80 Atlantic African, American, and European Backgrounds to Contact, Commerce, and Enslavementat three diff erent but connected stages—pre-performance,
intra-performance, and post-performance—with a view to
achieve genuine rendition and representation of the cul-
tural values of the people.
African orature is a communal participatory experi-
ence where everyone in the society participates in both for-
mal and informal oral performance that is an essential part
of African social life. Th e orature of the people speaks in
the communal voice of the collective wisdom and knowl-
edge and carries demure social and ethical values. Various
cultural ideas of the people are conserved memorably by
employing various stylistic devices for easy recapitulation
and rendition. In many instances, oral expressions deviate
from the syntactic norms of the literate culture, and the lan-
guage is lively and cryptic in nature. Th is attribute of oral
culture enhances speaker-listener’s relationship in commu-
nication scenery. Although the oral artists in oral culture
have rights to demonstrate dexterousness and adroitness
in their performances, still they are culturally constrained
and bound to ensure that their creativity fi ts into the ways
of doing it in the society. For example, among the Yoruba
of southwestern Nigeria, it is the practice of the oral art-
ists to pay homage to their masters and those artists who
had performed in a similar genre prior to their own time
of performances. Th is is usually encapsulated in the saying,
“Orin mi náà kó, orin ògá mi ni,” meaning, “It is not my
song but my master’s song.” Th e underlying factor in the
above statement is that the oral artists must present their
orature as fi tting the traditions of the ancestors or the soci-
ety that owns the lore.
Long aft er the incursion of writing culture in oral cul-
ture society, indispensable information on how to perform
society’s social institutions was left unwritten, especially in
the religious rites and ritual performances. When they are
written, the “livingness” trait has been distorted as it is void
of sound and infl ection. Not only this, but the pragmatic
essence that has to do with the context of performance is
lost. Th is is because much of the poetry associated with the
African deities is contextually performed; they cannot be
performed in other contexts.
In preliterate societies and cultures, spoken words were
highly revered and mastered by the people, as it used to be
the community’s repertoire of collective wisdom, knowl-
edge, and experiences; they could be likened to “human
libraries,” “archives,” or walking sacred texts, capable of as-
tonishing feats of remembering for the benefi t and survivalMandenka, such as the Serere, Wolof, Songhai, Khassonke,
Dyula, and Wangara, among others, inherited the occupa-
tional caste system from their predecessors.
See also: Ghana; Senegambia; Sudanic Empires
Nubia KaiBibliography
Conrad, David C., and Barbara E. Frank. Status and Identity in
West Africa: Nyamakalaw of Mande. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1995.
Hale, Th omas A. Griots and Griottes. Bloomington: Indiana Uni-
versity Press, 1998.
N’Diaye, Bokar. Les Castes du Mali. Paris: Présence Africaine, 1995.
Oral Culture
Ancient writing traditions do exist on the African conti-
nent, but most Africans today, as in the past, are primarily
oral peoples, and their art forms are oral rather than lit-
erary. In contrast to written literature, “orature” is orally
composed and transmitted, and African oral arts are ver-
bally and communally performed as an integral part of
their popular culture. Th e Oral Arts of Africa are rich and
varied, developing with the beginnings of African cultures,
and they remain living traditions that continue to evolve
and fl ourish today.
Th e oral literatures, like the cultures that produce them,
constantly develop and change across time, culture, place
and regional style, performer, and audience for a variety of
reasons. Everyone in most African societies participates in
formal and informal storytelling as interactive oral perfor-
mance—such participation is an essential part of African
communal life. Basic training in a particular culture’s oral
arts and skills is an essential part of children’s indigenous
education on their way to initiation into full humanness. In
many instances, ethical and educational values are taught
to the children through oral literature at diff erent stages
of their lives to ensure that they grow with these values in
order to enhance their contribution to the development of
the society. African societies have developed high aesthetic
and ethical standards for participating in and judging ac-
complished oral artistic expressions or performances—and
audience members oft en feel free to interrupt less talented
or respected secular performers to suggest improvements
or voice criticisms. Critiquing oral performance takes place