Review

This study examines the Yoruba above from the satiric and literary prism both as an instrument of social reform and personal reprimand in an indigenous community. The discourse taps from the resources of literary studies to evaluate the poetic qualities inherent in the imaginative deployment of imageries and related literary devices that are built into abusive pieces among the Yoruba people. Samples of abusive languages are obtained from daily exchanges among the Yoruba people and the record of Foyanmu Ogundare (a Yoruba oral poet in Ogbomoso) whose works are replete with examples of such satire driven abusive pieces. The study concludes that Yoruba abuse is a veritable weapon of social reform whose quality is enhanced by the imaginative use of language which qualifies this art as a specialized kind of oral poetry