Uses of elements of oral literature in the African novel, 1987

The presence of elements of oral literature in African creative writing as recurrent motives, exempla, themes, symbols and other recognizable patterns is a phenomenon well known to critics of African literature, with reference to the works of selected anglophone and francophone African novelists, this study identifies and examines the uses of elements of oral literature in the African novel. These uses are mainly informative, stylistic, and thematic. The first of these refers to instances where oral literature is used in cultural exposition. Stylistically oral literature is used as a basis for structural elements in the novel such as narrative technique, setting, plot, and point of view. Thematically, it is used for illustrating ideas in the narrative, as exempla, and as literary prefigurations. The study shows that the more thematically integrated the element is in the novel, th