ORAL Tradition

WHAT
IS
ORAL
LITERATURE?

5

1. MYTHS

• mostly Creation Stories
• stories vary on resulting morality
• most center on messenger's wrong doing or stupidity

2. Poetry

• Most elaborate example come from the traditional Yoruba

3. Folktales

• Trickster
• Escape
• Dilemma

Conventions of Folktales

• Hyperbole
• Speaking body parts
• Personification
• Animals give wisdom
• Strong Imagery

More CONVENTIONS OF FOLKTALES

• Repetition (oral delivery)
• Call & Response
• Cause & Effect
• Comedy
• Separation of Village (order) & Bush (wild)

4. Riddles

• Simple
• Designed to entertain

from The Yoruba:

Who has a house too small for guests?

A TURTLE

from The Ga of Ghana:

What do you look at with one eye, but never with two?

THE INSIDE OF A BOTTLE

from The Hausa of West Africa:

Why is a man like pepper?

Until you have tested him, you can’t tell how strong he is.

5. Proverbs

• Short saying
• maybe universal or central to one culture
• expresses Folk Wisdom
• used for conversatin, debate, or teaching

"When the cat's
away,
the mice
will play."

"The apple
doesn't fall
far
from the tree."

"Birds
of a feather
flock
together."