African Traditional Poetry

African Traditional Poetry

Poetry is meant to be recited or sung orally. The written forms and attendant theories that have been formulated about poetry represent developments in the medium in response to the growth and the complexity of human societies and the problem of communication. Recent studies of the traditional literature of many societies have revealed that African communities have always had their own ideas of the nature and function of poetry. Among the Somali the poet is revered and poetry has been long recognised as a serious and functional form of art. The Swahili Utenzi shows clearly that poetry is known and appreciated as a special form of art practised by the gifted. Among the Yoruba the Ewi describes this art form, while Awoonor has shown in Guardians of the Sacred Word that poetry is a well-known art in traditional Ghanaian society.

Traditional poems are a serious art form dealing with the range of human experiences: they conjure up whole worlds, are rich in figurative language and present beautiful pictures in words. They contain deep reflections about the world and man’s place in it, and treat the relation between man and his environment and nature. These themes are found in oral poetry composed as religious poetry, songs and lyrics, dirges, praise-poetry, occupational poetry, the poetry of abuse, satires and celebratory poetry. Although we refer to them as traditional poems, they continue to be composed in the various contemporary indigenous African languages, illustrating the dynamism of the forms.