A Literary Analysis of Oral Tradition in Ogba Cosmology

Abstract

The whole world in Ogba cosmology exists for man’s sake and the universe is divided into two: the visible and invisible parts (the heaven or sky and the earth). The sky is the invisible as well as the underworld that is below the earth, while the earth is visible part. Ogba people believe in the link between earth and heaven which they reflect in their oral traditions. This paper analyses the oral tradition of the Ogba people; their origin, religion, belief system and their functions and relevance to human experience. And to achieve this, a brief analysis of Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Devil on the Cross and Chinua Achebe’s Thing Fall Apart are used as oral traditional novels. The paper comprises the introduction, themes and languages of the oral tradition, the oral tradition of Ogba people, an overview of the oral tradition and finally conclusion. The paper discovers that oral tradition features prominently in the works of African writers; explaining in details the culture milieu as perceived in festivals, dances, funerals and songs. The paper focuses on the aesthetic values of the Ogba cosmology using ethnopoetics and historicism as a theoretical framework. The paper finds out that the oral tradition of Ogba people is a unifying force that brings the people together to live in peace, unity and love.