ORATURE IN MODERN AFRICAN LITERATURE USING:
WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY
BY
ADEBOYE OLUWABUSOLA ENIOLA
O7/15CD009
AN ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF
ARTS (HONS.) IN ENGLISH
TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF ARTS,
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN.
MAY, 20011.
i
CERTIFICATION
The essay has been read and approved as meeting part of
the requirements for the award of the Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons.) in
the Department of English of the Faculty of Arts, university of Ilorin,
Ilorin.
-------------------------------SUPERVISOR
MRS. T. OLUJIDE
----------------------DATE
-------------------------------HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
DR. S.T BABATUNDE
----------------------DATE
-------------------------------EXTERNAL EXAMINER
----------------------DATE
ii
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to my savior Jesus Christ, who is my ever
merciful and faithful friend.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mrs T.M.
Olujide, for her guidance and time, during the preparation of this
dissertation. I also express my appreciation to my wonderful and loving
parents, Deacon and Mrs J.O. Adeboye for their encouragement and
prayers.
I am glad to record my debts to my guardian and parents, Chief and
Mrs E.A.O. Adeboye, for their support and prayers as well.
Then, special thanks to Almighty God for seeing me through, all my
academic endeavors.
My heart is filled with thanks to my wonderful uncle, Mr. J.O. Ibiloye.
To my siblings I’m glad to be one of you and finally to all my friends loved
ones. May God bless us all.
iv
ABSTRACT
The contemporary African Literature is believed to be a revolutionary
literature that looks critical into contemporary social situations with a
view of amending the wrongs therein.
However, no writer writes in a
vacuum but within the scope of human experiences, happening around
him, and particularly the experiences he met on ground in his society.
This is the Orature of his society.
The tool adopted for this research was the sociological theory, this is
because it encompasses the way of life and experiences of people in a
given society. The research made use of the stratified sampling method,
where relevant texts were applied to the theory for analysis.
A number of discoveries were made in this research first, there would be
no written literature without orature. It was also discovered that there
are no people, society or race without their inherent Oral traditions that
distinguishes them.
Consequently, agreeable conclusions were drawn on the relationship
between Orature and the Modern African Literature.
We were able to
view Orature as the founder of Modern African Literature.
In conclusion, the undeniable link between Orature and the Written
Literature.
v
TALBE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment
iv
Abstract
v
Table of contents
vi-vii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1
Purpose of the Study
2
Justification
3
Scope of the Study
3
Methodology
4
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
6
Orature
6
Element in Oral Literature
The Concept of Orature in a Sociological Context
14
Background Information on Wole Soyinka’s
18
vi
Modern African Literature
18
The Sociological school of Literature
21
CHAPTER THREE
Orature in Soyinka’s “The Beatification of Area Boy”
24
Some songs which portray the Rich African Culture
24
Superstitious Beliefs Among Africans.
29
African Ceremonies
33
Dramatic Elements in “The Beatification of Area Boy”
34
CHAPTER FOUR
Summary
41
Findings
41
Conclusion
42
Bibliography
43
vii
ORATURE IN MODERN AFRICAN LITERTURE, USING:
WOLE
SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF ARA BOY.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Modern African Literature is believed by some critics to be a
transition form spoken words to the written form of it, especially in
relation to the
expression of African beliefs and world view.
Thus,
except for the language issue which alienates Modern African Literature
from its root, the experiences expressed therein remain essentially
African.
To ensure the maintenance of African identity However,
deliberate efforts are made by writers to reach
the grassroots by
switching over to vernacular as a more towards revolutionizing the
contemporary African Literature, while some only limit their zeal to a full
exploration of African values.
Furthermore, no definition of written literature can be said to be
complete without a prior reference to its origin in whatever setting, be
it, African or European. The literature of a set of people does not emerge
from a vacuum. It is the fundamentals of a set of people that make up
their written literature, whether these fundamentals are written or
1
unwritten.
Therefore, it is erroneous to stress the written aspect of
literature alone and ignore the oral aspect. Whatever becomes written
has been in existence in the unwritten form. The general consensus is
that, written literature borrows some features form unwritten literature
in terms of content and even style.
It is this situation, that is the
deployment of oral forms in the
writing of Modern African writers that have become of interest to this
writer.
hence, in this project, we intend to study the features of oral
literature that may be present in Wole Soyinka’s “The Beatification of
Area Boy”.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Many
works have been done on Soyinka’s plays and the other
genres of literature. More particularly, this Beatification of Area Boy but
we
are not aware of a
particular one on Orature in Modern African
Literature therefore, an in depth analysis of Modern African Literature
which in fact forms the main principles of the entire play will be made so
that readers can appreciate the beauty of the work and understand it
better.
2
JUSTIFICATION
The basis of this research work is to make clear the relevance of
Oral literature in Modern African Literature, using: Wole Soyinka’s “The
Beatification of Area Boy” which seem
to have a number of oratory
features embedded in it. This research work, is a worthwhile exercise
because, oral literature has its origin
in the African literature which
some critics regard has been non scholastic. Hence, this research work is
going to make known its importance to the writing of the play, “The
Beatification of Area Boy” and then to the Modern African Literature at
large.
SCOPE OF TH STUDY
This research work shall be restricted to examining oral literature
in “The Beatification of Area Boy”
Literature.
relating it to the Modern African
as many as possible elements of Orature found in “The
Beatification of Area Boy”
that can be related to the Modern African
Literature shall be pointed out.
As the research topic is Orature in
Modern African Literature Using :
Wole Soyinka’s the beatification of
Area Boy. Some dramatic element in the Beatification of Area Boy shall
also be considered.
3
METHODOLOGY
The research topic
Orature in Modern African Literature using:
Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy” was carefully selected by
the researcher and intentionally combined as both terms are some what
interwoven, ie there’s no how Modern African Literature will be analyses
without due reference to orature which is more of an African act and
which also forms the basis of the written literature.
This theory will highlight a number of oratory features that can be
found in “The Beatification and its relation to the Modern African
Literature.
The tool adopted for this research shall be the sociological school
of Literature.
This theory is relevant since it encompasses the way of life,
relationship and the diverse challenges faced by the people on a given
society or community.
The researcher relies primarily on the relationship between the text
and the society. The stratified sampling method under the systematic
method will be adopted.
This is because different characteristics
available in the textual population which are Orature and Modern
4
African Literature will be taken into cognizance, and applied for analysis,
appropriately.
Relevant primary and secondary material sources will be used as
instruments of interrogation. This includes the use of library and other
relevant and useful texts on the research topic, that the researcher
comes across.
5
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, a review of the topic of research, “Orature in
Modern African Literature, using: Wole Soyinka’s “The Beatification of
Area Boy” is done, so as to have a clearer understanding of what had
been discussed in the previous chapter and towards the eventual
comprehension of subsequent ones.
In an attempt to make critical
review on existing literatures, relating to this field of study, the
researcher will focus on the following under listed areas:
-
Orature
-
The concept of Orature in a sociological context
-
The Sociological School of Literature
-
Modern African Literature
-
Wole Soyinka, his background information
-
Elements in Oral Literature
Orature
Orature as a word, becomes a theory when mentioned as two
words, Oral Literature, which refers to the words that form its basis
Orature is the foundation of African Literature. It is the original form of
African “thought” and “imagination” devoid of any form of mutilation by
6
the Eurocentric critics.
Oral literature is basically dependent on a
performer who formulates it in words on a specific occasion.
According to R. Finnegan (1970)
The nature of oral tradition… and ideas is that
oral tradition, (including what we should now call
oral literature) is passed down in words from
generation to generation and this reproduced
verbation from memory through the centuries; or
alternatively, that oral literature is something that
arises communally from the people or folk as a
whole so that there can be no question of
individual authorship or originality (p.10).
In essence, Orature can be said to be the totality of the African
work of arts that are vertically rendered or performed and passed
through the words of mouth from one generatio9n to another generation.
Orature emerged as African writers sought to find adequate
definition of African literary works which have both oral and written
forms.
According to Nnabuenyi Ugoma (1984)
An oral text implies the unwritten, more or less
standard version of hereditary tale, praise song or
chants
which
in
general,
members
of
the
community can recite without much difficulty and
7
reproduce in the same way as literate people read
and recite novel a poem or the text of a play.
(p.102)
Oral Literature or Orature precedes the writers one. Oral literature
gave birth to written literature. Orature mingled the three basic genres
of literature and that oral literature is concerned with which it is written
for effective communication.
It must be pointed out that the issue of
relating to Orature is entirely African and abound in African localities.
According to Taiwo (1967) strongly agrees with this and so says:
In Africa, there are many types of oral (literary
form).
These oral (literal forms) have come to
take specific forms and have often become
identified with certain localities, situations and
ceremonies (p.13)
Orature then constitutes the only avenue through which all that
we may want to understand about Africans is transmitted.
According to R. Finnegan (1970);
“Oral literature in particular, possessed
lastly more aesthetic, social and personal
significance” (p-27).
8
Oral Literature is the bedrock of African Literature.
It has not
been contaminated with the modern world.
Orature also negates the Eurocentric idea that Africa had no
worthwhile literature before the coming of the white man. Orature has
three main genres.
They are prose, drama and poetry.
With each of
these, we have various other forms such as dances, songs, music
festivals etc. All these have inherent aesthetic values and also various
social and personal significance and performances.
B. Ibrahim (2000) asserts that;
No definition of written literature can be said to
be complete without a prior reference to its
origin, in whatever setting, be it African or
European.
It is the fundamentals of a set of
people that make up their written literature,
whether these fundamentals are written or
unwritten.
Therefore, it is erroneous to stress
the written part of literature alone and ignore
the oral aspect, which in fact; serves as the
basis for the written aspect (p.7)
9
The above assertion view Orature from the point of view of it being
the mother of written literature.
Thus, there would be no written
literature without Orature.
This is why in Africa scholars like Chinweizu, et al, (1980) and
Chidi Amuta (1980) talk about “The use of oral literary compositions in
written compositions in order to decolonize African Literature”.
Also, Okpewho Isidore (1993) believes that:
“manners, customs, observances, superstitions,
ballads, proverbs, riddles, puns tongue-twisters,
recitations, chants, songs, stories, child drama
etc.
Constitute
the
spectrum
of
African
literature” .
Chinweizu et al (1980) further discovers that it should be borne in
mind:
(i)
“that written literature has a long tradition in par of Africa;
(ii)
“that Africa was not totally illiterate when Europeans arrived
there,
(iii)
“that some parts of African had written literature long before
Caesar led his Roman regions to bring civilization to barbarian
Gaul to Celtic Britain and to the Druidic German tribes of
vercingertorix in the 1st Century B.C.
10
Additively, Oral literature is a natural creativity and it is a total
reflection of the societal image and patterns of life. It is also an aesthetic
concept involving improvisation, recreation, total performance, output,
practice, behavior and mannerisms. Examples of Oral Literature can be
found in music, dance, ceremonies, myths, legends, stories, folktales and
so on.
From the review of Orature, it has been proven that, literature
starts from the oral form of it.
ELEMENTS IN ORAL LITERATURE
As there are literary genres, there are also genres in oral literature.
These genres are however, defined by both function and form. Genres of
Oral Literature include epics and sagas, panegyrics, prose stories, lyric
poems,
ritual
songs,
and
genealogies
and
the
most
common,
superstition.
EPICS AND SAGAS
More narrow definitions of oral tradition often limit it to epics and
sags.
Epics, defined by the use of poetics and sags, prose, serve as
foundational texts for societies. They tell the stories of the culture heroes
who create society, of the origins of civilized behavior, of the creation of
11
heaven and earth and the people who populate it. Epics sometimes tell
history. Other times they reveal God’s or the gods’ design to humans.
PANEGYRICS
One of the most interesting and historic of these genres is the
praise poem.
This type of poetry, the panegyric, is found in a wide
variety of societies.
Thes4e poems are often composed for specific
occasions, however, while the metaphors and similes used in them may
sometimes be tropes of deep cultural significance, in particular cases
praise poems becomes linked to particular historic figures, and hence
become an important part of a culture’s historic memory.
STORIES
Stories, whether called folktales, fables or even oral history, often
serve the function of oral tradition. People use them to impact, moral
lessons and to promote a feeling of group solidarity through a sense of
common history.
They can be told in formal situations, such as
initiation rituals or informally, such as around the hearth. Stories often
tell moral tales and sometimes they use structures, plots and motifs
spread quite widely across different cultures. However, with the addition
of appropriate cultural detail , they also can refer to very specific
episodes in local historical memory.
12
RITUAL SONGS AND LYRIC POETRY
Songs and lyric poetry function much like stories in that they focus
on particular events or situations.
historic but often fabulist.
Like stories, they are sometimes
They change as bards and singers change
them to fit audiences and circumstances. While they are often individual
performances, groups can also perform them.
GENEALOGY
Genealogies quite literally link the past with the present by
charting the ancestors to those still living. Genealogies usually contain
morel than mere list of names. Tellers usually include both stories and
praise poems for the ancestors as well as often detailed descriptions of
relationships between different kin groups. Genealogies, like other forms
of oral tradition, change as conditions change.
In the long run,
genealogies telescope with generations and relatives lost over time. Often
founders remain in the story, but the number of generations between the
founder and the present may remain constant.
SUPERSTITION
Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or
knowledge.
The word is often used pejoratively to refer to folk beliefs
deemed irrational.
This leads to some superstitious being called “old
13
wires’ tales”.
It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices
surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the belief
that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
THE CONCEPT OF ORATURE IN A SOCIOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Essentially, the African Oral Literature is seen as one that
encompasses all areas of African existential experience, their actions,
words, thoughts, feelings and identity.
O.F. Raum (1940) says:
a people’s oral literature is regarded as
inheritances
from
their
ancestors,
incorporating the experience of the tribe and
they serve as instruments for both self
control and the control of others (p. 214)
R. Finnegan (1970) postulates that,
Oral Literature, often defined as a mode of
aesthetic that has the quality of continuity
and deliver. (P.500).
This is so because it is passed on from generation to generation and
although, some aspects of culture could bet lost along the way, the
important elements still remain intact.
J.Adedeji cited in Bodunde (2001), provides a working definition of
oral tradition, which details the purpose and mode of acquisition. He
offers that oral tradition is the complex corpus of verbal or spoken art
14
created as a means of recalling the past. For him, it is based on, ideas,
beliefs, symbols, assumptions attitude and sentiments of a people.
Through a process of learning of limitation and
its purpose is to condition social action and foster
social interaction (P.I.)
Furthermore, Boniface (1985) reflect on Orature as
Incontestable
the
reservoir of value, sensibilities,
aesthetic and achievements of traditional African
through and imagination.
It must serve as the
ultimate foundation, guide post and point of
departure
for
literature.
It is the root from which modern
liberated
a
African
modern
literature
liberated
must
African
draw
its
substance. (P.52).
The above definition is revolutionist in nature because it calls for a
return to the African root and heritage and because in it is embodied
everything needed for liberation.
Okpewho (1992) believes that manners, customs, observances etc
constitute the spectrum of African literature, he believes tat the verbal
aspect of oral literature comprises
“riddles, puns, tongue twisters,
proverbs, recitations, chants, songs and stores. (P.4)
T. Ojaide (1996) says of performance in oral literature:
15
“ The inherited performance quality on oral poetry
has being carrying the Aesthetic composition of
Modern African Poetry.
Composition
and
In other words, Verbal
performance
are
intricately
related. (Ps.24 & 325)
G. Ajadi (1999) believes that the African
Oral Literature embraces the entire spectrum of
the :
terms
African way of life, thoughts and ideas in
of
philosophy,
psychology, the African’s
feelings
behaviors,
relationship with his
fellow Africans and his way of expressing this
relationship terms of socio-cultural values (p.
238).
B. Ibrahim (2008_) then states in a nutshell that,
All races have ancient cultures, and this stands
for their Oral Literature (p.6)
Thus, from all the foregoing, it can be deduced that the Oral
Literature, of a people encompasses all of their life’s experiences, and all
aspects of their existence, including their mode of cooking, architecture,
religion music and dance, medicine and dress making, cultural values
and norms, occupation and indeed everything about them.
16
Bukenya and Namdwa as pointed out by Okpewho (1992),
Oral Literature
may be defined as those
utterances whether, spoken, recited or sung,
whose composition and performance exhibit to
an appreciation degree the artistic characteristic
of an accurate
observation, vivid imagination
and indigenous expression (p.10)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON WOLE SOYINKA
Wole Soyinka was born on July 14,1934 Abeokuta, in Nigeria. He
attended Saint Peter’s
Primary School and spent a year at Abeokuta
Grammar School, Abeokuta before he proceeded to Government College,
Ibadan He had his University Education in Nigeria and abroad.
He
attended University College, Ibadan and the University of leads.
He
graduated with a “Bachelor of English studies.
Soyinka is today, one, of the foremost figures among African Literary
and Cultural Scholars. He expresses himself in the three major literary
genres, novel, drama and poetry. He also writes critical essays and other
forms of prose. Soyinka apart form being a writer, is a social critic and a
political activist. He was in the fore front of the mass rally held in Lagos
in September 2005 to protest the hike in the price of Petroleum in
Nigeria.
17
He has several works form the three major literary genres to this
credit. Some of his works are: The Interpreters and season of Anomy.
Among his collection of poems are; Idanre and other poems, A shuttle in
the Crypt, Ogun Abibiman, Mandela’s Earth, Abiku and a host of others.
Femi Dunmade 2006: 1
MODERN AFRICAN LITERATURE
Modern African Literature, as earlier defined in the introductory
part of this dissertation, is believed by some critics to be a translation
from spoken words to the written form, especially in relation to the
expression of African beliefs and world view. Hence, Modern African
Literature can also be referred to as, African Written Literature.
G. Joseph (1990) refers to African Literature as ‘Literature of and
form Africa” (p.1) while the European perception of literature generally
refers to written letters.
Pauline Dodgson 1990) describes Modern African Literature in his
specially commissioned Essay as;
“The literature of a continent that includes many nation-states,
languages and ethnicities. Modern African Literature cannot be seen as
a homogenous body of work. Historically, geographically, culturally and
linguistically, African is diverse and its Literature reflects that diversity”.
18
Wole Soyinka (1990) writing of African, South of the Sahara refers
to Modern African Literature as; ‘’still a very large continent, populated
by myriad races and culture (p.97)
African writing in European languages is generally considered to date
from the 19th or 20th century, although here are some writings by African
before the 19th century, for example the “Nigerians Olaudah Equiano’s
autobiography’” commonly known as Equiano’s
Travails (1789) which
recounts his experience of slavery in Europe and the poetry of Phillis
Wheathey, an African slave working in Boston in the 18th century whose
collection
of poems on various subjects:
Religious and moral was
published in 1773.
Tanure Ojaide in his “Modern African Literature and cultural
identity.
Modern African Literature has gained recognition worldwide with such
classics as Chimia Adebe’s things fall Apart” Ngugi through his, “Weep
not child” and Wole Soyinka’s “Death and the king’s Horseman”.
This recognition was reinforced by Soyinka’s winning of the nobel
prize for literature in 1986 Modern African
Literature is written in
indigenous African languages and in European languages used in Africa.
Written African literature is very new compared to the indigenous oral
19
tradition of literature which has been there and is still very much alive.
While there are literary works in Yoruba, Hausa, Zulu and Sotho, among
others, this literature in African indigenous languages is hardly known
outside its specific linguistic frontiers Writers such as Mazisi Kunene,
Ngugi and the late Okot P’bitek first wrote some of their works in African
languages before translating them to English. Most African writers,
however, write in English, French and Portuguese. There is the
Eurocentric temptation to see Modern African Literature written in these
European languages as an extension of European literature.
However, after modern imperialism, language alone cannot be the
sole definer of a people’s literature.
George
Joseph
in
a
subsection
of
his
‘’
Understanding
Contemporary Africa’’ tagged Postcolonial African Literature, talks about
the literature after colonialism.
With liberation and increased literacy since most African nations
gained their independence in the 1950’s and 60’s.
African Literature has grown dramatically in quantity and in
recognition, with numerous African works appearing in Western
Languages (notably, English, French and Portuguese) and in traditional
African languages.
20
THE SOCIOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF LITERATURE
The sociological theory is a long aged one which studies the society’s
nature and behavior. Sociological has its root from the word sociology
which according to the Longman Encyclopedia is
The scientific study of collective human behavior for adequate
comprehension.
The Encyclopedia Americana also asserts that:
sociology is the
study of social behaviors of human beings, or the study of human
groups.
These definitions view sociology form the point of view of humans
living in the society. Thus, there is no sociology without the people in a
given society.
Man W. Further states that sociology is science which attempts
the interpretative understanding of social action, and order, thereby to
arrive at a casual explanation of its course and effects (Mark W:
1947:88).
Thomas A. believes that the sociological theory is connected with
the organization, condition or study of the society.
Thomas.
21
According to
It implies
the measurement
or attitude and social
rejection or acceptance among members of a social grouping. (Thomas.
A, 1960:16).
Furthermore, Alex I. States that the sociological theory;
Seeks to explain the nature of social order and
disorder, describe and explain the order, which
characterize the social life of man. (Alex 1964:25)
In the same way, Mark Duncan says:
science
or
study
or
Sociological
origin,
is the
history
constitution of the human society.
and
(Mark
Duncan 1966:96).
Onigun O. also processes that the problems
arising form man’s relationship with his physical
and social
environment have been
out the
concern of theorist and thinners, through out
the ages. (Onigu O. 1994:2).
He however, further reports that the sociological theories:
Are
devoted
to
mapping,
describing
and
explaining the several relations as they actually
are, as they have actually occurred, rather than
as they ought to be (13).
22
Lastly, Richard T. and Robert P. Simply concludes that the
theory seeks to:
Study the social behaviour
of human groups
(Richard T. and Robert P. 1997:2)
Conclusively, it could therefore be deduced from the earlier
review on the sociological theory that sociological deals with the study
of the structure of the society and its prevalent
problems.
The
sociological concept of African Literature also deals with the cultural
tension and conflict of a community engulfed in social crisis.
23
CHAPTER THREE
ORATURE IN SOYINKA’S “THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY”
In this chapter
oratory features present
in “The
Beatification of Area Boy” shall be presented, in three ways:
-
Some songs which portray the Rich African Culture
-
Superstitious Beliefs among Africans
-
African Ceremonies and then the
-
Dramatic Elements in ‘’The Beatification of Area Boy’’.
Some Songs which portray the Rich African Culture
Song is one of the dramatic
elements employed by
Soyinaka in “The Beatification of Area Boy”. Soyinka employs different
songs at various stages of the play. Each song is employed to make
some points in the play. Some songs are deployed to comment on the
setting of the
play, some others detail us on certain sub-themes or
developments in the course of the study.
A number of these songs are in Yoruba language. One is, Adelebo T.
‘O Nwoko’ (2002:34), not rendered in full in the play. It translates
literally as :the Spinster in Search of a Husband”. The song is woven
by mistrel to prepare the mind of the audience against a new
24
development and the introduction against a new development and the
introduction of a new character, Miseyi who is a spinster.
The song tells of the predicament of a spinter in search of
a husband.
“Meta Meta L’ore o’ is a Yoruba song as well, (2002:96).
This one is rendered by “the Benders from Ibadan.
contemporary song and a fairly popular one.
The song is a
The fact that it is a
common song probably explains why Soyinka has not produced it full
it’s the play. There are many variants of the song. One variant of it is
given below:
Meta Meta L’ore o – call and response (2x) Eh!
Okan ru n wa sun s’eni
Eh!
Okan ni n wa suri s’ile
Eh!
Okan ni n wa sun s’aya
Mo boju wole mo ba laya lo
Mo ti lo m’okun, mo ti lo m’osa
Mo ti lo mo’po Baale oro
Opetere se’kupa Gbago
25
Isensere se’ku p’okumin
Ote Ibadan Ko’gun waja lu
Ye e ye a ye wo o
Eh!
This song comments on the African belief on the choices in
the friendship available to a lover. One friend offers him a mat to sleep
on; another, the floor, and the last, his chest. The persona choose as
his friend the one who offers her his chest. The song is relevant to the
occasion of a betrothal ceremony. It tells so much about the state of
miseyi’s mind.
This is to show that African songs are rich in meaning, the
song summarizes the present situation in just a few Lyrical vibes.
Another Yoruba song is ‘Omo L’aso” (2002:59). It is one of
the songs in Minstrel’s repertories. He sung it once at an occasion but
is asked by Barber to render it again at a point in the play. The point
at which the song comes in the play and the reference the time when
Mistrel sang the song all bear out the significance of the song. The
sone was rendered by Minstrel, the day Mamma put’s. daughter took
her communion. The song is presented also by the Troubadour after
26
the fate of the ‘pikin’ who is trampled to death in the mad rush for a
bus.
The song is not rendered in full in the play. However, it is a
contemporary song which,
when rendered in full, makes its
significance in the play chearer. The song may be trainslated thus:
“Children are the warp and weft of living. Below is the full
text of the song:
Aso toba dara, mara f’omo mi
Bata toba dara, mara f’omo mi
Bi mo logun eru, bi mo niwofa ogborn
Ojo a baku oomo ladele
Baba loke je komo o dele demi
Omo l’aso aye, omoI’aso /2x
The song celebrates the African cultural belief that children
are a legacy. It averts that neither one’s
slaves nor one’s pawns in
their numbers preserve one’s heritage other than one’s children. The
song, built on heritage other than one’s children. The song, built on a
metaphor, concludes that children are the warp and woof of living.
The
theme of the song is the child and it develops
playwright’s s concern with the children in the
27
the
play conceding up
during Mama put’s daughter’s
communion the song highlights the
theme of the child. Bearing its mind, the full text of the song, one also
is able to understand the much ado of Mama put about her daughter’s
communion. The girl is to Mama put the warp and woof of living and
nothing is too much to do for her on the day she had her communion.
To tell of the extended of
her joy, Mama put cooked for the
neighborhood during her daughter’s communion.
The song comes up following the death of passenger’s pikin’
The song continues therefore the theme of the child but presents the
theme from the opposite end from which it does in Mama put’
daughter’s case.
Here Soyinka contrasts one with the other.
The
furore that follows the death of the child is better understood in the
context of the full text of the song. The pikin is more than that ‘small
bundle wrapped in a shawl’ but a legacy.
It is worth nothing that the song can be related to the story
of Boyko, another child in the play. Boyko who is supposed to be his
parents ‘legacy’ disgusting and irritating that even made sanda throw
up (2002:60 & 61). Sanda further talks about how children who are
supposed to be legacies are ill treated or even killed.
28
All these songs have their own significance in the play and
no two songs perform the same function in the play, rather a song
“Omo La’aso” fits for two situations in the play.
SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AMONG AFRICANS
Soyinka uses superstitious characteristic in the play, “The
Beatification of Area Boy” to portray the African tendency to be supers
titous, some of these characters are, Mama put, Trader, Barber among
others.
The characters are convinced that, such things as dark
dreams and money making rituals have some connections with some
supernatural
elements,
supersensible terms.
they
interpret
natural
occurrences
in
Only Sanda and Mama Put’s daughter are not
carried away by the wave of superstition operating in the society
depicted in the text.
Mama Put’ attitude to the unusual brightness of the sky on
a particular morning in the text (p.12) delineates one way in which
Soyinka shows his preoccupation with superstition in the play. Mama
put links the brightness with one of her dark dreams and declares that
the brightness is unnatural and cruel.
29
Mama put: I no know. No to say my body no feel
well, na the day in self no look well. I commot for
house and I nearly go back and stay inside house.
I no like the face of to day, date no God’s truth
make you just look that sky.
E day life animal
way just chop in victim, with blood dripping from
in wide open mouth (p.12)
Mama Put so much beliefs in her instinct about the unusual
brightness of the day, that she even warns Sanda and other people in
the
community to, in the light of that, watch out for an imminent
disaster.
However, the stark bright sky, as we later find out, has
nothing to do with the supernatural. The brightness was generated by
the fire that gutted Maroko early that morning (p.80). When a woman’s
child killed in a mad rush for a bus the same morning (P.58 & 59).
Mama put is quick to conclude, because, she is super natural minded,
that the ever is the fulfillment of the right mare she had the previous
night.
30
Beliefs in the supernatural dominate the
thinking of
Barber and Trader and the theme of superstition is developed further
in the play in the actions of the duo. Trader and Barber are always
speaking about magic or juju.
about
this sister in-law’s
For
instance, Barber tells the story
landlord whom
he the barber saw in a
money making ritual (2002:34-37). He and Trader are agreed in their
discussions always that those corpses with their vital organs missing
are victims of money making rituals (2002:52)
VICTIM: Oh my manhood! My manhood!
BARBER:
It’s probably making millions for his
syndicate somewhere in Lagos.
syndicates you
They work in
know. It’s funny, we were just
talking about it.
Sanda, is of contrary opinion to Barber’s and he tries to
shut Barber up with his statement that follows:
SANDA:
Don’t add fuel to this dirty fire,
Mr.Barber.
To this statement, Barber’s response helps to justify Sanda
as a character who is not superstitious.
31
BARBER: You never believed me but there it
is, before your very eyes.
The missing genitals
superstitious
episode attests further to the
suffocating atmosphere in the play. Victim, witness,
Woman, another Witness and Policeman, all believed Accused truly
possesses the magical power to take and restore people’s generous.
They all believe that who ever Accused touches will lose has genitals.
Police man for instance, orders Accused to restore victims genitals.
POLICEMAN: Look my
Friend, just restore this
genitals and I promise you full protection (p.52)
The belief in juju attack is further strengthened by trader in his
final confession on the missing genitals episode. Adopting a scientific
approach to the crisis generated by the episode, Sanda instructs trader
tog et a prostitute with the intension of locking victim in one room with
her to’ see if the right stimulus doesn’t give us results. In his response
to Sanda’s instruction, Trader shows that the is superstitious.
TRADER: I sabbe the very one way fit defeat any
kind juju attack. If she get customer I go wait
make in finish (54)
32
All of these instance, shows how indebted Africans are, into supers
institutions.
Africans attack
supernatural beliefs to coincidental
occurrences.
AFRICAN CEREMONIES
The setting of the play “The Beatification of Area Boys” is in Lagos,
Nigeria. The wedding of Miseyi is major event, which takes place in an
Opulent shopping plaza in the neighborhood of Broad Street and
Balogun street.
The wedding gives us an insight of how African
weddings are being conducted, such that we are able to draw the
difference between how weddings here are being conducted and how, it
is being conducted in the Western World.
From the reading of “the
Beatification of Area Boy” we are able to deduce that
Africans have
their own form of music (p89), the use of MCs-Master of ceremonies (p
90), the African Slogan – Rice and stew very plenty to be the full
meaning of RSVP, the use of drummers (p 920.
The introduction of
mother of the Day is an accomplice grace of learning some African
proverbs.
“But it was the cockatoo, who pecked too deep
inside iroko wood pursing a worm, that is why is
beak is bent till today’’
33
“The fact that the drum is at rest don’t mean
that the legs wont tap” “the rhythm of yesterday
still lingers in the head of the trained dances”
“Our forefathers say that the wise one always
throws his water forward
because whoever
moistens the ground before him will surely
treated fruitful earth” (p. 94)
Then, the use of gourd and calabash --- by the bride to serve the
bridegroom some wine, this service has we find out from the reading of
the play, indicates the brides choice of her husband to be. (p. 97).
All of these situations gives us an idea of the rich African
custom on how a marriage ceremony is being conducted.
DRAMATIC ELELEMNTS IN “THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY”
Dramatic
devices
such
as
setting,
language
and
characterization are employed in the service of the content of the play.
added to these correctional devices are poetic elements, phonetic and
syntactic, created by the poet in the playwright to add meaning in the
play. In addition to the add meaning in the play. In addition to the
individual characteristic usage of language, devices such as :
-
allusion,
-
symbolism
34
-
humour
Are also deployed in the play
ALLUSION in “The Beatification of Area Boy”.
The Beatification of Area Boy is very rich in allusions. The
play alludes to literary works, the Bible and historical events.
The
allusion in each case, when understood, develops and deepens our
understanding of the work. Allusion is in most cases in the lay are very
cystic but can neither be missed nor mistaken.
knowledge
However, a vast
of literary classics and familiarity with the Bible will be of
immerse assistance in evaluating allusion in the play.
Soyinaka alludes
to literary classics by William Shake
speare and Bertolt Brecht. He alludes to the latter’s Mother Courage
and her Children
and the formers’
Hamlet.
Sanda says that there
may be a method in judges madness and tells Mama put that she is
courage even to the superstitious bit.
Sanda’s observation that Judge’s
madness may be
methodical alludes to the character of “Hamlet” and his supposed
madness. In the play Hamlet pretends at some points in the story to be
mad and he is thought so by many other characters including Polonius.
However, Polonius discovers that certain responses that Hamlet makes
35
to some issues on occasions are apt. Therefore, Polonius concludes
that there is method in Hamlet’s madness.
The bearing of the allusion on Judge’s character is clear.
Judge appears to most of the characters in the neighborhood as a mad
man. For instance, he takes ash for powder. He sifts out the cinders
and grosser particles in some fire dust and asks Barber to sprinkle it
on his (Judge’s) judicial wig to show his aging process.
SYMBOLISM
The symbolism in the choice of the color black by Judge (P.
9) shows the evil conventionally associated with the color .He tells
Trader that;
JUDGE: I am a specialist of sunrise. I have seen
more dawns form
every vantage. Point, more dawns than you can
count white hairs on my head. I have a
proprietary felling towards dawns you see, not
that you can understand but, I have a right to
claim that they would be, yes, I could tell that
even before going to sleep. Then I began to pray
for the kind of dawn into which I wanted to
wake. in details, you know. colors, moods,
shape, shades of stillness or motion.
something to look forward to. (p 8 & 9)
36
It was
He (Judge) describes the soul of evil people has been black, but
exempts himself.
JUDGE: Oh trader, trader, Because you see a
lifeless form here or in a dark alleyway with
ravenous rates for companion, yes, and on the
beach sometimes, or in the back of a derelict
lorry, a form that wears my face, do you really
think my soul will be found within that form?
HUMOUR
The “Beatification of Area Boys is a satire. In the tradition
of satire as discussed above humour is the dominant element in the
play.
At times, it is woven with irony, at other times, it has a
hyperbolic note, yet sometimes it rings simply with pure fun, at other
moments it is seriocomically. Sanda, Barber, News render and victim
strike humorous notes on many issues in the play.
Barber’s manner of praising his barbing professionalism is
highly humorous and hyperbolic. Persuaded by Barber of the need for
a brand new hair-cut, cyclist agrees to have his hair cut but prays that
the cut will not take long. Barber says that it will not take time and
boasts that he “can share the head of an entire battalion between one
coup and the next” P. 31 Barber’s statement is intended as a comment
37
on the political instability in his country.
The thought of several
hundreds of solders in a queue before a barber is both hyperbolic and
ludicrous.
Sanda’s
turn of mind at a point in the course of the
discussion on ad dreams is another highly humorous moment. When
Sanda suggests that everyone including himself has bad dreams from
time to time, one expects he will tell of some peculiar nightmares.
However, one laughs when the goes on to state that one nightmare he
had was that he dreamt only the previous week that he got married.
His wish to cancel the dream generates more laughter. It is humorous
and ironic that his dream that he got married is interpreted as a
nightmare and that all he wanted to do was to lock up the windows and
doors, stuff up the cracks in the walls and hide under his bed.
News vender’s advertisement to Big Man Shopper is quite
ludicrous.
The humour lies in the various contradictions
in his
statements. He says in one breath that he has the latest release from
Hollywood and in the same breath, declares that the films have not
been released anywhere. He claims also with the same mouth that all
the films he is selling are nominated for Oscar Award and with the
38
same says that they have got to Lagos even before the Oscar and
Academy people ever watched the films.
The missing episode is rife with humour. One instance is
Victim’s reaction to Sanda’s attempt to convince the crowed that their
thought about the “juju” attack is superstitious. Before the reaction
another witness and Woman have just linked the military government
with the missing genitals episode. The opine that since the government
has been preaching population control, it may as well be adopting a
wicked method to execute its policy and be emasculating the people by
magic. The conclude that government has inoculated the military and
the police against the act. They then use this inculcation to explain
whey the policeman remains unarmed when he touches the man
accused of causing another person’s genitals to disappear.
CONCLUSION
Humour stands out as a dramatic element in “the
Beatification of Area Boys”. The play revokes laughter in the ironies,
contradictions and exaggeration in the statement and actions of these
characters.
It is interesting to note too that Soyinka introduce fun
almost always after a scene or episode where some serious issues have
been depicted. Take for instance the missing genitous episode.
39
It is
sequel to the episode of the disagreement between Miseyi and Samda.
Barber’s
humorous
imagery
about
sharing
follows
directly
the
discussion about the unemployment status of cyclist.
From the dramatic devices drawn form the play, we can see
that Soyinka in his usual manner, has used the play to talk about
serious issues but giving it a humorous twist and at the same time
arousing
people to their consciousness on the happenings around
them. he also used the play to tell of the people way of life, which is the
orature of the people.
40
CHAPTER FOUR
SUMMARY, FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION SUMMARY
This research work has thoroughly justified its topic.
Orature in Modern, African Literature, using: Wole Sohinka’s
The
Beatification of Area Boy.
The general introduction into the research has been made
by stating its purpose, justification, scope and methodology of the
research work.
The literature review has adequately
looked into the
concept of orature in a sociological context, the sociological school of
literature,
modern
African
Literature
and
a
brief
background
information on Wole Soyinka.
Other elements in the play were also reviewed, such as the
dramatic elements in “The Beatification of Area Boy”.
Furthermore, the reviewed elements were used to analyses
the oratory features in the play, thereby arriving at a conclusive
solution for the problems raised initially in this research work.
FINDINGS
It was justified that, everything found in the written form
of literature, has already been in existence in the spoken form.
41
Also, it was discovered that Africans have rich valid
cultures, traditions and customs which alienates it
from other
continents of the world.
It was equally discovered that Modern African writers of
which Wole Soyinka being have a
unique way of juxtaposing
their
culture (Orature) with their social vision.
CONCLUSION
From this whole research, the striking and enormous
relationship can be obviously seen between Orature and Modern
African Literature and indeed the World at large.
This is made true, because there is a strong connection
between the two. It has been deciphered that Orature is the basis for
the Modern African Literature.
Thus, the undeniable
link between Orature and Modern
African Literature is born out of the fact that, there can never be the
existence of the Modern African Literature without Orature!
42
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