Lit 222-Emerging Genres PDF

EMERGING/NEW GENRES OF ORATURE
One of the erroneous assumptions in the study of oral literature is that the art form never changes
and that all the oral artist does is simply perform what has been handed down to him over
generations without altering anything. The truth, however, is that oral literature is not only
evolving to reflect or capture new realities but also being repackaged into modern genres that
appeal to a modernizing audience. Some of the special and emerging art forms that may be
considered part of modern African orature include:
 Joke-genres such as puns and tongue twisters
 Mchongoano/mock verbal mockeries
 Advertisements
 Popular proverbs and sayings
 Stand-up-comedy
Joke-Genres: Puns and Tongue Twisters
Puns and tongue twisters form part of the latest inclusion into children’s word games. A pun is often
defined as a play on words, centring on a word with more than one meaning or words that sound alike. A
pun is most often used for humour, but puns can also make you think differently about a subject, particularly
if it introduces ambiguity or changes the original meaning of the text. Examples include:
"Atheism is a non-prophet organization."
"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. "It is a long tail, certainly,"
said Alice
Tongue twisters, on the other hand, are words or group of words made difficult to articulate by a close
sequence of similar consonantal sounds. Some tongue twisters are often passed on for generations,
becoming a rich part of folklore but new ones keep emerging every day to reflect the changing world and
creativity of contemporary performers. Two widely known English-language twisters are “She sells sea
shells beside the seashore” and one beginning “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” There are
many more in traditional African languages but which are difficult to retain when translated into English.
Advertisements:
Many researchers have come to regard art and advertising as having a mutually beneficial
relationship. Advertisement relies quite significantly on art to convey its messages effectively and
efficiently. Oral literature researchers are therefore interested in both performance and linguistic
features employed in advertisements. Some of the performance techniques that find use in
advertisements include facial expressions and gesticulation, tone variation, costuming, body
movement, etc. Linguistic devices include the figurative language of advertising uses and shares
with poetry are rhyme, allusion, parallelism, neologism, metonymy, synecdoche, simile, metaphor,
antithesis, imagery, onomatopoeia, reduplication, personification, oxymoron, etc. it is therefore
indeed true that advertisements can be studied as some kind of performed art.
Popular proverbs and sayings
When talking about proverbs, it is important to observe that presently the genre contains two main
categories: the traditional proverbs that still rely significantly, both in terms of structure and
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meaning, on old values and philosophies and the modern category that operates further away, and
with much greater freedom from the original patterns and values. The main difference between the
two is that the traditional proverb adheres without exception to the distinct pattern of proposition
and completion, e.g. Mtaka cha mfunguni (proposition) sharti ainame (completion). This is not
particularly the case in modern proverbs which clearly lack a definite structure, e.g.
‘It is hard to bewitch African girls these days because each time you take a piece from her hair to
the witch doctor, either a Brazilian innocent woman gets mad or a factory in China catches fire.”
Such proverbs adhere to neither the recognised structure of proverbs nor traditional moral codes.
Such proverbs are therefore considered as constituting a new popular genre only comparable to
modern secular music, among other popular art forms such as stand-up-comedy. In addition,
composers of popular proverbs take some liberties on the subject matters they can cover, e.g.
Dear sister, don’t be deceived by a man who text you “I miss you’’ only when it’s raining. You
are not an umbrella.
-Check your girlfriend’s body, if she has more tattoos and piercing, you can cheat on her. She is
already used to pain.
-When you kiss a girl from another nationality do it well you represent the whole country.
-we have this American president, Obama, born of an African father, who is saying we will not
give you aid if you don’t embrace homosexuality. We ask, was he born out of homosexuality?
Msemo wa siku
Kushuka kwa bei ya unga ya ugali haimaanishi kusahaulika kwa bei ya unga wa ngano.
Some proverbs can also take the form of parables, allegories or anecdotes and at times borders on
vulgarity, e.g.
A man can be a fool but he’ll never sit on his testicles.
If I hold her hand, she says ,‘Don’t touch!’’…If I hold her foot she says,‘Don’t touch!’’…But
when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.
When suffering knocks at the door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry
because he has brought his own stool.
Stand-up-comedy
Joking and teasing are arguably the oldest, most universal, basic, and deeply significant form of
humorous expression. Traditional joke makers used the genre to convey important cultural and
educative messages. However, the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st
has become the era of a modern of joke-maker known as the stand-up comedian. In significant
ways, the stand-up comedian resembles the traditional joke performer and can therefore be
regarded as a modern oral artist. For one, the stand-up comedian is a performer who literally stands
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in front of an active audience to deliver comic material. In addition, the stand-up comedian puts to
use a number of common performance features that help to make his deliveries enjoyable, these
include: mimicry, facial expressions and gesticulation, tone variation, costuming, body movement,
etc.
Mchongoano /malumbano ya utani [mock squabbles/insults].

The most important distinctive feature of mchongoano discourses is its vulgar language and taboo.
Nevertheless, Peter Githinji has argued that the genre allows the Kenyan youth in the margins to
define themselves as agents of social discourse in the midst of insufficient socialization in
traditional cultural institutions.
What is mchongoano?
It is defined by Alan Dundes as a form of aggressive verbal contest comparable to African
American ritual insults or the Turkish boys’ verbal duels. A typical mchongoano exchange requires
the presence of at least two antagonists and an optional audience. The audience regulates the
exchange by inciting the two antagonists, encouraging the witty remarks, while scoffing at the dull
ones. Each contestant tries to outwit the other by saying something disparaging, mostly about the
subject or members of his/her family. Although mchongoano is normally associated with pre-
adolescents, there is evidence that the practise extends beyond adolescence.
Example:
Boy A: Budako mrefu mpaka anaweza ona next week.
Your father is so tall that he can see next week.
Boy B: Na wako ni mrefu mpaka akivaa trao kitambo ifike waist imeshaa isha fashion
And yours is so tall that when he wears pants by the time it reaches the waist, it has
gone out of fashion.
Audience: (appreciating B’s retort) Maze hiyo ni kali hapo umewezwa.
Man that’s tough! He got you there.
Jokes of disparagement.
Although both statements were ridiculously exaggerated, the lengthening of the vowel in the
adjective ‘mrefu’ (tall) accompanied by a rise in intonation and other kinesics intensities the
attributes of the subject. As the exchange progresses, the audience’s comments increase, and the
exchange becomes more animated. The pressure to win drives the losing antagonist into frustration
leading to the breaching of norms governing these types of exchange such as saying something
that he/she knows is too personal and will hurt the opponent. This normally leads to a fight or
termination of the exchange. Humour is a key component of jokes of disparagement, e.g.
-wee ni mjinga mpaka ulithrow mawe kwa floor ukamiss.
You’re so stupid you threw a stone to the floor and missed.
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-Your dad is so fat, he jumped up in the air and got stuck.
-wee ni mwizi mpaka padlock ikikuona inajifungua.
-wee ni mrefu mpaka giraffe zinacomplain.
In conclusion, therefore, the genre of short forms, just as the rest of the genres of orature, is such
rich. Continued research should be able to reveal new and emerging types and their outstanding
features.

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EMERGING/NEW GENRES OF ORATURE

Mchongoano /malumbano ya utani [mock squabbles/insults].

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