SZIL.g.

RD BIERNACZKY

ORALITY IN A F R I C A N LITERATURE TODAY

Any study of the present culture of the African countries

leads to the recognition that the modernization that has jumped
over several stages of social development is leading to the
coexistence and mingling of phenomena and processes charac-
teristic of different periods, what could be described more
graphically as their "compression" or "condensation."
I f we examine the social organization, we find that the fre-
quently mentioned but greatly simplified approach of " f r o m
tribe to nation ''1 as a way of raising the problem is unable in
itself to throw light on the real situation. In the case of any
independent African country we must count on different types
and levels existing side by side as regards even the traditional
formations of social organization. 2

1 From the very extensive literature, see, among others: Cohen and
Micidleton 1970; Du Toit ed. 1978; Rothehild and Olorunsola eds. 1983.
2 Ecsedy writes: "Around 80 per cent of the Black African peoples
live in societies organized into 'chiefdoms,' 'monarchies' 'kingdoms' and
'empires', so-called 'traditional states'." (1982, p. 608). In reality, the
picture is more complex than this. The type of structure forming the
community among the Pygmies, San (Bushman), Dama and other groups
reflecting the earliest stage of development is the extended family, the
clan or horde. In the case of the Interlacustrine kingdoms--on the ter-
ritory of Ruanda, Burundi and Uganda--the basis on which the king-
dom was organized was the defeat of the Bantu cultivators by the pastoral
peoples and the creation of a kind of vassal system. At the same time,
the kingdoms with a "homogeneous" population show slightly differing
characteristics. Some of them expanded their territory with wars of
conquest over shorter or longer periods (e.g. the kingdom of Mall),
while other ethnic groups--even with the changing "borders" caused by
the constant wars--have occupied largely the same area for a longer
period of time (e.g. the Kuba kingdom in Zaire studied by Torday; for

Neohelicon XVI/2 Akaddmiai Kiadr, Budapest

John Benjamfns B. V., Amsterdam
318 SZILARD BIEI~INACZKY

The models of state organization taken by the African coun-

tries are inspired to a considerable extent by f o r m s that have
arisen in the course of European historical development
(despotic, monarchic, liberal, etc.) and which take as their basis
the centuries of "experiments in government" by the English,
French or Portuguese colonial administrations and their efforts
to create a modern economy that succeeded to varying degrees.
T h e presence, mingling and conflicts of the many different
religions, local animist religious forms a n d practices, the 'dif-
ferent Christian churches, Islam and its various branches, Ju-
daism, Buddhism, etc., are largely contributing to the syncretic
phenomena?
It is, of course, part of the actual situation that the various
strata in the individual countries participate to very differing
extents in the "blessings and curses" of development, econ0i~iC
transformation, urbanization and "professional" culture,en-
dowed with writing, radio and television. In many countries
the rural population, representing the great majority, :are
affected by nothing of this at all, apart f r o m a few hours a ~)eek
of radio broadcasts in their native language and " E u r o p e a n ~'
goods that can be purchased in the nearby marketplaces. In this
way tribes and ethnic groups living in vast rural areas preserve
their original customs, social systems and generally even tt~eir
traditional "legal system" in practically unchanged f o r m #

the most recent summary, see: Vansina 1978). At the same time, it'.is
well known that in the last century, for example, embittered wars were
fought among the kings (oba) of the Yoruba cities for "greater" power.
However, in the absence of a chief, groups of villages in the land of the
neighbouring Ibo--as described in Chinua Achebe's third novel, Arrow
of God, 1964:-lived their lives under the guidance of only a religious
leader. See also the latest political anthropological and historiogra~'hic
writings: Claessen and Skalnik 1978, 1981.
3 A good source to use as a starting point is: Booth 1977.
There are many causes of this: material-economic standard, inad-
equacy of the educational system, lack of access to mass media (although
even so the latter in many places has set off the transformation of the
traditional culture of rural areas), geographical conditions, etc. :
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 319

In this way the "patterns" deriving from local ethnic com-

munities, or reaching Africa from different cultures and historic
periods give rise to the emergence of a series of phenomena and
mixed forms existing side by side or clashing with each Other.
The compression or clotting of these groups of syncretic
phenomena can be observed very clearly in the survival of the
different aspects, communal practice and way of thinking of
traditional society; as well as in the culturally mixed types
deeply imbued with folklore elements that appear in different
strata of life today. For, right from the start, the different parts,
strata and elements of the traditions of tribal societies appear
in all those places and areas where the structure of the economy
and place of residence (commercial centres, industrialized zones,
urbanized settlements, coastal strips strongly exposed to exter-
nal contacts, etc.) which have no longer been shaped according
to :the traditional tribal system.

PAST AND PRESENT OF THE STUDY OF

AFRICAN TRADITIONS
Although it was not until around the turn of the century that
many of the ethnic groups that are now the frequent object of
study first became known, records on African folklore (brief
portions of song texts, proverbs, collections of words tha( Can
also be evaluated from the angle of African cultures, descrip-
tions of musical instruments and objects of decorative art,
drawings, etc.) already appear in 17th-18th Century travel ac-
counts. 4 However, it was only in the first half of the 19th century
that volumes of deliberately recorded and larger quantities of
lraditional material appeared. Among others, we could mention
as an indication of the activities in this direction carried out by
missionaries, colonial governors, administrative officials, travel-

5 See, for exemple: Schapera and Farrington eds. 1933 (the dates of
the old works they publish are: 1668, 1686, 1695); Cavazzi 1690; Piga-
fetta 1881 (first edition: 1591); Froger 1699, etc.
320 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

lers and soldiers in the French-speaking African countries, on

the basis o f the book by R. Cornevin containing much new data,
the book by Abb6 Gr6goire on "the literature of the negroes"
(1808) or the collection of Wolof tales published by Count
Roger, the first European governor of Senegal (1828). 6
There can be no doubt though that it was as a result of the
field work and collecting catching up with those in the English-
speaking African areas in the second half of the century that the
first bilingual publications of full philological value appeared,
such as the volume of Bornu/Kanuri tale texts published with an
English translation by the German missionary, W. S. Koelle
(1854), and especially the Zulu collection of Bishop CaUaway
(1868, 1870). 7
Around the turn of the century, then in the first three decades
of the 20th century, several dozen valuable separate collections
also appeared, most of them containing translations in English,
French or German in addition to the records in the original
language, s Many collections of folklore texts can be found in
the European and American periodicals devoted to ethnography
ethnology or specifically to African studies. Outstanding in the
precise publication of bilingual texts is Africa und Obersee
(earlier Zeitschrift fiir Kolonialsprachen, then Zeitschrift fiir
Ein#eborenen Sprachen), a periodical that still exists.
The collections of texts published by the German field
researchers (mainly missionaries) are generally not accompanied
by explanatory material or the description of background ele-
ments throwing light on the cultural and social aspects which,

6 Gr6goire 1808; Roger 1828 (mentioned in Cornevin 1976).

Koelle 1854 (new edition: 1966); Callaway 1868, 1870.
s Chatelain 1894, Junod 1897, Bleek and Lloyd 1911, Dupuis-Yacouba
1911, Westermann 1912, Gaden 1913 and 1931, Rattray 1916, Vedder
1923, Hofmayr 1925, Doke 1927, Lindblom 1926, 1934, 1935, etc.
A large quantity of folklore material can be found in the Congo, Kongo
Overzee and Aequatoria periodicals. A similarly rich material is to be
Iound in the 12 volumes of Frobenius' Atlantis (1921-1928). It is a pity
that the original language versions are not given in these volumes.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 321

in contrast, is one of the strengths of the publications in French

and English. The latter, however, often lack a transcription in
the original language or simply the intention to strive for lin-
guistic and philological precision.
The work of M. Griaule, whose Masques Dogons ~ is one of
the major achievements of earlier French African ethnology,
could be mentioned as a characteristic case of African folklore
research in the period that came to an end with the Second
World War. The first part of the book gives a few textual mani-
festations of the Dogons' very complex mythological system
that is traditionally recorded with several hundred symbols,
arranged in the form of a poem cycle. It can be said to the merit
of this excellent researcher that he then gives a transcription in
two languages of the material collected, which means that the
corresponding French word figures under each word in the
text, irrespective of the grammatical structure. This practice,
still followed mainly by the French, gives the possibility of
philological control on a relatively high level, even without a
knowledge of the given African language. 1~
It is another matter that the arrangement of this part of the
texts collected in the manner of a poem cycle misleads the
reader because these texts are heard at different points in the
rites that last for days, and although they are linked to the
concepts of a single, very complex system, they are not directly
related to each other either in content or in structure. This is
apparent not only from other texts published in the scholar's
own work, but also, for example, from the book by M. Leirisu
in which the author quotes a series of ceremonial texts when
describing the secret language still used today for Dogon rites.
It is quite clear that the texts quoted are limited to various
ritual actions and different dramatic presentations. These verbal

Griaule 1938.
10The Sundiata variant, Wa Kamissoko and Cisse: L'empire du Mali
(1975) was recently published in this way too.
11 Leiris 1948.

21
322 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

manifestations (songs ?-- recitals ? -- rhythmic prose .9) generally

in the form of declaimed texts are mosaics in a ritual cycle o f a
complex mythical world view generally embracing a very wide
time span, as the films made by J. Rouch, a student of Griaule,
show. 1~ The considerable philological difficulties the interpre-
tation of these texts actually presents can be clearly seen in a
more recent transcription of the text by G. Dieterlen using mod-
ern methods, in places accompanied by footnotes f r o m line
to line) 3
It is undoubtedly true that the decisive role in the study of
African folklore is still played by the passion for the collection
of old things and the search for the archaic that arose in Europe
centuries ago and still exists, that is, a factor that was also ~the
fundamental driving force behind the birth of European folklore
collection, la This collecting urge which in a way resembles
botany or zoology, is still alive and, it must be admitted, it is
generally this approach to research that produces the best and
most up-to-date collections. This is true, even if we regard as
justified the objection formulated indirectly in the study by
O. B. Yai, 15 protesting against this "wierd object" approach to
African folklore divorced from man, society and reality.
In his book translated into numerous languages, G. Cocchiara
summed up the history of European folklore studies. 1~ The
history of African folklore studies and research has not yet been
written. 1960, declared the Year of Africa, was undoubtedly a
milestone in the history of the emergence of the independent
African states, but it only partly released the energies linked to
the recognition of the role of traditions and the preservation of
these traditions.

12Rouch 1981.
13Dieterlen 1965, pp. 32-37.
14On this, see Cocchiara 19542 and especially Cirese 1973, pp. 126-
143 : Interessi antiquari e popolarismo romantico nel primo risorgimento.
1~Yai 1982.
16Coeehiara 1954.
O R A L I T Y IN A F R I C A N L I T E R A T U R E 323

With the gradual awakening of national awareness, there was

a great increase in the interest in folk traditions, of appreciation
of the special features inherent in African cultural traditions and
of the everyday application of the folklore treasures (radio,
television, press, popular theatre, etc.). However, for some time
after 1960 the rescue of traditions from oblivion carried out on
a high scientific level was still largely the result of dedicated
fieldwork by non-natives and non-Africans. This is quite under-
standable, for together with the many other deficiencies, colo-
nialism did not leave behind trained folklore scholars either in
the newly independent countries. In recent years, however, the
situation has changed in a few countries.
Nigeria, where institutes dealing with African culture play an
important role in each of the relatively large number (more than
ten) of universities, must be mentioned in first place, although
considerable results have also been achieved in this respect in
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Niger,
Zaire, Tanzania and Kenya by researchers born in the countries
concerned and generally trained in western universities. Recent
years would appear to have brought the quantitative leap when
not only the larger African countries with greater economic
strength and even the smaller countries or those facing con-
tinuous economic difficulties have been able to point to a num-
ber of excellent folklore scholars, but also large numbers of
works exploring traditions have also been published (or are in
manuscript) by researchers from within, raised from the given
country, people or the members of the given ethnic community.
It must also be clearly seen that such important elements
giving rise to the birth of African thinking, to an independent
African identity, to the discovery of the unique African culture,
as the pan-Africanist movement, and later negritude, played a
role principally and right up to the present time in shaping the
consciousness largely of a very limited African intelligentsia.
Because of the history of the research situation already outlined,
these intellectual movements were only able to give very indirect
and distant impulses to the study of the continent's extremely

21"
324 SZILA-RD BIERNACZKY

complex traditions. For one thing, the leading figures and lesser
members of the movements were engaged principally in creative
work not folklore studies, and for another, they were strongly
committed to an independent African civilization as an abstract
phenomenon. However, this in itself was not sufficient to give
rise to the cultivation of the wide variety of abilities, knowledge
and not least of all research commitment required for the study
of traditions. We hold that this is so even if, for example J.
Kenyatta, one of the leading figures of pan-Africanism that was
revived after the Second World War, produced a work that has
been of decisive importance right u p t o the present, in which he
presented a detailed picture of the traditional life of his own
people, the Kujus of Kenya, in which he studied the interrela-
tionships from within. 17
To sum up, it can be said that the foundations for the study
of African folklore were laid by European penetration that
otherwise brought many negative historical, political and econo-
mic consequences; it was soldiers, administrators and mission-
aries, possessed of an innate or acquired capacity for scientific
observation, who were the first to bring to light the traditional
treasures in all their kaleidoscopic wealth of the ancient African
culture vith its many languages and countless ethnic groups.
The missions laid the foundations for literacy in many local
languages still existing in embryonic form, generally through
translation into the local language of the Bible and Pilgrim's
Progress, 18 the allegorical work by the 17th century English
Baptist preacher, John Bunyan, that was popular for centuries;
this was often linked with the publication of traditions found in
the region of the mission and with the creation of the technical
facilities for this, the setting up of small printing houses.
For centuries it was naturally the genre of ethnographic
descriptive works that represented the "bridge" in approaching

17 Kenyatta 1937.
x8Bunyan 1678.
O R A L I T Y IN A F R I C A N L I T E R A T U R E 325

the world of the African continent with the "verbal forms"

appearing only occasionally and in the form~of brief quotations.
Attention in these works is concentrated on describing the
economic and social systems and presenting customs and sys-
tems of beliefs. Later however, a growing role was played by
the publication of collections in the different genres (proverbs,
tales, myth-histories, historical accounts, song poems, poems
of praise, etc.).

MEETING OF CULTURES: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF

SYNCRETIC FORMS

In undertaking to survey the phenomena of the past quarter

of a century imbued with a variety of traditions, mention must
be made first of all of a special aspect of development embodied
in the currently little mentioned but obviously existing fact that,
at root, the efforts of the missionaries representing the Anglican
Church or one of the branches of Western or Northern Europe-
an protestantism to create a written form for the language are
generally to be found behind the literacy and literature based on
the African languages. The initial impetus from the missions
that often set many of the local peoples on the path of writing
and literature was followed by the period of borrowed languages
(English, French, Portuguese) that Gy6rgy M. Vajda character-
izes very aptly in one of his studies. 19 The pidginization of
English as it came into conflict with the local languages can be
likened to the special form of Latin that arose in Hungary in
the Middle Ages. The appearance of pidgin elements at stylistic
level in the works of the best artists writing in borrowed lan-
guages (see, among others, a whole series of Nigerian writers)
can be considered essentially as a characteristic form of syncre-
tism produced by the meeting of cultures.
The different languages and practices in the use of languages
further expand the range of special phenomena and their levels

a~Vajda 1986.
326 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

in the African countries. It is sufficient to think of the extremely

complex situation that is to be found in East Africa. For one
thing, Swahili is spreading to the detriment of English. Together
with the presence of Islam, Arabic also continues to play a
certain role. If an author writing in one of the Swahili languages
wishes to step outside the East African communities and to
establish contact in some form with English-speaking Africa,
he is obliged to translate his work into English. The influence
of Swahili and Arabic appear in the local English, while on the
other hand, not only English words and structures appear in
Swahili and Arabic, but also neologisms of an international
nature, often via English. The situation is further complicated
by the fact that a series of Bantu languages and language groups,
otherwise close to Swahili in their system, flourish under the
"English-Arabic" umbrella of Swahili. Apart from their use in
everyday contact these may also leave their imprint not only in
the mass media (radio, television), but also in cases in the writ-
ten language (through the press, periodicals and book publica-
tion). And we have not even mentioned the fact that Hausa may
also appear scattered in the East African region as one of the
most important intermediary languages of West Africa. 2~
The "maturing into the present" of social formations repre-
senting the distant past of human development can be observed
most readily in the world of the local communities remote from
the African coastal regions and large cities, still largely un-
touched, or at least preserving their functions in the original
form. The presence of such "original communities" in the life
of African states today is an anachronism in appearance only,
since the lack of material means in itself makes modernization
impossible. Because of the vast distances, the astronomical
scale of the differences in development does not really disturb
the coexistence existing only in theory between the urbanized,
industrialized regions and the traditional settlement systems.

z0On this see, among others: Whiteley1969.

ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 327

9The forms of syncretism showing societal or community

entities, more precisely, "traditionalism" breathing within the
frameworks of modern society of capitalist or socialist orienta-
tion can be best observed in the case of the traditional kingdoms
"maturing into the present". In many African countries the
settlement units continuing to live under tribal guidance, the
chiefdoms, kingdoms, emirates, sultanates, etc., were not elim-
inated within the framework of state public administration
even in the course of the past decade either. In other places how-
ever, various elements and forms of the traditional social or-
ganization are surviving the changes and in cases are being
incorporated directly into the new public administration system
(e~g. the council of elders is transformed into the town or
provincial council).
A special situation is found in the Lacustrian kingdoms
(Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, North-west Tanzania) which were
brought into being by pastoral peoples, presumably of East
African origin. On entering this area, the pastoral people su-
perimposed their settlements on the Bantu agricultural people
they found here, creating a kind of system of vassalageY The
traditional states that came into being from these two different
ethnic groups have undergone substantial transformation in the
course of the past two or three decades. In Rwanda, for example,
in the course of a number of violent conflicts following inde-
pendence, the majority Bantu Hutu drove the Tutsi, the former
ruling caste, out of the country. The reverse situation arose in
Burundi where, after brutally suppressing a number of Hutu
revolts, the Tutsis have preserved their dominant position. It
was moreover only in 1966 that the country was transformed
from a kingdom into a republic, although traces of royal trap-
pings can still be found. The most striking thing isthat the ge-
nealogies of the Tutsi rulers, the "history passed down orally"
of'the struggles, conquests, local or national events related to

=1There is a very extensive literature on the subject. See as a starting

point: Hertefelt, Trouwborst and Scherer 1962.
328 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

the Tutsi kings forms the basis of the knowledge of the past
serving as source for the shaping of the national awareness of
both countries, zz At the same time, the historical past is insep-
arable f r o m the oral traditions. It appears in the several hun-
dred royal dynastic songs, in the verbal material of the royal
rites, in the court songs of various genres and in the historical
narratives) ~
A very special case of the "anachronistic" kingdoms surviv-
ing independence and the foundation of the modern state can
be found in G h a n a which at one time set out on the path of
building socialism, but has recently survived various grave so-
cial crises. According to an article published in No. 3, 1972 of
African Arts, 24 between 5 June and 24 July 1970, Otumfuo
Opoku Ware II was elected as the new king (Asantehene) of the
Asanti nation, amidst great pomp. The value of this article is
that it gives a very good idea of the traditional poetic forms of
the royal election and their textual presentation. It should be
added that, with the exception of proverbs, it is really only in
the past two or three decades that the A k a n oral traditions have
been studied. 25 In his b o o k published in 1981, 26 M. Assimeng,
the Ghanian social anthropologist takes into account the most
recent phenomena in his survey of the processes of transforma-
tion taking place in his country, showing among other things,
the forms of cooperation between the A k a n tribal chiefs and the

~2In addition to those mentioned in the previous note: Kagame 1959,

1972, Cohen 1970, Vansina 1972, Newbury 1974.
~z Also: Kagame 1951, Coupez and Kamanzi 1962, Hertefelt and
Coupez 1964, Rodegem 1973.
~ Kyerematen 1972.
~zRattray 1916 selected 830 of the 3600 proverbs published by Christal-
ler in 1879, adding an English translation and comments. The old col-
lection gave only the versions in the original language, without comment.
Of importance in the study of Akan oral traditions are the descriptions
of rites given by Meyerovitz (1951, 1952, 1958), and the numerous works
by Nketia that also examine the musical aspect of the folk poetry (1955,
1963/A, 1963/]3, 1975).
~e Assimeng 1981.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 329

present state machinery. He makes a critical analysis o f the

outdated tribal structure, but points out that the elimination o f
the Golden Stool (the principal symbol o f the power o f the
Asanti kings) would shake the foundations o f the sense of
identity o f the A k a n masses.
A t the same time, the anachronistic appearance in the present
o f traditional f o r m s o f dynastic rule, as we have already indi-
cated, has made possible the survival o f a whole series o f verbal
forms and their use in their original function. The investiture o f
rulers, the rites, customs and festivities maintained by the court
are treasure troves of oral traditions. One o f the m o s t charac-
teristic genres o f African folk poetry, the song o f praise, 27 is
linked to the tribal social structure, to the figures o f chiefs who
have been heroic in war, and its survival is inseparable f r o m the
present anachronistic forms o f existence o f tribal society.
W e k n o w a case f r o m South Africa which shows that the
poetry o f praise is n o t merely an embellishment and the highest
aesthetic expression o f the court o f the tribal chief, but can also
be a means for the expression o f political opinion. In one o f his
instructive studies, 28 A. Mafeje stresses f r o m the outset that it
was always the task o f the singer o f praise to express an opinion

27 The song of praise is one of the most typical formations of African

folklore. From the structural point of view, the germ is to be found in
the "name praise" related to the name-giving customs that accompanies
everyone from childhood in the great majority of traditional African
societies. An outstanding person (as well as gods, natural phenomena,
animals and objects) may have several hundred name praises; in the case
of persons, this is related to their deeds so that the name praises also
contain "epic elements". It is therefore not by chance that this genre
occupied a central position in the life of groups forming the traditional
state. Many collections have been published, mainly drawn from the
Southern Bantus (Zulu, Xhosa, Soto, Chvana, Swazi, Shona), the Central
and Lacustrine Bantus (Luba, Ankole, Hima, Ganda, Ruanda), and
more recently from the ethnic groups of Western Sudan (Akan, Hausa,
Yoruba, Wolof, etc.). In a source collection intended for the general
public, a full survey is given of the existing sources and the genre sub-
types in: Gleason 1980.
2s Mafeje 1967.
330 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

in an indirect form in connection with the deeds of the ruler.

Quoting concrete texts as examples, Mafeje shows a special
modern manifestation of this practice when, on the eve of the
election of a chief, the bard praises a candidate whom the
repressive South African authorities would like to deprive of
power since it was well known that he did not wish to cooperate
with the whites in many of their endeavours contrary to the
interests of the tribe.

A C H A R A C T E R I S T I C CASE OF C U L T U R A L S Y N C R E T I S M :
F R O M THE R I T E TO T H E M O D E R N T H E A T R E

9The entry into the process of modernization of the various

phenomena, forms, types and genres of African tribal cultures
evoking prehistoric times, their incredibly rapid transformation
and their linkage with features derived from other African or
extra-African cultures can be observed very clearly in connection
with the group of cultural phenomena that European literature
classifies as the genre of drama or theatrical art. The universal
human "need" for dramatic presentation and plays is indicated
by the fact that it finds scope in the traditional African or non-
European-type societies too. It can be found in the systems of
rites presenting and recalling local ideologies, in the lay gather-
ings that also serve as a framework for the dramatic perfor-
mance of the different folklore genres, and in the different forms
of Customs ranging from witchcraft to the various customs (see,
for example, the cradle song, the boat song, the cycle of customs
from betrothal to marriage, the legal customs, love charms, etc.).
Although in the following we will consider drama as a special
type of orality in African literature, we must nevertheless refer
here to the contraction of the path leading from the rite to the
theatre, the almost synchronous, simultaneous appearance of
diachronic phenomena. That is, to the fact which follows from
this, that the development phases and the genres corresponding
to these development phases of transformation and change,
that frequently required centuries in European cultural history,
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 331

coexist in Africa today in very varied forms and great richness.

We can observe not only the special colours of differing rites
and festivals, but also the clearly distinguishable development
stages in the process of transformation.
.Considerable progress has been made in recent decades in
the study of traditional rites, but despite this, relatively little
material has yet been published in which the author attempts to
describe the course of the rite itself; that is, to give a tangible
feeling of the process in time of the series of ceremonies that
often lasted for several days or even for more than a week.
Nevertheless, the works of M. Wilson, E. Meyerovitz, V. Turner
and others, that were a sensation in the field at the time of their
publication, give numerous data and series of analyses that
could be decisive in approaching the rite as a traditional
play.29
The latest African folklore researches give rise to an interest-
ing conclusion that can be sensed in places from the works
quoted here and from earlier authors, but which has only
recently become an openly expressed thought. Namely, the
African and in general the tribal traditions are increasingly
being regarded uniformly as dramatic verbal art. There are
grounds for this if we consider that the African epics classified
according to European categories are presented in dramatic
performance. 3~
9A similar phenomenon can be discovered in the case of the
African tale with song where not only the gestures and expres-
sive movements accompanying the performance-or in the case
of the songs, the dialogue between the solo and the chorus (the
chorus is in general the whole audience)- bring about the dra-
matic situation, but also the fact, which often occurs in this
genre, that in the longer and shorter prose inserts between the
songs the story takes shape from the rapid rhythmic dialogue

2~Wilson 1951, 1957, 1959; Meyerovitz1951, 1952, 1958, Turner 1957,

1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, etc.
30See Biebuyckand Mateene 1969, Eno-Belinga 1978, Okpewho 1979.
332 SZIL.~RD BIERNACZKY

of responses between the storyteller (soloist) and the audience

(chorus)? 1
We know of texts on an epic scale from the source region of
the initiation rites (e.g. collections of A. Hampale B~t or J.
Goody), in which dramatic presentation is also an integral part
of the performance.3~ Especially important features can be
observed in the case of the Ozidi Saga, 3a the giant collecting
undertaking of J. P. Clark, a dramatist who has been somewhat
overshadowed by Soyinka, but who plays an outstanding role
in Nigerian literature. Clark, who collected the Ijaw people's
creation myth, has provided the most authentic text to date,
publishing the performance of the myth that lasts six nights not
only in the original language and in English, but also attempt-
ing to note the interjections of the audience from the recording.
On reading the Ozidi S a g a - w h i c h is made more complete
in this way by giving some idea of the atmosphere of the original
performance-the suspicion inevitably arises that when the
audience approaches this myth-drama of otherwise very epic
bent (this term is used here not to indicate the genre, but the
density of the action) as a compulsorily accepted and compul-
sorily remembered ideological-religious pattern, the listeners
are at the same time experiencing some special form of the
Aristotelean catharsis. In other words, the performance of the
Ozidi Saga also serves an aesthetic function in some sense, for
both performer and audience. The key to the solution may lie
here: why the local audience in Sierra Leone in the 18th century
was able to participate on first hearing in active enjoyment of
he staging of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Richard H. s~ There is
no substantial difference between ritual experience and the
cathartic effect of modern theatre, except in the actual cultural

81On this subject, see my studies and series of radio broadcasts:

Biernaezky 1976, 1977/78, 1977, 1979.
3~Bh 1961, 1968; Goody 1972, 1980.
~zClark 1977.
Graham-White 1974.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 333

material of the medium producing the catharsis. However, as

the above example shows, this does not represent an insurmount-
able barrier and thus emphasizes the groundlessness of ethno-
centrism, whatever the historical period or place where it arises.
Leafing through earlier or recent issues of African Arts, the
excellent art magazine edited by the African Research Centre
of the University of Los Angeles, we find a rich store of tradition-
al African customs systems, in which African decorative art
appears in its original role, in the life-like throb of rites, mask
dances and traditional theatre presentations, as
D. Kerr, the English researcher living in Malawi, presents
numerous forms of African popular/folk (?) theatre in his
study,ze concentrating on a few examples of folk theatre aspira-
tions adapted to the purpose of the state's political and ideologi-
cal aspirations. However, the range of changing forms and
syncretic phenomena types is far richer than would appear from
Kerr's study. Although it is not customary to regard them as
theatre, the occasionally heterogeneous, theatrical rite types
which have arisen in Africa with the mingling of different reli-
gions, could also be included in the genre of popular theatre for
example. In his study Kerr presents the popular theatre aspira-
tions in Zaire, but makes no mention, among others, of the
special church formations that came into being in the practice
of the Congo (kimbangista) religion supported by Mobutu. J. M.
Janzen and W. MacGaffey describe a number of such rites. 37
The authors record the course of the "services", together with
the text of the songs, in which the mingling of African traditions
and European Christian religious practice can be followed in
both form and content. This religious practice of a very specific
nature, appearing as a copy of original rites, throws light on the
demand for theatricality in the communities that have only

a~African Arts, 1968.

a~Kerr 1986.
37Janzen and MacGaffey1974.
334 SZILARD BIERNACZICY

recently broken away from the traditional way of life, or in

essence are still living in it.
One final remark: it is a good indication of the richness of
the rites that are transformed into a secular celebration, festival
or popular theatre, and of the growing interest in this genre,
that according to the latest issue of the Nigeria Magazine, the
selected bibliography of communications dealing with Nigerian
festive customs contains 605 itemsY

F R O M L I T E R A T U R E TO F O L K L O R E : E U R O P E - - F R O M
F O L K L O R E TO L I T E R A T U R E : A F R I C A

Like many elements in the theme ranging from rite to drama;

the examples listed so far all suggest that it is not simply a mat-
ter of time figuratively shifting into space, of diachrony into
synchrony, because of the compression of the processes of
transformation, because of the juxtaposition of phenomena
succeeding each other in time. A very important aspect supple:
rfienting the above is also involved, namely, that the decisive
element in this intertwining, compressed and intermingled group
of processes is tradition. This is particularly important if we
take into account that right up to the present day the products
of African literature reach largely non-African readers. It is not
merely illiteracy that plays a role in this. It can be assumed that
there are very substantial differences in the approach to and
"consumption" of literature.
The nineteenth century collectors of African oral traditions
were almost certainly also guided by the noble t h o u g h t - t h a L
reaches as far back as Herder and served as the basis for the
movement that aimed to rescue folk traditions-that the tales,
legends, myths, songs and proverbs form part of world litera-
ture.
The aesthetic position of B. Croce who considers that there is
no difference between folk poetry and literary poetry even more

u Ekpenyong1981.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 335

clearly stresses the way o f thinking rooted in European literary

and philological traditions. For him, there is only "poetry" and
"non-poetry". A special manifestation of this view is K~iroly
Mardt's concept o f " c o m m o n poetry" applying to all the prod-
ucts of folk and literary poetry appearing at the level of nation-
al culture, z9
Many authors could be quoted on the subject of the African
material, but we refer here only to the standard works of
R. Finnegan. a~ The English researcher takes as her starting
point the view that oral traditions appear as a part of literature.
It is undoubtedly true that in the case of a folk song or work of
literary poetry, the oral or written mode of expression essen-
tially embodies only a difference in coding (communication).
But on deeper reflection, even without greater prior knowledge
or detailed analyses, we must come to the conclusion that the
mode of coding is decisive in a number of senses and thusresults
in fundamental differences. The oral coding transmits the cul-
tural facts of the non-literate societies, tribal cultures and archaic
tribal communities. Writing transmits to tile members of t h e
societies and the vehicles of these cultures the body of objective
and spiritual means that have arisen in societies broken up into
classes and strata following the foundation of the state, but
also showing numerous forms of separation and fragmentation
in the cultural spheres. Thus, the two different types of coding
also differ decisively as regards the content of the information
transmitted. ~1
The difference appearing in coding as a means can also influ-
ence the information transmitted, in both form and content.
It is sufficient here to give a few brief examples. Anyone who

a9Croce 1933, 1936, 1942; Mar6t 1940, 1947.

40Finnegan 1970.
~ See especially Goody (ed.) 1968. Research into history transmitted
orally arose out of the special nature of African oral society, a subject
that would require a separate study to present in detail. A good intro-
duction to the theory is the classical work of Vansina: 1961 (1965 and
1976), and the new overview by Henige: 1982.
336 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

has ever conducted interviews, recorded different styles of

speech and transcribed them f r o m tape to writing knows how
padding elements, repetitions and laxity in the structure of
sentences can be found in the speech of even the most gifted
speakers that would be inconceivable in writing. 42
The so-called formula analysis and formula research that has
been popular since A. Lord 43 essentially took as its point of
departure this characteristic of living speech that can also be
found in the modern environment. Two different coding forms
of a f o r m passed down by oral tradition and preserving archaic
elements can provide an excellent example of the difference
between the oral and the written code. We have a relatively good
knowledge of the heroic songs (izibongo) of the South African
Bantu tribes, the Zulu in connection with which various studies
have been m a d e - a s for other groups of South and West
African hero s o n g s - i n order to examine the rich variety of
formulas and types of stylistic repetition. 4~ In addition to this,
M. Kunene, a descendant of renowned Zulu bards (imbongi), a
learned literary scholar, writer and poet, has published two
vast written epics ~5 which, according to his own admission, are
based on the songs of his parents and grandparents. However
the text has still not been published in the original language,
which means that this is not a closed "philological situation".
Even so, the polished nature of the written form and the absence
of numerous elements of oral coding in the style seem to indicate
that the volumes are not authentic oral traditions but contain
a reworking in writing on a certain level of the vast song mate-
rial drawn f r o m the original source.

~2 In publishing folklore texts, ordinary slips of the tongue are correct-

ed, but "laxities in sentence structure" are generally transcribed exactly
in scientifically authentic publications.
43 Lord 1960. There is now a large body of literature on research into
formulas. Two recent important collections of studies are: Duggan (ed.)
1975, Stolz and Shannon (eds.) 1976.
~4 See, among others: Cope 1968.
4~Kunene 1979, 1981.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 337

It is not our intention here to deal further with this question.

It is clear that the forms handed down by oral tradition and the
written verbal forms must not be confused. These not only dif-
fer from each other in form and content, but from the point of
view of cultural history undoubtedly also represent two differ-
ent groups of phenomena arising from the same human activ-
ity (need).
But let us return to the question of the identity or difference
between the European and African attitude. It is a fact that in
one of his studies, J. Adedeji also adopts Finnegan's approach:

It will suffice for our purpose in this article to define African

folkloric literature as that literature which is not only informed
by folklore but is also conditioned by its artistic attributes. It
has to have the basic characteristics of oral expression as its
inherent stylistics and the techniques of performance as its essen-
tial feature even though it is realized as a literary product. What
distinguishes folkloric literature from written literature is its
realization as a re-creative work whose attributes in terms of
structure and style depend largely on materials of oral tradition.
Folkloric literature must evince communicative interactions with
the people to whom it is addressed. That is to say, in both structure
and texture the material must relate to the social context and
affect cultural attitude. To this extent, the artistic form of African
folkloric literature must be a culturally recognized category of
communication whose identifying form separate and distinguish
it from other forms of literature produced elsewhere?6

But it is precisely here that we can put a finger on the differ-

ence brought to light above. What Adedeji says here reveals
the essential aspect that the African public and those who play
a part in literature in Africa do not approach folklore and
peasant traditions through the centuries of written traditions,
striving in this way to involve it in the universe of world litera-
tnre that it so incredibly vast and complex in time and space,
but from the direction of the other group of phenomena, from
the direction of the oral arts grouped around the coding types

~6Adedeji 1976.

22
338 SZIL~-RD BIERNACZKY

of the archaic traditions, attempting in this way to come closer

to the art forms and types of phenomena recorded in writing,
attempting to assimilate European and world literature, to be-
come acquainted with their social, historical and cultural envi-
ronments.
To the best of our knowledge this "reverse formula" of the
relationship between oral society and literature has not yet
been formulated in the literature, although "approaches" to the
question can be found in African authors too. O. Ogunba, for
example, in an article published in 197147 is waging a battle
merely to draw attention to the world of oral literature and oral
traditions, and for researchers to value the "native" literary
forms passed down by oral tradition as literature. In his book
on the African epic, I. Okpewho already comes closer to the
problem. He regards it as an important criterion of the "oral
epic" that in the case of this genre orality brings a different
mode of approach to the word from that of writing. In his
opinion, as a consequence of the differing basic situation, the
emotions are formulated on the basis of a different kind of be-
haviour, and this is also the basis of the many different repeti-
tions (formulas) which are inconceivable in the written epic. ~8
In an article in which he compares European and African folk-
lore research, ~9 C. Okafor stresses that the collection, publica-
tion and analysis of African oral traditions must be carried out
differently, applying new means and a new approach, because
in the culture of the African continent oral traditions still
represent the "living and dynamic mode of communication",
not a survival of the primitive past as can be found in the case
of the folklore of the European peoples.
However, in their book that provoked considerable debate,
the Nigerian Ibo authors Chinweizu, Jemie and Madubuike 5~

970gunba 1971.
4s Okpewho 1979, passim.
49Okafor, 1979.
5oChinweizu, Jemie and Madubuike 1980.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 339

develop the i d e a t h a t the essential basis o f i n s p i r a t i o n , f o r m a n d

decisive b e h a v i o u r o f A f r i c a n literature is oratoria a s c o n t r a s t e d
t o literatura. This idea, a m o n g o t h e r s goes b a c k to a very early
(1964) brilliant insight o f C. A c h e b e :
The prose tradition of non-literate peoples is often presumed to
consist of folk-tales, legends, proverbs, and riddles. Dr. Whiteley
reminds us that these categories represent only a part of the tradi-
tion. I would go so far as to say that they represent the least im-
portant part. If one takes the Igbo society, which I know best,
it seems quite clear that the finest examples of prose occur not in
those forms but in oratory and even in the art of good conversa-
t i o n . . . Serious conversation and oratory.., call for an original
and individual talent and at their best belong to a higher order.
Unfortunately there is no way of preserving them in a non-literate
society. One catches glimpses of the glory of Igbo oratory by
listening to the few people remaining in the villages who can
deploy the full resources of the language... The good orator
calls to his aid the legends, folk-lore, proverbs.., of his people;
they are some of the raw material with which he works... One
hopes that African writers will make use of them (proverbs) in
dialogue, for which they were originally intended. 51

H o w e v e r , the w o r k o f these t h r e e a u t h o r s does n o t give a

clear definition in t e r m s o f literary sociology o f the r e l a t i o n s t i i p
between oral society or the culture b a s e d on orality, a n d liter-
acy.

ORALITY IN AFRICAN D R A M A

The b o o k b y the excellent trio o f N i g e r i a n I b o a u t h o r s q u o t e d

a b o v e ~2 p o i n t s o u t as a basic conclusion t h a t A f r i c a n l i t e r a t u r e
is n o t simply the n e w b o r n y o u n g e r sister o f the E u r o p e a n litera-
tures, even if the history o f the m a j o r i t y o f A f r i c a n l i t e r a t u r e
r e a c h e s b a c k o n l y a few d e c a d e s (the literatures in Swahili,
H a u s a , A m h a r a a n d o t h e r l a n g u a g e s c o u l d be m e n t i o n e d as
exceptions), for their sources o f i n s p i r a t i o n are also m u l t i -

zl Achebe 1964, VII-VIII.

52 Chinweizu, Jemie and Madubuike 1980.

22*
340 SZIL~RD BIERNACZKY

tiered. As the Nigerian authors note, not only European, but

also African, Arab and Oriental patterns also played a role in
shaping African literature. Moreover, and this is the decisive
factor, the different kind of factual material and the different
content drawn from the African reality (and in more recent
times, the different system of demands of the African readers)
bring consequences of form differing from the European. And
this undoubtedly indicates the presence of independent trends
in literary developrnent, even despite the presence of borrowed
languages.
The fact that contemporary Nigerian literature is for the most
part in English and that English-speaking patterns also played
a role in its emergence, says little in itself. The English critical
commonplace that Soyinka is the Shakespeare of the twentieth
century, gives no help in understanding him. We gain far more
insight if we move beyond the one-sidedness of English-speak-
ing patterns and discover in connection with Soyinka's art the
unique social situation creating a genre and a literature, similar
to that which brought early Greek drama into being. This
question moreover appears to be extremely important for our
theme too, for the processes that occurred between the Diony-
sian goat song and the emergence of Aeschylian drama seem
to be almost identical-leaving aside the time factor-with the
characteristics of the path leading from Yoruba rites to the
typical secular dramas. 4s
However, together with, and perhaps in spite of all this, it
must be claimed that the independence and originality of this
young literature, or even more, literatures, nourished by a wide
variety of sources, patterns and influences, and their difference
from the European patterns arise largely and above all from
the constant and obvious presence of the traditions, of a drama-
tic character equal in value to orality, of dramatized forms, from
the reality of the "oral society". For the path leads from the

See Thomson 1958, Hegediis and K6nya 1980.

ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 341

masked ritual plays~4 to the drama that is also coded (tran~mit-

ted) by oral expression, by orality. Even in the case of profes-
sional drama, the written form is somewhere in the final analysis
only secondary.
Two further important things must be mentioned in connec-
tion with the above. One is that, especially in the course of the
development taking place in the English-speaking countries,
the fact that even in the case of modern t h e m e s - see, for exam-
ple, Strike and Hunger by H. Ogunde s s - the impromptu ele-
ment continues to exist indicates the exceptional strength of
orality. The Yoruba folk opera trilogy by the Nigerian writer
D. Ladipo exists in only a Yoruba-English-language edition
that corresponds approximately to the form realized in the
course of the performance.~6 It would also be of interest to
show in works existing in complete written form by authors who
at the same time also draw copiously on the material of rites,
how the structure of the rite appears in these works and how it
transcends the accepted theatrical f o r m s - b u i l t into the system
of acts or scenes of the European drama. To give only one small
example. Song inserts of this type can be found in many places
in the dramas of Soyinka. ~7 These appear to play the same role
as the prologue, epilogue or song inserts in European drama.
However, in reality the songs or choruses that appear in modern
African drama are rather units of form closer to the traditional
forms (often serving a direct dramatic function) and can hardly
be regarded as related to the prologues or epilogues that gener-
ally contain some kind of moral aspects or thoughts, or to the
"ariettas" to be found in melodrama where they serve to provide
an emotional summing up. This is all the more so since a ritual
act, magic custom or some element of traditional ceremony is
generally to be found behind them.

~J See the bibliography already mentioned: Ekpenyong 1980.

~ Ogunde 1945.
~ Ladipo 1972.
5~Soyinka 1973[1974.
342 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

To sum up, we must agree with the conclusion frequently

found in the international literature that the traditional celebra-
tion has the character of a play, that the rite has dramatic
features, and that the rites, celebrations and ceremonies serve
as a natural source for the emergence of modern drama.

ORALITY IN AFRICAN PROSE

As regards the African short story and novel, there now

exists a very large body of analyses that strive to discover the
themes and structure of tales in African prose literatureP 8 There
are rather fewer analyses attempting to take stock of the differ-
ent types of traditional elements (beliefs, customs, material
culture, etc.) and of the different genres of the oral forms passed
down by word of mouth (proverb, song, description of rite,
tale, legend, myth, etc.). 59 The evaluation of the stylistic use,
function and aesthetic role of these elements also causes
problems. The question raised by our study, namely in what
ways orality and oral expression can influence the written form,
obviously arises in only a few attempts at analysis.
However, even at stylistic level the question is not an insol-
uble one. The types of repetition used in prose forms (word,
group of words, sentence, or in cases a complete structural unit
of prose) or, for example, the abundant use of onomatopoeic
words quite clearly indicate the speech-like character of the
oral traditions. It is worth considering the findings of A. Lord
on the already mentioned formation of formulas, as one of the
most characteristic stylistic phenomena of the epic oral tradi-
tions, findings which are also of relevance here.
The strongest proof of the appearance of orality in prose is
the composition of dramatic type, in other words, the penetra-
tion of a different genre into the novel or short story. In C.

ss The monograph by Dussutour-Hammer Tutola (1976) is exemplary

from this point of view.
~9See Lindfors 1972.
ORAL1TY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 343

Achebe's novels Things fail apart, and Arrow of God, the com-
position is not epic but dramatic in nature. The plot is built up
(it is interesting to note in passing that oddly enough it is very
close to the highly elliptical compositional technique used by
Hemingway) of a succession of mosaics, constantly jumping
over levels, and these mosaics in themselves can be regarded
as a kind of "traditional dramatic scenes". Moreover, these
scenes include the "reconstruction" on a high artistic level of
many actual rites. It is another matter, and indicative of
Achebe's exceptional qualities as a writer, that this dramatic
mode of construction does not distort the framework of the
written novel.

ORALITY IN AFRICAN POETRY

At first sight it would appear that local traditions play a

lesser role in African written poetry than in the drama or the
novel. However, it is sufficient merely to examine a represen-
tative anthology of Nigerian poetry published in Hungarian 6~
to see the many forms in which orality is present in the works of
the 16 poets included in the collection. We find a surrealist
resolution of traditions in The mysterious drumbeat by G. Okara.
Stylistic elements of traditional myths lie behind the poems of
C.: Achebe which reflect modern experiences. C. Okigbo's
amazingly beautiful, mystical solitary poems full of question
marks embody characteristically traditional types of repetition,

~0It is interesting to note that anthologies of Nigerian poetry have

appeared almost exclusively in foreign languages (that is, neither in
African languages nor in English). This is due in part to the fact that the
works concerned are available in the original place of publication, and
in part to the fact that publising is still oriented not to the publication of
national, but of African (or English-, French- or Portuguese-language
African) literary anthologies. We have therefore not considered it out of
place to take a "representative sample" from an anthology in Hungar-
ian. The volume edited by Shra Karig and Agnes Gergely appears to be
a faithful mirror of Nigerian poetry.
344 SZiL~RD BIERNACZKY

experiences, descriptions of nature, thinking and attitudes. In

the poetry of J. P. Clark the surrealistic resetting of images
derived from traditional poetry is directly linked to references
to the gods of the Yoruba pantheon. In the case of P. Ndu the
images conjuring up the archaic tribal community once again
only appear together with characteristic formulas. In A. Higo
we can see an attempt at a modern reformulation of the proverb
genre, one of the basic sources of traditional African philosophy.
Images of the Ibo past also appear in C. Azuonye's use of words
and images. (The author is also one of the most important col-
lectors of the Ibo epic song traditions.)
Similar impressions can be gained from reading the work of
a poet rooted in an entirely different culture, that of Agostinho
Neto, the former president of Angola. ~1 It could be mentioned
above all that in places Neto includes lines in his native "Kim-
bundu" language in his poems. The other feature indicating the
influence of traditions and folk poetry is the many elements of
the tribal environment to be found in his poems. At the same
time he also uses characteristically African types of repetition.
On the other hand, the structure of his poems shows a relation-
ship with European free verse. However, the reader more fami-
liar with the traditional African genres discovers that this
structure is not free verse but rather that of the African songs in
which the organizing force is the musical melodic line. The lines
of poetry with a varying number of syllables and in which rhyme
is generally replaced by alliteration, take shape along the re-
peated melodic forms in this form that uses constant varia-
tion. ~
The traditional roots of modern African poetry could be
explored principally in the case of poetry written in the African
languages. In this respect, we must refer to the undoubtedly
pioneering work of A. G6rard (Four African Literatures) ~3

61Neto 1980.
6~Neto 1980, pp. 116-118.
68Grrard 1971.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 345

which has taken the first steps in this direction and which pro-
vides a number of insights of relevance to our theme. Neverthe-
less, there are still only a yery few monographic studies dealing
with professional poetry in the African languages. The book
recently published by J. M. Lenake 6~ analysing the oeuvre of
the South African Soto poet, K. N. Ntsane, must be mentioned
as a rare exception. It is clear from the analyses that the bor-
rowed languages undoubtedly represent a barrier in the emer-
gence of a literary poetry arising naturally from the traditions.
The influence of the traditional poetry of the Bantu peoples of
South Africa, and above all the influence of the genre of praise
poetry can be observed far more markedly and clearly in the
style, verse structure and experiences of Ntsane than in any
other poetic works also influenced by traditions that have been
written in English, French or Portuguese.

ORALITY AND MUSIC

We have already emphasized the important role that music

plays in African oral traditions. It could almost be said that
there is no traditional genre that is not rooted in music. The
West African epics are sung, declaimed and accompanied by
musical instruments. The Equatorial Bantu epics are also per-
formed with an instrumental accompaniment. Although the
song sections taking the form of solo-chorus are followed by
longer recitals of text, the European listener with a musical
background has no difficulty in discovering that these "prose
sections" are actually very similar to the declaimed recitativo
type. They are a kind of rhythmic prose in which the alternation
of "almost song-like", the "recitativo type" or the somewhat
less restricted "almost speech-like" levels can be found practi-
cally from line to line. 6~

Lenake 1984.
nnSee the introduction in Innes 1974, pp. 1-33, and my attempt at a
musical transcription: Biernaczky 1977, pp. 16-19.
346 SZILg.RD BIERNACZKY

This is similar to the presentation of the tale with song so

popular throughout Africa and which, in our estimate, repre-
sents at least a third of the body of African tales. Here too we
can observe in places the rhythmic character of the prose sec-
tions, as well as their dramatic type of presentationfi 6
It is hardly necessary to make special mention of the fact
that the songs and dances are presented in music. Music con-
tinues to play an important role in African literature that is
assuming a modern form. As we have seen, it is particularly
important in the drama-type, custom-like stage forms where
music dominates in the performance.
The staging of oral traditions, whether song, tale or epic, is
gaining ground in Africa too. In this case too, music is the
main driving force of the realisation. Stage adaptations are
made of many popular novels. In the case of novels and short
stories that draw more widely orL traditions, music is also linked
with the performance. 67
Although for lack of data we know nothing about the perfor-
mance of the poetic productions that are closer to the tradi-
tions, we have abundant information to show that the tradition-
al song poetry has set out on the path of urbanization. In a
few African countries the radio, television, city entertainment
spots and clubs have already produced mixed forms that com-
bine traditional and European-type instruments, local lan-
guages and pidginized European langaaages, local and European
musical forms--melodies, rhythms and structures. The record-
ing made by Sir Juju & Udjabor, Nigerian urban musicians, 6s
for example, shows that the type of ensemble still known here
as "tradifionalizing" is beginning to emerge in Africa. This

66This can be clearly seen in the case of the Vili song with tale on the
Pepper recording (1959).
67See the stage adaption of the Tutuola novel: Ogunmola 1972, and
the dramatic form of the Ozidi Saga (J. P. Clark: Ozidi, a play, 1966)
that preceded the publication of the full material of the rite by a good
ten years (1977).
,8 Juju and Udjabor, no date.
ORALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 347

record presents extracts f r o m the repertoire of a popular duo in

a city club. The pieces seem to prove that, although they are
drawn f r o m a pure source and the performance is authentic,
the mode of performance and the e d i t i n g - t h e use of instru-
ment and vocal duet as such that does not follow directly f r o m
the t r a d i t i o n s - i n d i c a t e s the demands of the special require-
ments of urban entertainment. 69
Another Nigerian material illustrates the explosion in the
transformation of the musical segment of African culture and
the thought with which this study opens gives a very tangible
idea of the processes of change occurring in this region. For the
ten ~ o r e s v~ edited by Akin Euba, composer and musicologist
at the Ife University seem to show that Africa has set out on
the path travelled by B61a Bartdk, incorporating the musical
traditions of the Hungarians (and other peoples) into his works,
while he became one of the greatest figures in Hungarian
ethnomusicology, through his tireless collecting, transcribing
and analytical activity.
This series contains settings of traditional Yoruba and Acholi
songs in transcriptions with piano accompaniment of varying
quality, but linked to 20th century Western European music, vl
as well as instrumental compositions 72 also in the Western
European manner and showing the influence of its types and
styles, although the influence of local traditions can be sensed
in the melodic and rhythmic patterns.

G9See Bender 1985, a work presenting African "popular" music on the

basis of a large body of data, a work that was received after the comple-
tion of this study.
70Euba ~ed.) 1975-1978, No. 1-10.
71 Euba 1975, No. 1, traditional Yoruba songs with piano accompani-
ment; Bankole 1975, No. 3, traditional Yoruba songs in choral setting;
Okelo 1976, 1978, No. 4, 9, 10, sections from the mass, mass with ac-
companiment or a cappella, based on traditional melodies.
72 Euba 1975, No. 2, composition for piano; Turkson (Ghanian com-
poser who graduated in Budapest), 1975, No. 5, piece for flute and piano;
Bankole, 1976, 1977, 1978, No. 6, 7, 8, works for voice and piano, for
piano solo, or organ.
348 SZILARD BIERNACZKY

CONCLUSIONS

Our main aim in this study has been to determine how the
traditional social model is reflected in contemporary African
cultures and literatures, what the presence as a basis of the oral
society means, and how the unique concurrence of different
phases of the historic transformation comes into being. After
presenting a few aspects of research history considered to be
important, we examined the question of cultural syncretism.
We then attempted to sum up the criteria of the path from rite
to modern theatre, from folklore to literature. Finally, we at-
tempted to focus on the basic questions of the African drama,
prose, poetry and music and their relationship with oral tra-
ditions.
Finally, in conclusion it would seem in order to add a few
restricting considerations to the idea raised as the starting point,
the explosion-like transformation of African culture. One is
that, in view of the demographic situations and the material and
economic circumstances, the cultural life of the African coun-
tries today is generally far smaller in volume that that of any
other non-African country. The phenomena listed in this study
are also well known in the everyday life of many European,
Asian or American countries, including the cultural and
artistic form types of a mixed or syncretic nature. On the other
hand it is also true that in the African countries which generally
cover a large area and have a small population, the groups of
phenomena representing different development phases only
appear to be present in space together since the great distances
also mean that there is also a difference in time.
At the same time we must not forget that in the ancient Greek
world regarded as the beginnings of European culture and liter-
ature, despite the very approximate dating, around a thousand
years separate the reality recorded in the Homeric epics and the
golden age of Greek democracy, and many hundreds of years
separate Homer himself from the surviving works of the trio
of classical Greek drama. This was the time required in Europe
O R A L I T Y IN A F R I C A N L I T E R A T U R E 349

for the social transformation and the parallel cultural develop-

ment to shape "written d r a m a " f r o m the ancient Greek mytho-
logical beliefs, the Dionysian songs or the epic. In contrast,
there is still less than one hundred years behind Soyinka's
dramas. For it was only in the last decades of the last century
that the first sporadic publications appeared on, for example,
the Yoruba beliefs and myths that were at that time still free
of European influence, and on the oral forms by which they
were transmitted. 7a
It can be seen that the compression in space of the historical
development of literature is after all a real phenomenon in
Africa. It is therefore our task to explore, take stock of and
reveal the essence of this really novel formation in global
culture.

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