BETWEEN DIDACTICISM AND PRAISE-SINGING: FOLKLORISTIC DIMENSIONS IN NELLY UCHENDU AND IKEM MAZELI’S ORAL PERFORMANCES

Abstract

There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria nay Africa is endowed with diverse cultural heritages. One of the evidences of this rich cultural heritage is her abundant oral tradition. Folklore which is identified as one of the significant genres of oral literature through which cultural and moral norms are instilled into the people appears endangered in contemporary times due to its oral form. Folklore is faced with the danger of extinction as modernization seems to distract the younger generation who are unduly influenced by Western ideology and lifestyle from adequate attention to those cultural materials. This poses a threat to the preservation, and transmission of oral literature in this jet age. Oral performers therefore act as important vehicles for the sustenance, development, transmission and spread of this unique form of cultural knowledge by adapting oral literature into their performances. The oral  performer therefore utilizes his artistic prowess and poetic license during an adaptive process to make creative inputs that can help to fully explore, exploit and expose the aesthetics potentially present in the performances. Through this approach, folklore has retained its oral form. This study aims at evaluating the folkloristic dimensions in contemporary oral performances by analyzing the works of two Igbo oral performers; Nelly Uchendu and Ikem Mazeli. The creative inputs and unique performance aesthetics in their adaptation of oral literature are critically examined. Content analysis approach of the qualitative methodology was adopted for the study. The efficacy and aesthetics of the performances are tested on Ukala’s Folkism theory. Library and internet materials provided additional data needed for the study. Findings reveal that while didacticism which is a core distinguisher of the African folk tradition is
consciously retained in the performance aesthetics of the two performers, praise-singing is creatively woven into their performances to enrich the aesthetics, making them contemporaneous, relevant as well and commercially viable. The study recommends that the oral performance tradition should be sustained as a means of preserving and promoting the
unique cultural values of Africans