OTwo Co-Editor Joshua McCormack delves into the Oral Tradition in African Story-Telling and traces its roots from ancient times to the present day.
One of the foremost scholars in the Oral Tradition of African Literature, Solomon O Iyasere, wrote in 1975, '... the modern African writer is to his indigenous oral tradition as a snail to its shell. Even in a foreign habitat, a snail never leaves its shell behind.' But if we are to examine that tradition in the context of the scouring that was Western Colonisation of the African continent, then the shell is irrevocably marked by this dark history; pitted and scarred by both insidious and flagrant efforts at cultural erasure.
Many cultures can claim a rich tradition of oral storytelling; the Ancient Greeks had the rhapsodes, travelling bards who recounted the Homerian epics like the Odyssey, and Iliad; the Choctaw Native American tribes employed a system whereby the next orator/storyteller of the tribe was chosen communally; but amidst all the variation in form, function and purpose, it is the Orators of West Africa, known as the Griots/Jalis, who arguably stand above the rest in terms of their societal importance.
Typical stories they recounted included fable-like tales where the antics of creatures like Anansi, the spider, served as a parable to explain the nature of the world, people, and society; and the Great Epics like the Sundiata Keita, which recalled a story of the ancient Malinke people.
The Griots occupied a wide variety of roles; poets, bards, historians, genealogists, musicians, singers, all serving as repositories of wisdom – the memory of society. In the years before the first European ships dropped anchor off the coast of West Africa, during the days of the Mandé Empire, Griots exerted substantial influence over society. Their wisdom resulted in many of them being called upon to act as advisors and diplomats. Wealthy families would have their own Griot; a custodian of the family history, dedicated to memorising the lives of previous generations. Further, their recitations weren't simple recountings of the dry facts said in monotonous baritone, but rather colourful performances, often accompanied by dance and music – stringed instruments like the kora, and the xylophone-esque balafon.
The fact that the Griots were so important to the fabric of society – both culturally and historically – is what helped them to survive centuries of cultural oppression; the storytelling tradition was simply too embedded in society to be uprooted entirely by colonising states … but despite the traditions' resilience, colonisation nevertheless reaped profound and devastating effects on African storytelling as a whole.
Before the fall of the Mandé Empire of Mali, many Griots worked in the households of wealthy landowners where one of their chief purposes was to act in praise of their patrons – the equivalent of the court bards common in Medieval Europe. However, after colonisers robbed vast swathes of land, the previously rich families had to give up their Griots, forcing them to adopt a nomadic lifestyle, leaving them vastly impoverished against the status they once enjoyed.
Viewing the centuries of oppression through the prism of literature, colonisation's most apparent impact is on the themes explored; oppression, identity, tradition versus modernity. Echoes of the colonial past also reverberate through the very structure and language used; be it multilingual-narratives, code-switching, or Western-storytelling concepts like the three-act structure.
It was authors like Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Chinua Achebe, emerging in the dying days of colonisation who, recognising the invasive traditions of western literature, decided to fight back in their own way by embracing traditional storytelling techniques. Novels like Ngugi wa Thiong'o’s Wizard of the Crow (2006) employ features of Orature including proverbs, rhythmic language, repetition, riddles, and call-and-response patterns to create a literary experience redolent of these root traditions.
Flashing forward to the era of the internet, many Griots now enjoy rockstar status. In the past, Griots, while respected members of society, were more of a profession than a person – interchangeable. Whereas now, there are Griots like Salif Keita and Toumani Diabaté who are multi-millionaires. And the changes aren't just in the levels of recognition; this era's Jalis are also more politically involved than their ancestors. The singers craft lyrics designed to highlight abuses of power and corruption and interrogate social issues. As explored in a BBC article ‘Africa's musical crusaders: New generation of griots’, the poet/rapper Tumi Molekane blends oral storytelling elements into his lyrics to create political messages.
And thus the tradition of African Oral storytelling continues to thrive; albeit transformed by the scars of colonisation and the advent of technology.