Annales FLSH N° 16(2012)
ORATURE IN OKOT P’BITEK’S SONG OF LAWINO
AND SONG OF OCOL
Par
Philomène BONTAMBO NSELOFONA
Assistante à la Faculté des Lettres et
Sciences Humaines/Unikis
RESUME
This paper examines how Okot p’Bitek uses orature in his Song of
Lawino and Song of Ocol, to reveal the social, political and cultural
alienation under which African people live. It shows that orature is still a
proficient tool for expressing correctly African problems. As Okot himself
said: “All my writings, whether they are anthropological monographs,
studies of religious essays, songs, poems or even traditional stories and
proverb such as I am collecting now, all of them are munitions for one big
battle: “ The battle to decide where we, here in Africa, are going and what
kind of society, we are building”. (Lindfors 1980; 143) requoted in
Comparison Approach to African literature, p.76. Attention is drawn away
from Ugandan Songs with a particular interest on Acoli songs built as
poems, depicting two main characters: Lawino, a traditional African
woman who was loved by Ocol, her alienated husband.
KEY WORDS: ORATURE, SONG, ALIENATION.
INTRODUCTION
African literature, as all literature, is linked to the daily experience of
its people. Writers have as main pre-occupation, from linguistic and
literature perspective to depict social ills. By the case, Okot uses his
artistic capacity through orature to render the theme of alienation in his
novel.
The method used is expository. He has also used the sorrowful
situation of symbolizing Acoli people, Lawino and Ocol to reveal their
weaknesses for being influenced by Western cultures. The significant is
examine how the literary artist has employed African aesthetics like
orature in rendering his vision about the contemporary African society.
1. Defining key concepts
Orature:
“Orature is a neologism created by the Ugandan Scholar, Pio Zirumu.
He preferred orature to “ Oral literature”, only because the first term
contains two opposite orientations: Orally and literature. In creating this
word, Zirimu thought to avoid oxymoron. The latter is a figure of speech
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involving the combination of two or more words that are normally
opposed. Actually” Oral relates to the spoken sphere, whereas literature
operates in the domain of writing. Orature is also an art of sociability. It
possesses a public and collective nature. It consists at a relation between a
transmitter (Okot p’Bitek in this case) and receiver (Acoli people in
particular and African people in general). It often takes the form of an eye
witness evidence about past events, but can include folklore, myths, songs
and stories passed down over the years orally.
In addition, orature is an invaluable way of preserving the knowledge
and understanding of older people. It is also interviewing younger
generation. According us, Orature can be defined as a good way of
translating old wisdom, old knowledge, the rich cultural practices, customs
and believes to new generation. To perpetuate the same idea or the
survival of their culture, Okot p’Bitek built Acoli songs into the poems,
that he entitled Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. In order to reflect Acoli
enjoyment of life, besides the cultural aspect reflected in the songs, the
common themes running through them are: The dilemma posed by
colonization, erosion of cultural value( alienation), effects of
westernization.
Finally, orature is literature which is socialized and has to be
performed, to be kept alive. People believe in it and use it to articulate the
ideology to survive. Orature serves as unifying factor which helps to keep
social group together; reason why orature is considered as the literary
aesthetic used by African Writers to show their particularity.
Song
From Oxford Advanced Dictionary (1998): Song is a piece of music
with words that is sung. Literally, song is a piece of poetry to be sung.
Under the light of dictionary’s and literary definitions, we define Song as a
piece of poetry rythmed, sometimes rimed accompanied with musical
instrument created melody. Considering African oral literature context,
song plays a central function of being a funnel through which run all
devices. Song possesses a therapeutic power on both the body and the
Soul.
Song helps African people to express their good or bad feelings. For
example Kapteinjns, 1998 works with Somali folktales and songs. He
sheds light on the use of early oral narratives in shaping gender
expectations. Somali girls, for example, were taught simple lessons in
songs praising marriage to a hard workingman, obedience to a husband’s
other wives.
Accordingly, Okot p’Bitek, through Song of Lawino and Song of
Ocol, addresses the issues facing a liberated Africa. The poem poses the
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following questions; what kind of liberation should Africa take on? Or
should Africa honor its tradition, or should it adopt the European values
that were already set in place during colonization?
The song has been sung by two persons. The first one was Lawino, a
non literate woman, who laments her fate; her husband Ocol has thrown
her out of their home and has taken Clementine, a more Europeanized
woman as wife.
“Ocol rejects old type
He is in love with a modern woman
He is in love with beautiful girl
Who speaks English” ( Okot, 1984: 37)
The second was Ocol, an alienated husband who despises his wife and
fails in love with a westerned woman;
Alienation
From Latin alienus mean stranger. Alienation refers more to the
mental state. It indicates the mental state of someone who borrows stranger
habits and it influences his behavior.
According to Melvin Seeman quoted by… He summarizes alienation
into four groups of words:
The first: Alienation means privation of power
The second: Alienation is the lucky of life’s sense
The third: Alienation is the lucky of life’s norms
The fourth: lucky of strangeness’s feelings of once own.
2. Conditions for orature
Actually, orature requires two conditions for its fulfillment.
2.1. First condition
Physical presence of spokesmen; the character of Lawino dominates,
Song of Lawino and it is important to consider how Okot’s portrait of her
is. The poem is on a real social problem very common in rural areas
sometimes is Urban areas. Many wives saw their husbands move out of the
range of their education and experience through travel; many “Ocol”
return home with nothing but contempt for the ways of their parent and
less educated wives and join those who are educated in the artisan milieu.
That is the central message conveyed in the poem.
“But my husband despises me
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He laughs at me
He says he is too good
To be my husband
Ocol says he is not
The age mate of my
Grand father”. (Bitek 1984,40)
To consider Lawino’s character, the poem is divided into three
sections; in the first five chapters, Lawino is perfect portrait of a scorned
woman, she lashes out at Ocol who admires her and Clementine who has
usurped her place indiscriminately. In chapter six to eleven Lawino seems
much less concerned with her personal plight. She defends the customs of
her ancestors more profound comparing with western.
“All I ask
Is that my husband should refrain
From heaping abuses on my head
He should stop being hole crazy
And saying terrible things about
My mother” (Okot, 1984:41)
The last two chapters tie the concerns of other two sections together,
Lawino’s desire to win back Ocol’s admiration. It is combined with a
commentary on the whole Acoli community and an appeal for the renewal
of traditional ways; Lawino of the first five chapters extremely credible.
She is not jealous of Tina, in the narrow sense of desiring to have sole
possession of Ocol, she is familiar with polygamy, and she didn’t know
other form of marriage. She is simply mystified and annoyed that Ocol
prefers a woman who is not younger that her, and can match her in none of
her womanly accomplishment. Her slight change in emphasis led some
critics to make a distinction between Lawino as the defender of Acoli
customs:
“My husband
I do not complain that you eat white men foods,
If you enjoy them
Go ahead
Shall we just agree?
To have freedom
To eat what one like”( Okot, 1984:63)
2.2. Second Condition: Audience
A part from physical presence of Lawino and Ocol as spokesmen, the
audience or hearer is represented by all African people especially Acoli
people. African and particularly Acoli people were preventing from the
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influence of western culture on their daily life or experiences (Each reader
who could be interested to). So, p’Bitek had challenged his audience to be
at the round joint of cultures means to do not shift from African behavior
to European one. He did it by singing. Consequently orature is very
important in the Africa’s communicational system. That is why N’Sougou
Agblemagno quoted by Kapenga kasongo in his Doctoral thesis in
Psychology, said: “ Il me semble qu’en Afrique, nous ne pouvons rien
faire de valable si nous mettons entre parenthèse cet art oral est la seule
source qui nous donne des brides de réponses »( Kapenga ; 111).
Likely (Okot, 1984, 50) said : « You African Ambassador, at the
united nations you Excellency speak; Tell the world in English or in
French tolk about, the African foundation, on which we are building the
new nations of Africa”.
3. Some orature devices used by Okot p’Bitek in Song of Lawino and
Song of Ocol
This section aims to trace an analysis on the issue of proverbs and folk
songs as the appropriate orature devices where the face-to-face
communication is the very way of communication.
3.1. Proverbs
From Latin “proverbium”, the word proverb means expression of a
general through on a determined theme interesting each society
(IYELI,2010). Proverb is a sentence used to emphasize the words of the
wise and is the stock in mind of old people who use them to convey
precise moral lesson, warnings and adduce since it makes a greater impact
on the mind that ordinary word (Oladele: 1967); a proverb is a sentence or
an expression proper to a people revealing wisdom or realities towards its
daily life. A proverb gets also Universal feature when it is applied
everywhere.
The use of proverb can be influenced by the fact that two or more
cultures are neighbor. For example: ” interest will not die” is a universal
reality that ”every human being will be for his own interest” or “ interest
will make a man do something otherwise he would not do”. This reality is
know and it is applied everywhere.
So the first proverb analysed in Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol is:
1. ”The pumpkin in the old homestead must not be uprooted” (Okot,
1984:40)
This proverb stands for the main point around which all cultural
aspects turn. It is said differently in Chapter five of Song of Lawino.
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“ The graceful Giraffe cannot become Monkey. In another way,
“Ostrich plumes differ from chicken feathers”. A monkey’s tail is
different from that of giraffe. The crocodile’s skin in not like the
guinea fowls. The hippo is naked and hairless” (Okot 1984: 50-53)
So, the exact explanation of these proverbs is that African people
must keep alive their culture which reveals their originality. African
people cannot replace totally their culture by the western one; That
why p’Bitek makes an appeal to his contemporary:
“ Let the drummers play the rhythms of funeral dance and let the
people sing and dance and celebrate the passing of the old
homestead”(Okot 1984:72).
2. “The last Safari to “Pagak”
“Pagak” is the place of not return, “Death homestead”. Safari means
journey”. So for human being, the journey to “ Deaths homestead “
is the last because after it there is not another, white men as well as
black men have to make this journey without exception; they cannot
escape death. Okot argues by saying:
“Acoli herbalists all medicine men and medicine. Women are good,
are brilliant. When the day has not yet dawned for the great journey”
(Okot 1984:42).
3. “My husband’s house is a dark forest of books”
Lawino complained the way that the instruction has changed the
mentality of her husband. He became proud, opposed, hostile to
traditional customs, after being instructed. Ocol neglected ancestral
initiation. So Lawino declares:
“My husband’s ears are numb, he hears the crackling sounds of his
ears. And thinks this is the music of his people. He cannot hears the
insult of foreigners who say the songs of black men are Rubbish”
(Okot 1984: 115).
Another device used by p’Bitek is song.
3.2. Song
Each African song is a vehicle of a precise message to a determined
group. Thus Lawino sings:
“The song of a man and the daughter of a man shine forth in the
arena; slave boys and girls dance differently from true burns. You
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dance with confidence and you sing provocative songs, insulting and
abusive songs. (Okot, 1984:42)
Goetzee (1998:25) said: “African culture is positive and productive in
itself. It promises meaning, purpose, pride, enjoyment or emotion in the
daily lives of the African people”. Songs are considered as a major activity
during which people express their feelings. Okot for instance would like to
advocate his contemporaries to the search of democracy (Okot1984:139).
“What was your contribution in the struggle for uhuru?
Comrade do you not agree that without your presence.
Leaders uhuru could never have come? (Okot 1984: 139)”.
Okot p’Bitek found Acoli songs already made and they concerned all
aspect of their culture especially the effect of colonial experience on
traditional realities. Song in general gets its main and most important
characteristic which is a repeated structure:
I was made chief of girls because, I was lively, I was bright, I
was not clamed of untidy, I was not dull, I was not heavy and
slow,(Okot 1984: 47)
This repetition is expressed especially through certain figures of
speech which are most of the time linked to “ Orature”. So, among
ordinary figure of speech known, there are those which are familiar to
spoken or oral domain. Each figure is returned http:
//www.nipissingu/faculty/Williams/figolspe.htgm
As previously explained, Okot used a lot of rhetorical devices of
repetition which constitutes the whole frame of the poem.
- Alliteration: It is the repetition of a consonant at the beginning of two or
more words which appear close together in speech. Alliteration as a
repetition of a consonant at the beginning of words, Okot uses it to attract
the hearer’s attention by saying: Whose food is good to eat? Whose dish
is hot? Whose face is bright? And whose heart is clear? And whose eyes
are dark? (Okot 1984:41)
- Assonance: repetition of consonant sound in the hold utterance. Here is
recurrence of sibilant S in an utterance. You dance with confidence, and
you Sing provocative Songs; Songs of praise sings songs of broken
loves…(Okot 1984:41)
The consonant sound that is recurrent here is sibilant/S/; just to
reinforce rhythm and cadence in the song.
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- Antanaclasis: Known as a repetition of a word but into different
meaning. In another way, antanaclasis is the use of a word, two or several
times in an utterance in different meanings.
“Son of the chief, now you
compare me with the rubbish in the rubbish pit” (Okot 1984:34).
The first” rubbish” refers to the worthless things, the second means
the public place for worthless things.
- Anadiplosis: Repetition at the end of a line or clause at next beginning.
“Because they are tired; tired of the useless talk; tired of the insults
(Bitek 1984: 35).
- Anaphora: Repetition of a word at the beginning of a clause, line or
utterance. Anaphora means again the recurrent word several times only at
the beginning of a sentence. Anaphoric repetition makes a kind of
cadence in the song. Among all devices of repetition used in the poem
anaphora out numbers; Okot used it 237 times it is very recurrent in the
songs.
- Epanalepsis: Repetition at the beginning and the end. “The stone
powder, from the guiding stone (Bitek, 1984:100)
- Polyptoton: Repetition of the same word or root in different grammatical
functions or forms. From the surrounding village. They surround you
(1984:53)
Poyptoton can be defined as repetition of the same word or root in
different grammatical functions; For this case the first word surrounding is
a noun which plays the role of adjective qualifying “village” and its
meaning is that; it is around and nearly; The second surround is a verb and
means to be around someone or something.
- Onomatopoeia: It is the repetition which imitates natural sounds.
Onomatopoeia is an imitating sound of something as “tock- tock”
imitating the large clock’s sound. “Ocol has brought home a large clock.
It goes tock-tock-tock and it rings a bell (Bitek, 1984:49).
The usefulness of all these figures of speech is to show how Okot has
arranged Acoli songs which depict his artistic rendering of the theme
alienation.
African writers in orature have to use songs to express different
situations. Actually Acoli songs already made and they concerned all
aspect of their culture especially the effect of colonial experience or
traditional realities.
Sorts of songs
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1) Song of regret of complaint
The first two chapters are dealing with songs of complaint. Lawino is
surprised by her husband Ocol who is in love with another woman.
Through songs, Lawino expresses her sorrow, her new state of a scorned
wife. And she compares herself to Clementine behavior. Lawino sings how
Ocol used to criticize her natural beauty, her religion, her way of dancing
and taking traditional medicine, mainly her domestic life which is different
from that of living to western one. The evidence below illustrates
Lawino’s rival beauty regretted by uneducated wife.
“Brother, when you see Clementine, The beautiful one aspire to look
like a white woman; Her lips are red-hot like glowing charcoal, She
resembles the wild cat (Bitek 1984:37)
In opposition to western dance, where you become dead drunk, that to
say, people come to arena( dance stadium) after being stimulated by wine.
“ African does not come to arena drunk, But when another youth
hits you. You take up the challenge as a man…”(Okot 1984:43).
Okot underlines the immorality reflected in white men’s dances.
2) Song of Praise
At this step, Okot exalts Lawino’s natural beauty, her traditional culture
in different point of view, most of the time in comparing them with
western culture.
a) Food customs
Okot compares sort of plates; In Acoli tradition, they have to use halfgourd and earther dishes but the white man’s plate looks beautiful.
“When you put millet bread for a few minutes the place is wet and
the whole loaf cold” (Okot1984:61).
b) Socio-cultural habit
Lawino says:
“My husband says: I am useless because I waste time. He
quarrels because, he says: I am never punctual, He says: He has
no time to waste. He tells me time is money” (Okot1984:61).
According to western people, time is told by clocks, by watches.
Colonizer’s way of telling time differs from the African traditional way. In
traditional Africa a single sun, a single noon, cock crow, reign of
important kings, memorable events, phenomenal disasters, market days,
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traditional festivals were used as” time makers”, “time indicators” and
“time keepers”.
The evidence below illustrates one manner of telling time:
“When wizards are getting ready Ocol says: It is eleven and after sunset it
is seven”(Okot 1984:64)
4. Alienation
The main pre-occupation of this study is an attempt to make an
analysis of Okot p’Bitek’s song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. From the
linguistic perspective, the study examines the styles and approach of the
author and how he uses Acoli songs as device in orature to depict social
ills and at the same time the author’s artistic rendering of the theme of
alienation in three levels or aspects of life.
a) Social aspects
In singing Ocol challenges his contemporaries to remains stable. He
asks them to do not adopt the western manner through, eating, dancing,
and healing. African people have his proper custom. Through his artistic
writing Okot discouraged his African brother to be alienated:
“ It is true, Ocol, I cannot dance the ballroom dance being held so
tightly public. I cannot do it, I look shameful to me( Bitek
1984:44).
White woman has a timing of feeding babies. It is not the case for
black woman. So do not imitate them:
“My mother taught me the way of the Acoli and no body should. Shout
at me because I known the customs of our people. When the baby
cries, let him suck milk from the breast. There is no fixed time for
breast feeding (Okot1984:68)”.
Concerning medical consideration Ocol who was the image of
alienated man defended his case by rejecting acoli practice that why
Lawino says:
“ My husband rejects me because he says that I am a were pagan.
I do not know the rules of health. White man’s medecines are
strong but Acoli medecines are also strong…”( Okot 1984: 101).
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b) Religious aspect
Before the arrival of white man Africa was not a cultural desert .
Africa people had to respect their divinity:
“… the Sabbath is a day for Christian. When protestants and
catholics shout and suffer from headaches, The Acoli did not set
aside a social day for jock (bad spirit). When miss fortune hits the
homestead the classmates gather and offer sacrifices to the
ancestors” (Okot1984:69)
c) Political aspect
White men have come to impose their own admonition to Black men
who were in search of democracy. Colonizer came and told them to
organize election. That democracy was so called “UHURU”. So Okot asks
his contempories.
“Tell me, my friend and comrade; answer me simply and frankly. A
part from the two shillings fee for party memberships, and the
slogans you shouted that you did not understand, what was your
contribution in the struggle for Uhuru” ( Okot 1984:139).
Normally, African traditional societies got their own administrative
organization that differs from western conception. The oral tradition
played the all important role in defining good citizenship and maintaining
a harmonious social fabric. Okot deduces that, when women dance and
make noise; they shout and raise their hands. Nob foreign words: Uhuru,
Congress, freedom, Democratic: independence! Minister:…(Okot
1984:109).
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CONCLUSION
Okot p’Bitek used basically expository method. The paper discusses
the commitment of the literary artist in an attempt to transform the African
society and evaluates the poem to show how the author effectively uses the
pathetic situation in Ugandan society to express the experience of the
whole of African countries. What is written is significant in that, it
examines how the literary artist has employed African devices like
symbols, for the case orature devices in rendering his vision about the
Contemporary African society.
The specific orature device which was used is song and also proverb.
Songs are used as technique in writing and the impact of those traditional
songs. Okot has opened his heart to his readers. Songs are succeeding
technique in Bitek’s writing, because African expresses his soul through
music.
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