Consciousness And Praise Poetry In Africa

The praise poetry of Africans is rooted in our cosmology which extols humans and non-humans.  Professional praise-singers praise chiefs, kings or noble men.  Individuals compose their praise songs.  They promote self –feats, greatness and special attributes linked to paternal and maternal victors and other credentials.

The aim of the poetry is not to promote the negative traits of self  ego,  nor its doctrinal derivatives which are hatred, vengeance, selfhood and personalism.  It is a form that encourages individualism that is rooted in communality.  The values promoted through the poetic medium must be rooted in communal mind. It implies that every good oral poetic composition that praises an individual should be linked to other individuals, who share the values and have profited from the tradition, and the community has either directly or indirectly benefited from the persona of the song.  It is dangerous for singers in the society to compose songs about the negative traits of individuals with the intention of praising them.

Non-human objects influence the lives of people.  Their uses are so relevant that praise-singers compose praise songs about them.  One instance from Ogoni is palm-wine.  It is praised as good drink which nourishes people and offers them better life.  A lion could be praised as king of the forest and may be juxtaposed with a man.  An elephant that stands across a road may be praised as the mighty one with several encomiums associated with its strength and might.

Praise songs of non-human objects derive from environmental consciousness, valuation and, economic, social and geographical relevance associated with them; they are not praised as objects in a vacuum; the people are attached to them in relation to their environment.

One major principle of praise poetry is to extol.  It depends on the praise-singer  who decides who and what to praise.  It is rational to praise the beauties and values of a society.  It is aberrant to praise bad qualities of a non-human object or a human.  Praise songs rarely mix abuse and praise elements.  Is it  rational to praise an armed robber for his bravery?  It is an unwanted bad behavioural trait which threatens the existence of society.  It does not matter whether the person is the most gifted armed robber that is never caught even when soldiers and police are sent to defeat his team.   He is a fit subject of abuse for threatening the society; making ridicule of him is better with the ultimate aim of correcting the misdemeanour.

What are the values of praise poetry in a system or community?  They are in the reservoir of communal mind and are accessible to every communal user.  The praise poetry composer draws from the reservoir using the ones relevant to him to compose songs.  The Hausa community believes in the rich fending for the poor.  The praise singer does not fail to praise a charitable king whose community gains from his benevolence.  The Igbos believe in good governance which is fair to the rich and the poor.  A praise singer praises a king who is upright and fair to his people.  It is applicable to the Yorubas who are of the opinion that a good king fights for the protection and welfare of his people.  Other Nigerian communities adore their kings in similar and other forms.

The self praises in Yoruba are a subject of academic inquiry.  Are they unrelated to the society? Do they carry communal ethos and values?  If they are not, how can we say they are relevant to traditional praise poetry?  Some of the praise names are derived from the positions of individuals in the family : Taiwo and Kenhinde, while others are linked to the community. Examples are:  Ade and Oye.  They show the roles individuals play in the family and the community, or roles their parents played.

In the case of the latter, the individuals carry the consciousness of governance along with them which makes them share the belief with their parents or grand parents that they are from royal lineages.  The consciousness is carried like a doctrine that offers expectations that may be realised from available opportunities.   Possibilities of governing in institutions, associations and groups are not related to the praise background, but belief is a motivational factor which creates dreams for people, and could make such persons expectant where they work.

Good spirit catalyses desire into valuable possibilities; this is why society promotes good values.

Names of the earlier refer to the positions in the family. The first means  first child while the second means second child; they have their responsibilities within the family.  The society gives priority to time and rank within the family.  The first child who comes first in the family is given preference over the second in sharing small things like food and clothes, as well as other valuable property.  This attitude creates order in the family which is the micro-unit, and the implication extends to and accommodates the macro-unit, the nation.   This is incidentally what obtains in most Nigerian states and African countries.  The remarkable difference lies in naming. The Yoruba names specify the positions which honour seniority.

Epithets evoke qualities of individuals as well as non-human objects.  An individual is praised as the benevolent one, the defender of the weak, the thrust-worthy friend  and the victorious one, not merely to obtain money from him, nor to get any other favour, but to show him as a reliable person who is selfless and  serves many in his community.

Another person is praised as the commander, the unconquerable lion, the python that swallows his enemies, the must-return in sun and rain and the one who is swift like an eagle.  These epithets make it crystal clear that the role of the individual is to defend his environment.  He is a military commander who is very competent,  he must have demonstrated valour, military might and courage in previous wars.

Hyperbole heightens the qualities of humans and non-humans.  This is the nature of the figure of speech which may give the impression of in-balance between reality and fiction.  If the praises are deconstructed through research into lives of the humans who are praised in a realistic situation, uncoloured with poverty and quest for self realisation of the composers and singers, the discovery is likely to be that epithets are true evaluations of behaviour, ranks, roles and social relations of individuals.  Hyperbole draws attention to them like hammer sounds on anvil in the ears of those who are in the immediate environment of the goldsmith.

To be Continued.

Dr. Ngaage is of the  Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Niger Delta University.

Barine Saana Ngaage