CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

From time immemorial, Africans, like other societies, possess literature. However, it was not

until the nineteenth and early twentieth century that Africa developed a written literature. Prior to

this period, Africans had their literature to be oral. Okpewho (1992) defines oral literature as

literature derived by word of mouth. In the view of Dasylva (2001), oral literature is a collective

expression and a celebration of communal, cultural specific related experiences which enhances

values in traditional societies. Adejumo (2009) asserts that oral literature is a creative text

delivered by word of mouth. It refers to the heritage of imaginative verbal creations, stories,

folktales, beliefs and songs of preliterate societies which have evolved and passed on through the

spoken word from one generation to another. The definitions from these scholars present the key

characteristics of oral literature. As such, they are similar in that they refer to oral literature as

literature or text delivered by word of mouth. Its popularity lies in the fact that it is

communicated. Also, it is realized that oral literature is culturally specific and thus embodies a

society’s beliefs and philosophies. Mirambo (2010) asserts that oral literature is an embodiment

of the history, cultural values, beliefs and philosophy of a group of people. Through this form of

literature, a lot is learnt about societies. Oral literature can thus be said to be a tool of cultural

education. Among the terms coined for oral literature are: unwritten “literature,” “orature,” “folk

literature,” “primitive literature,” and “popular literature.” Oral literature exists in forms such as

tongue-twisters, chants, dirges, proverbs, riddles, songs and stories, recitations, oral narratives,

appellations, etc. (Possa, 2013).

As “an offspring of culture” (Ogunjimi & Rasheed, 2005), oral literature has always had a well-

regarded place in the lives of people as it encompasses culturally specific interactive activities:

visual or verbal, which constitute a continuum where people’s thoughts and actions are often

shared (Ajibade, 2005). Shitemi (2009) stipulates that oral literature is fused and integrated in

peoples’ daily interaction through communication, language use and other modes of transmitting

knowledge like norms and social ethics. She also indicates that celebrations such as weddings,

planting and harvest seasons, births, initiations, funeral functions or other calamities such as

epidemics or searches for godly intervention also serve as mediums and platforms through which

the functional features of oral literature manifest. Shitemi (2009, p. 87) maintains that:

Oral literature is art form that has withstood the weather and storms of time; and the
ravages of the convergence and divergence of cultures, languages, lifestyles and
environmental dynamism. However, oral literature, being part and parcel of modes of
social expression, survives over time as a genre that aptly adapts to changes and
challenges. These include creation, transmission, usage, preservation and emergent
orientations that require expression and commentary.

From Shitemi’s (2009) view, Possa (2013, p. 3) observes that “oral literature is not only assumed

to be dynamic and resilient, but it is also perceived to be timeless.” This is to mean that in as

much as Africans have had to embrace the written form of literature, traits and elements of their

long-standing oral literature linger and are seen around them in almost all facets of their social

and cultural life. However, it is disturbing to note that African oral literature have been

misunderstood and misrepresented for a long period even before the gaining of political

independence by Africans from their colonial masters. Ajibade (2005) bemoans this state of the

African oral literature. He believes that some foreign scholars had “erroneously denounced

African unwritten literature using the lenses of Western written literature as yardstick for all

forms of literature” (p. 20). However, the western yardstick could not be used to measure the

literature of all other people seeing that different people have different beliefs and different
cultural practices though there may be semblances in most of the forms of literature across the

different cultures. In misrepresenting the African oral literature, words such as savage and

primitive were used in describing it. More so, the literary and artistic quality of the oral literature

was underestimated and undermined by foreign scholars who had little or no feeling for the

language and attitudes which were expressed (Okpewho, 1992). Some are even of the view that

until their contact with civilized nations, Africa was devoid of literature. This is a popular myth

(Finnegan, 2012). Due to the derogatory assumption that African oral literature was relatively

primitive, any interpretations that were made of it were completely misinterpreted by non-literate

societies (Finnegan, 1970).

Despites these skewed views on the African oral literature, scholars like Finnegan (2012) who

had contact with the Africans and their literature confesses that “the oral literature in particular

possesses vastly more aesthetic, social and private significance that might be gathered from most

general publications on Africa” (p. 30). Sunkuli & Miruka (1990) assert that presently Africa, as

a continent, is keenly rediscovering herself after a devastating colonial experience and is

bringing forth renascent energy towards the appreciation of age-old oral traditions. Salm &

Falola (2002:60) reiterate and affirm Sunkuli & Miruka’s (1990) assertion. They state that:

Oral literature still penetrates some facets of daily life in Swaziland and many parts of
Africa. It is true that the occasions for its performance are not as frequent as in the past,
but some of its genres, especially folksongs, dirges, modern professional music, topical
songs and proverbs as well as the annual performance of the reed dance and Incwala
ceremonies, are still being used in the moral education of the young.

To ensure the longevity and continuity of oral literature, some forms of cultural reinforcements

are needed. Okpewho (1992), for instance, believes that in order to ensure the survival of oral

literature, modern concert parties should incorporate stories from the oral tradition into

repetitions of oral theatre and also into transforming materials from contemporary written fiction
into peculiar format of oral dramatic performance. In furtherance, Salm & Falola (2002) opine

that oral literature provides an outlet for social criticism and commentary, and as such

contributes to social cohesion. They also observe that although Western education and

urbanization have lessened the importance of oral literature, it continues to thrive in many

communities because of lack of printed material and because of its prominent role in maintaining

traditional culture.

The role of language in the development, conservation and transmission of culture from one

generation to another, in our societies, cannot be over-emphasized. “The contexts in which we

learn languages, the manner in which we use them, and the extent to which they help or hinder us

in achieving our goals are culturally mediated” (Duranti 2001, p. 1). Sapir (1929) as cited in

Foley) acknowledges the close relationship between language and culture and maintains that they

are “inextricably related” so that you could not understand or separate one without adequate

knowledge of the other. There is, therefore, the need to blend the study of language and culture

in order to understand the vital roles that language plays in various societies. There is also the

need to go beyond the study of grammar of a language and venture into the world of social action

where words are embedded and constitutive of specific cultural activities, such as story-telling,

proverbs, drum language, use of appellations, among others, in order to understand the roles that

languages play in our lives (Duranti 2001). According to Duranti, oral literature, which

encompasses ethnography of speaking, is one of many disciplines dedicated to the study of the

use of languages and language faculty in these and many other activities that make up the social

life of individuals and communities.

According to Sunkuli and Miruka (1990), the African has been a creator, performer and a lover

of verbal art for centuries. He has created and handed down (orally) to successive generations an
organic library of songs, poems, narratives, proverbs, riddles and many other oral literary forms

including appellations. Yankah (1983) observes that the inter-generic use in Africa of what is

often called “praise” is largely attributable to the tremendous role strong appellations, often

called “praise names,” play in African oral discourse in general, and in poetry in particular.

Appellations, as well as many other oral literary forms, do not only contribute to forging and

sustaining our cultural practices and social structures, but also they play some other important

roles in the study of linguistics. Aside from being an expression of the soul of the African, these

poems (appellations) testify to his oral craftsmanship. In the Ghanaian society, every ethnic

group has its own appellations. These appellations can be said to be identifying word or words,

by which someone or something is called and classified, and distinguished from others (Colins

2002). That is, “they are praise names given to both human and supernatural beings in order to

stress their royalties and their aristocratic powers, as well as their achievements as warriors,

kings, chiefs, hunters, leaders and other dignitaries in societies” (Finnegan 1970, p. 111). For

example, the people of the Ashanti state are identified and praised with the following words

(appellations): Asante Kↄtↄkↄ, “wokum apem a, apem bԑba”, meaning they are warriors and

never lose hope nor be defeated. They take every battle seriously and that if a thousand is killed,

a thousand shall rise to defend the course. Despite the fact that appellation motivates our leaders,

especially chiefs and kings, to move ahead and fight for the good of the society, it also enriches

our stock of vocabulary, communicative competence, and contributes to eloquence, as well as,

act of public speaking (Finnegan 1970). Because the predominant communication system in

Ghana is the spoken but not written language, there is therefore the need for much attention to be

paid to these appellations, as well as other literary oral/verbal forms, so that the right language

could be used to inculcate in the future generations the valuable culture of the land. This
reiterates the assertion that “language and culture are inextricably interwoven.” It is usually the

case that the distinctive sounds that constitute the words and phrases of a particular language,

used to derive “appellations” for ethnic groups and other objects in the world of that particular

ethnic group or society, have unique meanings that are not shared by other ethnic groups. In this

study therefore, the aesthetics of appellations would be explored with focus on the language use

and how it communicates the intended meaning and effect.

1.1.1 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY

The study of African culture by the West started with the coming of the whites in Africa. The

interest of the West in areas of commerce, territorial expansion, and the spread of Christianity

made it imperious for them to take a special initiative aimed at learning the languages and the

ways of life of Africans in general. Consequently, deliberate efforts were made by slave drivers,

colonial administrators, and missionaries to find out the African way of life in order that

meaningful communication could always be achieved within the interactions between the

Europeans and their African counterparts. The missionaries, especially, led the campaign in the

effort to document African languages and therefore the African culture. The motivation behind

this enthusiasm of the West in the mores of the Africans was therefore, at first, driven by the

need for the Europeans to promote their agenda on trade, territorial expansion, and religion. It

had nothing to do with a peculiar intellectual quest into the way Africans lived and interacted

with one another. With the passage of time, however, evolutionists such as Edward Burnet

Taylor and James George Frazer started developing a particular zeal for the study of human

culture. They believed that a comparative analysis of the cultures of two different societies at the

equivalent stage of cultural development could reveal common deeper structures between the

two cultures since we have one humanity and one human mind across the planet. The surface
phenomena of such cultures may differ; but the fact is that there could be a common underlying

structure that organizes all the surface phenomena within the two cultures. In their comparative

study of cultures across the world, the evolutionists also took the trouble to examine some

aspects of the African culture in their works. In The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and

Religion (2003), as an example, Frazer makes references to some areas of African culture. His

main interest however, is in the magical and religious practices of a small tribe in Italy. It was

evolutionists like Frazer and Taylor who later encouraged scholar– administrators like Robert

Rattray and P. Amaury Talbot to document data on the Akan and Ekoi cultures.

Some of the Western scholars like Gordon Innes together with his Sunjata: Three Mandinka

Versions (1974) and Ruth Finnegan with her Oral Literature in Africa (1970) who later decided

to devote their research to the study of African culture had to confront a few problems that

affected the quality of their works. First, Frantz Fanon (1967) presents that everything about

Africans had already been “anticipated, thought out, demonstrated, made the most of” by some

of these Western scholars before they could embark on any meaningful analysis of African oral

literary pieces. As a result of this, a number of the findings of some of these Western scholars in

African oral traditions lacked objectivity. Okpewho (2007) asserts that most of the Western

scholars who later decided to delve deeper into African oral traditions had still not been able to

completely do away with some of the prejudices they inherited from the missionaries and

therefore the colonial scholar-administrators against Africans and their culture. Again, in

instances where some of these scholars should have acknowledged ignorance about aspects of

African culture, or should not have made categorical statements in certain grey areas of their

research, they made such observations that prejudiced the objectivity of their conclusions. For

instance, though her work, Oral Literature in Africa (1970) has been applauded for its immense
exploration of the African literature, Finnegan makes some statements in her work which, to

some extent, are not entirely true. Thus, instead of acknowledging her inability to ascertain

whether there are epics in African oral literature or not, she concludes that such literary pieces do

not exist in the African orature. To Finnegan (1970), the reasons that narrations that could

qualify as epics in Africa have not been rendered in verse, are relatively shorter, and lack internal

unity, are enough to disqualify them from being considered as such. Most of these criteria, on the

basis of which Finnegan rejects these narrations as epics can, however, be waived under Abrams’

exegesis of the same subject. In his own words, Abrams observes that, “the term “epic” is often

applied, by extension, to narratives which differ in many respects from this model but manifest

the epic spirit and grandeur in the scale, the scope, and the profound human importance of their

subjects” (Abrams, 2005, p. 83). In furtherance, Abrams refers to works such as Dante’s Divine

Comedy, Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, and Joyce’s Ulysses as literary pieces that can be

described as epics. Evidently, not all the examples cited by Abrams that are strictly composed in

verse and are on the same scale with Virgil’s Aeneid or Milton’s Paradise Lost.

The second problem that Western scholars interested in the study of African oral traditions had

to face was their lack of knowledge about African languages in which folktales, songs, and

rituals were first documented, and which served as the basis for further analysis. Ignorance about

the languages in which these cultural practices were carried out prevented most Western scholars

from appreciating the stylistics contained in them; and they could not, therefore, understand and

appreciate the creative mind of the African oral artist. Achebe makes an interesting observation

on the weakness of the European critic on African literature and concludes that “the European

critic of African literature must cultivate the habit of humility appropriate to his limited

experience of the African world” (Achebe, 1994, p. 1192).

Lastly, most Western scholars who expressed the desire to study African oral traditions sought to

use Western literary tradition as the yardstick in determining what constituted literature in the

African context (Okpewho, 2007). To them, Western literary tradition is universal and should be

transposed onto all literatures. For this reason, most of their translations of African oral literary

pieces were fashioned to fit the Western idea of what constituted an elegy, for instance, in the

Western sense; or they simply ignored the stylistic aspects of the oral literary products that they

collected. This attitude of the Western critics towards other literatures in the world on the basis

of universality is what Achebe is against when he writes that Western critics behave “as though

universality were some distant bend in the road which you may take if you travel far enough in

the direction of Europe or America, if you put adequate distance between yourself and your

home” (Achebe, 1994:1193).

It therefore becomes imperative for African scholars who understand the cultures and languages

of the various African communities to try and correct some of the misconceptions of Western

scholars about African oral traditions that have found their way into the literary world. In so

doing, attempts are made to shed light not only on the meaning and ‘better’ interpretation of

them but also, the aesthetics therein embedded are revealed. The present study is geared towards

such an aim: to explore the aesthetics of the Akan Appellations. Specifically, the study attempts

to explore how language has been used to craft these appellations, and the effects they achieve.

1.1.2 ETYMOLOGY AND ORIGIN OF THE ASHANTI PEOPLE

The name Asante means "because of war". The word is derived from the Twi words “ɔsa” which

is translated in English to mean “war” and “nti” which literally means “because of”. This name

comes from the Asante's origin as a kingdom created to fight the Denkyira kingdom. The variant

name "Ashanti" comes from British reports that transcribing “Asante” as the British heard it
pronounced, as-hanti. The hyphen was subsequently dropped, and the name Ashanti remained,

with various spellings including Ashantee common into the early 20th century.

The Ashanti Empire (Asante Twi: Asanteman) is a pre-colonial West African state that emerged

in the 17th century in what is now Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante were an ethnic subgroup of the

Akan-speaking people, and were composed of small chiefdoms. It expanded from Ashanti to

include the Brong-Ahafo Region, Central Region, Eastern Region, Greater Accra Region and

Western Region of present-day Ghana. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth,

architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Kingdom has been extensively

studied and has more historiographies by the Europeans, primarily British authors than any other

indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Ashantis established their state around Kumasi in

the late 1600s, shortly after their first encounter with Europeans. In some ways, the Empire grew

out of the wars and dislocations caused by Europeans who sought the famous gold deposits

which gave this region its name, the Gold Coast. During this era, the Portuguese were the most

active Europeans in West Africa. They made Ashantis a significant trading partner, providing

wealth and weapons which allowed the small state to grow stronger than its neighbors.

Consequently, in the early days of the 18th Century, the Ashantis was simply one of Akan-

speaking Portuguese trading partners in the region. This situation changed when the Asantehene

(paramount chief) of Ashanti from 1701 to 1717, Osei Tutu, and his priest, Komfo Anokye,

unified the independent chiefdoms into the most powerful political and military state in the

coastal region. The Asantehene organized the Asante union, an alliance of Akan-speaking

people who were now loyal to his central authority. Kumasi was then made the capital of the

new empire. He also created a constitution, reorganized and centralized the military, and created

a new cultural festival, Odwira, which symbolized the new union. Most importantly, he created
the Golden Stool, which he argued represented the ancestors of all the Ashanti. Upon that Stool

Osei Tutu legitimized his rule and that of the royal dynasty that followed him.

As indicated earlier, the introduction of the Golden Stool (Sika dwa) was a means of

centralization under Osei Tutu. According to legend, a meeting of all the clan heads of each of

the Ashanti settlements was called just prior to declaring independence from Denkyira. At the

meeting, the Golden Stool was commanded down from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, the

chief-priest and sage advisor to Asantehene Osei Tutu I, and landed on the lap of Osei Tutu I.

Okomfo Anokye declared the stool to be symbolic of the new Asante Union (the Ashanti

Kingdom), and allegiance was sworn to the stool and to Osei Tutu as the Asantehene. The newly

declared Ashanti union subsequently waged war against and defeated Denkyira. The stool

remains sacred to the Ashanti as it is believed to contain the Sunsum (spirit or soul) of the

Ashanti people.

Today, the Ashanti Kingdom survives as a constitutionally protected, sub-national proto-state

and traditional state in union with the Republic of Ghana. The current king of the Ashanti

Kingdom is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene. The Manhyia Palace, built in 1925 by the British

and presented to the Prempeh I, as a present upon his return from exile, is the official residence

of the Asantehene. As a means of mass communication, the Ashantis invented the Fontomfrom,

an Asante talking drum and other Akan Drums. They drummed messages to distances of over

300 kilometers (about 200 miles), as rapidly as a telegraph. Asante dialect (Twi) and Akan, the

language of the Ashanti people is tonal and more meaning is generated by tone. The drums

reproduced these tones, punctuations, and the accents of a phrase so that the cultivated ear hears

the entirety of the phrase itself. The Ashantis readily heard and understood the phrases produced

by these “talking drums”. Standard phrases called for meetings of the chiefs or to arms, warned
of danger, and broadcast announcements of the death of important figures. Some drums were

used for proverbs and ceremonial presentations.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Abbary (1994) presents that oral literature of Africa is a subject which is attracting increasing

attention in recent times. Thus, in recent times, scholars have shifted focus to the exploration and

studies of the African oral literature. In Ghana, the intellectual, educational and artistic values of

oral literature have been confirmed in the contemporary writings of scholars like Kwesi Yankah,

J. H. Nketiah, C. A. Akrofi, Ayi Kwei Armah, Kofi Awoonor, Kofi Anyidoho and Kofi

Agyekum. In spite of the significance of the African oral literature and its recognition as an

academic discipline as evidenced by the organization of a national conference on it at the

University of Ghana in 1988, with the introduction of foreign literature and writings, Abbary

(1994) observes that the indigenous oral literature which was taught through the various genres

(appellations, libations, proverbs, funeral dirges, drum languages, folktales and folk songs etc),

was still derogatively described as barbaric, primitive, uncivilized. Even though the people of

Ashanti state showcase a lot of these literary forms during cultural activities like festivals,

enstoolments, funerals, etc., some of them still give this genre of oral literature (appellations)

such negative labels. Sometimes too, people ignorantly regard appellation messages as being

“juju” (evil) therefore, take themselves out of these practices. However, researchers and scholars

have conducted studies using various approaches and methods to explore certain aspects of the

Akan appellation. For instance, Anyidoho (1991) explored the traditional Akan appellation

poetry and stylistically analysed the poems in a publication by Akuffo (1975). Her focus was on

the linguistic parallels that were magnificently exemplified. She found and concluded that the

composition of appellation poems recorded in Akuffo’s (1975) publication reflected a highly

conscious sense of artistic design as the composers were striving to achieve literary effects by

selecting parallel themes, syntactic structures, lexical items and sounds. Similarly, in a study

focused on the description of appellations in the ritual celebration of Christian worship

conducted by Ansong, Asante & Kquofi (2014), it was revealed that the Akans possessed rich

culture, and that some of the cultural elements could be incorporated into Christian eulogy of

God. They therefore concluded that a person does not need to talk and behave like a foreigner

before actively worshipping, rather, through cultural modes such as appellations, God can be

worshipped. In a different setting, Amekpordi (2012) explores the sociolinguistic nature of the

appellations of the Asogli state in the Volta Region of Ghana. His study was grounded in Sapir-

Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis theory. His study revealed that most of the appellations

originated as a result of the Ashanti-Asogli war, and the migration of the Ewes from Ŋɔtsɛ.

Again, he discovered that the worldview of the Asoglis was influenced by their appellations.

From the foregoing discussion, it could be realized that a significant number of works has been

conducted on appellations in general and the Akan appellations to be specific. Despite these

studies, the researcher believes since culture is dynamic and always evolving, studies into these

aspects of culture could not be exhaustive. The present study therefore is an exploration of the

Akan appellations with regards to the aesthetic elements that could be found in them. The

researcher is interested in how language has been used in the Akan appellations and what effects

its manipulation achieve; hence, aestheticism in the Akan appellations is the focus of this study.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to explore appellations. Specifically, the aesthetics of the Akan

appellation formed the drive for this study. With aesthetics, focus is on the language and how it

has been used to communicate the intended meaning as well as its beauty.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study sought to:

1. Explore the context of the use of appellations

2. Examine how language has been deployed in the Akan appellation

3. Examine the structure of the Akan appellation

1.5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What contexts warrant the use of the Akan appellations?

2. What literary devices are inherent in the Akan appellation and what effects do they

achieve?

3. How is the Akan appellation organised?

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is of great significance for a number of reasons. First, it will generally contribute to

the study of oral literature. Specifically, the study will be beneficial to scholars and researchers

who are interested in exploring elements of oral literature especially that of the Akans. The study

would also contribute to the body of knowledge or literature appellations, and other researchers

may draw inspirations on how to approach studies into aspects of oral literature from this study.
This work would also add to the number of studies on the Asante Twi language and literature on

oral literature, as well as ethnography of speaking, conducted by some scholars. Also, the study

will serve as a direction of renascent energy towards the promotion and appreciation of age-old

oral traditions, especially amongst the people of the Ashanti kingdom.

1.7. DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Studies in oral literature in general and the Akan oral literature in specific is inexhaustible as

culture is dynamic and there are constant changes in the culture of a group of people. This

research however, delimits the study to the Akan appellations. Thus, the appellation of the

Asantes forms the crux of the study: specifically, its aesthetic elements and form is the focus of

this study. Specifically, aesthetic elements of the Akan appellation and the form it takes is the

focus of this study.

Do we not talk about why the Akan appellations and not any other?

1.8. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study is presented in five chapters. Chapter one introduces the study. It thus gives the

background to the study, presents the problem statement as well as the purpose of the study. The

objectives of the study, the questions that guided the researcher in this study, and the significance

of the study have all been presented in this chapter. Lastly, the chapter presents information on

how the study has been organised. Chapter two is the review of literature. Themes relevant to

aims of this study have been explored and presented in this chapter. This chapter presents a

survey on some works conducted on the subject of this studies. Chapter three presents the

methodological processes of the study. The research design, population, sampling technique and
size have been presented in this chapter. Instruments that were used to collect data and the data

analysis procedure have also been discussed in this chapter. Chapter four presents an analysis,

interpretation of the data gathered for this study. Discussions of the finding has also been

captured here. The concluding chapter, chapter five concludes and summarises the study. Some

recommendations as well as suggestions for further studies are also put in this chapter.