Variation as a Tool of Aesthetics in Okposi, Ohafia, and Awka Oral Narratives.
ABSTRACT
Oral narrative is one genre of folklore that has constantly generated arguments on the basis of its inconsistencies whenever it is performed by the same performer or different performers at different moments. The causes of oral narrative variation have been attributed to diverse reasons by folklore scholars.
Some of the suggested causes are loss of memory on the part of the performers, narrative incompetence, audiences’ desire for a multiplicity of themes (to which the performers yield) and the fluidity of folklore itself to accommodate issues that arise in life (in which case it is considered an essence of the genre).
The core purpose of oral narrative variation, however, has been omitted by most of the scholars, which is the performer’s intention to please his audience, his desire to present to them something that is beautiful; in other words, his wish to perform a narrative that has got aesthetic value.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page………………………………………………………………………………….. i
Approval Page…………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Certification Page…………………………………………………………………………… iii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………… iv
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….. v
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………… vi
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………. vii
CHAPTER ONE …………………………………………………………………. 1
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 1
1.1. Background of the Study…………………………………………………… 1
1.2. Statement of the Problem………………………………………………….. 4
1.3. Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………….. 5
1.4. Scope and Limitations…………………………………………………… 5
1.5. Significance of the Study………………………………………………….. 6
1.6. Research Methodology…………………………………………………… 6
CHAPTER TWO……………………………………………………………….. 8
LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………… 8
CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………………….. 16
3.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………… 16
3.2. Aesthetic Experience as the Purpose of Variation………………………… 20
3.3. The Art of Oral Narrative Performance…………………………………… 24
CHAPTER FOUR……………………………………………………………… 29
A COLLECTION OF ORAL NARRATIVE VARIANTS IN OHAFIA, OKPOSI AND
AWKA …………………………………………………………………………. 29
4.1. Ohafia……………………………………………………………………… 29
4.1.a. Amoogu I…………………………………………………………… 29
4.1.b. Amoogu II………………………………………………………….. 38
4.2. Okposi……………………………………………………………………. 35
4.2.a. Ngene Ojia I……………………………………………………….. 45
4.2.b. Ngene Ojia II……………………………………………………… 50
4.3. Awka………………………………………………………………………. 57
4.3.a. Ani Awka and the Monkeys I…………………………………… 57
4.3.b. Ani Awka and the Monkeys II………………………………….. 60
CHAPTER FIVE…………………………………………………………… 64
ANALYSIS OF THE PATTERNS OF VARIATION IN THE COLLECTED ORAL
NARRATIVES……………………………………………………………… 64
5.1. The Patterns and Points of Variation…………………………………… 64
5.2. Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 87
Works Cited…………………………………………………………………. 88
Sources of Collected Oral Narratives…………………………………….. 89
INTRODUCTION
Oral narrative is one form of oral performance that is hardly overlooked whenever folklore is discussed. Its place as a form of entertainment and, sometimes, as a vehicle for passing on the history of a people and producing answers to mysteries make it people’s favourite.
George W. Boswell and Russell Reaves (1962:116) have rightly noted that “all the world loves a story. That is why it could be seriously argued that the folktale broadly conceived is the most universal and common of the forms of folk literature and the most influential of all art fiction.”
However, it is one generic form of folklore that is constantly producing different versions of itself whenever it is performed before an audience. The versions may look alike, but to a practised ear, some patterns of variation can be identified.
Patterns of variation mean those points of inconsistencies in the story that make it vary each time it is retold by the same or different narrators, to the same or different audiences.
REFERENCE
Azuonye, Chukwuma. “Stability and Change in the Performance of Ohafia Igbo Singers of Tales.” Research in African Literatures14.3 (1994). 32-57. Print.
Bosewell, G.W. and Russel Reaves. Fundamentals of Folk Literature. Netherlands: Anthropological Publication, 1962. Print.
Carit, Edgar F. An Introduction to Aesthetics. New York: Spring Publication 1973. Print
StudentsandScholarship Team.
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