2020, Vol.61, No.

Cross-Cultural Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.52

pISSN : 1598-0685 / eISSN : 2671-9088
https://journal.kci.go.kr/ccs

This study assesses the creative value of African oral literature through theoretical consideration of genres and literariness based on the origin of oral literature in sub-Saharan francophone Africa. We first identify the point at which the oral culture tradition evolved into the genres of oral literature and examine the characteristics of these literary genres. In addition, we address the problem of literariness lost in the process of oral literature to literal literature and suggest a theoretical approach to explore it. We next study paratextual materials such as object language, sound language, and body language, as the main literary elements organically connected to African’s lyricism and daily life. Then we take a typological approach to oral literature, analyzing the literariness of “space” and “style” in the performance process. Finally, we explore the unique literariness of African oral literature by examining the relationship between the narrator, such as “Griot” and the auditor from the perspective of Jauss and Iser's receptive aesthetics. This study demonstrates that the oral literature, rooted in the oral cultural tradition of sub-Saharan Africa, is an art of a priori and stereoscopic expression equal to that of any other written literature.

Translating African oral contes into French maintains the traditional culture and at the same time aims to become part of French literature. This paper investigates the narrative structure of African oral contes by analyzing The Spider Kacou Ananzè by Bernard Dadié. Dadié generalizes oral stories of Agni-baoulé of Côte d’Ivoire into a narrative structure with a definite form. In the spider story, the spider enters a utopian sphere, escaping from the reality of drought, famine, and happenstance; returns to its original environment after violating a taboo; and then longs for the utopia it lost. In this story, Dadié animistically depicts the relationship between humans and the environment, showing that the fulfillment of utopia is the ultimate value in this environment and gains significance only through the community.

A true understanding of African modern culture necessitates awareness of the lore of African oral tradition, and this essay illuminates various aspects of orality in West Africa. Oral utterance is a social attribute inherent in human beings, and the oral tradition is the essence of African civilization. Africans believe in the representational power of oral language in the creation of the world, and value its infinite ability to cause action. This essay explores the functions of African oral languages as means of communication, holy expression, materializing authority, governing and ruling, connecting ancestors and descendants, aesthetically and poetically conveying human experiences, and narrating creation myths. Despite its many functions, the use of oral language is rigorously controlled by usage rules. The orality in West African culture has influenced African literature to this day. This essay reveals how orality in African culture has been restored or subverted.