- Key People:
- Z. D. Mangoaela
- Related Topics:
- African literature
praise song
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What is a praise song in African literature?
A praise song in African literature is a widely used poetic form that uses laudatory epithets to capture the essence of the object being praised, whether gods, men, animals, plants, or towns. Professional bards, who may be praise singers to a chief and court historians of their tribe, chant praise songs.
Though expected to know traditional phrases, the bard can add to existing poems. Praise songs have been adapted to modern times, and singers are hired to flatter the rich or act as masters of ceremonies. Among Bantu-speaking people, it is an important form of oral literature. The Sotho of Lesotho required boys to compose praises for themselves that set forth the ideals of action or manhood.
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Who or what is usually praised in African praise songs?
African praise songs, a widely used poetic form, typically praise gods, men, animals, plants, and towns by using laudatory epithets that capture their essence.
Professional bards, who may be praise singers to a chief and court historians of their tribe, chant praise songs. For example, the Sotho of Lesotho required all boys to compose praises for themselves that set forth the ideals of action or manhood. Sotho bards also composed traditional praises of chiefs and warriors, and even a very young man was allowed to create praises of himself if he had performed feats of great courage. The Tswana of Botswana add women, tribal groups, domestic and wild animals, trees, crops, various features of the landscape, and divining bones to the subjects used by the Sotho.
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How are praise songs traditionally performed?
Praise songs, a widespread poetic form in Africa, are performed by professional bards who serve as praise singers and court historians. These bards, expected to know traditional phrases passed down orally, can also add to existing poems, adapting them to modern contexts.
Performance involves a reciter standing in an open space, reciting in a high voice and punctuating war victories by stabbing the ground with a spear, detailing lineage, battles, and life history. Instruments such as drums and trumpets may accompany the declamation of praises by mimicking the tonal and rhythmic patterns of speech. Dances may also be incorporated, with skilled dancers being assessed on their ability to follow the percussive musical rhythm.
Today, praise singers may also serve as entertainers, hired to flatter the wealthy or act as masters of ceremonies.
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Why are praise songs important in African cultures?
Praise songs are a widely used poetic form in Africa that use laudatory epithets to capture the essence of the object being praised, be it gods, men, animals, plants, or towns. Professional bards, who serve as praise singers and court historians, chant these songs, preserving the tribe’s history and adapting to modern times by also serving as entertainers who flatter the rich or act as masters of ceremonies.
Among the Sotho of Lesotho, praise songs are an important form of oral literature where boys undergoing initiation compose praises for themselves, setting forth ideals of action or manhood. The Tswana of Botswana include women, tribal groups, animals, trees, crops, and landscapes in their praise songs, which consist of loose stanzas recited at tribal meetings, weddings, and even in beer halls.
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What kinds of language or poetic devices do praise songs often use?
Praise songs, a widely used poetic form in African literature, employ various language and poetic devices to capture the essence of the subject being praised. These songs often feature laudatory epithets applicable to gods, men, animals, plants, and towns.
Metaphor is a key device for suggesting worth, with reciters sometimes comparing themselves to ferocious animals. Bards are free to add to traditional phrases, and modern comparisons can be incorporated.
Other devices include the use of rhythm, imagery, and hyperbole. The sequence of events is not necessarily logical, and poetic license is granted for coining new words.
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How have modern African writers used or adapted praise songs in their works?
Modern African writers draw significantly from the tradition of praise songs, a widespread poetic form that uses laudatory epithets to capture the essence of the subject being praised. These writers often integrate elements of oral tradition into their works, adapting classical structures and images to a literary mode.
In contemporary African literature, praise songs are adapted to modern contexts, reflecting the tensions between traditional and modern life, rural and urban settings, and generational divides. Modern praise singers may also serve as entertainers who flatter the wealthy or act as masters of ceremonies. Writers transpose praise song structures to written literature, moving beyond simple imitation to organic growth, and they use praise songs to explore social, historical, and cultural themes.
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praise song, one of the most widely used poetic forms in Africa; a series of laudatory epithets applied to gods, men, animals, plants, and towns that capture the essence of the object being praised. Professional bards, who may be both praise singers to a chief and court historians of their tribe, chant praise songs such as these of the great Zulu chieftain Shaka:
He is Shaka the unshakeable,
Thunderer-while-sitting, son of Menzi.
He is the bird that preys on other birds,
The battle-axe that excels over other battle-axes.
He is the long-strided pursuer, son of Ndaba,
Who pursued the sun and the moon.
He is the great hubbub like the rocks of Nkandla
Where elephants take shelter
When the heavens frown…
Although he is expected to know all of the traditional phrases handed down by word of mouth in his tribe, the bard is also free to make additions to existing poems. Thus the praise songs of Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning, might contain a modern comparison of the god to the power and noise of a railway.
Among some Bantu-speaking peoples, the praise song is an important form of oral literature. The Sotho of Lesotho required all boys undergoing initiation to compose praises for themselves that set forth the ideals of action or manhood. Sotho bards also composed traditional praises of chiefs and warriors, and even a very young man was allowed to create praises of himself if he had performed feats of great courage.
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These praise songs were recited as follows: the reciter stood in an open space, visible to all assembled. He then began reciting in a high voice, punctuating his victories in war by stabbing the ground with his spear, until he had set forth not only his lineage and the battles in which he had fought but his entire life history. Sotho praises are telegraphic, leaving much to the listener’s imagination; their language is poetic, and the sequence of events not necessarily logical. Metaphor is a key device for suggesting worth (a reciter might call himself a ferocious animal), and poetic license is granted for coining new words.
To the subjects used by the Sotho, the Tswana of Botswana add women, tribal groups, domestic (especially cattle) and wild animals, trees, crops, various features of the landscape, and divining bones. Their praise songs consist of a succession of loose stanzas with an irregular number of lines and a balanced metrical form. Experiences such as going abroad to work for Europeans have become a subject of recent praise poems, and recitation has been extended from tribal meetings and ritual occasions such as weddings to the beer hall and labour camp.
In western Africa, also, praise songs have been adapted to the times, and a modern praise singer often serves as an entertainer hired to flatter the rich and socially prominent or to act as a master of ceremonies for paramount chiefs at state functions—e.g., among the Hausa and Manding peoples. Thus praise-song poems, though still embodying and preserving a tribe’s history, have also been adapted to an increasingly urbanized and Westernized African society.