1.0   INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Tanure Ojaide is a renowned scholar-poet whose works have been subjected to a lot of scholarly interpretations. His over seventeen collections of poetry, seven works of prose fiction, two memoirs, and impressive number of scholarly books and critical essays on a wide range of subjects focusing on various issues in African literature are huge sources of academic references.

Many of the academic researches carried out on his poetry tend to focus on his role as an environmental-cum-activist writer or one engaged in eco or Green Wave poetics. Speaking on his art, Enajite Ojaruega (1993) observes: He is one writer who through his art has been able to bring to public attention the level of environmental degradation going on in the Niger Delta region for several decades. By extension, he also reveals the plight of the people whose lives and livelihoods have been greatly compromised as a result of the negative consequences

Oral literature develops from itself, which actually means that it is auto-poetic (Biti 1997) and builds its own principles as an ever-new story, but never by radically different poetics. The folk narrator is both a gifted individual (the artist) and member of society and thus belongs to both art and society. In other words, when creating, he/she creates for the audience, for society.

Society wishes to be expressed by art, while art wishes to influence social events, which can be seen as early as at the beginnings of literature, for example, in Aeshil's The Persians (Melcinger 1989:24), while those relations are constantly brought into equilibrium.

If "society dictates the tempo", what we have is managed art, while if art, for its part, wishes to exert influence on society, we have tendentious art. When absolute balance is established, art is able without any resistance to become part of all social development, and can even become a guild (Mukařovský 1999:17). Although a considerable number of people would identify oral literature with managed art, it actually is not.

Oral literature is much closer to a balancing between managed and tendentious literature so that its emergence is therefore more closely identifiable with output, têknêom, primarily because the rules of production become known and anyone who masters them can reproduce them in a superior or inferior manner. Naturally enough, that equilibrium is not easily achieved, and that is why we have the instance of folk narrators and more or less emphasised aesthetic functions in the fact of oral literature.

What is most interesting in the whole story is how the establishment of the traditional mode of story-telling came about, of which much is said on the basis of the essay entitled Aesthetic Function, Norm and Value, one of the most fundamental essays regarding the development of structuralism in literature that Mukařovský wrote.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

In orature texts, many genres are mixed. This calls for a change in criticism of orature texts. Critics who study such texts say that a better assessment of them can be done in considering them as mixture of genres. Words are performative in oral traditions. In the field of performance studies, as a literary genre at the cusp between spoken literature and written literature, highlighting the interaction of these modes of communication over time. Despite the fact that this pattern of literature is being criticized greatly by some of the poets, it still remains one of the best kind of literary piece. Finally, several research has been carried out on the aesthetics of resistance and sustainability: Tanure Ojaide and the Niger Delta question but not even a single research has been carried out on the oral aesthetics in Tanure Ojaide’s gods naked children and other stories.

1.3   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

        The main aim of the study is to examine oral aesthetics in Tanure Ojaide’s gods naked children and other stories. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. to determine the extent to which oral aesthetics affect the literary piece of other stories of Tanure Ojaide’s and that of gods naked children.
2. to determine the factors affecting oral aesthetics in the literary piece of today’s world.
3. to examine the influence of oral aesthetics as seen in Tanure Ojaide’s gods naked children and other stories.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problems.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the extent to which oral aesthetics affect the literary piece of other stories of Tanure Ojaide’s and that of god’s naked children?
2. What are the factors affecting oral aesthetics in the literary piece of today’s world?
3. What is the influence of oral aesthetics as seen in Tanure Ojaide’s god’s naked children and other stories?
4. What are the possible solutions to the problems?

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

        In the life of an individual and the society as a whole aesthetic occupies an important place. The study on oral aesthetics in Tanure Ojaide’s god’s naked children and other stories will be of immense benefit in the sense that it will bring to the understanding of people the real meaning of the written words of the literary piece, it will also show the feelings that comes with it and the true expression behind it. More so it will enable people or the audience to appreciate the work of arts. Finally, the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of study and basis for further research.

1.6   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

        The study on oral aesthetics is limited to Tanure Ojaide’s gods naked children and other stories.

1.7   LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Oral         Uttered by the mouth or in words 

Aesthetics       A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.