Panegyric Discourse: A Study of Ogunde’s ‘Eko’

Abstract

Literary works composed and presented in local languages are often restricted to their regions of production and not accessible to a wider appreciation. This paper presents panegyric as phenomenon endemic within the social-cultural ambit of Yoruba race among several ethnic settings in Nigeria in particular and Africa as a whole. It attempts to showcase the aesthetics in praise poems/songs among the Yoruba. It also highlights the therapeutic essence of praises on human and non-human (towns not excluded) particularly among Yoruba. In this paper, ‘Eko’, the primary source, is selected from one of the various studio-recorded songs of Hubert Ogunde. The secondary sources include interviewing some members of Ogunde’s immediate family and some prominent people with sepecialised knowledge of Yoruba language and culture generally and Ogunde’s songs in particular.   The song, having been transcribed and translated, is semiotically analysed for wider appreciation. From the discourse, the metaphorical representation of Lagos beyond a mere town, is aesthetically established; thereby intimating both the current and intending dwellers of the mega city (Yoruba and non-Yorua) the good, the ugly and the prospects the city offers.