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ON THE STRUCTURAL UNITY OF THE AKAK DIRGE by E,O. Apronti Introduction An important apect of the total tudy of Oral Literature in Africa relate to the inner dynamic of the text a text. Such tudie complement what can be tated about the religiou, ocial or ritual context in which the text are performed. They do thi principally in increaing our awarene of the factor that have fotered the urvival of thee text a text, while at the ame time making explicit thoe tructural dynamic that reinforce the literary appeal of the text. Preervation and urvival are crucial factor in the "live" of unwritten text. Thee text vary in the extent to which it i felt that they hould retain their integrity. The "proe" narrative of a folk tale for intance allow for more textual improviation than doe the Yoruba babalawo' IFA "vere" chant. Generally, indeed, the performance of vere text tend to require a greater fidelity to the original than doe the performance of proe text. How, then, doe the integrity of an unwritten text get preerved? Content-wie, mot text evince a unity in their tructure. Not only are they concerned with a particular topic, they alo generally draw on vocabulary from a et field or catter. They thu evince a coherence of theme or of ubject* Structurally, alo, they evince variou device which unify the text and thu enhance their memorability. The extant literature on oral literature high-light thi tructural feature; a few example are Babalola' Content and Form of the Yoruba Ijala, OUP, 1966; Abimbola' "Stylitic Repetition in Ifa Divination Poetry," Lago Note and Record III, 1,1971,38-53, and Nketia' Funeral Dirge of the Akan, Achimota, 1955, pp. 75-112. Structural unity in both it yntactic and lexical apect can, therefore, be hown to be a characteritic of many oral literature text. A ha been uggeted above, uch tructural unity i a function of the memorability of text the tighter the tructural dynamic, the greater the chance of a text remaining unchanged; converely the looer it tructural unity, the more liable the text i to emendation. The Akan Dirge The mot outtanding tudy of thi literary form i Profeor Nketia' book to which reference ha been made above. In it i to be found a uccint dicuion of the religiou and ocial context in which dirge are performed, an analyi of their linguitic and literary propertie, and example of a variety of dirge text. * Dr. E. O. Apronti i a Reearch Fellow in Linguiitic. 32
What i intended here i to upplement, without undue repetition, the tatement that Nketia make on the tructural unity of the dirge. The theory which we hall apply to thi material i a verion of the concept of COUPLING propoed by Samuel R. Levin in hi Linguitic Structure in Poetry, Mouton, The Hague, 1962. The theory i applicable in all it rigour to the dirge text to be dicued. We deit from thi, however, becaue uch an exercie will interet only pecialit; we are here concerned with the type of tatement that reader who are not pecialit linguit would find congenial. Poetry veru Proe Before expounding the outline of Levin' theory and illutrating it applicability to the Akah dirge, it might be ueful to dipoe of the problem of ditinguihing vere or poetry from proe. Thi, of coure, ha been a ubject of age-long debate. The ditinction i uually, but by no mean alway, clear-cut. Indeed the dirge, being a ong text, i poetry almot by definition. But the quetion raie wider tylitic iue of which we mut dipoe, if only to jutify the relevance of Levin' theory to our dicuion. Thi ditinction i made difficult by the fact that ome "poem" are clearly proaic in flavour (which generally make them bad poetry. Example abound.in the daily and weekly pre). Even more diconcerting i the tendency of ome proe text to evoke in all but their form the repone that reader generally aociate with poetry. A recent example i afforded by the mall-print chapter of Kofi Awoonor' firt novel, Thi Earth, My Brother.... Attempt that cholar have made to ditinguih poetry from proe have varied from appeal to memorability, to; obviouly regular rhythm, to tructural ymmetry and to the congruence of form* and 'content.' Thee criteria ound formal and rigorou enough, until it i remembered thatraany proe tatement or paage exhibit them a well. Several recurrent quotation undoubtedly have a proe form. For intance, an ultracolonialit tatement by Britain' war-time leader Sir Winton Churchill to the effect that he would not preide over the liquidation of the Britih Empire ha found echoe in many part of the Englih-peaking world. Beide, proverb text which are quoted to uch good effect in ordinary life can alo be aid to be proe. But they often evince tructural ymmetry. Such ymmetry i alo evident in the proe tyle called "Eupheuitic writing" once popular among Englih proe writer and employed alo by J. E. Caely-Hafford in hi peudo-novel, Ethiopia Unbound (1911). It would eem that the mot atifactory clue in thee day of "proe poem," "free vere" arid "concrete poetry" conit of a combination of thee variou trait. We can thu make explicit our enation of a tructural unity in poetry principally on the bai of the yntax of the poem and econdly by reference to it meaning and the peculiar organiation of it (poetic) expreion. It will be found that the longer the piece, the more fruitful it i to analye it on thee tructural line. Indeed when proe even fine poetic proe parade a vere 33
the tructural-yntactic tet readily how it up a not being a cloely-knit a we would expect a piece vere to be. The kind of tructural label we hall provide for the dirge below are clearly inapplicable to proe text. Levin and "Coupling" The attraction,of Levin' theory i that it help to elaborate the tructural bai of Nketia' tylitic analyi. It i hoped that thi will enable u to how that the form and the content of a traditional oral poem can evince a much ymmetry a an individual compoition (compare the dicuion offered below with Jean Ure' tylitic analyi of the preent writer' poem "Funeral," in Proceeding of the Eighth Wet African Language Congre, Univerity of Abidjan, 1971, Volume 2, p. 589-597). To ummarize Levin' theory, he claim that the unity or ymmetry that a poem evoke i a function of a particular type of compoition or tructure. He recognize variou unit of tructure, including the line. Thee unit have place in them, which are occupied by maller (linguitic) unit. Thee latter unit, naturally, have interrelation both within the line and in ucceive line. The firt line of a poem may conit of a tructure of ubject plu Verb (tranitive) plu Object. The next line, let u ay, may exhibit a imilar tructure. Thi i one kind of ymmetry. The two ubject poition are aid to be equivalent (i.e. imilar). But then, factor on other linguitic plane (apart from grammar)'may reinforce thi ymmetry. For intance the repective lexical item (or item of vocabulary) that occupy Subject place in the two hypothetical line may be emantically congruent (where for intance they are ynonym), or otherwie; Similarly, the lexical content of the two verb may correpond or contrat and o on. The poibilitie are therefore quite coniderable. One can purue thi type of analyi, on the one hand, by reference to uch linguitic level a phonology, morphology, yntax etc., and, on the other hand, in relation to combination of varying number of line. Levin draw a ditinction between poitionally (i.e. yntactically) equivalent clae which he call Type One, and emantically equivalent clae, Type Two. The ideal of tructural unity and ymmetry, then, occur when Type Two equivalence coincide with (or are embedded in) Type One equivalence* Then you have 'coupling.' That i, we have coupling when linguitic item Which are either emantically (or phonically) equivalent are found occurring in comparable tructural poition. The full rigour of thi theory invoke the phonology or ound ytem of the language in which the poem occur. A we hall be dealing here with the Englih tranlation of the Akan dirge, it would be fruitle to purue the full implication of thi apect of the theory. Such an exercie would reveal, in the phonological phere, only fortuitou phonic equivalence in the Englih text. Thi i not to ay that the latter are entirely devoid of interet. But the firt tage of the theory which deal with ynthetic and emantic factor, we contend, hed a ueful li ght on the tructure of the Akan dirge, to which we now turn. 34
7%e Structure of the Dirge One apect of linguitic analyi which will feature in the dicuion that follow i the revelation of the keletal tructure of linguitic matter. To do thi, we need ymbol that can extrapolate that tructure and abtract it, thu high-lighting tructural feature (namely correpondence and contrat) to the excluion of all other feature.. We propoe to ue the following ymbol: Z addreive, imilar to the Latin vocative, though not formally marked in all the text. (One of the few marked i "Aumegya Gyebiri oo" p.21-1, line 6). S Subject, defined by it regular yntactic relationhip to a Verb or Predicator. It may in addition precede or follow form of the copular, the verb "to be." P Predicator or verb, evincing tene and mode form, and in yntactic relationhip to a nominal group in ubject poition. C Complement or direct Object, a nominal group dominated by a tranitive verbal group. Q R A Indirect object. locational, eparated from other adverbial phrae (A, below) on account of the dominance of the theme of the place of domicile in the dirge (ee Nketia, op cit, pp. 38-43). adverbial other than locational (R, above). To turn now to ome of the longer dirge text which, a we have already indicated, yield the mot fruitful reult through thi type of analyi. The firt Aduana dirge on page 139 begin: 1. Atwea Yaa, the flint arrived too late. Here "Atwea Yaa" i an addreive or appellation, and i therefore "Z". The next two word contitute a nominal group "S" in ubject poition to the Predicator "P" "arrived." The lat two word being adverbial (but not locational) may be labelled "A." Line One therefore yield the tructure: 1. Z, S P A Line Two read: 2. Sakrabutu, he i neither an upturner, nor one who move about. 35
We open again with an addreive "Z," followed by two claue which, for our purpoe, ought to be rewritten (becaue the following are their underlying tring or tructure) a 2a he i not an up turner 2b he doe not move about. It i intereting here that the Akan verion (page 209, line 2) evince a tructural ymmetry which i obcured by the Englih tranlation: 2c Sakrabutu, ony butufoo, onye nantefoo. which i clearly Z, SPS, SPS, where P i the copular "to be" to which the category of tranitivity doe not apply, hence 'S' after 'P.' To turn back to the Englih verion, then, the tructure are: 2a S P S 2b S P R We may note here in paing the uniform negative mode of the two verb, a well a their uniform tene. Line 2 a whole thu yield the tructure: The next line read: 2. Z, S P S, S P R 3. You will find him crouching by the wayide which we may expound a 3 a. You will find him 3b. He i crouching by the wayide. Thee two yield the following tructure 3a. S P C Where "you" i "S," "will find" i "P," and "him" i "C." 3b. S P R With "he" a "S," "i crouching" a "P," and "by the wayide" a "R" a locational. Thu the whole line i: 3. S P C, S P R The next two line embody a conditional claue 4. If you ak him for anything, he give it to you. 36
5. And ay: Vanquih the thouand and the mighty with it*?. which i balanced by line 6 and 7. Line 4 yield the tructure 4. S P C Q, S P C Q an example of perfect ymmetry within the line, a fact that i not readily evident in the verbalized verion. Line 5 may be aid to be prefaced by "if you a ked ri him for anything" (SPCQ) of line 4; S A.-;*> "He ay" can therefore precede the colon a SP, thu:! ; 5. (SPCQ.S) P: PC'+CA We have here a concatenation of two direct object dominated by the verb "vanquih," namely "the thouand" and "the mighty." Since we cannot aume that thoe two have identical referent, we ue upercript number to ditinguih them. Now come the two line that counterpoie the previou two;. 6. Then you reply: I will not ue it for that purpoe. * 7. Bu^ will,ue it for omething greater., Line 7 in it turn i expounded by lilie 8 and 9, a we hall ee beltiw later. Line 6 yield the tructure 6. S P: S P C A Line 7 begin with a uppreed "Then you reply, (But) I "....which we upply, yielding" - "' ; " ' - ' ' " -^ ^- < - ' - - -:.:*-^-- : - : 7. (S P: S) P C A : The ymmetry evinced between line 6 and 7 i thu made explicit. We note in addition the contrating mode or pole of the two verb, a negative "will not ue" in line 6, but an affirmative "will ue" in line 7. The next two line read: 8. Deception and the wort tratagem 9. i Tfe portion of the exterior of the pot tfiat Skin doe not cover. Line 8 i tructurally dominated by "I will ue it for" in line 7 and i thu an elaboration of the "A" element of that line. It therefore ha the tructure 8. A 1 + A" ^A -S- S A. Line 9 might be rewritten: - 9a. The portion of the exterior of the pot 9b. Skin doe not cover it -r
where 9 i tructurally imilar to 8, hence 9a. A 8 and 9b yield 9b. S P C The complete line i thu ; 9a. A 8, S P C The final line i 10. Grandchild of Atwea Yaa that hail from the town of Atwea Gyampon. which we may re-write a 10a. Grandchild of Atwea Yaa 10b. You hail from the town of Atwea Gyampon, yielding 10a. Z 10b. S P C, The tranitivity of the Predicator "hail from" (equivalent to the Akan "firi") i verifiable by replacing "the town of Atwea Gyampon" with the pronoun object "him." "From....Gyampon" i thu not a locational unit, depite all appearance to the contrary. Line 10 a a whole thu yield: 10. Z, S P C The keletal framework of the firt Aduana dirge on Nketia' page 139 may thu be diplayed a: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. z, (S (S A 1 p p p + A3, > z, P A P S, c, C Q, C Q, S P p S) c P: P: S) P' C A* S P C S P C PR R P C Q P: PC 1 + 0 A A A.
Recurrent yntactic tructure are thu een to be a ignificant feature, of the dirge. Add to thi the conitency of the vocabulary, drawn here from the activity of hunting and combat: flint, move about, crouching, vanquih, deception, tratagem, kin. We thu get an inkling of the bai of the reader' enation of unified or coherent experience in the dirge a a form of poetry. We conclude the paper by citing another dirge and extrapolating it tructure to illutrate the method employed here. It i of coure poible to pecify in greater detail than we have done in thi paper the tructural element that underline the unity of the dirge, but we have indicated above reaon why that amount of delicacy (i.e. detail in analyi) would be inappropriate here. In the following dirge, therefore, many locational reference will be adumbrated by a "Z" addreive pecification. Thi i done without prejudice to further tatement that are poible and are, indeed, of interet, but which we hall not accommodate here. (Note again that "hail from" i treated a a tranitive verb). The dirge in quetion i number 90 on Nketia' page 182. It i an Agona dirge 1. Kotoku peron and grandchild of the Vanguard of Kotoku. 2. Grandchild of Ampoma: our lineage hail from Kotoku Z, SPC 3. Grandchild of Baabu: our lineage hail from Kade Z, SPC 4. Grandchild of Ofori Amanfo: you are a Tia peron Z, SPS 5. Grandchild of Ampona: our lineage hail from Dankyira Mmorebmu. Z, SPC 6. Grandchild of Sau Dam hail from Sankubanae (when rewritten a "Grandchild of Sau Dam, you hail from Sankubanae). Z, SPC 7. It i grandire that hail from Kontonkyi, where the tone i wearing down the axe SPS, SPC, RSPC 8. Tia peron, grandchild of Akwai Afrc Z, Z 39
9. Okyergya' grandchild that drink at Tafo Abooo Z, SPR* 10. Abeam Danoaa offpring of the Biretuo clan of Sekyere. 11. Akwai Af re i the offpring of Agona and Biretuo clan.- / :- ; ; ' S P S : 12. A Dbmpre peron and grandchild of Aboagye Awua of Akyem 13. Grandchild of Abora Kani, Kani pure and true Z Z Z, Z or, following Akan yntax, Z, S P C.! Apart, again, from the cloely-knit tructure of yntactical element, we notice even from a caual glance the elaborate repetition of kinhip vocabulary' grandchild, offpring, hail, lineage Thi dirge i therefore a unified poetical experience.. The cae for regarding the dkge a a coherent whole i thu een to be baed on tructural, lexical and emantic conideration. We have been concerned here with drawing the outline of the application of a method of tylitic analyi which lend validity to our intuitive awarene of the appeal or "punch" of a dirge a a unified poetic expreion, and we find here at leat a partial explanation a to why, even without the benefit of writing, thi piece of oral literature ha hung together for o long. 40