Orature refers to the oral tradition of storytelling, performance, and verbal art that forms the bedrock of African literary expression. Coined by Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu, the term places oral narratives on equal footing with written literature.
Orature is central to African cultures, where oral forms of expression predate written records and serve as a repository of history, philosophy, and communal values. It embodies the collective memory of a people, preserving their identity and ensuring continuity across generations.
Unlike the static nature of written texts, orature thrives on its dynamic performance, which involves the interplay of words, music, and audience engagement.
Features of Orature
Performance and Audience Interaction
Oral art is inherently performative. It involves gestures, tone variations, and audience participation. For instance, griots (storytellers) in West Africa perform epics, often accompanied by traditional instruments like the kora.
Adaptability
Stories evolve with each telling. They adapt to new contexts while retaining core themes. This adaptability ensures relevance across generations and varying social contexts.
Communal Ownership
Unlike written texts attributed to individual authors, orature belongs to the community. It reflects collective wisdom and shared experiences. Hence, it is deeply rooted in the communal psyche.
Didacticism
Orature serves as a moral compass. It teaches lessons through proverbs, folktales, and parables. For example, Yoruba folktales featuring Ijàpá (the tortoise) often impart lessons about cunning and consequence.
Forms of Orature
Orature has diverse forms, each with unique characteristics. Its elements have been incorporated by many African writers and artists into their work. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart integrates Igbo proverbs, folktales, and oral traditions. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s The River Between uses oral storytelling techniques to convey Gikuyu cultural practices. Wole Soyinka’s plays, such as Death and the King’s Horseman and The Strong Breed, draw from Yoruba folklore and incorporate song, dance, and ritual. Okot p’Bitek’s Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol are modern adaptations of traditional Acholi oral poetry. The Nigerian filmmaker Tunde Kelani also uses oral narratives in his movies, such as Saworoide. Another artiste is the Senegalese musician, Youssou N’Dour, who embeds oral traditions in his lyrics. It is against this background that we identify the forms of orature.
The first is folktales. They are narratives passed down to explain natural phenomena, teach moral lessons, or entertain. A good example of folktales is the Stories of Anansi the Spider from West Africa, which celebrate intelligence and resilience. Also from West Africa, among the Yoruba people is the stories of the cunning tortoise and his several exploits.
The second identifiable form of orature is epic. Epic narratives are heroic tales chronicling the deeds of legendary figures or the founding of empires. This is the form The Epic of Sundiata takes. It narrates the life of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire.
Another is praise poetry. Among the Yoruba-people speaking people in West Africa, it is known as Oríkì, while the Zulu call it Izibongo. A praise poem is a poetic composition that extols individuals, communities, or deities. We can find this form in the praise songs for Shaka Zulu, Kurunmi, Esu, et cetera.
Proverbs are also an important aspect of orature. They are short, metaphorical statements encapsulating wisdom or cultural values. They are an integral part of language use in Africa, and by extension its literature. It is least surprising to see Achebe emphasize in Things Fall Apart, a novel suffused with proverbs, the importance of proverbs in Igbo culture with the proverb, “Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten”. There is a Yoruba proverb that confirms this position:
Òwe lẹṣin oro
in Oyekan Owomoyela’s Yoruba Proverbs.
Bí oro-o bá sọnù, òwe la fi ńwá a
[The proverb is the horse of speech
When speech is lost, the proverb is the means we use to hunt for it]
In both instances, proverbs are projected as a veritable channel of eloquence in both cultures.
The last one in this list is songs and chants. They are utilised in ceremonies, rituals, and as part of storytelling. They are instantiated in work songs and war chants used to unify communities during labour or conflict. They are many examples to pick from, but this instance from Ferdinand Oyono’s Houseboy is particularly exciting:
Ken . . . ken . . . ken . . . ken . . .
in Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono.
Out of bed . . . Out of bed . . .
Ken . . . ken . . . ken . . . ken . . .
How he troubles us.
Ken . . . ken . . . ken . . . ken . . .
He doesn’t give a fuck for you
He doesn’t give a fuck for anyone . . .
Ken . . . ken . . . ken . . . ken . . .
What can you do to him . . .
There is nothing you can do . . .
Ken . . . ken . . . ken . . . ken . . .
Out of bed . . . Out of bed . . .
This excerpt from Oyono’s postcolonial novel is structured after work songs in most African cultures. While it is a clarion call to “blackmen who are called French” (to use Toundi’s very own words) to work, the song also points to the labour exploitation of black people and their helplessness in all of it.
Another example is seen in the “Isé ni òògùn ìsé” oral poetry sung among the Yoruba-speaking people to instill the values of hard work in children to ensure their proper upbringing as virtuous social beings or Omolúàbí:
Isé ni òògùn ìsé
Múra síse òréè mi.
Isé ni a fi í di eni gíga.
Bí a kò réni fèyìn tì,
Bí òle là árí;
Bí a kò réni gbékèlé,
À tera mó isé eni.
Ìyá re le lówó lówó,
Bàbá sì le lésin léèkàn.
Bí obá gbójúlé won,
O té tán ni mo so fún o.
Ohun tí a kò jìyà fún,
Kì í lè pé lówó eni.
Ohun tí a bá fara sisé fún ,
Ní í pé lówó eni.
Apá lará, ìgúnpá niyèkan
Bí ayé n fé o lòní
Bí obá lówó lówó,
Ni wón máa fé e lóla.
Tàbí bí o báwà ní ipò àtàtà,
Ayé á yé o sí tèríntèrín.
Jé kí o di eni n ráágó,
Kí o ríi báyé ti í símú sí o.
Èkó sì tún n so ni i dògá,
Múra kí o kó o dáradára.
Bí o sì rí òpò ènìyàn,
Ti wón n fi èkó se èrín rín,
Dákun má se fara wé won.
Ìyà n bò fómo tí kògbón,
Ekún n be fómo tó n sá kiri.
Má fòwúrò seré òréè mi,
Múra sí isé ojó n lo.
Translation:
Hard work is the cure to poverty
My friend, take your work seriously
Only hard work can make one to be great
Without a helper, one is like a lazy man
Then, one should face one’s work
Even if your mother is rich
And your father has a lot of wealth
Do not rely on them
You are finished if you put your trust in them
Something we do not work for does not last
Our hands are our helpers and, our strength is our
comforter
When you are rich, people always like you
Or, when you are in a highly placed position
People will dance and fellowship with you
But, when you are in a problem
They will mock and desert you
Education paves the way for one’s greatness
Try and take it as a priority.
Even if you see a lot of people,
Those who do not take education seriously
Do not imitate them.
A child who does not heed this advice shall suffer
And a vagabond shall definitely weep and regret at the
end
My friend, do not waste your youthful age
Work hard, for time and tide wait for nobody.
According to Sikiru Adeyemi Ogundokun in his paper, The role of orature in African socio-cultural space, “many folktales, myths, legends and proverbs use characters that are spiritual beings who also behave like human beings with great powers and influences. For instance, Obàtálá, Ògún, Sàngó, Òsun, Oya in Yoruba land and Amadioha, Chi or Chukwu in Igbo land.”
How important is orature?
It is undeniable that orature is important in the context of African literature. Apart from enabling the transmission of knowledge, values, and traditions across generations, it also challenges the Eurocentric definitions of literary value and affirms the validity of oral art as a literary form.
Ogundokun equally affirms that orature helps “to affirm and validate spiritual realities and experiences” of the African people vis-a-vis stories of “early man handled serious experiences”; that it enables the cultivation of social bound and communal spirit.
Besides, orature has continued to influence contemporary African writers, who blend oral and written traditions to create hybrid forms that resonate globally.
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