essay
Performance in Tiv oral poetry
Oral poetry in Nigeria : selections from the papers presented at the Seminar on Traditional Oral Poetry in Some Nigerian Communities • Lagos • Published In 1981 • Pages: 37-56
By: Hagher, Iyorwuese H. (Iyorwuese Harry).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The author documents the different kinds of Tiv poetry and the different settings in which one finds it used and performed. The Tiv language is rich in metaphor in which social action is described in terms of natural phenomena. The use of metaphor is found in the proverbs of everday conversation, riddle games, storytelling, and songs. Songs are sung to instruct children, to accompany work, or to inspire lineage solidarity; their rhythms varying according to their context and purpose. A lineage elder will hire a songwriter to compose and sing songs praising his lineage at a feast. Religious poetry is largely inspired by Christianity. One famous Christian songwriter draws on traditional imagery to achieve poetic depth.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sociolinguistics
- Games
- Music
- Literature
- Literary texts
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tiv
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Poet
- Playwright
- Politician
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1977-1979
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1970s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Benue State, Nigeria
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Iyorwuese Hagher
- Seminar on traditional oral poetry in some Nigerian communities (1980 : Ahmadu Bello University). Held Jan. 16-18, 1980, at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 83183460
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tiv (African people)