The functional perspective in African oral perfomance

Abstract

The current practice, especially, in the so-called hi-tech societies, is that as soon as literacy is developed, the oral art forms are abandoned in preference to the written forms, because oral literature is erroneously conceived as primitive. The fact, however, is that it is in these pristine forms of art that the seeds of standard art forms are sown and nurtured to maturity. It is our aim in this paper to show that there is no function which modern-day literature performs which oral literature does not perform, perhaps better and more effectively. The relative lateness of literacy in getting to Africa has the advantage of making it possible for authentic traditional art forms to remain unobliterated and unadulterated in Africa, more than in other parts of the world.

Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 1 2004: 20-30