An evaluation of figures of speech in Onyedibia’s Orie in the context and aesthetics of oral literature

Abstract

Aesthetics is the study of beauty, especially beauty in art. This work focuses on oral poetry, with a special emphasis on an evaluation of figures of speech  in Onyedibia’s Oriein the context and aesthetics of Oral literature. The research methodology adopted for this paper was descriptive survey design  deriving date essentially from two sources: the primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the text book ‘Orie’ which is used for analysis. The  secondary source include materials of Oral literature textbooks, journals and online materials. The paper adopted ethnopoetics as its theoretical  framework to discuss the principle of bipartite structure as one of the features of oral literature, citing copious examples from the text to buttress  assertions identifing such poetic qualities, as contrast, ideophones, repletion, metaphors among others through which beauty is created. Paper also  showcased that the book, Orie,as a source of historical information of the Omoku people in Ogba /Egbema/Ndoni Local government area of Rivers state  Nigeria . The paper concluded while recommending that both lecturers and students should collect, collate, transcribe, translate and conserve oral  literature products for posterity.