Uche Okeke (1933–2016)

This collection of folklore from the Igbo people of western Africa (mainly Nigeria), is divided into four main sections, as follows: IRO - Tales That Are Sung; ITA - Tales That Are Spoken; IRO/ITA - Tales That Are Sung and Spoken; and Riddles & Old Sayings.

I know very little about the Igbo, beyond the most general outline of their recent history, and had certainly never read anything about their traditional folk culture before this. My excitement at discovering this collection of tales, printed in the early 1970s and illustrated by the author, was consequently quite great. After reading Uche Okeke's work however, I am forced to conclude, either that my own ignorance of the wider subject somehow precludes me from gaining an appreciation and understanding of this art form, or that it is simply not something that translates well for outsiders.

To wit: I was all at sea when reading through the first section, whose poems/songs remain as much a mystery to me after reading them, as they were before. This is owing, in part, to the fact that they all have "nonsense" refrains in the Igbo language, which cannot be translated, thus rendering half of the text indecipherable, and creating a laborious reading process. My effort to read these IRO out loud, in order to discover their rhythm, was no more successful, and I found myself longing for a recording to go along with the text. I am forced to conclude that this is an art form that is not especially amenable to translation, and which requires a physical presence at the communal storytelling event, to yield any real meaning.

I had better luck with the second section, devoted to prose tales that are spoken - although it is telling that Okeke maintains that these are considered "boring" among the Igbo themselves. Here I felt more at home, reading stories of Mbe, the trickster tortoise, or the tale of how Nkita, the dog, won fire for humankind. I found that I also enjoyed the third section, devoted to tales of a mixed IRO/ITA format, provided I ignored the "poetic bits!" As for the fourth section, which was really just a few pages worth of proverbs, I couldn't say that I understood a great deal of it.

In short, I vacillated between puzzlement and indifference throughout my reading of this book, and only came across something that really struck me every once in a great while. If you are researching Nigeria or the Igbo, then this might be an interesting book to pick up. If not, and your interest is more casual, you might want to give this a pass.… (más)