Overview
The African Traditional Oral Literature and Drum Language is an exciting Programme that blends education and entertainment to enlighten students about African traditional oral literature and drum language. The Programme combines theory and practice to present African history, literature, and tradition in a clear and understanding way. It is divided into two parts. The first part, African traditional oral literature focuses on poetry, prose, and drama. The second part, drum language centers on drum performance and the talking drum.
In Africa, emphasis is placed on the oral literature as much as on the written form. This is because Africans developed and established their oral literature long before they began to use the writing mode. African traditional oral literature and drum Language have no fixed boundaries; therefore, it is free and limitless. In fact, it is independent of colonial influence.
African traditional oral literature and drum Language is a tradition that has been passed on orally from one generation to another for thousands of years. As in all oral literature, the storyteller or performer is free to change or embellish the story or performance to suit local audiences. In early Africa, few people were able to read or write, oral literature and drum language were ways of communication, recording the past, glorifying current leaders, and teaching morals and traditions to young people. In West Africa, the griot or professional drummer committed the stories and family histories to memory and recited them in a highly stylized and rhythmic language or played them skillfully with the drum because, in traditional society, every word is charged with a particular force.
Programme Objective
Central University Summer School has the experience and skills to train and enhance the participants’ expectations of the African Traditional Oral Literature and Drum Language program.
The proposed training will provide participants with the ability to:
- explain African traditional oral literature
- give examples of the literature genres (poetry, prose, and drama) under African traditional oral literature
- identify sound and literary devices in African traditional oral literature
- define drum language
- give examples of major types of drums in drum language and their uses
- describe how drum language is produced for different purposes
- discuss the importance of studying African traditional oral literature
- Compose and perform at least one literary piece orally
Programme Content
Participants in this programme will understand the Two Key Modules:
- African Traditional Oral Literature
- Poetry, prose, and drama.
- Drum Language
- Drum performance and talking drum.
The programme will focus on the following modules:
Module 1: African Traditional Oral Literature
- Poetry, prose, and drama.
Module 2: Drum Language
- Drum performance
- Talking drum
Module 3: Other Topics
- Libation and Ritual
- Invocation and Incantation
- Divining/healing
- Praise song and dirges
- Folktales and Myths
- Epics and Legends
- Stories told for didactic purposes and entertainment.
Who Should Attend (Target Group)?
- All participants who want to know more about Africa
- Foreign students who want an exchange programme in Ghana
Registration
Click HERE to register
Facilitator
Dr. Philomena Mintah
Dr. Philomina Odi Mintah holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Ghana (2022) and is a lecturer in the Communication and Media Studies Department at Central University. Her areas of specialization are Literature (African, English, American, and the diaspora). She has been teaching both the English language Programme and literature for over thirteen years at the university. She is a member of the African Literature Association (ALA), African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA), Ghana Writers Association (GAW), and International Society for the Study of Behavioural Studies (ISSBD). Her latest publication is “Images of Women in Armah’s Novel”
Philomina Odi Mintah (Ph.D.) is a lecturer in the Communication and Media Studies Department. She holds a Ph.D. in English (2022), MPhil in English (2011), and B. A. in History and English (2007) all from the University of Ghana. She is a member of the African Literature Association, African Studies Association of Africa, Ghana Association of Writers, and International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development. Some of the Programme she teaches are Introduction to Creative Writing, Introduction to Online Media, Advanced Creative Writing, Speech Writing and Public Speaking, English Language and Communication Skills, African History, Literature and Society, Analytical Thinking, Development of Christian Thought and Philosophy, and The Christian in the Society, Church, Work and State.
Research Interests
Her research interests are in historical fiction, the use of the English language by second speakers of English, feminism, gender, patriarchy, post-colonial studies, African literature, American literature, English literature, slavery, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and online media.