Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion

Folk songs have been a major part of ceremonies in most African societies of which the Krobo in Ghana are no exception. One striking type of folk music of the Krobo is Klama. Klama songs serve as a platform to instruct, entertain, educate as well as chastise wrong doers. In the belly of these songs...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rebecca Gberki Angmor, William Dautey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UniorPress 2024-08-01
Series:Journal of African Languages and Literatures
Online Access:https://serena2.atcult.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/11128
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846160936724856832
author Rebecca Gberki Angmor
William Dautey
author_facet Rebecca Gberki Angmor
William Dautey
author_sort Rebecca Gberki Angmor
collection DOAJ
description Folk songs have been a major part of ceremonies in most African societies of which the Krobo in Ghana are no exception. One striking type of folk music of the Krobo is Klama. Klama songs serve as a platform to instruct, entertain, educate as well as chastise wrong doers. In the belly of these songs are buried aesthetic devices which need to be unearthed. This study, therefore, sets out to investigate the use of allusion as an aesthetic device in Klama songs. It also aims at establishing and identifying the types of allusion in the songs. The study seeks to examine the effective use of Klama lyrics in communicating the history and beliefs of the Krobo. The study is anchored on the Infracultural framework of folklore analysis as the conceptual framework. The framework acknowledges that oral texts are deeply rooted in the culture and tradition of the performer and that the interpretation of an oral text must be situated within the cultural context. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation and information gathered from ethnographic records. The study reveals that biblical and historical allusions are important literary devices in Klama songs. It argues that allusion is heavily dwelt upon by Klama cantors to communicate the history and the beliefs of the Krobo ethnolinguistic group. This study documents Klama songs and contributes to the teaching of poetry and oral literature.  It also brings Klama songs to the lime light for scholarly attention.
format Article
id doaj-art-b84e328441f24dd9a88b212f21a54a71
institution Kabale University
issn 2723-9764
language English
publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher UniorPress
record_format Article
series Journal of African Languages and Literatures
spelling doaj-art-b84e328441f24dd9a88b212f21a54a712024-11-21T16:40:50ZengUniorPressJournal of African Languages and Literatures2723-97642024-08-01510.6093/jalalit.v0i5.11128Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusionRebecca Gberki Angmor0William Dautey1Presbyterian Women’s College of Education, AburiUniversity of Education, Winneba Folk songs have been a major part of ceremonies in most African societies of which the Krobo in Ghana are no exception. One striking type of folk music of the Krobo is Klama. Klama songs serve as a platform to instruct, entertain, educate as well as chastise wrong doers. In the belly of these songs are buried aesthetic devices which need to be unearthed. This study, therefore, sets out to investigate the use of allusion as an aesthetic device in Klama songs. It also aims at establishing and identifying the types of allusion in the songs. The study seeks to examine the effective use of Klama lyrics in communicating the history and beliefs of the Krobo. The study is anchored on the Infracultural framework of folklore analysis as the conceptual framework. The framework acknowledges that oral texts are deeply rooted in the culture and tradition of the performer and that the interpretation of an oral text must be situated within the cultural context. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation and information gathered from ethnographic records. The study reveals that biblical and historical allusions are important literary devices in Klama songs. It argues that allusion is heavily dwelt upon by Klama cantors to communicate the history and the beliefs of the Krobo ethnolinguistic group. This study documents Klama songs and contributes to the teaching of poetry and oral literature.  It also brings Klama songs to the lime light for scholarly attention. https://serena2.atcult.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/11128
spellingShingle Rebecca Gberki Angmor
William Dautey
Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
Journal of African Languages and Literatures
title Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
title_full Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
title_fullStr Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
title_full_unstemmed Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
title_short Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion
title_sort literary aesthetics of klama lyrics an exploration of allusion
url https://serena2.atcult.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/11128
work_keys_str_mv AT rebeccagberkiangmor literaryaestheticsofklamalyricsanexplorationofallusion
AT williamdautey literaryaestheticsofklamalyricsanexplorationofallusion