The Yùngbà Panegyric Poem: A Metatext Of The Ọ̀yọ́ Empire

Abstract

In line with previous studies (Quint 1993, Stetkevych, S. 2002, Bauman and Briggs 1990), which have established the relationship between genre and ideology, this paper is founded on the premise that the literary form and content of the Yùngbà panegyric poem is intimately related to the idea of Yorùbá-Ọ̀yọ́ imperial hegemony. The paper starts with the argument that the Yùngbà panegyric is a metatext. The study defines a metatext as an independent text created in direct relation to an extant text called a prototext, either as a commentary (Genette 1997) or a translation (Popovic 1976) of the extant prototext. Linking the metatext to the reputation of the extant text, the study maintains that the subject of the metatext, the Aláàfin’s (king’s) name (reputation), is judged by the volume and ingenuity of the poems composed in his name and his empire. Put differently, the heroic deeds of the king are the main text, which in turn earn the Alaafin a metatext of praise names and epithets, which go on to form the basis of the composition of the Yùngbà praise poem. Finally, the paper argues that the Yùngbà is not just a metatext, but that it is a metatext of empire—specifically a metatext of the Ọ̀yọ́ empire. The Yùngbà promulgates a myth of kingship that legitimizes the king (Stetkevych 2002). The way the Yùngbà is constituted as text (Barber 1999), is a reflexive process on the part of the poet, who is conscious of empire as she weaves her metatext to validate Ọ̀yọ́ imperial hegemony. The study further demonstrates that the Yorùbá-Ọ̀yọ́ society is a reflective one, revisiting the past by re-enacting it and shaping the future through its collective memory. The Empire is the reason for the existence of the royal Yùngbà panegyric genre and vice versa.