ETHNOPOETIC STUDY OF IGBO ORAL FUNERAL POETRY IN ELUGWU EZIKE ENUGU STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study is an ethnopoetic analysis of Igbo oral funeral poetry with particular reference to Elugwu Ezike. The principal objective of the study is to analyze oral funeral poetry performance of the Elugwu Ezike people with emphasis on the form and structure of  Elugwu Ezike dirges, causes of death, themes and significance of oral funeral poetry, funeral rituals and rites in Elugwu Ezike and the impact of Christianity, Islam and western lifestyle on the performance of Elugwu Ezike dirges. An aspect of ethnopoetic theory known as infracultural model in folklore analysis developed by Alembi is used in the analysis of data. The study is primarily approached through oral  interview  and  unstructured questionnaire.  A  total  of  sixteen  informants were selected randomly from the thirty-eight communities that make up Elugwu Ezike. Recording and tape recording are made first hand during the funeral ceremonies in which these poems occur.Solo-and–response form is the basic structural features in most Elugwu Ezike dirges, there is constant repetition of words and sentences in the dirges, the funeral artists make use of linguistic and paralinguistic features at their disposal to realize the aims of their performance and various imageries are used in the dirges to showcase emotion, events and objects such as loss, death and hunting, lion, kite and lizard, forest and mountain respectively. The findings of the study also revealed that the dirges poetically reiterate the theme of satire, theme of praise for the dead, theme of vulnerability of death and theme of death as a universal phenomenon. Dirges function as a repository of historical knowledge, a tool for social criticism, didacticism and as a medium of mourning and celebrating the life of the deceased. Ndịishi (spirits of the ancestors), witchcraft, charm or poisoning and suicide were identified as the major causes of death in Elugwu Ezike. Christianity, IsIam and Western education have negatively affected the performances of dirges in such a way that Christian music is used in funeral ceremonies in recent times.

1.1      Background of the Study

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Man has always expressed his feelings, experiences, expectations and dreams through the medium of poetry. Although, there may be no final definition of poetry, all ideas about poetry centre on one thing: man’s display of emotions in a unique language that is entertaining, a centre of beauty through language. Oral poetry is, therefore, the cultural heritage of a people. Poetry may also be described as the song of the heart which touches on and rekindles the very living chords of human experience. Literatures among other things mean the art of language. Literature could be  oral or written. Its distribution, composition and performance of oral literature involve words of mouth. Poetry is a method of literary expression which suggests by means of imagery, rhythm and sound. Its words are full of suggestions of unrevealed meaning which will grow out of them under the influence of thought and imagination. Poetry can also be described as the method of clothing anew ideas and objects that are naturally ordinary. In this sense, it becomes a miracle created around commonplace things.

The requirement of social life often imposes forms of linguistic behaviour on individuals or groups of individuals in given situations to which are attached values that appear to govern their continued practice. The study of verbal expressions in such situations is important not only for a clearer understanding of problems of meaning in a  language but  also  for the deeper understanding of a peoples’ life from which their meaning is ultimately derived. In the social life of Elugwu Ezike people, one such situation is the singing of funeral dirges when death occurs.

Death is as old as humanity, and so are some of the rites associated with it. The dirge, which is sometimes referred to as an elegy, funeral laments chant or song has, a history that dates back to ancient times. The dirge is often interchanged with elegy. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1975:844) explained that “in classical literature an elegy was simply a poem written in the elegiac metre and was not restricted as to a subject”. It is further elucidated in the Encyclopedia that even in some modern literature such as German in which the traditional elegiac has been adapted to the language, the term elegy still refers to this metre rather than to the poem’s content. Similarly, Guddon (1999:253) explains that  “in  classical literature an elegy was any poem composed of elegiac distichs also known as elegiacs, and the subjects were many such as death, war, love and similar themes”. Thus, the two definitions of elegy cited of Encyclopedia and Guddon point to the fact that elegy referr to a specific metre at the beginning. As a result of this,

it could be used to compose a poem on any subject matter. A dirge, on the other hand, is explained by Guddon as:

A  song  of  lament,  usually  of  lyrical  mood,  this  name dervies from the beginning of the antiphon of the office of the Dead. Dirge, Domine… Direct O Lord… As a literary genre it  comes from the Greek epicedium, which was a mourning song sung over the dead and a threnody sung in memory of the  dead.  In Roman funeral processions the nenia,  a  song  of praise  for  the  departed was chanted… (1998:227).

Abrams (2005:77) equally asserts: “the dirge is  also a versified expression of grief on the

occasion of a particular person’s death”. Right from the onset, the dirge is a term that is closely related to death. In the African context, Okpewho (1992:152), Akiraga and Odaga (1982:78) have all defined dirges as funeral songs or chants and these definitions are synonymous with the one given by Guddon and Abrams. The distinction between dirges and elegies is that whereas the composition of dirges is normally occasioned by death, it is not the same with elegies since the latter are sometimes written due to serious meditation on man and his place in the world. Besides this, the dirge is shorter, less formal and is usually composed as a text to be sung whereas the elegy is presented as the utterance of a single person. In this research work, chants and songs used in this work, refer to funeral chants, songs or oral funeral poetry.

Life on this earth is only temporary and once people are no more, they can only be remembered in the hearts of other people due to the positive impact the deceaseds made on their lives by nurturing, and  living  by some of the principles that  most of the dirges poetically reiterate. This is why members of the community are often reminded of their duty to live responsibly while alive. The dirge singer is not only the epitome of verbal creativity among the Elugwu Ezike people but he equally provides some emotional relief to the community on the loss of one of their member. The dirge chanter does this by creating dirges that seek to let the community understand that as painful as death may be, it is an integral part of life. Through verbal creativity, the dirge chanter is able to comment on sensitive issues in less offensive manner for the audience to draw useful morals.

Dirge as a  form of oral poetry makes use of language to  communicate experience. Funeral dirges, no matter where they are performed, have one thing in common that is, they all express the emotion of loss. Dirge in its broadest form is the lament for the dead. The main function of the funeral dirge remains condolence with the bereaved family and the performing of funeral rituals to please the dead. Failure of a close family member to perform these rituals may

lead to his/her being haunted by the dead who feels despised and thus carry out such reprisals. Dirges are used to instruct the dead to revenge their death if it was caused by someone and to lament the void incovinences and misery created by the death of a member of the family.    This is why Ikueze (1977) defines dirges as a sorrowful expression over the loss of someone. It involves wailing, sobbing and weeping around the corpse of the deceased. Dirge is more of a personal expression of grief over the loss of a dear one. It is  mainly sung at burials. The fact that dirges are chanted on the occasion of death also tells us that they constitute a very important way of bidding farewell to our departed ones.   It is also not surprising that in cultures where oral traditions are still very strong, the essence of funerals is centred on the performance of dirges. In most traditional set-ups in Africa, funeral ceremonies for deceased adults cannot be regarded as complete until dirges have been performed. The success or failure in the performance of dirges at a funeral could therefore determine, to some extent, whether the deceased has been accorded a decent burial or not. It also determines whether the deceased’s spirit can depart in peace and allow those who inherit him or her to enjoy the deceased’s property peacefully or the deceased’s spirit could come back and demand an apology from the living for failure to organize a befitting burial ceremony for the deceased. Dirges constitute an integral part of human culture the world over. In rendering dirges,  mourners compress their  ideas into  language that  is  loaded with imagery. It is this kind of language that allows mourners to convey a lot of meaning in their relatively short dirges.

In the situation of mourning, it is apparent that the general feeling of loss calls for the use of language that can create mental images that reflect the feelings of mourners. This way, mourners are able to evoke sympathy from listeners, and express the degree of their loss. In addition, imagery in African dirges is largely drawn from nature, birds, animals, domestic life and intimate features of everyday living (Awoonor, 1974).  According to Ajuwon (1982), dirge can be viewed as poem of lamentation which may be improvised by the mourners according to traditional formula and themes. The context is the performance of rites of passage at the time of death. Every African society is very rich in oral poetry which is the common property of the whole community. The poet or the praise singer uses that to express the communal vision of life.

Apart from the context of the funeral, there are other instances outside it in which dirges can be heard. The distinctive features of dirges outside the funeral context are that they are solo performances, that is, they are performed by one person. They do not involve wailing and crying. Also, they are never accompanied by drumming. It is only in the funeral context that dirges can

be performed with musical accompaniment. One of the factors that motivate the singing of dirges outside the funeral context is the desire to practise singing so that individuals can take an active part in the performance of dirges during official mourning process. Some of the women who usually act as choruses during the performance of dirges at funerals carry out  rehearsas while grinding pepper on a stone or working on the farm.

Another factor that may explain the singing of the dirge outside its formal setting is where a woman who has lost several relatives is overcome with grief. She might have been reminded of her lost relatives through a particular incident or event that may set her singing dirges alone. In this instance, the motivation behind the performance is not the desire to practice. It originates from grief and pain. Nketia (1955:16) reports similar practice among the Akans in the following words:

A woman who has lost many of her relatives especially her brothers and sisters, and now lives alone may burst into singing anytime she feels overcome by emotions of sadness or is by some chance event reminded of her losses. It is, however, bad to wail or mourn outside the event of death or days other than those set aside for remembering it.

Solo performances outside the funeral context are often brief in terms of their duration. They are not carried out in the night time and do not involve the use of body language that expresses the emotions that are mainly associated with the singing of dirges in their formal context.

Among the cultural practices which have become dominant in Igboland is the burial ceremony and its associated funeral dirges. Available evidence reveals that burial rites have some mythological explanations. There are mythological propositions which state that without decent burial rites, the spirit of the dead roam about helplessly (Amadi, 1974). In a personal discussion with Okebalama (2012), he notes that: “Death is believed to be the dissolution of the body and the detachment of the soul from the unity of body and soul. Therefore, while the  body decays and is heard no more, the soul lives for eternity”.

Burial rites are, therefore, performed to prepare the soul of the deceased for the journey into the spirit world. Since nobody wants the spirit of his dead relative to roam about helplessly, grand burials and funerals are planned to protect the living from the unfortunate apparition of the ghosts of family deceased members. In Igbo cosmology, there are many other rituals during burial. It is generally assumed, in Igboland that when all burial and funeral rites have been performed, the dead assumes greater power to do and undo many things at will. It is the people’s

duty to offer sacrifices to the dead so that the living enjoy their protection and expect their aid towards procreation, fertility, prosperity and progress.

In recent times, there has been a renewed interest in the study of African oral traditions, thus generating insightful discussions about oral traditions. The present study is an attempt to offer an insight into the role of funeral poetry as aspect of African oral tradition and its artistic form. The study is focused on the analysis of Elugwu Ezike dirges. The Igbo have a rich poetic heritage. This poetic heritage or traditional poetry of the people can be regarded as a form of art because it depicts their ways of life. Igbo oral poetry treats subjects related to the predominant activities  of the  people  like  farming,  hunting,  cooking,  eating,  carving,  weaving,  fighting, celebrations of births and deaths, courtship, and marriage.

The cultural and religious beliefs including observances of the people of Elugwu Ezike are also interwoven. These are kept alive through oral transmission from one generation to another and celebrated during great occasions. Most poems within the oral tradition of Igbo poetry are composed to satisfy the needs of those engaged in different human activities. They also express intense emotions and project profound ideas. The poems show the great verbal mastery of the composers and reveal great thought. There are poems expressing joy or happiness and sorrow and those that show family ties as well as those composed to ease tension or serve as aids to relaxation after a hard day’s work.

There is a strong Igbo belief that the spirits of ancestors keep a constant watch over the living, and must be appeased through sacrifices and prayers. Those who die abominable deaths such as death through suicide, swollen stomach and leprosy are not given burial rites. They wander homelessly as akaliogori expressing their grief by causing harm and destruction among their living relations. The rituals and beliefs surrounding death tend to vary widely across the world. In all societies, whether customs prescribe overt displays of grief or restrained behaviour, the  issue  of  death  brings  distress  to  the  family  of  the  deceased.  The  various  rituals  and ceremonies that are performed are primarily concerned with the explanation, validation and integration of a people’s view of the world.

As death is not the end of man, it does not severe his connections with his family. Death does not bring to an end family relationship as the spirit of the deceased constantly oversees the affairs of his family. In times of distress, they are called upon to come to the aid of the living. They are challenged with such laments as:

“Igwe mụrụ anyị ọ kwa ị nọ na mmụọ-e. Ị ga-anọ ebe ahụ arịrị erie ụmụ gị-e-e? Igwe nna nwe anyị bịa – o. (Igwe, our father, will you be in the spirit world and allow distress to overcome us? Igwe, our father, please come to our aid-o) (Okebalama, 2012).

The various sacrifices to the ancestors are performed because the living believe that the dead are watching over them.

The living must maintain the accepted conducts and practices which protect the image of the  family.  They practice the  dictum of “live  and  let  live” which ensures harmonious co- existence and guarantees peace among the living. To do otherwise is to soil the name of the family and the ancestors cannot take it. In fact, this is the fulcrum on which the institution of ọmabe an Nsukka festival revolves. The ceremonies and rituals performed by the living for the dead emphasise the unbroken family relationship between the living and the dead. Both the living and the dead have a part to play in fulfilling family obligation. And of course things go well for a family when both sides perform their obligations properly. For example, it is the responsibility of the living to perform the funeral rites of the dead properly or to give them a befitting burial. The living thereafter offers the dead sacrifices of food and drink which constitute acts of remembrance and reverence. The dead on their own part protect the living from danger.

Ajuwon (1980) views the burial rites specifically as an act of worship. He postulates that:

Burial rites are  seen by the  Igbo  as an act  of worship, of propitiating their gods, of communicating with the deceased and of making a thorough appraisal of the success and failures of the deceased in his career on earth (34-35).

In ancient periods, funeral rites in most African communities were colourful and engrossed in ritual practices.  With the  arrival of the Christian missionaries in 1843, the  ritual practices associated with burials in Igboland began to change, and other Igbo traditional practices such as ancestral worship, came under serious attack.

A funeral poem is essentially a work of art and has no existence or continuity apart from its performance. Dirges are a common feature of funerals among the Elugwu Ezike Igbo. The execution of dirges is a significant cultural rite that is performed during burial ceremony on the death of any adult member of Elugwu Ezike community. Dirge performance is an activity that usually covers one to three days depending on the age and social status of the deceased. In recent times, however, the number of days involved in the singing of dirges has been reduced. This is due to the influence of western life style as well as that of Christianity and Islam which have

made the Elugwu Ezike youth less keen on taking active part in the performance of dirges. Notwithstanding this situation, dirges still contribute an integral part to the mourning process in the Elugwu Ezike community.

Songs, chants and recitations that are integral to the funeral and memorial rites in various communities in Africa constitute an avenue   for mourning the dead. They consist of funeral dirges sung by individuals or groups of persons, prayers offered by officiating priests and oration given by friends. They also include songs that probe the mystery of death, the helplessness of man to offer hope for the repose of the soul of the dead as they provide some form of consolation for the living who feel the pangs of the inevitability of death during funerals.

Usually, the funeral songs are rendered as the person is being prepared for burial, either as he lies in state or during the wake-keeping process. Such songs (dirges) may consist of laments which demonstrate the peoples’ feeling of loss. In most cases, the dead person’s praise are sung and his contributions to the lives of those around recounted.

But sometimes the dirges just serve as means of giving vent to the feeling of loss, in which case, they lack coherence of thought but bustle with feelings evident in sobbing, wailing and ululation. Although women usually perform these kinds of dirges, men have been known to be involved in them especially when the dead person is very close to them. Sobbing and wailing songs are usually associated with the first stage of funeral rites when the feeling of loss is fresh and the relatives of the deceased person seem to be overcome with grief.

As the funeral rites progress, the dirges are sung and these dirges reflect on life and death, the cycle of existence, the goal of life, and life after death. This stage gradually eases tension by showing that the deceased contributed his share to the upliftment of man, that no one lives forever and that the dead deserve repose.

In the performance of dirge, Elugwu Ezike people use instruments such as Orumunyi (big metal gong) obini (Wooden drum) and Okanga  to enhance the musical qualities of the dirge. Dirge  peroformance  provides  a  platform  for  some  understanding  of  culture,  especially  its didactic aspects, values, practices and aesthetic qualities. The main objective of this study is to contribute towards the understanding and appreciation of Elugwu Ezike cultural values through the analysis of Elugwu Ezike dirges. This study covers four main areas. They are the  analysis of the form and structure of Elugwu Ezike dirges in order to bring out their cultural values and artistic qualities, causes and effects of death among the Elugwu Ezike people, the analysis of themes and   functions emanating from the dirges and the impact of Christianity, Islam and

western lifestyle on the performance of these dirges. Elugwu Ezike dirge is orally transmitted from generation to generation. The practice of dirge performaning dirge is fast disappearing during  funeral  ceremony  in  Elugwu  Ezike.  The     need  fordocumenting,  analyzing  and encouraging the youth to go into professional dirge performance so as to ensure the continuity of funeral dirges  in Elugwu Ezike is the motivation for this research.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

There is a growing body of knowledge on African oral literature. A number of pioneer studies on African oral literature tended to cover many communities and groups in one study. Due to large spatial units, social groups and area coverage, there are disturbing generalisations made  by  these  scholars  on  the  oral  poetry  of  a  number  of  African  communities.  The contributions of these pioneer scholars in showing the place of African oral literature in human knowledge cannot be denied. Irrespective of the efforts made by these pioneer scholars on funeral poetry in Igboland, no conscious effort has been made on the funeral poetry of Elugwu Ezike people.

There is a need at the moment for scholars of African oral literature to extend their research beyond that of the pioneers of African studies. This can be done, for example, by studying oral literature of specific communities as argued by Finnegan (1970:82). An even greater necessity is the need to study oral funeral poetry at a micro level. Even within such specific category as oral poetry, there is need to investigate poems pertaining to specific events like births, marriage and death for the purpose of gaining deeper insight into oral poetry as well as the phenomenon to which they are applied.

The current age of industrialisation and attendant urbanisation has induced most Igbo to give up their traditional ways of life and seek their fortune in the cities. The youth should be encouraged to go into professional dirge performance so as to ensure the continuity of the practice. There is the question of who succeeds the present professional dirge performers when they are no more since the youth are not interested in apprenticeship in the art of professional dirge singing. With this exodus of yout hs to the cities, and the invasion by Christianity, it is expected that  such  indigenous practices  like  the  performance of  funeral dirges  and  rituals associated with traditional burials may cease to exist in the future.

Within the Elugwu Ezike community, a lot of funeral dirges and ritual performances have been associated with traditional burials, but unfortunately enough, most of these funeral dirges

associated  with  the  various  traditional  ritual  performances  of  the  dead  have  not  been documented. It was further observed that there may be variations from the former practices of the pre-colonial people to the present time.

Although emphasis has been placed on culture and the need to preserve the cultural practices of the people, no serious attention has been given to the documentation of funeral dirges associated with the  burial rites in  most  communities of Igboland. Moreover, certain aspects of a people’s culture can cease to exist either partially or completely. Some of the root causes of such cultural practices in the sand of time could be generation gap or what Idowu (1977:87) calls “over operation factor of death” which carries away the custodians of culture in a given society. A documentation of Elugwu Ezike funeral dirges should be embarked upon with the desired urgency, for they are fast disappearing. Consequently, we have embarked on this study to gain deeper understanding of the Elugwu Ezike Igbo dirges as well as the analysis of Igbo oral funeral poetry. We are using this study to fulfil the need for a micro-level analysis that is specific to funeral poems and an experienced phenomenon of death in the community.

1.3      Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to analyse the oral funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike. Specifically, the study seeks to:

i.        examine the themes and significance of oral funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike examine the form and structure of Elugwu Ezike dirges.

ii.        .ascertain the causes and effects of death as expressed through oral funeral poetry in

Elugwu Ezike

iii.       examine  the  impact  of Christianity,  Islamic  relgion and  Western  life  style  on  the tradition of oral funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike.  .

1.4      Research Questions

This study is guided by the following research questions:

1.        What are the form and structure of Elugwu Ezike funeral dirges?

2.        What are the themes and significance of oral funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike?

3.        What causes and effects of death are expressed through funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike?

4.         What impact do Christianity, Islam and Western lifestyle have on the tradition of oral funeral poetry in Elugwu Ezike?

1.5      Significance of the Study

The study of oral literature in general and oral funeral poetry in particular is of great significance for so many reasons. It will keep our memories fresh about the seemingly forgotten importance of oral funeral poetry which the bulk of this work hilights. The study helps in exposing the diverse nature of dirge performances in  Igboland, and the desire to promote the good aspects of our culture as a way of encouraging the youth of today not to abandon our cultural values. The study will equally help in sensitizing Elugwu Ezike youths to consider oral funeral poetry as  an  art  form that  should  be  appreciated as  such,  and  above  all,  to  have confidence in the good aspects of Elugwu Ezike Igbo cultural values as the basis for sustaining and unifying the society.  The findings of the study will shed some light on the way of life of the people of Elugwu Ezike.

The study provides a sieve for some understanding of mythology and issues surrounding death, especially society’s experiential understanding of its causes and effects. The study also reveals the existing burial practices in Elugwu Ezike. It invariably exposes the necessary burial rites that should be encouraged and further reveals those that should be discouraged.

The study also has interesting implications in documenting oral funeral dirges and rituals associated with burial rites in Elugwu Ezike for future generation to read so that this knowledge is not completely lost. It  also provides the basis for adopting an aspect of ethnopoetic theory known as  infracultural model of oral poetry analysis  developed  by Alembi (2002)  for the analysis of this study as well as the justification for using oral interview, tape recorder and unstructured questionnaire as methods of data collection. The study also  is useful to other researchers who may wish to use some of the information of oral funeral poetry of Elugwu Ezike Igbo for further research.

1.6      Scope and limitations of the Study

The study   is primarily focused on the analysis of oral funeral poetry of Elugwu Ezike Igbo. This study is restricted to funeral poetry of Elugwu Ezike. The content, performance, style and aesthetic judgment of creativity of the poetry were also assessed. The various themes each dirge contains such as satire, mock heroism, sarcasm, grief, resignation as well as the form and structure of Elugwu Ezike dirges are to be discussed.

Also discussed is the poet’s creative ingenuity such as the capability of the poem to appeal to the emotion of people and function of funeral poetry in the society. The impact of

Christianity, Islam and western life style on the performances of Elugwu Ezike dirges as well as the causes and effects of death as expressed in the dirges are discussed. The poet’s clarity of voice and authenticity of the poem are assessed. In doing this, we must draw from existing literature to make a comparative study.

1.7 Limitations of Study

One  of  the  problems  of  oral  research  is  lack  of  cooperation  from  the  informants especially on issues that shroud in secrecy. In this study, some of the funeral poetry performers were not cooperative for they were suspicious of the purpose of the research. Already, most people in the rural areas think that it is sheer waste of time discussing oral literature. The few who are ready to do so guard their knowledge jealously. They are reluctant to give information on non-entertaining sub-genres like  myths, dirges and  legends; for fear that they might  be divulging secrets. And when they rendered pieces of information, they charge exorbitantly. To counter this problem, the informants were made to see the roles of oral funeral poetry in the education of their children so that they can take interest in the collector and the whole exercise which would then become a joint commitment.

The use of electronic equipment such as photo camera and cassette recorder frightened the respondents. Photo camera is used to capture the paralinguistic features of oral funeral poetry while the cassette recorder is used to  capture almost  all the  information the respondent  is supplying  to  the  researcher.  To  counter  the  problem  of  use  of  electronic  equipment,  the researcher explained to the informants that the purpose of using the electronic media is to enable the researcher capture almost all the information they are supplying to the researcher and not for any other purpose.

Despite all these setbacks, considerable data were colleted and analysed in this study. Though the research period was hectic, time consuming and expensive, it was worthwhile.

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