AFRICAN WOMEN AND MEN AS PERFORMERS OF ORAL ART: A RE-EXAMINATION OF KODIYAMALLA AND MOKOROTLO

This paper explores knowledge of folklore as essential to understanding the image of African women. Folklore is much closer to the African consciousness than to the consciousness of an average European. It would not be an exaggeration to mention that all African writers use elements of folklore in their writings. Carl Jung’s archetypal theory is important for honing our analysis, as it provides a theory-based structure of the study. Through archetypal theory, kodiyamalla as oral performance is examined as part of the Basotho tradition and the creativity of its women. Because the various aspects of traditional culture are so tightly interwoven, the examination of oral literature will necessarily bring in mokorotlo, which is sung by men, because the content of mokorotlo and that of kodiyamalla have much in common.Â