Humour and Tragedy in Conversation: A Critical Analysis of an Ụkwụanị Folktale

Abstract

This paper examined the rubrics and nuances of oral narratives, paying close attention to the narrative devices, phonaesthetics resources, form and structure which enliven a folktale during a performance. The study made use of both primary and secondary sources of data. A folktale titled “'Nwa Ogbei Obodo” from an Ụkwụanị community in Delta State constitutes the primary data. The paper explored those features which give the tale the surrealistic world of fantasy typical of many tales like magic, dream motif, supernatural elements, the trickster, etc. It also explored paralinguistic elements like ideophones, hyperbole, repetition, songs, etc. all of which, in the hands of a talented artist, are artfully manipulated as narrative devices. Michael Carroll’s The Trickster as Selfish-Buffoon and Culture Hero, Isidore Okpewho’s African Oral Literature: Background, Character, and Continuity and Ademola Dasylva’s seminal work; Classificatory Paradigms in African Oral Narrative set the theoretical frameworks for the taxonomic and structural analysis of the selected tale. The study revealed that the folktale is a rescue tale imbued with a healthy interplay between tragedy and humour which excites the audience. The paper concluded that the folktale crystallises the nature of human fate and destiny just as it showed that Ụkwụanị society distastes some of the structures in society that unwittingly provide fertile grounds for hatred, jealousy, cruelty, selfishness and greed.