Popular Songs, Literary Texts: A Literary Analysis of Fuji Songs

Abstract

Popular songs, unlike „traditional‟ oral productions identified by anthropologists, literary agents / scholars and cultural workers as an important matrix of „culture‟, have attracted scant attention from Nigerian critics and cultural workers alike. One of the factors responsible for this literary/critical lacuna is the „hybrid‟ nature of many of these songs which distinguishes them from the „pure‟, „unsullied‟ creations usually associated with „oral literature‟ by the average literary or cultural scholar. Another is their near-total dependence on modern technological wizardry for their production and dissemination. These factors account for the little critical attention given to this vital aspect of our cultural life. This paper fills the gap in critical praxis by investigating the literary worth of Yoruba popular songs in order to justify their classification as „literature‟, in spite of the contradiction that term implies in a non-written medium. Specifically, the paper demonstrates that the popular Fuji songs associated with the Yoruba of South West Nigeria are not only literary in essence, but are worthy of serious academic attention and yield fruits which are as illuminating aesthetically and culturally as the analysis of written literature. Finally, the paper establishes the fact that popular songs, though orally composed, orally transmitted and aurally perceived, contribute significantly to man‟s apprehension of life and the human condition.