Ọwe Inside Performance
How proverbs behave when they are embedded in chanted and sung genres rather than used in conversation, and why a quoted proverb changes what a performance is doing.
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How proverbs behave when they are embedded in chanted and sung genres rather than used in conversation, and why a quoted proverb changes what a performance is doing.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
The main place where dem treat Yoruba proverb well well na inside yoruba-owe-proverbs, where the collection dey and the account of how ọwe dey work for speech: as authority, as way to settle matter, as corner-corner correction, as way to pack long talk together, and as display of competence. This file dey do one thing wey that other file no do. E dey ask wetin dey change when dem no talk proverb for argument, but when e dey embedded inside performed genre, inside oríkì, chant, story, or drummed text.
The short answer na say the proverb go stop to be the speaker move and come turn object wey dem quote, and this shift dey central to how dem take dey build Yoruba oral genres.
Performers no dey limit demsef to only approved corpus. Wetin Karin Barber find out na say oríkì performers dey raid other subjects their oríkì and dem dey also raid other verbal genres, proverbs, riddles and Ifá verses, to get material add to the flow . The result na widespread intertextuality where the elements wey dem join enter dey partly, but no be fully, under the genre wey carry dem, wey come cast wetin she call haze of quotedness over the whole field of Yoruba verbal art .
That phrase, partly but no be fully subordinated, na the exact description. Proverb inside oríkì no dey melt dissolve inside the oríkì. E still dey clearly recognizable as proverb, and the listener dey hear am as something wey dem import come. This one different from how metaphor dey work for English poetry, where dem normally dey make borrowed phrase blend enter naturally.
The clearest published example na the passage wey Barber record from praise performance, wey dem also discuss inside yoruba-oral-genre-system.
"Ó gbọ́ Ifá ó yalé Ó gbọ́hìnkùlé mọ̀ye odù tó hù 'Àìgbọ́fá là á wòkè, Ifá kan ò sí párá'" Ló tọ́ Babaa Fárónkẹ.
"He hears the chink of the divining chain, he stops to come in, from out in the yard he already knows what figure has emerged. 'Not knowing Ifá, we gaze up, but there's no Ifá in the rafters.'" This is what Father of Fárónkẹ is worthy to be called.
Translator: Karin Barber
The third line na the proverb, and e dey do three things at the same time wey proverb for conversation no dey do.
Dem use am by inversion. The proverb dey describe people wey no know Ifá and therefore dey look up for nothing, dey hope to find divination inside rafters. Dem apply am to man wey be the direct opposite of that. Barber call this one characteristic Yoruba inversion: dem cite the proverb no be because say e describe the subject, but because the subject na the negative of am . Listener must perform that flip before e fit get the compliment, and that flip na the wit.
Dem mark am as quoted. The line arrive inside the performance as complete, recognizable saying on him own, and everybody wey dey there already know am. Wetin Barber talk about quotation na say quotation na only quotation when dem put am inside new context, so that as person dey recognize say that stretch of discourse get independent existence, the person wey dey quote am dey re-embed am . The fact say the proverb already exist before na part of him effect.
Dem convert am enter name. The closing line, ló tọ́ Babaa Fárónkẹ, reach back and declare say everything wey dem just talk, the two descriptive lines and the proverb, na wetin the man worthy make dem call am . Dem don turn the proverb to attribution, epithet, thing wey person fit take name someone. That kind operation genuinely strange from English point of view. E go be like say person finish description of somebody come end am say "and na wetin e worthy make dem call am be that: a stitch in time saves nine."
Another observation wey Barber make na say this formulations belong to the oríkì singer repertoire and dem fit apply am to anybody wey him skill as diviner reach am, and say as she dey attribute am she dey highlight this fact, dey draw attention to the pre-existence of the formulation and to him character as already-constituted text .
Four differences from how dem dey use am for conversation.
Authority dey change direction. Inside speech, proverb dey give the speaker impersonal authority: no be me dey talk this thing, na ancestors dey talk am. Inside performance, the performer already dey speak with borrowed authority, and the proverb come dey give him weight to the subject wey dem dey praise instead. The transfer dey run go meet the addressee instead of the speaker.
Dem dey judge aptness for public. Proverb wey person misapply for conversation na small shame. Inside performance, in front of audience wey be both respondent and judge , and wey already know the corpus, proverb wey dem choose anyhow na open failure of skill. This na part of wetin dem dey assess when older chanters dey criticise younger ones for hunters gathering .
E dey become mobile. Once proverb dey inside performer repertoire, dem fit attach am to any suitable subject, as Barber note about the Ifá formulation . E no dey tied to one situation again. This na the entextualisation process wey dem describe inside yoruba-oral-genre-system wey dey operate on unit wey already dey portable before.
Dem fit deliver am without words at all. Proverb na fixed sequence of syllables with fixed tone pattern, wey make am fit for drum. Proverbs dey among the standard texts of the dùndún repertoire, and drummer fit quote one give person inside crowd, with the meaning fully clear to anybody wey know the saying. File 11 treat this matter. Na the strongest evidence say proverb dey function as object wey get identity wey dey independent of whether dem speak am: e dey survive even when dem remove every vowel and consonant.
Inside àlọ́. Story-dem dey often end with proverb, and proverb dey often exist as short summary of story. File 08 explain dis relationship with àlọ ni ti Ìjàpá, àbọ̀ ni ti àna rẹ̀, di proverb wey state di moral lesson of di Tortoise and Snail story and wey need di story make person fit understand am. Na di same structure Barber identify for oríkì and ìtàn: short formulation wey di full explanation dey inside separate genre .
Inside ọfọ̀. Incantation dey use general statement wey resemble proverb take start di argument, as file 07 describe am. Where ọfọ̀ talk say river wey dey flow no dey run go back, e dey use di form of proverb take set up di premise wey di application go follow. Di corpus note for there say di logic of di belle-pain incantation depend directly on top proverb about ungratefulness to person wey do good .
Inside ẹkún ìyàwó. Di bride chant dey use proverb take state di obligation-dem wey she dey call out, and di analysis of di genre note di proverb t'ọmọdé bá ti júbà àgbà ó dájú kò ní ṣìse, once pikin pay respect to elders e dey sure say di pikin no go fail, as di principle behind di ìkíni part .
Inside song and popular genres. Proverb plenty well-well inside fuji, apala, juju and Afrobeats lyrics, where dem dey do di same work of borrowing traditional authority, but now na for commercial performer wey dey sing give audience wey pay money. File 14 follow dis one.
If you dey read transcribed Yoruba oral text and you meet line wey look like say e change tone, wey talk general truth, or wey dey talk about sometin different from di main topic, di most likely explanation na say na proverb dem quote, and say di performer expect you make you don know am before and figure out how e take connect by yourself.
Two extra consequence follow from this. Di line fit no be wetin di performer compose by himself, so to take am as personal statement na category error. And how e relate fit be through opposite meaning, so wetin di surface words talk fit be di direct opposite of wetin dem mean.
Di main collection for yoruba-owe-proverbs and Owomoyela Yoruba Proverbs na working tools to take read di performed genres, no be separate topic.
What Yorùbá proverbs do in speech and in law, and a worked collection of more than forty proverbs in original, literal gloss, and idiomatic English.
How Yoruba verbal art is classified into named genres by vocal manner rather than subject, who performs each and on what occasion, and why the European category "oral literature" fits the material imperfectly.
What oríkì are, the different kinds, who performs them and why, and how they carry history that written records do not.
The evening storytelling tradition, the call-and-response frame that opens it, riddles as a separate discipline, and the Ìjàpá cycle read as a body of ethical and comic literature.
The dùndún as a literary instrument rather than a technical curiosity: oríkì and proverbs delivered on the drum, what the drummer composes from, and how drummed, sung and spoken text relate in one performance.
The hunters' chant associated with Ògún, its vocal manner, the ìjálá artist and how he is judged, the contest setting, and what the chant does as self-portrait and as praise of animals.