merits a critical study as cultural drama. the identity of the igbo person is portrayed in the general philosophy of the igbo and illustrated in the cultural heritage of the people (nnebedum 2018). cultural materialism the linguistic and vocabulary complexities associated with explaining cultural materialism have, to a large extent, mystified the easy understanding of the theory. such terms as globalization, infrastructure, superstructure, sophistication, and human behaviour have all been used by researchers to bewilder the research community concerning cultural materialism. cultural materialism is associated with raymond williams who posits that cultural materialism is a theory of the specificities of material, cultural, and literary production within historical materialism. (1977). williams argues that cultural materialism is the totality of cultural influences in the historical evolution of literature and other artistic productions. however, marvin harris offers a somewhat penetrating explanation of cultural materialism. still had them. the new yam must begin with tasty, fresh yams and not the shrivelled and fibrous crop of the previous year. (achebe 1958) achebe's narration of the importance of the new yam festival in igboland is symbolic of the iconic recognition of yam and its festival among the people. the festival constitutes an aspect of the people's existential reality from where they also drew inspiration, motivation, and spiritual revival for continuities. the cultivation of yams was governed by strict rules. as a highly ritualised process, yam production often involved elaborate ceremonial rituals during the planting and harvest seasons (korieh 2007). the iri ji ohu festival is observed annually at the beginning of the new planting season between july and august. the festival is marked by fanfare, celebrations among the people, joy, and merriment. it is accompanied by rituals and sacrifices to cleanse the land of evil and to offer propitiations to the gods for long life, good health, and a rich harvest in the new planting season. however, this study seeks to establish the iri ji ohu festival as a cultural dramatic enactment with all the characteristics of the greek dionysian festival. therefore, it deserves to be interpreted and appreciated as cultural drama. the iri jiohu festival in igboland is on the same echelon as the dionysian festival in classical greece. all the trappings of the dionysian spectacle such as ritual, role-playing, sacrifice, costume, song, and dance are contained in the iri ji ohu festival as a form of drama. however, while the dionysian festival is studied both as the origin of drama which offers insight into tragedy as an element of drama, the igbo iri ji ohu festival, although mentioned and researched by some scholars, has not received the kind of attention the dionysian festival has received within the global academic community. indeed, some scholars have critiqued the iri ji ohu festival and explained its constituents and processes of continuities simply as a cultural festival, no study, as far as this coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 3 4 belief systems and values (barriere and finkel 2022).many willing natives and adherents of different cultural expressions are unable to observe some cultural processions and festivities due to their meagre or lean economic, and material conditions. material objects needed for sacrifices and rituals form part of different cultural celebrations. these rituals and sacrifices are carried out as propitiations to appease chthonic essences and grease the channel of human access to their esoteric realms. there are instances when the gods reject objects of sacrifice like goats and rams because they are not fat and plump enough. the bible, the christian religion's moral compass in the book of genesis records how god rejected cain's sacrifice because it was not juicy enough. the relationship between gods and humanity upheld periodically on the altar of sacrifices and materialism has suffered neglect due to the anaemic material conditions of many people, especially the natives who adhere to traditional religion. to a great extent, therefore, material conditions determine the expression of culture in all parts of the world. besides the items of sacrifice for renewal and regeneration during some cultural practices, other aspects of a people's culture require colourful ceremonies, expensive fashion, many guests, food and drink, music and dance, and many more. in igboland, the majority of the cultural processions and their continuities require appreciable material ostentation. cultural materialism determines how technological and scientific factors influence cultural beliefs, inclinations, values and practices. in many parts of the world, the armoury of modernism such as electricity, iron, language, religion, painting, and sculpture are infused into cultural practices as inexorable ingredients. in yorubaland south-west of nigeria, the image of sango, the god of thunder and lightning adorns the front of the national electricity corporation. sango, a sixteenth-century ruler of oyo, is an anthropomorphic deity who was in his lifetime reputed to have had the ability to “call down” lightning to destroy his enemies and burn their houses and homesteads (garuba 2003). according to him, the aim of cultural materialism in particular is to account for the origin, maintenance, and change of the global inventory of sociocultural differences and similarities (2001). although the preceding observation by harris provides a relationship between the source of the worldwide catalogue of sociocultural peculiarities and inherent departures as the basic commitment of cultural materialism, it does not clearly explain or give an explicit meaning of cultural materialism. williams introduced this theory with his focus on historical context but with impacts onthe economy, culture, society, politics, etc. with a broader perspective in literature (singh 2021). to understand cultural materialism and its operational apparatuses, one must explain the two words separately. by doing so, we will set aside all the apprehension accompanying the theory. generally, we can say that culture is the entire spectrum of people's attitudes, approaches, responses, and reactions towards various aspects of their existence. it also refers to customs, beliefs, practices, heritages, and habits associated with a society in a specified geographical location. materialism on the other hand denotes the belief that matter or physical possession is the whole essence of human existence or the most important denominator of human life. simply put, we can therefore say that cultural materialism establishes and continually lubricates the interface between the culture of a people in terms of beliefs and traditions, and how it is shaped or influenced by their material conditions. it is the interface between culture and materialism and how they dialectically influence each other. in all of its characteristics of grandeur, materialism or material conditions, expressed through the identifiable matrix of opulence and the attendant social euphoria, shape and impact the culture of a people. this study is committed to analysing how material conditions have historically and contemporarily affected the iri ji ohu festival as a dramatic cultural expression. during festivals, especially cultural festivals, the role of objects is integral to the creation of community lore and often demonstrates community coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 5 6 communicates both as a form of entertainment and as a ritual, an irreducible process, especially festivals, through which man accesses the esoteric realm of chthonic gods. although drama has always been intrinsically intertextual with other literary forms, its primary relationship is, of course, with the actualities of theatre and performance, and thus with the material culture and ideological practices of societies (greenhalgh 2004). the foregoing emphasizes the transmutation of drama from a textual literary formation to performance enabled by material culture. in this case, drama can be understood in two ways. first, as a medium of enacting or mirroring life's multiple realities including the socio-economic, gender, and class dialectics depicted in a literary text. second, as a creative process that offers communal binding which provides an avenue for cultural renewal through rituals where the channel between humanity and the supernatural is constantly lubricated. the iri ji ohu falls under the matrix of the second designation of drama as a cultural practice. derek wright posits that drama is the most primal of artistic expression mediated by no pigment, print, or lens, it communicates directly through the raw material of the pulsating human body, its rhythmic movement, sounds, and presence. (1993). wright exalts the human body, its movement and sound as major components of the dramatic mode. in this case, festivals primarily thrive on the human body, movements, music, and dance all encapsulated within the spatial depiction of reality. the iri ji ohu also serves a symbolic purpose as a form of tourism that attracts many people from different parts of the world. in that sense, it is portrayed as a rich cultural identity that reflects the origin and sometimes spiritual inclination of the people. festival celebration is connected to the growth of tourism in recent times. this is probably because the increasing wave of globalization gave rise to the need to reinstate identity (okoye 2020). okoye argues that globalization is a factor that necessitates the annual celebration of certain festivals as a form of identity renewal. the new yam festival is a general cultural phenomenon the foregoing is symbolic of the god's control of electricity in the modern era even if there is no direct proof of this belief. thus, the traditional elite have appropriated an aspect of modernity into the resources of their cultural beliefs. motor mechanics and other vocations that require the use of iron also appropriate ogun, the god of iron as their primal guardian. local languages are today transmitted through sophisticated modern channels such as radio, tv, phones and sundry gadgets. painting and sculpture are captured and advertised through diverse modern instruments such as cameras, tv and radio. the intersections of these modern cultures and traditional cultures are determined by material conditions. the material conditions of many people determine their interest in a particular culture and are not necessarily due to cultural convictions or the expediency of such cultural practices. literature review many critics have examined drama as a genre of literature from different perspectives. dramatic literature is the record of the attempts of playwrights to express and communicate their ideas about man's hopes, dreams, ideals, feelings, thoughts and experiences, and his relationship to society (betti 2015). betti ties his interpretation and meaning of drama to a playwright's conception of society, social realities, and all the animating tensions that determine social evolution. dramatic practices such as hot seating, role-play, tableaux, and writing-in-role are some of an always-expanding repertoire of performative, embodied and pedagogical tools that provide opportunities for students to become critical observers and effective problem solvers as they actively and playfully negotiate meaning within and around texts (medina et al. 2021). 'hot seating', 'role-playing, 'tableaux' and 'writing-in-role' are aspects of dramatic performance that create opportunities for students to appreciate their environment as critical solution providers. but among all the three categories mentioned, role-playing is composed of more immediacy in festivals and rituals as forms of cultural drama. the divergences in opinion point to the multiple hierarchies in which drama coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 7 8 how deeply buried such a consciousness has latterly become – fearfully exists (soyinka 1976). the ritual drama creates a charged cosmic environment where man and gods commingle. the blood of animals killed in such sacrifices does not symbolize death but indicates renewal, rebirth, and regeneration. it also revives the igbo cosmological inclinations towards birth and dying and the cyclic observable procedure of continuity. according to ukachukwu manus: like yam, the igbo recognize humankind's trajectory in life to be born, to grow, to reach maturity and old age, to die and to regenerate among one's own as a necessary fact. for the igbo, there is a strong belief in life-after-life. the phenomenon directs attention to the igbo belief in the cyclic return to new life (2007). the ritual process, as a dramatic cultural expression during the iri ji ohu, points to an underlying awareness of the local people between them and their environment, which their ancestors control in the supernatural realm. therefore, the festival allows them to recognize chthonic existence and uphold their protective powers through libation and propitiation. thus, earth and cosmos, humanity and spirits continually co-mingle in a mutual relationship. dramatic elements in iri ji ohu the iri ji ohu festival accommodates characteristics of drama both as a genre of literature and cultural practice. the festivals which combine dances, songs, music, chants, speech/dialogue, spectacle, and so on, are examples of traditional drama. while some performance forms such as religious rituals, comedies, and storytelling enactment, as suggested above, may or may not have all these elements, each possesses the central feature of drama known as mimesis (eziechine 2021). the most outstanding and across africa and nigeria especially but in igboland, it has morphed into a more significant exhibition associated with the identity of the people across the world. lawrence-hart shares the same view that festivals serve as a form of tourism that enables people to travel and share the culture of other people peacefully. according to him, festivals provide visitors the opportunity to see how the local communities celebrate their culture thereby creating room for intercultural communication and help people to enjoy and meet their leisure needs (2014). sometimes, foreigners who visit parts of igboland for the iri ji ohu obtain permission to capture the proceedings through video recordings and use them as documentaries overseas. by so doing the identity and culture of the people are transmitted abroad and global recognition is accorded to the ethnic group. some igbo people living in different parts of the world also celebrate the iri ji ohu festival in their foreign places of sojourn. that kind of cultural migration generates revenue for the people but unfortunately, it is still seen as a celebratory festival and not a cultural drama. the dramatic import of the iri ji ohu in igboland also encapsulates the people's fundamental spiritual proclivities. besides the celebration and fanfare, the festival serves as a means of relating with the ancestors and seeking their blessings in the new planting season. the traditional chief priests in different igbo communities usually stand in-between the deities, the ancestors, and the people. they offer sacrifices, pouring libation and prayers to the deities for the new yam and other blessings, which the adherents respond to by shouting solemnly iseeee (so, shall it be) (unya 2021). in most parts of igboland, the procedure of that spiritual connection with the ancestors is not just verbalized but involves different kinds of rituals which many times involve the killing of goats and fowls and the sprinkling of their blood on a designated patch of the earth. we can refer to this as ritual theatre. ritual theatre, let it be recalled, establishes the spatial medium not merely as a physical area for simulated events but as a manageable contraction of the cosmic envelop within which man – no matter coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 9 10 dionysian festival traced as the origin of drama and the igbo iri ji ohu festival. both festivals are dedicated to fertility gods. while in greece, dionysus is the recipient of that ritualistic offerings, the igbo god of the earth ala, is its counterpart. while there is a man, thespis who led the goat to be slaughtered in the greek account of the origin of drama, the lack of uniformity in celebrating the iri ji ohu in igboland denies us the opportunity of identifying a particular character as a thespis counterpart. however, the goat slaughtered during the iri ji ohu is led by a man with divine or spiritual responsibilities. improvisation is another important element of drama found during the iri ji ohu festival. improvisation means to react creatively and spontaneously in a given situation that provides a substitute seamlessly aligning with prevailing events in a dramatic situation. the basic elements of improvisation are spontaneity and creativity. the heart of the creative process is a journey to the unknown or, in other words, improvisation. there is no creative process if there are only known procedures (shem-tov 2015).during the iri ji ohu festival, there are procedures and processes to take that are recognized by the people as appropriate. these procedures in terms of enchantment, movements, and order of offering prayers are determined by the expertise of the elders who are involved in the cultural festival. sometimes, the rhythm of the procedures may be broken and in such situations, it behoves the participants to improvise and carry on with the performance without the knowledge of observers and the public. besides the broken sequence of procedures in the festival, there is also another kind of improvisation which is a reaction to a sudden development during the ritual process. for example, a goat meant for sacrifice may run away or vehemently resist its handler leading it to be slaughtered. if the goat meant to be used for sacrifice runs away, it is a bad omen and the participants must improvise immediately without the knowledge of the public or spectators present. improvisation as an element of drama and theatre is a veritable aspect of the iri ji ohu festival which embodies an aspect of local significant aspect of the festival is the ritual dimension. ritual in drama or ritual theatre is a form of dramatic enactment that formed part of the dionysian spectacle in classical greek drama. although some critics argue that ritual does not qualify to be drama because it does not have a plot, the presence of other dramatic elements in rituals qualifies them as drama. it is one thing to say that drama performs a ritual function, includes rituals, or adopts ritual forms and quite another to prove that drama has a ritual origin. sceptics are quick to say that the historical link between drama and ritual has never been proven (csapo and miller 2007). if the dionysian festival, a ritual drama, could be referred to as drama and provide a historical origin of drama, other ritualistic festivals also qualify as drama. the ritual aspect of iri ji ohu celebrations involves the slaughtering of animals like goats, fowls and in some cases rams according to the social and economic status of the celebrant or community. the ritual process initiates a channel of interaction between the living and the dead, between the people and their ancestors. it is symbolic as an enabling regenerative process of continuity that ensures peace and harmony between the physical realm and the supernatural realm. the ritual process during the iri ji ohu festival serves two main purposes for the people – it cleanses the land of all defilement and desecrations and it urges the gods to guide, protect and preserve the people, granting them rich harvest, long life and prosperity. in many parts of igboland, the goat is the symbolic animal slaughtered during the festival. in the greek classical period, the goat was regarded as the symbol of tragedy because it was slaughtered during the dionysian festival. its appearance shows a proud, frontal, sometimes arrogant visage while the rear is dirty. it signifies hubris that trails a man without his knowledge but which leads to his ultimate tragedy or downfall. while the goat in igboland is not seen or viewed from this perspective, its role as a symbol of propitiation and sacrifice is tied to the people's understanding of the cyclical nature of human existence. therefore, there is a perpetuating parallel between the greek coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 11 12 photographs of very big yams harvested in the season. from the ezeji to the elders who perform the ritual, to the women dancers and youth processions, costuming plays an important role in the entire dramatic enactment of the iri ji ohu festival in igboland. chorus and chants, music and dance are also dramatic elements associated with the festival. during the ritual process, the eldest man in the family or village chants various forms of existential assertions which draw a chorus of answers from observers. for example elder: it shall be well with us in the new year chorus: iseeeeeeee (so shall it be) elder: we will prosper and have a good yam harvest in the new year chorus: iseeeeeeeeee elder: we will have enough rainfall for our crops chorus: iseeeeeeeee elder: our wives will have children successfully chorus: iseeeeeeeee elder: when we get sick we will recover chorus: iseeeeeeeee elder: we will all be alive to celebrate the next iri ji ohu chorus: iseeeeeeeee the chorus during the festival is different from the chorus of the classical greek drama. in greek drama, the chorus provides background information about plot development in the play. but in the iri ji ohu dramatic enactment, the chorus only serves as an affirmation group that agrees with the pronouncements of the eldest man in the family or village who performs the ritual. chants and incantations are part of any ritual in almost all the cases of ritual engagements. so, when animals are slaughtered as sacrifices to the gods, certain forms of arcane chants are rehashed to quicken the spirits of the ancestors and invite their benevolent presence. music and dance as components of drama accompany every iri ji creativity within a cultural arena. improvisation can also take the form of entertainment. a vocalist may suddenly emerge, overwhelmed with emotions and spurred on by the spectacle of the moment, he can break loose and start chanting panegyric, eulogizing some gods or a revered hero of the past to the admiration of the public. it adds to the marvel and thrill of the occasion even though it may not have been in the original plan of the festival. costume is an inexorable aspect of drama and theatre found in the iri ji ohu festival. no successful theatrical production can take place without a consummate costume structure. the success of many theatrical productions, movies, and dramas at any level depends on effective costumes. costume constitutes one of the most formidable and versatile cultural agents for the transmission of knowledge and values across ethnic, national and international boundaries… culturally and through dress and grooming, rare clothes which may not be seen on ordinary days are displayed (kwakye-opong and adinku 2013). it reflects the image of representation, character transition, role-playing and diverse forms of duplicate and semblance manipulation. besides the ritual aspect of the iri ji ohu, costume is the next most important aspect of the festival. because the occasion is celebratory, the celebrants adorn their best clothes to create an atmosphere of joy and happiness which reflects the general ambiance associated with the festival. during the festival, dance groups, women, youths, and sundry categories of people adorn colourful dresses sometimes in diverse degrees of uniformity to add to the aesthetics of the environment. in addition, some men masquerade as spirits by transforming their appearance with weird costumes, altering their voices through specialized theatrical sound devices to produce esoteric sounds reminiscent of a spirit. many times, one assumes that these masquerades are spirits from the netherworld but the transformation is achieved through costuming. in the case of community celebration of the festival, the designated venue is decorated to create a beautiful atmosphere sometimes with coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 13 14 festival as an inexorable part of the people's identity. when one recognizes the importance of ji in igboland, then the iri ji ohu as a primordial festival of substance will be appreciated. the new yam festival holds significant cultural and historical importance in many communities, particularly in regions where yam cultivation is a vital part of agriculture (onwuatuegwu 2024). there are multiple categories of yam and all the ceremonies that surround it in igboland. however, it is beyond the scope of this study to examine all the categories of yam as an identity crop of igbo people. this study is concerned with portraying the new yam festival in igboland as a cultural drama. therefore, it examines the process of the festival, its dramatic characteristics, the cultural elements and how they conform to our understanding of drama. the iri ji ohu festival is an annual event and the period of celebration is fixed between july and august. new yams are harvested from may to july. the celebration, led by male family heads is a way of identifying with the rest of the ethnic group and showing appreciation to the gods for life, rich harvest, and supplication for better harvest in the new planting season. there is no common day set aside for the festival. every family can decide when to celebrate it although it must fall within the stipulated period. sometimes, a whole village or clan can collectively celebrate the festival and at such times, it is always like a carnival with masquerade dance, women's dance, and other forms of fanfare. the iri ji ohu whether celebrated within the family unit or at the community level is accompanied by rituals, sacrifices, prayers and supplications to the gods. during the festival, the yam seed is made into various edible varieties. it can be roasted or boiled and eaten with any sauce like palm oil and vegetables. it can also be cooked and eaten with the local pepper soup and served with palm wine. before the yam is eaten, the eldest man in a family or the community would, first of all, bless the kola nut and offer fervent prayers for more increase in the new planting season. with ohu festival in almost every situation. the music could be produced in two ways through local musical instruments like ogene, udu,osha and flutes or through amplified modern musical instruments like a compact disc, turn-table, and loudspeakers. the music could last for a whole day. dance could be provided by women groups, youth groups, age-grades or other associations in the community. overall, the iri ji ohu festival is a dramatic exhibition which should rank alongside the dionysian festival in drama and theatre. the significance of ji and the iri ji ohu festival in igboland yam (ji) in igboland is significant in many ways. it is the people's major staple food. men who have demonstrated comparable success by planting and harvesting large quantities of yam and have a large yam barn for storing yams always take the title of ezeji which means king of yams. while the iri ji ohu festival is not mandatory for ordinary folks across igboland, an ezeji must celebrate it to demonstrate his wealth of yam seed. it was expected that an aspirant should have at least one hundred stakes of the approved yam type to take the first title. because the titles were in hierarchical order, the successful farmer who could boast of up to 400 stakes was qualified to take the highest yam title (a stake could take as many as 200 yams depending on the length of the stick and preference of the farmer) (iwuagwu 2010). if a man fails to have a good harvest during the planting season, it is interpreted to mean that the gods are angry with the man and therefore, propitiation would be required to appease them. the significance of ji as an aspect of the igbo identity is demonstrated during marriage ceremonies. it is one of the most important items that must be presented by the bridegroom to the bride's family as bride price. to steal ji in igboland is an atrocious abomination with severe spiritual consequences and the thief, if caught, must carry out certain rituals as prescribed by the unwritten laws of the land to appease the gods. it is this symbolic patch occupied by ji in igboland that necessitates its special coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 15 16 festival for men. during the festival, most of the activities like the ritual process, the prayers to the ancestors, and the breaking of kola nuts are all performed by men. the yam title is also an exclusive preserve for men. women do not take the ezeji title in igboland no matter how industrious they may have proved in cultivating yams during the planting season. in some parts of igboland, women are not allowed to partake in some of the iri ji ohu rites. the abiding argument here is that the iri ji ohu festival is intricately attached to the igbo identity and as a cultural drama, deserves crucial recognition at the same level as the greek dionysian festival. references achebe, chinua., 1958. things fall apart. edinburgh: heinemann ltd. adinku, g. u., and kwakye-opong, r. 2013. costume as medium for cultural expression in stage performance. arts and design studies, 8 (1), 9-18. amadi, l. and agena, j. e. 2015. globalization, culture mutation and new identity: implications for the igbo cultural heritage. african journal of history and culture, 7 (1), 16 27. asika, ikechukwu and akabuike, ifeoma. 2011. “the flora and fauna of folklore in african literature: myth as a plot generator in flora nwapa's efuru and idu” published in knowledge builders journal. 6 (1)165-173. barriere, l. and finkel, f.r 2022. the material culture of music festival fandoms. european journal of cultural studies,25(2), 479–497. b e t t i , m . j . 2 0 1 5 . a n i n t r o d u c t i o n t o dramahttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/344599996 the kola nut, the elder calls upon the ancestors and different gods depending on the community. while doing this, he enacts a chorus or chant session with a response from the crowd such as iseeeee which means 'so shall it be'. after breaking the kola nut, the elder proceeds to pour libations on the ground. the libations consist of palm wine or local gin. the libation is followed by a chant of iseeee as the elder makes affirmation of peace, prosperity, good health and long life. this is the ritual process of the yam festival. the slaughtered animals are used to prepare delicacies with the harvested yams for consumption by the family unit or community. thereafter, the celebration starts. people can eat yams in any way they deem fit. there are also gifts of yams to the less privileged, especially by the ezeji in the community. conclusion as a cultural festival, iri ji ohu accommodates various aspects of the people's traditions through which they express their origin and identity. however, this study has argued and demonstrated that the festival, besides its igbo identity elements, is also a cultural drama that deserves the same recognition as the greek dionysian festival. the festival encompasses all the dramatic components which provide entertainment and an avenue for the living to mingle with the dead, the physical realm and the supernatural realm to associate and perpetuate a mutual co-existence. because the festival is an annual event, it gives the people the opportunity to lubricate the gulf between them and their ancestors through diverse forms of rituals. as a dramatic festival, role-playing, acting, and audience participation are enacted. it reflects the people's belief in the cyclical nature of human existence where birth and dying constitute the evident processes of continuity. thus we can say that the festival like every drama, reflects the reality of existence. but the difference is that cultural drama does not ridicule, it is not a satire that mirrors the ills in society. it is not also marxist. it does not expose the socio-economic class dichotomy in society. however, the festival can be seen as advancing patriarchal sensibilities because it is essentially a coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 17 18 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344599996 medina, c.l., perry, m., lee b.k., and amanda, d. 2022. reading with drama: relations between texts, readers and experiences. literacy,55(2), 45-55. nnebedum, c. 2018. empirical identity as dimension of development in africa: with special reference to the igbo society of southeast of nigeria. mediterranean journal of social sciences, 9 (2), 195-204. ndubisi, n.e. 2012. ndi-igbo of nigeria: identity showcase. indiana: trafford publishing. okoye, o. 2020. tourism potentials of the national iwa iji festival in igbo-ukwu southeast nigeria. journal of tourism and heritage studies,9(1), 46-63. onipede, k.j 2017. festival, identity and social integration: a study of the new yam festival in otun-ekiti, southwest nigeria. fieldwork in religion,12(1), 78–102. onwuatuegwu, i.n. 2024. new yam festival: an exploration of ancestral perspectives on reality and the role of traditional folk religion. nnadiebube journal of philosophy, 7(1), 37-47. shem-tov, n. 2015. improvisation is the heart of creativity: research in drama education. the journal of applied theatre and performance,20(3), 306-309. singh, r. k. 2021. context in cultural materialism and new historicism: a review. international journal of multi disciplinary research and growth evaluation,2(1), 197201. soyinka, wole. 1976. myth, literature and the african worldview. cambridge: cambridge university press. (accessed 15 august 2024). csapo, e., and miller, m., 2007. general introduction. in: eric csapo and margret miller, ed. the origin of theater in ancient greece and beyond: from ritual to drama. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1-47. eziechine, a. o., 2021. an evaluation of the dramatic aesthetics of ikenge and ifejioku festivals of ossissa people of delta state. ikenga journal of african studies,22(3), 1-16. garuba, harry. 2003. explorations in animist materialism: notes on reading/writing african literature, culture and society. public culture,15(2), 261-285. greenhalgh, susanne. 2004. drama. in: peter hunt, ed. international companion encyclopedia of children's literature, second edition i. london:routledge, 599-613. iwuagwu, o., 2010. acquisition as manifestation of wealth and power among the igbo of southeast nigeria.nigerian social science education review,111(1), 146-167. korieh, c., 2007. yam is king! but cassava is the mother of all crops: farming, culture, and identity in igbo agrarian economy. dialectical anthropology,31(1), 221–232. lawrence-hart, g., 2014. festivals: catalyst for peace in nigeria. journal of humanities and social science,19(4), 1-05. manus, ukachukwu., 2007. the sacred festival of iri ji ohuru in igboland, nigeria. nordic journal ofafrican studies,16(2), 244–260. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 promise adiele phd igbo identity: new yam festival as cultural drama 19 20 unya, i.u. 2021. the transformation and significance of the new yam festival in contemporary igbo society of nigeria. uzu journal,8(3), 33-41. williams, raymonds. 1977. marxism and literature. london: oxford university press. wright, derek. 1993. wole soyinka revisited. new york: twayne publishers. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2025 21 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 excellency jofocus 2024 corrected.cdr a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. department of english language and linguistics sokoto state university, sokoto fadnur982@gmail.com nureini.fadare@ssu.edu.ng +2348070885707 orcid number: 0000-0002-5652-2188 and shuaibu adamu department of english and linguistics, sokoto state university, sokoto abstract this study attempts to carry out a comparative analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors and the new media postproverbials with focus on their structures, contents and context. through interview, traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors were collated while the new media especially facebook was used to source for the new media postproverbials. the proverbs are translated into standard english and subjected to critical and comparative analyses. this research will adopt eclectic theory in the analysis of the proverbs. therefore, theories such as remi raji-oyelade's postproverbial theory, alongside other theories such as postmodernism, formalism and deconstruction will be employed. the traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors maintain attributes such as terseness, brevity, clarity of language and communicate meanings. whereas, the new media postproverbials deconstruct the structure of the traditional proverbs; they extol vulgarism, humour and playfulness. the research will strengthen existing nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 62 knowledge and build a strong foundation on the potentials of the new media in the creation and transmission of traditional proverbs with sex metaphors, new proverbs and postproverbials. the research is expected to advance the frontier of knowledge in the field of paremiological study as it relates to the traditional proverbs with sex metaphor and the postproverbials across the oral tradition and the new media, especially the social media such as facebook, whatsapp and twitter . keywords: traditional yoruba proverbs, sex metaphors, new media postproverbials, postmodernism, formalism, deconstruction introduction several researches have been conducted on traditional proverbs such as those conducted by ruth finnegan (1970), wolfang mielder (1985) among others with particular interest in the meanings of the proverbs and their socio-cultural influence in the society as a mean of warning, moralising, caution, among others. ademowo and balogun (2015) also worked on the traditional yoruba proverbs with sex images and their postproverbial construction. fadare (2019) researched into the postproverbials construction of ify-asia chiemeziem who playfully deconstructed some known traditional proverbs coated with sex-related imagery. what is different in ify-asia proverbs is that most of her proverbs are created out of her own ingenuities adding credence to the fact that new proverbs can be created by intelligent people and experts in languages. however, what is left undone is to see the traditional yoruba proverbs with sex related metaphor as well as their postproverbial construction as they are used and received on the social media. hence, this research is an advance version of what ademowo 2015 and fadare 2019 have achieved. it will also extend further the experimentation of remi raji-oyelade postproverbial theory to the use of both traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and their postproverbial coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 63 mailto:fadnur982@gmail.com constructions on social media especially, whatsapp, twitter (now x) and facebook.. . wolfang milder defined proverb as a “short generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals and traditional views in a metaphorical fixed and memorisable form which is handed down from generation to generation” (1985:113). gbemisola adeoti in his submission contends that, “one attribute of a proverb […] is its economy of words while making plenty sense like poetry and riddle.” (2019:85). proverbs are the repository of people's wisdom and belief system. among the yoruba people, in nigeria, west africa, elders are the custodians of proverbs which are always used to beautify speech, give warning, offer advice, among others. the traditional yoruba societies frown at obscenity and vulgarism which reflect on their proverbs where words that are associated with sex organs are rarely used or referred to. this explains why euphemistic words such as “nkan omokunrin” (the thing of manhood) or “opaabe” (the staff of the underneath) are used instead of “oko” the yoruba word for penis. for the female sex organ, the word “obo” is a taboo and is rarely mentioned; rather, euphemistic words such as “odo abe” (underneath stream) or “iyamapo” (the mother of mapo) are used to make reference to it, (ademowo and balogun, 2015, fadare, 2019). my discussion and intellectual engagement with prof. remy oriaku, gave more insights into the nature of sex proverbs within the purview of the traditional society, according to oriaku: proverbs give dept/weight to communication. sex is a very useful metaphor being something everyone knows and can relate with. more s ign ifican t ly, i t s be ing ment ioned in communication triggers the thoughts and memories of the audiences thus expanding the discourse in traditional african society (premodern age), only adults (especially male) used nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 64 proverbs in mixed gatherings. younger people could use proverbs or discuss sex only among their peers of the same sex. in mixed audiences (male and female) it was taboo and seen as evidence of bad upbringing. (remy oriaku, 2024,) the above submission by oriaku further adds credence to the fact that proverbs with sex metaphors among the yorubas are used covertly and not overtly. also, women rarely make use of proverbs in a mixed gathering except women that are perceived to be men due to their advanced age. the focus of this present research work is to advance the frontier of research work on yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors beyond the previous efforts of owomoyela, (1972), ojoade, (1982), ademowo and balogun (2015) and fadare, (2019). the nexus of the research is to carry out a comparative analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors and the new media postproverbials as advanced by remiraji-oyelade( 2012 and 2013). in traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors, the emphasis is always placed on the message not the vulgar words involved. however, in postproverbials, the emphasis is shifted to the jokes elements and not the didactic import of the proverb. ademowo and balogun (2015:12) are of the opinion that, “proverbs and its use are so enticing to the extent that users with gifts of creativity who are familiar with their techniques may attempt to create new ones.” this explains why most new media proverbs are new proverbs that are created out of the usher's ingenuity. examples of this abound in ify asia chiemeziem's new media proverbs. for instance, “a good friend is like a gallant penis, it stands up for you in the time of need.” (chiemeziem's facebook, 2017). this postproverbial is a deconstruction of the proverb, “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” from these two proverbs it can be deduced that in terms of structure, postproverbials share similar structure with the traditional proverbs. ademowo and balogun observed that the nexus coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 65 between the traditional yoruba sex-related proverbsand their postproverbials construction is that in traditional proverbs emphasis is always given to the core message of the proverbs, whereas, in their postproverbial construction, emphasis is shifted to the sex images or sex organs mentioned in the proverb resulting in what raji-oyelade referred as “blashphemy playfulness.” ademowo and balogun making reference to nwoga (1979) identified three forms of meanings that can be generated from a proverb thus: the text or literal meaning; the generalised, moral and cultural principles philosophical meaning, and; the meaning generated from the proverb when it is being used in context. (ademowo and balogun, 12) however, while the traditional proverbs deal with serious matters, postproverbials dwell on what raji-oyelade (2013:8) called “blasphemy playfulness.” raji-oyelade further stated that postproverbials are, “migrant texts in the traditional performance moving from people to people and getting transformed in the moment of travel” (2013:16). this research will be interested in how yoruba proverbs with sex metaphors are used compared with the new media postproverbials with particular interest on their structures, contents and context under which they are used as they migrate from one place to the other through the words of mouth and the new media. the previous efforts on sex proverbs can be traced to a symposium organized by the american folklore society on obscenity in philadelphia, (usa) on 28 december, 1960. the essence of the conference was to collate all forms of folklore including those that contain obscenity and vulgar words. owomoyela's position on sex proverbs is patriarchal as he wants women to “…accommodate the men's libertine talks … with humour and demuness” (1972:752). ojoade works on “african sexual proverbs: some yoruba examples.” the examples provided by ojoade are relevant to this project e.g. “bi oloko nla ndoni, gbigbin laagbin” (when one is being fucked with big penis, nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 66 one must groan), (1983:4). ademowo and balogun (2015) in their article entitled “postproverbial constructions and selected sexrelated yoruba proverbs and proverbial expressions” make a comparative analysis of sex-related traditional yoruba proverbs and their postproverbial versions. ademowo and balogun paper takes into cognizance the postproverbial trends in relation to the deconstruction of the sex-related yoruba proverbs. fadare (2019) works on the new media postproverbials with focus on ify asia chiemeziem's new media proverbs. what is left undone is the influence of the new media in the projection of proverbs with sex metaphors and how they are transformed into postproverbials through the new media. therefore, this research will focus on the structure, content and context of proverbs with sex metaphors both in the traditional yoruba setting, the new proverbs and the new media postproverbials. this research is important on different grounds; it will strengthen the previous works on yoruba sex proverbs, focus on the creation of new proverbs and the significance of new media (technology) in the creation and transmission of postproverbials. as earlier indicated, an eclectic approach will be adopted as theoretical framework. therefore, the theories that will be employed in analyzing the selected proverbs will range from: postproverbial theory, structuralism, postmodernism and deconstruction. the theories will take care of different aspects of the analysis. structuralism is a theory associated with the works of the french philosopher, ferdinand de saussaure. other scholars of structuralism are: levi-strauss and roland barthes. saussaure in his work courses in general linguistics (1916) argued that all the system of naming is arbitrary and that: … a concept is not intrinsically linked to a par t icular s ignifier. the meaning is determined by collective behavior of convention and is fixed by rules. hence, coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 67 language is a system of signs and meaning itself is relational, produced by interaction of various signifiers and signified within that system. (habib, 2005: 632) the implication of the above is that applying structuralism in analyzing the proverbs will expand the meanings of the proverbs beyond the facial or denotative level since most of the selected proverbs are vulgar in outlook but with deep-rooted didactic values. another theory relevant to this study is deconstruction as expounded by jacque derrida. deconstruction is a theory that based its thoughts on the concept of logocentrism which is simply defined as “…any system of thought which is founded on the stability and the authority of the logos, the divine word” (habib, 650). the aspect of deconstruction that is relevant to our discussion in this study is the position of derrida which states that the meaning of a signifier can only be found in the signified and this can continue ad infinitum, therefore, there will be an unending and continuous chain of signifiers. therefore, when we speak, we no longer speak ordinary language but speak in metaphor. this suggests that all forms of languages are metaphoric in nature including the languages of mathematics and sciences (habib, 651). since all languages are metaphoric, it suggests that language is open to multiple interpretations as we are going to find out in our analysis. in addition, aspects of formalism will be engaged to analyse the poetic devices used in the proverbs. formalism is a literary theory that is based on the formal structure of a text. it places emphasis on the formal properties that constitute a text than the contextual meanings embedded in the text. formalism places emphasis on the literary tropes that are used for literary embellishment while downplaying the underlying contents of the text. in the words of habib (2005); formalism places “…emphasis on form parenthesizes concern for the representational imitative nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 68 and cognitive aspects of literature.” (602). formalism focuses more on the literary tropes that are used in a text and how the writer deviates from the norms and promotes foregrounding. the last theory co-opted to analyse the text is postmodernism. according to peter barry, postmodernism is a literary theory that deconstructs most of the major tenets of modernism. postmodernism is in “…favour of experimental forms of various kinds” (61). postmodernism also glorifies vulgarism and meaninglessness which are some of the attributes of new proverbs and new media postproverbials. proverbs that serve as data for this research were collated orally and electronically. about seventeen yoruba proverbs with sex symbols and twelve new media postproverbials were collated for this research. traditional yoruba proverbs with sex symbols were collated through interview. the new media (social media), especially facebook was used to collate postproverbials. the proverbs were translated into standard english and subjected to critical and comparative analyses. the analyses took cognizance of the structure, content and context under which the proverbs were used. the focus was placed on how the traditional yoruba sex proverbs are formed and used and how the traditional proverbs are deconstructed in their postproverbial versions as it is common on the social media today. proverbs with sex proverbs were collated through interview and interaction with the native yoruba native speakers. parts of the field work also included internet surfing. traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor in traditional yoruba society, proverbs that have sex motifs are used mostly by male adults and aged women who have passed to be men in the community as a result of their age. apart from the male adults and the aged women, the native surgeon known as “oloola” are fond of using the proverbs as they wish. also, the drummers could also use their talking drums to voice-out some of coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 69 the proverbs at appropriate time. the drummers “ayan” and the native surgeons “oloola” are known as “asa” (those who cannot be ashamed) and as a result, they are not restricted by the society to use such sex proverbs. however, children of all ages (especially those that are not married or those that are still under the tutelage of their parents) are restricted from using such proverbs. also, the children are only expected to take the lesson of the proverbs which can only be realized at the connotative level rather than laughing at the vulgarity of the proverbs. in fact, it is uncouth attitude for children to laugh when any of these proverbs is being used. it needs to be noted that these proverbs are not used for the sake of their vulgarity. far from it, the proverbs when analyzed from the perspective of the context within which they could be used, it would be realized that they are used to teach, instruct, condemn and correct social vices rather than for vulgar purpose. also, in traditional yoruba society, children are not allowed to mention the real name of the genital organs of both male and female. the words are oko (penis) and obo (vagina). it is a taboo especially to mention 'obo' – the female genital organ. instead euphemistic words such as: 'opa' (staff), is being used to refer to oko (penis) while euphemistic words such as: 'idi' (buttock), 'odo-abe' (the underneath stream), 'iyamapo' (the mother of mapo), 'gulutu' (dune), etc are used instead to refer to “obo”. the female genital organ has more euphemistic names to refer to it because it is a taboo to mention it. the researcher was stunned to discover some of these proverbs. at least about eighty – percent of them had never been mentioned to his hearing. this shows that the proverbs are deliberately hidden in the repertoire of the elders to enhance social control and avoid vulgarity. nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 70 selected yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor:a critique proverb 1 an fotun teni, an fosin tu sokoto, ale tun la o se tohun translation one is spreading the mat with the left hand and untying the girdle of the trouser with the right hand. yet the lover (sex partner) felt unattended to. analysis: this proverb can be used to calm someone in haste. the proverb is an indication that the usher is attending to the needs of the addressee which the later has not recognized nor appreciated. it can be used by an elderly person to calm a young person down because restlessness is always associated with youth. among the yoruba patriarchy, a man has the right to engage in extra marital affair. it is only the woman that is involved that would be persecuted if caught. a man could move around and be boast of his infidelity in front of his wives but it is only a woman that is “asewo” (prostitute) that will be castigated if caught. this proverb is patriarchal inclined. proverb 2 eje ki obo o gbe atari wo, ko mo ise ti esinsin nse translation let the vagina occupy the frontal part of the head to ascertain the harshness of the flies. analysis: the proverb is used to underscore the significance of the privileged position someone is occupying. nature has created everything and put them in their rightful places. it can be used to rebuke a child from an affluent family who is misusing his/her opportunities. the proverb also suggests that unless you imagine yourself being in the position someone is occupying (especially an unpalatable position or situation), one would not appreciate the coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 71 privileged position one is occupying or the opportunities one have. there is a reason you are experiencing what you are going through now. proverb 3 ijo ajoju tii muni ri oko eegun. translation it is overzealous dance of the masquerade that reveals its penis to the public. analysis: this proverb is a warning forbidden a person from being over-zealous in whatever he/she is doing. we should have self restraint and control in whatever we are doing. the proverb is a caution against extremism. the masquerades are regarded as the representatives of the ancestral fathers of the clan visiting the living. they are to be sacred and adored by the people with awe. therefore, they need to be secretive and maintain their sacredness instead of exposing their secret of the underworld to the profane. the proverb is therefore calling for caution and self restraints. proverb 4 jolobo o ro, eni a do nikako. translation let the owner of the vagina complain, it is she that is sexed that should be agitated. analysis: proverb six is yoruba version of the saying that: “you cannot cry more than the bereaved”. this proverb is a warning against hypocrisy. it holds that it is hypocritical to feel more concern than someone who is directly affected by an incident. we should not fight other people's war for them or feel more concerned than someone affected by an incident. in some instances people who feel grieved over other people's issues are doing so to achieve a personal targeted objective. nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 72 proverb 5 asese dobo majesin, to ba de oko, yoo fi oko dan akerengbe wo. a young man who experiences sex for the first time will try his penis on a gourd at the farm. analysis: the proverb can be used to restrict someone who is green in a field to tread gently. the word “majesin” (young person) makes it to be specific. it is used to warn young people to be mindful of their acts and to be cautious. we should not be too thrilled by a new life experience. experience will tell us more about a fresh experience that we so much cherish today including their attendant consequences. it is also instructive to take note of the words “oko” (penis) and oko (farm). the pun used in the original proverb is lost to translation. proverb 6 eeyan re abebi oke-amu, tiwon ndo iyaale re to busekun. translation abebi, a wayward woman, native of oke-amu the one who cries because her husband is having sex with her senior co-wife. analysis: this is a patriarchal inclined proverb which is used to justify polygamous marriage. any woman who cries because her husband is having sex with another woman is seen as being stupidly jealous, jelly-minded and effeminate. the proverb is set in oke-amu, a town in itesiwaju local government, oyo state. it is about eighteen kilometer from iseyin and about ninety kilometers away from ibadan, the state capital. the proverb is likely to have its variants in other parts of yoruba land. proverb of this kind is used to justify polygamous and the rights of a man to have more than one wife and any woman that refuses to accept this is branded as being wayward and an iconoclast detrimental to patriarchal hegemony. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 73 proverb 7 ma domi, mado orogun un mi, obo ara eni la a fowo mu. translation don't sex me, don't sex my co-wife; your power of resistance is limited to your vagina. analysis: this proverb is equally gender sensitive. it is a proverb that looks down on women's resistance to polygamy. it can also be used to warn someone not to set his/her own moral standard as a cover-all for all other persons. the proverb encourages independence of thought by individual. the fact that you do not like something does not mean that others should resist it. the proverb at a more connotative level is teaching us to respect what other people cherish and have mutual respect for them. proverb 8 oju lando obo were o yato. translation sex is in the face of a beholder; otherwise the vagina of a mad woman does not taste different. analysis: the proverb may be used to persuade someone that what he/she has (and think that it is inferior or sub-standard) is normal or perfect. it may also be used to persuade someone to see their present condition not unusual. it can also be used to suppress the arrogance of a proud and beautiful woman to stop being unnecessary proud because what she thinks she has, that is special, is not any way different from that of the others, in reality. therefore, the proverb can be used to caution, advise or persuade someone to accept a particularly condition as it were. proverb 9 oku obo ti o pa mala to bimoti o soo ni idun. nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 74 translation it is excessive love of vagina (sex) that makes“mala”(a species of bush-rat) named its child “clitoris”. analysis: the proverb is a justification for the fact that it is what someone loves that he/she will give priority. it also warns that someone's death is attached to what he/she likes. he who loves sex will eventually dies of venereal disease. in sum, the proverb is a warning against social vices that someone is known for or closely associated with because the person's death will be closely related or attached to what he/she likes doing. proverb 10 o doboleekan o gbaa labara, eekan ti oo doo mo niyan. translation you have sex once and slap the vagina your chance of having sex again is closed. analysis: this proverb is a caution against discarding something that is no longer useful to us at a time because such a thing will be useful to us some other time. for instance, the proverb may be used for a debtor who after repaying his/her debts started abusing the creditor; after all, the money he owes him/her has been paid. if such a thing is done, then, the debtor should know that his/her chance of borrowing money from such creditor, in future is closed. proverb 11 lati abiya la o timobi irun obo yooti to. translation the quantity of vagina hair can be determined by the amount of hair on the arm-pit. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 75 analysis: someone's appearance or the manner of relating with people determined the kind of family background the person comes from. also, someone's personality can be determined through his/her speech or behaviour. also, the way someone behaves while in state of penury can be used to determine the way the person will behave when he/she becomes wealthy. the proverb can be used to tell someone off that the promise he/she is making is empty going by his/her present attitude. proverb 12 iku oko tii muni ri adikala epon. translation it is the death of one's husband that exposes one to a saggy crotch. analysis: among the yorubas, a woman is seen as part of the property owned by her husband to be shared after death. therefore, a widow is not allowed to be left alone after the death of her husband. after the death of a woman's husband, she will be exposed to another form of crotch different from the one she is used to. in most cases, it will be a saggy one. the words “adikala epon”. saggy crotch is used in a derogatory manner to describe the idea of wife inheritance as unpalatable experience to women. this proverb speaks in favour of women; therefore it is commonly used by aged women to describe an unacceptable and unfavourable situation that happens to them due to the demise of their husband. the proverb can be used to suggest that someone's predicament is brought about because of certain predestined or natural occurrence that happened before. for instance, someone's inability to pay house-rent, children's school fees, may expose the person to insult from landlord, school management or creditors. proverb 13 ai soro yanro to mu babalowo do obo aaro. nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 76 translation it is lack of clarification of statement which makes the diviner have early morning sex. analysis: without explaining the root or source of this proverb, its contextual meaning will be meaningless. the diviners (babalawos) have an instrument of divination called “ibo”. this object will be given to the client who has come to find out what the future holds for him/her. it should be noted that it is women that mostly patronize these diviners or babalawo. so, one day, a woman who consults a diviner is asked to open the “ibo” and because of the lack of clarification, the woman thinks the diviner mentions obo (vagina) therefore; she open her legs and the diviner has sex with her. hence, lack of clarification between “ibo” and “obo” leads to the early morning sex between the diviner and the female client. it needs to be noted that the confusion is caused by the fact that yoruba language is a tonal language and the two words sound alike. the proverb is also a warning that we should be clear while making a statement in order not to mislead or confuse people. proverb 14 obo gba oko oni ko gba aye; se o teni sun sibe ni? translation the vagina occupies the penis, yet you complain of inadequate space; do you want to spread mat and sleep there? analysis: this proverb is a warning against excess. it kicks against being wasteful. it also has moral value. one should be satisfied with the little one has and one should avoid stupendous or extravagant life. anything that is in excess is a waste and one should guide against it. we should strive to have what will satisfy our immediate need or be enough for our needs and not striving towards acquiring what we do not need thereby subjecting ourselves to undeserved stress. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 77 proverb 15 loju oloko lobo joju, patako ni folobo. it is the owner of penis that cherishes vagina, for its owner, it is a mere stool (chair). analysis: this proverb can be used to show that what someone has but not cherish is a valuable object to someone else's. for instance, cow dung is a waste material for a shepherd but it can be used by crop farmers as fertilizer. if one is not cherished by him/herself or people around him or her definitely, some other people will cherish him. on the other way round, what some people cherish mean nothing for those who have it in abundance. proverb 16 obinrin pantete ogoji oke wolu o loun o lowo lowo, tabe re yinko? translation a woman enters the town with eight hundred thousand (naira) yet, she complains of not having money, what of the one she keeps underneath her genital? analysis: this proverb should not be linked with prostitution. however, it should be examined from a more connotative perspective. the proverb holds that everybody is endowed by nature and until you begin to appreciate what you are endowed with you will continue complaining of lacking what is within the grip of your possession. it is instructive to note the word “naira” in parenthesis is used to appeal to the modern sense. originally it could be cowries but the exact money is not mentioned. what is important is that “oke” in yoruba is twenty thousand and “ogoji” is forty. hence, “ogojioke” will be twenty thousand multiply by forty which is eight thousand. therefore, someone cannot be in possession of such a huge amount of wealth and still complains of being poor. nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 78 proverb 17 eyi a niki apon o bo kobo, o ni oun n lee bo ile oba moro. what we ask the bachelor to fix, he has failed to fix it, and instead, he is concerned with the fixing of king moro's palace. analysis: this proverb is making allusion to an impotent person. among the yorubas, an impotent person is looked down upon and they are always ostracized except in some few cases when the person concerned leads successful life through hard-working, creativity or personal ingenuity. therefore, the proverb holds the view that one cannot be concerned about fixing a king's house without giving priority to his own needs. what they ask the spouse to 'fix' here is a euphemistic word for copulation. a man is asked to 'fix' (copulate) with his wife, instead he is busy 'fixing' (renovating) someone else's house. the proverb can also be used to suggest misplacement of priority. the new (media) proverbs with sex imagery and postproverbials. the new media especially the social media has created a fertile ground for the creation and dissemination of proverbs with sex imageries both traditional proverbs and the new proverbs or postproverbials. let us take a look at some of the proverbs: proverb 18: ido kudo laado iyawo oku orun, bi koba wo fun un, ko lo ree ba oko re lorun (ropo ewenla facebook page, january 27, 2024) translation a widow that is subjected to an excruciating sexual abuse cannot complain of sexual abuse; the worst she can do as a protest is to commit suicide and join her husband in the world beyond. coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 79 analysis this is a misogynist patriarchal proverb which composition demeans the reputation of a widow and humanity generally. this proverb sees widows as common public property that can be abused and maltreated. at the deeper level, what the proverb is stating is that people will respect you and your properties when you are alive but will abuse and put them into a wrong use when you are late. proverb 19 arewa tiko mo oko o ko, bope boya, ara re a ko oko (ropo ewenla facebook page, january 25, 2024) translation a beautiful damsel that has not learnt how to reject penis, sooner than later, her body will reject it (penis) analysis this proverb is stating that no matter how enjoyable something is, we should engage in it with moderation. such things as sex, drinking, smoking, etc should not be abused because, if abused, they will cause bodily harms in the future especially at the old age. proverb 20 “ara aye o tii ri obo do, ara orun n yo oko” (ropo ewenla facebook page, january 17, 2024) translation the livings have not got a taste of having sex; it's the dead people that are bringing out their penis. analysis this proverb is about issue of scarcity and needs. in economics, it is argued that human wants/needs are insatiable but the means to satisfy them are scarce. this proverb is stating the obvious that in case of scarcity, preference should be given to a class of people nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 80 that are in utmost need first before considering others that can do without it. proverb 21 “no matter how big the backside of a fat woman is, does not scare away the clothes that cover it” (facebook page, mallam yusuf amoke, july 6, 2023) analysis this proverb that was harvested from facebook can be likened to the yoruba proverb: “ara kii tobi, ki alara o ma lee gbe” (someone's body cannot be too big so much that the owner of the body will not be able to lift it.). this proverb can be used to state that our problem cannot be bigger than us. we should always summon courage to confront life challenges with courage and strength. proverb 22 “the size of a breast does not determine the quantity of the milk” (facebook page, mallam yusuf amoke, july 4, 2023). analysis this is a proverb that further justifies appearance and reality. things do not usually turn out exactly the way they appear to us. we should also note that not all that shines is gold. it is a proverb that warns us against raising high hope on an issue because things may not turn out exactly the way we perceive them to be eventually. therefore, we should not raise high hope on an anticipated matter in order not to be disappointed. proverb 23: “the private part of an old man is not children's playing ground” (facebooke page, mallam yusuf amoke, july 8, 2023) analysis this proverb is a proverb of caution teaching us about the limit to the exercise of our freedom and rights. old men are known to be calm, gentle and friendly but that does not mean that a child coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 81 should exceed its limit by playing with the old man private parts. proverb 24 “a penis that fear the inside of the vagina cannot father a child” analysis this proverb is related to a yoruba proverb: “eni ti yoo je oyin, kii woe nu aake” (he who wants to enjoy the sweetness of honey, won't stare at the mouth of his axe.). the meaning of this proverb is that someone who wants to be successful would not hesitate to summon courage to face challenges. nothing in life comes with ease. life is full of difficulties and only those that are brave can weather it and become successful in life. going further, proverbs 18-24 can be regarded as traditional proverbs with sex metaphors propagated via the new media/social media especially facebook. they satisfy all the attributes of traditional proverbs. however, we need to study the below proverbs and see the differences. proverb 25 “when a woman stops singing while bathing, just know that she's washing her centre of gravity” (facebook, ghana proverb, african proverb page, ichie innocent, december 5, 2020) analysis although this proverb is tagged ghana proverb just to achieve authenticity, it is more of a new proverb created for its humorous intent. proverbs of this kind are used to generate traffic and are used for their entertainment value rather than didactic value. centre of gravity as used in the proverb is a new creation borrowed from the knowledge of physics. proverb 26 “a man that cannot suck his wife's vagina cannot lead an army.” (abriba proverb: ify asia chiemeziem, november 23, 2020, facebook.) nureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 82 analysis the above proverb by chiemeziem is a new proverb with sex metaphor. the facebook usher is the creator of the proverb itself and the proverb is a not a deconstruction of any existing proverb that can make it to be categorized as postproverbial. this adds up to the fact that new proverbs can be created as previously argued. this proverb just like proverb 25 is a new proverb used for entertainment purpose and not for their didactic values. proverb 27: “big breast na blessing for papa and pikin” (ondo proverb, ify asia chiemeziem facebook page, september 25, 2020 ) standard english having a big breast by a woman is a blessing for both the father and the child analysis this proverb by chiemeziem is another example of new media proverb. this proverb is created new to entertain the netizens. by making reference to ondo as the owner of the proverb, the writer is aimed at adding authenticity to the proverb. the proverb is most appreciated by its hilarity. proverb 28: “a man that says his wife's will not rest, his penis will not rest too” (edo proverb, ify asia chiemeziem facebook page, september 25, 2020 ) analysis this proverb is a perfect example of new media postproverbial. this proverb tries to deconstruct a popular proverb in yoruba that says that: “omo ti oni iya oun konii sun, oun naa koni fi oju le oorun” (a child that says his mother will not sleep, he will remain awake too till dawn.) this traditional proverb was deconstructed by chiemeziem by adding sexual metaphor to the proverb in order to attract audience to her page. the netizens coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024 83 prefer to read posts that have sexual motif and that is exactly what chiemeziem tries to achieve in the above deconstruction of the traditional proverb. proverb 29 “it is with caution that hot vagina is licked” (igbo proverb, ify asia chiemeziem facebook page, september 25, 2020 ) analysis this proverb is a distortion of the yoruba proverb: “obe gbigbona nfe suuru” (it is with caution that we lick hot soup) or “pele pele lan pa ankuuru pele.” (it is with caution that one eliminates the delicate sting of amukurua kind of bug or insect that when it stings leaves blood on the skin.) chiemeziem intentionally replaces the hot soup with hot vagina in order to infuse the sex metaphor into the proverb. in summary, in this sub-section, three categories of proverbs are discussed. proverbs 18 to 23 are pure traditional proverbs that are used via the social media. the second sets of proverb used in this section are examples of new proverbs used on the social media while proverbs 28 and 29 are examples of deconstructed proverbs also known as postproverbials used on social media. conclusion the focus of the paper is the analysis of selected yoruba proverbs that have sex motifs. in the course of compiling these proverbs, it is discovered that some of the proverb are capable of losing their “sexual” images if the proverbs are to be translated figuratively. the paper carries out a critique of the context within which the proverbs could be used. some of the proverbs instruct the young ones while some of them are sexist proverbs that are used to uphold patriarchal hegemony and dominance. the central thematic thrust of the proverbs include: the proverbs can be used as caution, it can be used to admonish someone to have selfnureni oyewole fadare, ph.d. & shuaibu adamu: a paremiological analysis of traditional yoruba proverbs with sex metaphor and the new media postproverbials 84 restraint and encourage hardworking. the proverbs also project the world views of the yorubas on their ethical codes and the moral standards that are expected from a member of the society. in conclusion, the proverbs are not meant for vulgarity of sheer entertainment but they are used to maintain socio-control in the community. works cited adeoti, gbemisola. “the loudness of the unsaid: proverbs in 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'the dead end of african literature?' african literature: an anthology of criticism and theory eds.tejumola olaniyan & ato quayson. oxford: blackwell publishing, 2007, pp.281-284. hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe ushie's poetry elizabeth n. enukora, phd department of languages, faculty of arts and social sciences, nigerian defence academy, kaduna. 08036007192 lizzyenukora@yahooo.com & chinonso okolo department of english, faculty of arts, university of uyo. 08064689947; okoloprincewill@gmail.com abstract joe ushie, a strong voice of contemporary nigerian poetry in english emerged in the late 1980s. he has written extensively on the environment, socio-political, cultural, economic and postcolonial predicaments of the contemporary nigerian society. scholars have analysed his preoccupations fromthe realities of contemporary society influenced by modern technology, capitalism and globalisation. however, ushie's captivating inquiry into eco-criticism especially as it affects hydro-criticism with special reference to the use of imagery and symbolism of water bodies in his local environment, needs more critical focus. hydro-criticism, an intellectual construct that captures and explores how human activities impact negatively on the ozone layer, which results into maritime and oceanic spin, whirl, turn, rise or growth in the sea level, is applied as a theoretical anchor to evaluate ushie'sdeployment of water imagery and symbolism in dealing with and 73 74 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry mailto:lizzyenukora@yahooo.com two major interventions. the first one is how aqueous locations become sites of queer community and punishment while registering associations with the fluid female body, the second deals with how human and nonhuman intimacy is enabled by aqueous proximity (2). having highlighted the concept of hydro-criticism, it is expedient to go further and define the terms imagery and symbol as they are applied in this paper. the term imagery is used to describe and capture a mental picture of a representation or likeness of somebody or something seen, heard or produced. the merriam webster's encyclopedia of literature, defines imagery as the literal or figurative representation of objects, feelings or ideas. it specifically has to do with using a concrete or figurative diction by a writer or speaker to express or evoke special emotion, appeal or a train of intellectual associations as desired by the user or speaker. on this note, egudu defines imagery as the creation of mental pictures by the use of words in the minds of the readers (9). following egudu's definition of imagery, ngwokede fines it as the: tripartite typological delineation of imagery in modern scholarship into the literal, the figurative and the symbolic owes to the different linguistic modes of itsrealization. therefore, the first type consists of images expressed in ordinary, everyday language; the second in figures of speech; and the third in symbolic words and expressions. beyond manner of expression, the types are differentiated by the degrees of their referencing or representations of objects, events and situations in the real world (158). imagery is the signification or representation of objects and qualities of the sense of perception (abrams, 129). the term, symbol on the other hand is applies to a word or a phrase which represents or stands for something else with a specific meaning. symbolism helps the poet to bring out a secondary meaning to what he wants to express. abrams concludes that: a symbol is anything which signifies something else; in this sense, all words are symbols. in discussing literature, however, the term 'symbol' is appliedonly to a word or phrase that signifies an object or event which in its turnsignifies something, or suggests a range of reference, beyond itself (358). this paper therefore examines the symbolic use of water imagery in joe ushie's selected poems using hydro-criticism as a theoretical framework. the poet imaginatively adopts linguistic puns, metaphors, his local imagery and symbols of water bodies to make relevant comments on the despoliation of the environment and the turbulent or other occurrences of water bodies on human beings. beyond these areas of ushie's poetic engagements, water is generally a major concern of his preoccupation. water essentially constitutes a major and significant element of human life and activity. plants and animals also depend on water to survive. again, over 75 percent of the land area or land mass in akorshie, bendi in the obanliku local government area of cross river state, where joe ushie comes from; and the entire earth surface is generally or largely covered by or made of water. consequently, water plays a very vital role in the affairs of men all over the world. as a child, the poet grew up in his local environment surrounded by water. this in the form of seas, rivers, streams and water tributaries which understandably find expression in his poetry. rivers such as bekwang and attlakua have acquired some form of symbolism or signification in the life of the poet which he often makes references to and use as symbols and images in his poetry in order to express or capture various emotions such as pain, loss, grief as wellas happiness, joy or events/occasions. the use of these symbolic devices indexes do not just serve as rallying points for the poet or as an aesthetic value. they also function as the main component that enhances and concretizes his childhood experiences, memories and help to create rural consciousness or memories in his psychic which often reflect in his poems. apart from playing and swimming in these rivers as a youth in his local environment which he enjoyed, he also gets inspiration and enjoy a touch of nature 77 78 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry from the rivers. it is not an overstatement to say that his poetic muse emanates mainly from the rivers and water bodies found in his village and its environs. one can safely conclude that ushie is both an ecoconscious poet as well as a water-conscious poet. this is because every part of the rivers in his local environment, their banks, surrounding trees and even the sediments at the bottom of the rivers, all contribute to form part of his imaginative thoughts and consciousness. his local environment which includes the water and its bodies, formed part of his poetic consciousness. nature, imagination and the use of water symbols and images the use of water imagery as reflected in ushie's poetry is on the main, conventional and serves as a reinforcement of his familiar traditional bendi terrain and homeland. thus, symbolic water imagery is an integral and functional component of ushie's poetry which he deploys skillfully to render the right emotions in order to pass a message. ushie's poetry also deals so much with issues associated with social injustice and the disillusionment of the contemporary society. this paper is necessitated by the paucity of critical enquiry into the aspect of the poet's imaginative use of water imagery and symbolism in his poems and on the contemporary nigerian poetry as a whole. this paper is therefore significant because it fills the critical gap on the topic of ecoconsciousness that deals with hydrocriticism and symbolism. reacting to the paucity of scholars' attention in this area, nnolim declares that we are not a sea-faring people or nation and so dealing with the expanses of these elements and features elude us. thus, we see water in the form of streams, rivers, rainfall and ponds. he concludes that, there is no imagery of water as a death-dealing agent in storms, at sea or in its terrors during a tsunami. this is part of our imaginative myopia or rather timidity because our lives are so confined to landmass (55). generally speaking, rivers, its surroundings, gods and goddesses are not only taken as sacred symbols by the bendi people and the whole communities in the riverine area of nigeria. the people deify them as their god, goddesses and totem symbols. as a result, their lifestyles and even occupations are largely tied and influenced by waters such as rivers, lakes and streams. thus, ushie's poetry recreates and reflects the realities of his traditional bendi milieu and the fascinating imagery which emanate from water that draw the attention of the poet. since our focus in this study is onthe symbolicuse of imagery and conceptualization of water bodies in ushie's poetry, it is therefore necessary to still give a little more attention to the use of symbols and why they can function also as an imagery in ushie's poetry. poetry usually expresses both a primary and a secondary meaning. it can also serve as anything from personal experiences to other issues relating to the society. a symbol can also function as either conventional or private object. some of the conventional use of symbolic images of water include its association for baptism, rebirth and as a life sustainer. also water serve as a purifier and washes away sin, guilt and represents life. it is also a potent symbol of regeneration and a vehicle and a medium for cleansing. beyond these, a river can also symbolize fluidity and stream of life and even negativity or death. against this background, ngwoke affirms that water imagery serves as tools of creativity to writers which they use as a means of conveying messages and transportation of ideas (160). just like in handling of most other images, the manipulation of water imagery depends to a large extent on the writer's background, his experiences, sensibility and the knowledge which he has acquired about water. as has been observed, joe ushie is very much committed and influenced by water; having been born and brought up in bendi rural setting. hence, joe ushie's drive to use water imagery is highly intrinsic and inseparable from the poet. the symbolic use of water in joe ushie's poetry is more conventional than private. the images of water as used by the poet suggests a 79 80 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry universal meaning and ideas, especially when the ideas portray water as a life-giver, life-saver, a healer, a purifier, a curative agent and a medium to reach ancestral spirits or even as a conveyor of evil omen. these images can best be perceived through the senses of hearing, feeling, seeing and smell which is emotive. ushie uses these forms of imagery to depict or describe a lot of hidden rustic meanings of espousal of the social, economic, religious and cultural life of the traditional bendi people of calabar, in the southern part of nigeria. he writes mainly about nature, the environment and the culture of the bendi people and associates with them with their village waters as we can see in most of his poems. to him, water represents life and is a life saving agent. water is sometimes used as a desire or a quest for something which captures rural lifestyles or experiences as against that of city life orthe so called modernity. rivers like bekwang and attlakua found in the poet's locality typify this yawning as an example of strength, power and healing balm which the poet utilise to his advantage. these rivers are known by the people for being beautifully calm and sometimes for their therapeutic healing powers and strength. the poet sometimes uses these rivers to portray or represent hope, truth and in some cases to depict a mysterious encounter. the images and symbols of water as used in ushie's poetry are sometimes meant to be associated with femininity or the gods and goddess from the environment which the poet embodies. this cultural totem, or attribute which the poet exhibits in his poetry is common with the people of the riverine area of nigeria. water in ushie's poetry is presented in the form of streams, rivers, ponds and tributaries. he also depicts water as an embodiment of leisure, freedom and recreation for the bendi people and the entire community. it is also worth mentioning that life in the riverine bendi community is that of water and people living in water. thus, living in water and playing on, and around or insides it is part of the people's culture and social life especially for the younger generations or the youths. the surrounding stream and river terrains in ushie's poetry in addition, serves as playgrounds or as recreation centers for the children and the young at heart. they are also used for some other essential purposes, making the waters in the community acquire multiple value and symbols. thus, in many of his poems, ushie captures how he had memorable and exciting childhood experiences of swimming with other children in the bekwang and attlakua rivers. he also shares the memory of climbing the trees that grow by the riverbanks and running around on the sandy beaches. as a boy then, when he was not learning about village lore, medicinal plants and herbs; or about the cotton trees from his grandfather farms, he would go to the bekwang river to swim and engage in wild games and sporting activities. ushie often recalls with excitement and striking clarity, details of his early childhood days in his village. apart from drawing up symbols and images from the streams and rivers, the poet also paints a great deal of beautiful pictures and scenery of rainfall or the season. the true symbol of water in ushie's poetry can be found in his past experience where rain represents images of regeneration and life. rain in many respects has physical, emotional and spiritual connotations and leitmotifs. his obsession with rain (water) brings him life, joy and gaiety. thus, to him, rain does not only herald joy and happiness; traditionally it also represents life, birth, purity, means of cleansing and it also functions as a means of washing away sins and regeneration. ushie portrays water as life sustainer and life giver in his poem, “the sot” in popular stand and other poems. this poem written in 41 lines, captures the poet persona depicting water as a source of life and its sustainer. the poet uses the visual and tactile imagery to portray the effects of water and its impacts on him. this reveals his passion about water as it gives life to all members of his rural community. his love for the local streams and rivers is indispensable as reiterated in this poem. the rivers and streams that are in his village are not just important elements of nature; they also function as natural channels through which the poet is brought into existence. the rivers energize, reinvigorate and 81 82 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry sustain him even as an adult. in stanza one of this poem, the poet uses visual and auditory imagery a great deal to convey his message and make meaning. these images vividly capture his inclination and attachment to water: drink-drenched like foam in water the drunk, rising from the roadside bush swears to beat up all damned fools jeering at him as if he were drunk (37). in the lines above, the poet presents water as a source of vitality and strength. as a character in this poem, the poet is strengthened and encouraged by the water's ability to intoxicate him. the potency of water in ushie's poetry is not just for refreshing or to quench taste; it has the ability to intoxicate and get him fortified to face various challenges and stress of life. at a closer look at the poem, one sees the poet creating an imagery of water as a death trap and death-giving agent. in ushie's poetry generally, streams and rivers manifest their intoxicating powers through some harmful creatures that inhabit them. the following words relate to the audio-visual imagery which help to capture his message: 'drink-drenched', 'rising', 'swears', 'jeering'. in addition, ushie's “a trip home” reveals another dimension of the use of water symbol. the soothing and healing powers of the stream are here reinstated and re-emphasized. according to ngwoke (2017), water is presented here as a healing agent which is medicinal and soothing. in traditional african society, water played and is still playing a medicinal role because it serves as a healing balmand serves as alife giver and sustainer (167). the poet persona in “a trip home”, line15 in popular stand and other poems refers to the attlakua river as 'soothing streams' implying that it heals, sooths, and mitigates pain and suffering. attlakua river is also a metaphor of a stream where freedom and entrapment are entrenched and embodied. as a youth, the poet's curiosity pushed him to dive deep into the river bed to take a glance “at the glittering peaceful home of the tilapia” (“a trip home” 18). suddenly an image of acliff appeared in his mind as he rowed deep into the stream, and then then the cliff sent shivers down his spine. the stream is seen as shining clearly among the hills which now awakes curiosity in him. the welcoming and tranquil scenic environment of the attlakua river is inviting, tempting and hard to resist by the poet. the fishermen can no longer withstand the desire to fish and so they take out their fishing nets and dive deep into the river bed to fish. but the supernatural event which they witnessed in the depth of the river changed their perspectives and drive of the once safe and tranquil environment to a fearful and now abused water brought about by the despoliation of the once pristine environment of the old. thus, the poet remarks that the “rivulets are left nude, devoid of essence” as he sets out for a pleasurable adventure. what is meant to be an escapade, turns out to be “a panic-stricken glare” as he presently perceives nature as “scattered or killed”even the “faithful attlakua“; (“a trip home”, 70). a state of melancholy sets in his heart even as the stream remains quiet and calm. here, both freedom and entrapment are clearly recaptured and embodied in the river. the poet is now desolate and displeased with the stream he once perceived as peaceful and beautiful. his focus here is also directed to the horrifying experiences which water can bring. the poet makes use of antithesis. first, he warns his readers to stay clear of death by water while exhibiting the calmness that begs to be rowed on by the poet only to end up in a frightening stream of expedition. again “shadows” in lambs at the shrine is a clear manifestation of how dull and meaningless life can be in times of drought in modern society. it depicts the heat emanating from the scotching sun and its reflection on the bekwang river. sadness engulfs him as the poet falls into mourning for the river that is heated up and depleted by the sun. the scorching effect of the sun brings the poet down to his knees. in a direct and strict observation, the poet expresses his encounter with the bekwang river. he remembers the gaiety expressed by the river and “how each floating shadow/danced on this theatre, somersaulted, wriggled/ to out-dance the 83 84 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry poet draws attention and shows the condition of the river and the constant beaming of the sun on its surface which is excruciatingly hot and harmful to both humans and the environment. by this portrayal, the poet continues to draw his readers' attention to the sustaining power of the bekwang river. by visualizing this looming scorching sun on the river and the natural environment, the persona makes further effort to express concerns about the state of the river and its effects on humanity. this goes in consonance with the views of the poet in the poem 'a trip home' as discussed above. in this poem the poet shows that water is traditionally used for purification and regeneration. the same case is represented in “climate change”. in this poem, ushie represents and captures water in the form of flood that ravages and destroys the environment all over the globe and consequently human existence. his concern is the effects of the damages done to humanity by flood all through the year and all over the world. with reference to the destructive effects of flood on people and the environment generally, the poet shows very vividly how flood scriptnaked human efforts and material gifts into the ocean. human beings are indicted for being a major cause of such natural mishaps and so the poet satirically refers to humans as “hewman” because they are devoid of all essence of humanity. humankind cut and chop off every tree they see around and use them to build mega cities and industries thereby leaving the environment bare and unprotected causing more environmental degradation. the river flows first as a narrow stream but later it gathers into flood having met with other water droppingsfrom the rains. this water cannot pass through the little water channels or gullies because there are too many obstructions caused by piles of straw and other forms of debris thrown into it by people. thus flood is portrayed as ravaging agent in order to teach people some lessons. in so doing the poet again presents water as a symbol of destruction, danger and negative phenomenon. it represents a death-trap and a medium through which everything is transported and taken to the land of thedead. the poet in his poems show that water appears as both a life-giving and death-bringing element depending on how society perceives and directs it. furthermore, 'bekwang river'in popularstand and other poems ushie as an eco-conscious poet, creates hydro-critical imagery as seen in these lines: we watch your hesitant flow …noiselessly weaving unto your thread like beads, those villages of bantus… (35) the scenery of “bekwang river” is presented as peaceful and calm. it flows through a particular pathway by moving in different phases through the hill, down, over and through the land. this process of peaceful water flow and its setting is captured by brutsaert (2005) thus; when atmospheric water vapour condenses and precipitates overland, initially i moistens the surface and some amount of it is stored as interception, which later evaporates. as precipitation continues, part of it may flow over the surface in the form of overland flow or surfacerunoff, and part of it may enter into the soil as infiltration”. (2) this surface runoff soon tends to collect locally, either in puddles or in small ponds as depression storage, gullies or in larger channels where it continues as stream flowing which will ultimately capture the attention of the poet in the lines of the poem above in“bekwang river” (35). in this instance he writes that “noiselessly weaving unto/your thread like beads”. the poet try to show that water from bekwang river infiltrates and flows rapidly through the nearby surface soil layers to exit through the adjacent streams or it may percolate more slowly through the profile to join the groundwater. this will sooner or later seep out into the natural river system, lakes and other open water bodies. in hydrological parlance, this part that gathers water together for dispatch is called the 87 88 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry other, all in same float” (“shadows” 9 – 11). the effect of the scorching sun is brought to bear on the poet and the whole environment. it keeps its gazecontantly on the river and its surrounding features like on the trees, leaves and straw. hence the sun is both an embodiment and a conveyor of death to all elements of nature, both on human and in the area, thus the poet creates a condition of uncertainty on the river and its surrounding natural environment. despite the effect of the sun on the bekwang river, the resilience nature of the river is reinstated as we are told that: even now, bekwang runs still and if this drought tearing its head will spare her she will run still as that theatre on which fleeting leaves, straws or dead wood would emerge, dance, dance dizzily, briskly and terminate like ash down its course, often leaving no trace on this great universal river. (47). the poet creates a picture of resilience in the bekwang river and so there is an air of optimism in poet and in the serene environment. hence the poet assures us that when he dies, if the river does not dry up because of the heat that emanates from the sun; if the drought will spare the river, “there will be another i/ perched here in unison with these leaves” (“shadows”, 27 – 29). the poet also touches on the theme of death and reincarnation which is cultural. having been born and bred in the traditional african culture. the poet is an ardent believer in transmigration and rebirth imbedded in traditional african religion. this is what informs his believe that when the 'sun sets' in, and the drought does not dry up the river, “there will be another i/perched here in unison with these leaves”. in other words, the poet presents water as home to the spirits and the ancestors; the environment is a welcoming dwelling place for the spirits. most of the bendi gods, goddesses and ancestors are believed to inhabit waters just like the mermaid and so it may not be out of place to think that this is what informs the poet to say that he “perched here in unison with these leaves”. many of ushie's poems portray that the poet as using phenomenal water imagery. the exploration of water imagery in uhie's poetry is connected to ancestral spirits. it also conveys an eloquent testimony to the poet's rootedness in the traditional religion of his traditional bendi people. his concern and connectedness to bekwang river is always symbolic and cultural. it affirms the fact that water is an essential commodity for human life and existence because nobody can think of life or existence without water. in the poet's present and future world he wants to align with water for his existence and continuity of life because water gives and sustains life. it is not only in the present world of the poet that the essence of water is shown; water still remains an essential value even when the poet returns as an reincarnated soul or when he is brought back to life. from the poet's opinion and tone, it is clear that he rebukes people who do not regard or have any value for water. thus, in today's despoiled environment because of modernity and lifestyle, it is regrettable that water symbolises an element of destruction and death. the poet remains us that it is not only water that has lost its sense of value and function; but that humanity has become beastly and less humane and even more destructive and deadly. he believes that the human positive emotion has been subdued or removed and replaced by the desire for wealth and temporary pleasures such that man has neglected his source as life giver and sustainer. the poem “shadows” brings out this connotation clearly from its title. this means that man can be said to have abandoned nature, his source of life and is chasing shadows which makes it more artificial and vain. he goes further to show that water is a resource for human and national development, sustenance and reliance. human beings are captured in this poem as mere reflection of shadows without substantive value if they do not have water which is the source of life. thus human beings are “shadows” and no shadow outlives its source of life. by implication, ushie further maintains his deep love and passion for water and the elements associated with it. right from the beginning of this poem, the 85 86 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry … and time, too, for the hills to regain lost crowns of groves. o when the sun goes on holidays in the kingdom of the clouds and locks and bolts her doors, and sky begins to test its trumpets we know it's time for the rains time for hot-tempered floods to bleach the skin of mother earth … … and time, too, for the farmer's fingers to fix in womb of earth the seed against tomorrow … o season when rills and rivulets regain lost weight … how they thrill for free … that comes trumpeting. (58) his “rain season” is set at the beginning of the rains. as an eco-poet, ushie often situate his poems as the works of nature, like rivers, hills, plants and vegetation. in this instance, it is the rain which the poet refers to as 'the trumpets of the sky'. the poet address and acknowledge the enormous powers of the rain to regenerate anything found along its path as well as its destructive effects on human beings and on the environment. in the order of seasonal changes, the raining season comes after the dry season which is when “the sun goes on holidays”. the dry season heralds the coming of the rains which is the wet season of the year that renders nature wet and revives it by giving it a new lease of life. consequently, the rain plays a significant role as carrier, renewal, preserver and re-creator within the context of the changing seasons. the raining season is accompanied by what the poet calls the “moody days” which makes the weather gloomy. beyond and above the consideration of a real and natural phenomenon which actually occurs on a yearly basis, the raining season also serves, not only as an inspiration to the poet, it also acts as a symbol of joy, happiness, emotional rebirth for him and his creative vision. apart from being the poet's source of inspiration, the rains and the season serve as cleanser which is well known for their “cleansing into the sea/dry season's arrears of sin”. the rains serve the poet in many capacities and respects. he uses the rain as an imaginative tool of poetic creation and also as a means of passing his ideas and messages to his readers. one of such devices is the heavy wind which the poet address as the “briskmuscled winds”. the heavy elements such as the winds have the tendency of blowing off debris brought during the dry season which will eventually pave the way for the “chandeliers of flowers” to “decorate the world of the forests”. the rain has a great potential and is valuable to the poet. it waters the drought-stricken 'hills to regain/ lost crown of groves' and to make the entire earth regain its new life even as it rejuvenates the poet and makes him more productive and alive. the rain influences everything on earth and at all levels including the surface of the earth and the sea bodies. this means that no part of the universe is totally free from its influence and the power of rains or water bodies. rain in ushie's poetry acquires both destructive and constructive powers. on the earth's surface, the rain through its flooding activities washes away landscapes and “leave raw wounds” on the earth surface. the surface of the land and the surrounding area of the sea that is washed off by the flood cause rill and gully erosion in the environment. it is on this note that kramer (2005) observes that sometimes the flowing of water over loose soil washes away the soil. this forms small grooves on the ground. when many rills come together, they form a wider and deeper groove (10). over the years these grooves increase in size and become gullies which carry large amount of water and eroded materials down the hill. this action of washing away the earth surface is for the good of nature as the poet reveals that the essence of this is for mother earth “to be dressed in radiant green”. this is the beauty of nature. 91 92 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry river basin or the watershed. according to mimikou, baltas and tsihrintzis (2016), “the boundary line along a topographic ridge separating two adjacent basins is called the drainage surface or stream order” (7). it is this river divide that ushie refers to as 'thread like beads' in the lines of the poem “bekwang river” from popular stand and other poems. in “urban blues”, the poet is engrossed with the movement of water as it “creep uphill”. as the water moves, it picks sediments from the sides and bottom of the waterway or channel. over time, this movement makes the channel to move deeper and wider as it carries the sediments down the stream. as it moves along the sediments scrape into the bottom of the river. this scraping action is what the poet calls “squatting” in hill songs: dawn, and they creep uphill, from the rate-free stream squatting with the town in the stream the tilapia flies unregulated … i am a leaf floating on a sea …. (30) similarly “climate change” in yawns and belches, the power of the water to erode and wear out is also highlighted. sometimes this water does a lot of damages to the places where people live. rivers may not be able to carry away all the water gathered from a heavy downpour or from the melting snow and also rivers overflow and flood the land as can be seen from the poem. floods can wash away the surrounding soil of a river and at times they carry even human beings; leading to the cause of the loss of many lives and putting the lives of many people in danger. right from ancient times to this 21st century society, people have tried to control the damaging effects of flood in their areas. ushie however captures his own view of the destructive effect of flood in the following words: in the stretch of virgin forests and fertile minds, which mercantile greed balkanized into arrows and bows of mutual hate, we had prayed for cold to calm the boiling tempers of the tropics, and for floods to cleanse them of the many seasons of blood of the innocent, crime and grin. (18) it is obvious that the effect of flood is welcomed and approved of by the poet. in this case, the flood does not only wash away the earth surface, it also cleanses the community of its accumulated evil deeds through the shedding of innocent blood and washing away of crimes and grime. in his own view, flood gets rid of pollutants from the environment and returns sanity and sanctity to the land. the poet goes further to describe of the actions of the cloud by articulating harmonious precipitated changes of the raining season. this is apparent in the poem “rain season” in a reign of locusts where the poet's memory of the raining season is vividly captured thus: when the sun goes on holidays in the kingdom of the clouds … we know it's time for the rains … it's time for sullen moody days … time, too, for cleansing into sea dry season's arrears of sin it's time for brisk-muscled winds to break tree trunks and brandish … time when chandeliers of flowers decorate the world of the forests 89 90 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry especially in this era of globalization and global warming of the 21 century society. works cited abrams, donaldson et al. the norton anthology of english literature. norton, 2009. abrams, meyers. a glossary of literary terms. thomson wadsworth, 2005. alaimo, stacy. exposed: environmental politics and pleasures in post human times. university of minnesota press\, 2016. asika, ikechukwu. “that we may be saved” eco-critical reading of water testament: an anthology of poems on water and water related issues.” ansu journal of arts and humanities, vol.1, no. 1, july 2014,pp. 118-127. asika, ikechukwu & akabuike, ifeoma. re-kindling the travails of the past: the dreams of the poet in the quest for national integration and global reconciliation.” ansu journal of language and literary studies,vol.1, no. 4,2017, pp. 145-156. chukwueloka, christian and asika, ikechukwu. “words as bullets: poetry as a veritable tool for social criticism and reformation: a study of akachi adimora-ezeigbo's heart songs and waiting for dawn.” african research review vol. 5, no 4. s/no. 21, 2011, pp. 354-368. deloughrey, elizabeth.routes and roots: navigating caribbean and pacific island literature. university of hawai'i press, 2007. egudu, romanus. the study of poetry. university press, 2007. gilroy, paul. the black atlantic: modernity and double consciousness. mass harvard university press, 1993. jeremy, chow; brandi bushman'hydro-eroticism”, english language notes 1. harold bloom, ed norton, 57, 12019, 96-115. kramer, roland. “environmentalism and eco criticism” waugh p. (ed) literary theory and criticism. oxford university press, 2006. merriam webster's encyclopedia of literature mimikou, m, baltas, e, tsihrintzis, v. hydrology and water resource systems analysis. crc press, 2016. ngwoke, ome“symbolic water imagery in the drama of j.p clarkbekederemo”. in african research review, vol. 11, no 1, 2017. nnolim, charles “water testaments: preliminary remarks”. in nigerian literature today: a journal of contemporary writing. 2010. okoye chike and asika, ikechukwu. “totems and pantheons: paradigmatic muses in achebe's poetry.” nile journal of english studies, vol 1, no 1, december, 2015, pp. 47-58. ushie, joe. a reign of locusts. kraft books limited, 2018. --eclipse in rwanda. kraft books limited, 2015. --hill songs. kraft books limited, 2018. --lambs at the shrine. kraft books limited. 2018. --popular stand and other poems. kraft books limited, 2018. --(ed). tsunami blues and other poems. kraft books limited, 2018. ---wienkiel, laura.english language notes. duke university press, 2019. — yawns and belches. kraft books limited, 2018. 95 96 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry another area which the rain demonstrates is its destructive power in carrying away through flood of people's houses and property. on the other hand, being the planting and harvesting season as the poet observes, the season heralds the sowing of seed into the “womb of earth/ the seed against tomorrow”. during this period, almost everything on earth goes green and regains its vitality and strength; even the 'rills and rivulets/ regain lost weight' at this bountiful period of the year. having totally submitted himself to the influence and control of the rain, the poet charges all to “thrill for free” over the course of nature. his poetry becomes a form of incantation to the raining season. similarly in lambs at the shrine, “tropical rain”presents water as a cleansing agent and a source of hope for the living: … fear not the balding trees nor our soil turning to stone; it will surely rain again where the dry season has overstayed. … for, the tropics' seasonal downpour has missed our land for too many seasons now and dirts, oh, these dirt's breeding deaths, have climbed higher than our healing hills and no broom, however new, can do the task ………………………………. fear not the balding trees nor our soil turning to stone; it will surely rain here again where the dry season has overstayed …. (26) the lines above presents rain as a sustainer, preserver and restorer of hope. the poet captures the land in despair because of a long period of drought. having experienced a long period of drought, the trees are 'balding' and have withered as a result of lack drought and the effects of the scorching sun. the soil itself becomes very dry, tauten and solid. the only thing that can ameliorate the situation is the coming of the rains which is long awaited and overdue because the land has been starved of food, nourishment and cleanliness. lack of water, because of drought has made the land putrid thereby “breeding deaths”. no other form of cleaning agent can take away the stench in the land except the water in form of rain which is a cleaner. here, the poet reiterates the cleansing and purifying potential of water. water is thereforepresented as a symbol of purity, peace and harmony. the poet is optimistic for there is a ray of hope for the “balding trees”and the “soil turning stone” for it is certain that “it will surely rain again”. all hope is raised towards the raining season because it will surely make “the streets glitter again” and revive the entire dry land and trees back to life. from the tone of the poet, water restores both hope and life; even the “dead woods embrace sunrays again”. the poet is resolute in his beckoning on the rain for it is only by heralding the rain that his “heart knows peace”. as an advocate of environmental peace, the poet has a duty to speak hope and optimism in the land for he is so sure that “it will rain here again”. conclusion joe ushie has clearly and consistently established himself as an ecoconscious poet who is guided by his concern for nature, the environment, culture and postcolonial intrigues especially as it relates to his homeland, nigeria and the world as a whole. using the aesthetics of figurative language of imagery and symbolism of water bodies, the poet is able to establish the link between his poetry and his place of birth in order to express the effects of nature on him and the environment; by bringing out the ambivalent quality and nature of water which serves as both constructive and destructive element. these features affect his emotions and feelings and at the same time the poet uses them to pass valid messages to his readers about environmental degradation. the end result of environmental poetry, is not just for aesthetics, it assists and serves in creating awareness and in building a sustainable society 93 94 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 elizabeth n. enukora, phd & chinonso okolo: hydro-criticism, symbolism and the use of water imagery in joe uchie’s poetry christianity, islamism, hinduism, buddhism, judaism etc; these religions all point to the same supreme being, and the common teaching of all religions is the golden rule: treat others as you would want to be treated yourself (melanie pinola, seven important lessons from world religion everyone should know) yet they engage in murderous religious bickering. since culture is people's way of life; other people's culture is other people's way of same life therefore it should be admired and respected. it is mere lack of wisdom that causes cultural discord since there is only one absolute truth and this truth is at the nucleus of philosophies, arts, civilization, ethos, music, and literature of the whole universe. all these have their meeting points at the absolute truth. emeka nwabueze confirms that “culture no doubt may vary but that is only at the peripheral (or marginal) level; the underlying principle that establishes every society is similar, if not the same” (9). it is only wisdom that can make one understand this. therefore, at the background of all cultural discords, are material interests, greed, and hunger for superiority. a wise man needs not think that another people's culture is inferior. in food consumption for instance; people eat the kind of food that grows in their soil. everybody should know that feeding is feeding; it does not matter the kind of food one eats or when one eats it. american food is not superior to nigerian food if both serve the same purpose – to quench hunger and nourish the body. a wise man only admires and respects other people and tolerates (or corrects in a peaceful way) the aspect he fails to understand or do not synchronize with his own. people are expected to be open minded toward other people's cultures and by respecting them one is at the same time respecting the owner of such culture. but most of the time what is seen is bloated ego caused by the feeling that other people's culture is inferior. however, the main essence of culture is to unite people through the same cultural values such as beliefs, traditions, and expectations. scholars classify culture in different ways, but the basic types of culture are material culture; which include physical things created by the society and non-material; culture which include intangible things produced by the society. in igbo land for instance, examples are social roles, ethics, beliefs, and language. other scholars hold that there are other ways of classifying culture; such as: high culture, popular, and subculture. ifeoma nwosu okeke is of the view that: high culture…usually refers to cultural creations that have a particular high status…regarded by arbiters of cultural taste as epitome of the highest level of human creativity. it is usually of high sophistication… popular culture comprises those cultural creations and activities that are shared mostly by the masses. it refers to the unsophisticated… sub-culture refers to culture within another culture (261-262). when two groups, whose members are culturally diverse meet, they need to adopt a common set of social norms and conventions. this may involve people of different cultures including different religious groups, traditional values or people of different national origins who have different ways of interpreting the world. this type of international experience is called inter culture. again, every society has her prevailing culture, therefore, a visitor or a minor group must balance his culture with the already existing culture of the society socially and psychologically, this is acculturation. acculturation as a process of social, psychological and cultural change that stems from balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society in which an individual adopts, acquires, and adjusts to a new cultural environment (acculturation, wikipedia). in this view it is expected that in acculturation individuals from dissimilar beliefs are obliged to integrate themselves into a novel or more prevalent culture by engaging in the aspect of that more dominant culture, such as their customs and rituals but still hold onto their original cultural values and traditions. as custodians (people who take it upon themselves to preserve the general ways of their peoples' lives by exploiting them in their creative 99 100 coou jofocus: coou journal of folklore and cultural studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021 ezeugo, anthonia e., phd: cultural discord, hostility and destructive consequences: dramatic perspectives page 38 page 39 page 40 page 41 page 42 page 43 page 44 page 45 page 46 page 47 page 48 page 49 