Revisiting an African Oral Poetic Performance: Udje Today

One should not give or get the impression that traditional African poetry is dead or no longer practiced with the coming of literacy and the emergence of modern written African literature. Of course, there are social, economic, modern, and other reasons that started to undermine udje from colonial times. With modern economic activities and the need for money to take care of families, there has been little leisure time left for the pursuit of the udje tradition. In addition, with the coming of the British colonialists, composing exaggerated and scandalous songs against members of the society had become increasingly unacceptable with many Urhobo going to court to settle cases that used to be taken as part of entertainment. One might feel that the condition of traditional African literature in contemporary times has been exacerbated by the forces of globalization which threaten its very existence. The new literature that arose from literacy did not stop the composition and performance of traditional literature. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.