hi

These verbal artists

, storytellers, poets, writers

(2) What is the form of African Oral Literature, and what does the African Modern Literature refer to?

Form: Literature delivered by word of mouth. Refers to: Poetry, plays, and narratives written by Africans in English, French, Portuguese

Define the following terminologies: Traditional Literature and Folk Literature

• Traditional literature: Literature with unknown artist, handed down generation to generation

• Folk literature: Literature created by folk in rural communities sharing common heritage

Define the following terminologies: Folklore and Orature

• Folklore: Implies much more than just literature by emphasizing the literary aspect of what the folk do

• Orature: A term that emphasizes more of the oral character of the literature

There are five genres of African oral literature.

• Myth

• Narrative

• Prose/Tale

Mention some of the Social Narratives and provide a brief description of each of them.

Proverbs: Advices or corrections, which point to the individual, domestic and collective life patterns of the society. Metaphor/idioms: Veiled speech with indirect form of utterances

(7) There are five genres of African Literature, and two of these genres are myth and prose.

• Myth: Embraces the experiences and actions of man's interaction with the forces, or the supernatural, above him

• Prose: Tales or stories that emphasize the physical and natural world, and manifest regular interaction between the world of imagination and that of reality

There are five African folktales, and two of them are the Dilemma tales and the Moral tales. ● Their characteristic features

• Dilemma tales: With audiences left at the end of the story to pick from many alternatives

• Moral tales: Teach moral lessons like goodness, hard-work, hospitality, etc.

Folktales in Africa serve three major functions; that is, they are used for three major purposes in addition to their aesthetic features.

• Used for explaining a behavior, or a geographical detail

• Used for posing a problem rather than give a clear or direct moral lesson

African oral literature is a “literature” that is performed to an audience.

● The central features of oral literature

● Examples of the fundamental differences in its organization

Central feature: The "theatrical quality" of its performance: that is, the ways in which the oral narrator manipulates the symbols and images within the story

• The age and energy of the performer

• The nature of the occasions (death or merriment)

African oral literature is a “literature” that is performed to audience.

● The central features of oral literature

● Examples of the fundamental differences in its expression

• Central feature: The "theatrical quality" of its performance: that is, the ways in which the oral narrator manipulates the symbols and images within the story Examples of differences in expression:

  1. The quality of the voice used in performance

  2. The skill used to manipulate the tones of the words

There are two major resources in African oral performance, which are (a) the Verbal/Oral resources and (b) the Visual/ Physical resources.

● Examples of the various accompanying resources employed in each of them

• Verbal resources: Nonverbal; Extraverbal; Paraverbal; Paratextual; Paralinguistic

• Visual resources: Histrionic, Dancing, Dressing

There are three fundamental visual/ physical resources found under African oral performance, which are histrionic, dancing, and dressing.

● The nature or characteristic features of each of them

• Histrionic: Gestures or movements made with the face, hands, or any other part of the body as a way of dramatically demonstrating an action contained in the text

• Dancing: Various forms of dance-movements, closely related to dramatization, are employed to make the performance a thoroughly attractive spectacle

(14) Besides attending to the music and spectacle of a performance, the accompanists play the significant role of providing support for the oral artist and influencing him in the delivery of the words.

● The two roles that the accompanists play

1. Corroborate the statement of the performer, especially in poetic chants

2. Prompt the performer during the course of performance

(15) The stories or tales that are transmitted in African traditions are stories told and acted out before audiences who are also expected to participate in three significant ways.

● The three significant ways through which the audiences participate

• Making some sort of comment as the performer sings or narrates

• Encouraging the artists to give fuller life to their description

(16) Five major genres of Post-colonial African literature were developed by African writers after independence in many African countries.

● Examples of these genres

1. Myth

2. Narrative

17) Although all the modern African literature writers share many things in common; however, there are three major fundamental differences that separate them.

● The three major differences

• Regional Differences

• Methodological Differences

(18) The three major fundamental differences that came to separate modern African literature writers are regional differences, ideological difference, and methodological differences.

● Examples of the ideological differences

● Examples of the methodological differences

• Ideological differences:

  • African Literature written in European languages
    African Literature written in African languages

• Methodological differences:

  • Translation

Adaptation

(19) In spite of the differences that separated modern African literature writers, there were three fundamental goals that they share and in common, and as a result bound them together. ● The goals that they share in common

1. To collect and publish texts of the oral literature of their own people as practiced by them

2. To use the literature as a basis for writing original works that reflect some of the major concerns of today

(20) Mention the names of some of the African literature writers and their respective country.

● The names of the writers (men or women)

● Their respective countries

• Cheikh Anta Dion, Senegal

• Ayi Kwei Armah, Ghana

(21) There are three categories of African visual arts.

● These categories

● Their characteristic features

• African Traditional Art

• African Popular Art

(22) There are two broad dimensions in African arts, which are the physical dimension and the spiritual dimension.

● Examples of the “physical dimension”

• Ethnical Perspective

• Styles and Characteristics

(23) Several different materials are used in African traditional art forms.

● Examples of the materials

• Rock

• Wood

24) In many African societies, the artworks are used in many different settings to achieve two main goals.

● The two goals to be achieved

• Relates to the social, political and economic situations that engage the people

• Portrays many characters, such as historical and mythical figures, contemporary leaders, personalities, etc.

(25) There are two broad dimensions in African arts, which are the physical dimension and the spiritual dimension.

● Examples of the “spiritual dimension”

• The Religious Aspect

• Arts of Leadership

26) Many African art-forms function in the service of the state or leadership (“royal art”) in four ways.

● The four ways that they function

1. Proclaiming or exalting leadership

2. Symbolizing position or mandate

(27) African artworks play important role in initiations or ceremonies by marking a change in status, position, or role for an individual or group.

● The two kinds of changes the initiations aim at in the individuals’ lives

1. Marking the transition from childhood to adulthood

2. Marking the acceptance of certain roles within a society

(28) There are three major perspectives of African traditional arts, which are the aesthetic perspective; the social perspective; and the cultural perspective.

● The nature of each perspective and what it reflects or expresses

• Aesthetic Perspective: The forms, materials, meanings and functions of African arts are always varied; deeply imaginative, and dynamically part of the people's sense of beauty

• Social Perspective: African traditional art is a form of communication that permeates the social lives of the people, and it is not set aside from "real-life"

(29) African popular art, which constitutes many forms of artistic expression, came into existence with the advent of colonialism in the early twentieth century C.E., and later developed along a certain trend as a response to then prevailing issues.

● The trend of development

The trend of development: The African popular art developed in the larger urban centers as a response to the tremendous and fast-paced, social, economic, political, and spiritual changes that occurred during the colonial era

(30) African popular art has a new social dimension, with many forms of artistic expression that differentiates it entirely from the traditional art.

● The social dimension

The social dimension: African popular art is not associated with sacred or secret institutions, but secular, which is frequently made to entertain or to advertise

(31) African popular art has some styles and characteristics that distinguished it entirely from the traditional art.

● The stylistic features of popular art

• Placing strong emphasis on change, urbanism, and modernity

• Grounded in syncretism, and combined African and foreign elements

(32) Variety and creativity always come to characterize the selection of many materials used to create African popular art.

● Some of the materials are used, and not associated with traditional arts

• Canvas

• Cardboard

(33) African contemporary art has its styles context that distinguished it entirely from both traditional art and popular art.

● The difference

African Contemporary art is not made to be used in localized contexts or as souvenirs, but as a means of personal expression, and for aesthetic display

(34) African contemporary artists have great intention in their perspective that differentiate them from the traditional and popular artists.

● The artists’ intention

• The Artists' intention, in making contemporary art, is to display the art purely as an art, and to be appreciated by the global public

• African contemporary arts are always associated with the names of the artists who created them

(35) The European conquest of Africa led to the subsequent incorporation of the continent into global telegraph networks.

● The respective year in which each of the regions was incorporated in the global network

• North Africa (1868)

• East Africa (1879)

(36) Newspaper constitutes Africa’s earliest and most enduring public, beginning in the late eighteenth century and continuing to flourish over the nineteenth century C.E.

● The respective year in which the newspaper began to be used in each of the four countries

• Egypt in 1797

• South Africa in 1800

(37) Prior to 1963, and during the period of colonization, what passed for cinema in the African continent were two categories of cinema shown to the audience.

● The names of the two categories of the colonial era film

● The nature of each cinema (that is, what each of them was supposed to show), respectively

• Two categories:

  1. Short Didactical Films

  2. Feature-length Commercial Films

• Nature:

  • Short Didactical Films: Based on education, and displayed for free by roving mobile cinema vans, offering highly organized and popular presentations on health, agriculture, and other topics

  • Feature-length Commercial Films: Shown in theatres to ticket-paying customers, and offering commodities of entertainment in exchange for money

(38) There were fundamental differences between the Colonial Era cinema and the Post-Colonial Era cinema, in terms of their aims and agenda.

● The differences

: Decolonization in Africa, after WWII, led to a major development in cinema, with great changes that allowed Africans to express their own cultures through films

(39) Radio, after fully adopted across the entire Africa, revolutionized the form of possibilities of all types of communications, and helped the postcolonial African leaders to make good use of it at their advantage.

● The purpose for which the radio was used

Postcolonial African leaders began to use radio as a transformative tool of development, discipline, and didacticism in an effort to modernize tradition-bound listeners

(40) The emergence of television brought a greater change to the continent as compared to the emergence of radio.

● The great change, and an example of what happened

• The change: The emergence of television came to provide new means of learning and retaining oral genres

• Example: Tape recordings of performance could be used for a variety of purposes—archival, commercial, private enjoyment, etc.