For many communities around the world, the transmission of oral literature from one generation to the next lies at the heart of cultural practice. Oral literature in africa is part of the world oral literature series published in conjunction with the world oral literature project. Hussein faculty of education, alemaya university abstract every african society south of the sahara has a long history of transmitting knowledge and human experience through the medium of oral tradition. The literature in english curriculum comprises learning objectives or focuses which embody the essential content of learning for the subject. Other reports of childrens literature with adults have the same limitations e. Oral interpretation focuses on literature in performance. Literature, most generically, is any body or collection of written works. African oral literature is often told using callandresponse techniques, where the storyteller would engage the audience through interaction with them. Hussein faculty of education, alemaya university abstract every african society south of the sahara has a long history of transmitting knowledge and human experience through the medium of. These clips, together with original photographs taken during her research, will be an invaluable resource to scholars of african literature and culture. The definition of oral literature would be literature or story telling that uses the spoken work or word of mouth. Others use oral literature or verbal art gingell and roy 67. Theory and methods in oral literature unit description the unit is an introduction to the theoretical approaches to the study of oral literature. Jan 01, 2000 amongst the topics covered are translation problems, understanding proverbs, oral narrative as discourse, the use of audio visual aids in teaching, general and the politics of control, images of women in african oral literature, the relationship with material culture, and oral literature as part of oral traditions.
Yet, despite the existence of these books on oral literature, the young generation in africa that has grown under the western school system somehow feels estranged with respect to this oral literature. Performances of creative works of verbal art which include ritual texts. Find kenyatta university theory and methods in oral literature previous year question paper. To remedy the bias against orality, scholars use the term orature to refer to speeches, oral tales, and other narratives as an analogous word for literature gingell and roy 5. The oral artists agenda joseph muleka 87 p a g e the oral text naturally text is a crucial component in communicating messages. Songsoral narrativesoral poetryriddlestongue twisters 3. Oral literature or folk literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken oral word to literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word. There is no standard definition as folklorists have varying descriptions for oral.
Oral literature synonyms, oral literature antonyms. Oral literature has no transcription due to the language not being a written language. This revised edition makes finnegans groundbreaking research available to the next generation of scholars. Themes in the literary traditions of contemporary africa are worked out frequently within the strictures laid down by the imported religions christianity and islam and within the struggle between traditional and modern, between rural and newly urban, between genders, and between generations. Historical and theoretical perspectives of literature anders pettersson department of scandinavian languages and comparative literature, umea university, sweden keywords. Historical and theoretical perspectives of literature. Another integral part of oral tradition is the integrating of music. One example of this would be american sign language, or asl.
African literature african literature the influence of oral traditions on modern writers. The perception of african oral literature 29 nineteenthcentury approaches and collections. Oral literature theories makerere university courses. To some people, oral literature is only but a mirage. This literature through narrative, poetry, song, dance, myths and fables, and texts for religious rituals provides a portrait of the meaning of life as experienced by the society at its particular time and place with its unique. Oral literature in africa world oral literature by ruth finnegan is an interesting perspective and study on the tradition of oral storytelling, especially in african countries. The most basic characteristic of literature, it seems to me, is that a literary work is a verbal text. An epic is a long story often told in verse involving heroes and gods. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, drum language and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in africa. The perception of african oral literature nineteenthcentury approaches and collections.
Oral literature, the standard forms or genres of literature found in societies without writing. Oral tradition offers the advantages of inducing open communication and verifiable firsthand knowledge of events from a historical reference point. Historical and theoretical perspectives of literature anders pettersson encyclopedia of life support systems eolss in an oral culture, there will not only be spontaneous, oneoff utterances, but also more durable, repeatable verbal compositions that could be called texts. Theory and methods in oral literature unit description. Lore is seen in societies with vigorous oral conveyance practices to be a general term inclusive of both oral literature and any written literature, including sophisticated writings, as well, potentially, as visual and performance arts which may interact with these forms, extend their expression, or offer additional expressive media.
An urgent global initiative to document and make accessible endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record. Oral literature was considered inferior to written literature and he rejected the term. It strives for comparative and interdisciplinary consideration of the emergence, passing on and interpretation of all forms of expression in the oral tradition. French polynesians approach meaning based on a history of discursive. Orality, oral literature, nanaoture and neneiture3, oral writing, fiuriture and french. Grand in length and scope, an epic provides a portrait of legends, beliefs, valves, laws, arts, and ways of life of a people. Legends and myths are prime examples of oral literature, crossing the line between fact and fiction, yet strengthened by constant retelling. One aspect is the beliefs on the spirits of dead ancestors found in many traditional societies.
For instance, the experience of listening to oral performances can, and continues to, inform scholarship. Amongst the topics covered are translation problems, understanding proverbs, oral narrative as discourse, the use of audio visual aids in teaching, general and the politics of control, images of women in african oral literature, the relationship with material culture, and oral literature as. Topics include role and functions of oral literature, genre studies. With the invention of writing, people began to record. African literature the influence of oral traditions on. Performances of creative works of verbal art which include ritual texts, curative chants, epic poems, musical genres, folk tales, creation tales, songs, myths, legends, word games, life histories. After decades of outstanding research, for which she was awarded an order of the british empire, oral literature in africa remains the book closest to finnegans heart. Oral literature, in creative writing, transcription and translation, oral literature and contemporary reality, and research methodology in oral literature. Another example of oral literature would be that of native americans. Literature then, is a form of demarcation, however fuzzy, based on the premise that all texts are not created equal. The book is available as a free pdf and ebook download thanks to the generous support of interested readers and organisations, who made donations using the crowdfunding website unglue. Music plays an important role in african societies.
In an attempt to preserve this oral literature, several individual authors have collected tales, proverbs, riddles and published them in books. There is no standard definition as folklorists have varying descriptions for oral literature or folk literature but a broad conceptualization refers to it as literature characterized by oral transmission and the absence of any fixed form. Next, i share the slide with the different literary genres derived from oral literature. The transition of oral culture to oral literature oral culture is derived from traditional societies and contains norms such as traditional belief systems of certain things handed down from successive generations. This paper grapples with the question of choice of theory in the study of african oral literature. Jan 22, 2017 lore is seen in societies with vigorous oral conveyance practices to be a general term inclusive of both oral literature and any written literature, including sophisticated writings, as well. Ong argue that it is a contradiction in terms since the conservative view is that literature should. It deals with the role of theory in the study of oral literature. The are encouraged to add this information to their notes using any type of shorthand that they are comfortable with. There is no standard definition as folklorists have varying descriptions for oral literature or folk literature but a broad conceptualization refers to it as literature characterized by. The theories will then be applied in the analysis of oral literature material. Further, a good example of a literary text will be written.
After speech, important elements include storytelling, plot, protagonists, antagonists, culture, moralslessons, preservation of history andor lore, legitimization and praise of rulers, rhetoric. Most forays into the question of what is literature go into how literature works with the reader, rather than how the author set about writing it. Music, dance and singing are found in every community. Songs oral narratives oral poetryriddlestongue twisters 3. A study using poetry and childrens literature in adult esl instruction by ketty ruth reppert a thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts major. It means spoken literature, or literature by word of mouth, which makes it a controversial term.
Before humans developed writing, we passed down stories in the form of oral literature. Epics have often been passed on orally and may have anonymous authors. Oral literature is the repository of the critical knowledge, philosophy, and wisdom for nonliterate societies. It thus forms a generally more fundamental component of culture, but operates in many ways as one might expect literature to do. Ect 315 topic 4 teaching oral literature page 1 of 3 topic 4 teaching of oral literature topic objectives by the end of this topic you should be able to. But his brief definition of orature as the use of utterance as an aesthetic. Synonyms for oral literature at with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. Oral literature in africa world oral literature by ruth finnegan is a comprehensive study guide with a wellresearched look into the history of oral folklore and. The oral tradition journal, established in 1986, publishes articles on oral traditions and oral literature as well as related research. The term oral literature is also used to describe the tradition in written civilizations in which certain genres are transmitted by word of mouth or are confined to the socalled folk i. Theory and methods in oral literature question papers 2155. Oral literature in english the canadian encyclopedia. Oral literature is an aspect of literature preserved not in written form but in oral form. Oral literature in africa is part of our world oral literature series in conjunction with the world oral literature project.
Feel free to use the past paper as you prepare for your upcoming examinations. This literature through narrative, poetry, song, dance, myths and fables, and texts for religious rituals provides a portrait of the meaning of life as experienced by the society at its. Oral literature is a broad term which may include ritual texts, curative chants, epic poems, musical genres, folk tales, creation tales, songs, myths, spells, legends, proverbs, riddles, tonguetwisters, word games, recitations, life histories or historical narratives. Lore is seen in societies with vigorous oral conveyance practices to be a general term inclusive of both oral literature and any written literature, including sophisticated writings, as well.
African oral genres tales, proverbs, riddles, and lullabies. Mar 20, 20 these clips, together with original photographs taken during her research, will be an invaluable resource to scholars of african literature and culture. It is highly valued in africa in general and in igbo in particular mainly because of its didactic nature. Get an answer for how does oral literature affect written literature. May 27, 2019 the primary element of oral literature is speech. The paper argues that while it is easy and desirable to choose a facilitative theory in the analysis of a written work of literature, such a process poses challenges when it comes to the oral type of african literature. Oral interpretation, or the study of literature through its performance, can be defined as a demonstration of analysis, performance and communication skills. More restrictively, literature refers to writing considered to be an art form or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, and sometimes deploys language in ways that differ from ordinary usage. In african oral literature for schools, jane nandwa and austin bukenya define oral literature as those utterances, whether spoken, recited or sung, whose composition and performance exhibit to an appreciable degree the artistic character of accurate observation, vivid imagination and ingenious expression 1983.
Oral literature is a performed art which in most cases uses words as a medium of communication. The oral nature of african unwritten literature the significance of performance in actualization, transmission, and composition. At the end of our discussion, i share the slide with the characteristics of oral literature. Oral literature in africa pdf open book publishers. Seventh grade lesson introduction to oral literature. Oral literature in africa is part of our world oral literature series in. How does oral literature affect written literature. Translation in african oral literary text though the concept of translation has been quite problematic in the communication of human experience from time immemorial, the problem is. The ugandan scholar pio zirimu introduced the term orature in an attempt to avoid an oxymoron, but oral.