TOPIC: CONTEXTUAL IMPERATIVES OF PERFORMANCE: THE SYMBOLIC AND ETHICAL RELEVANCE OF MAIDEN SONGS IN BAKOR ORAL NARRATIVE REPERTOIRE

In traditional African society, behavioral coherence and control are achieved through the utilization of several means inclusive of adjudication by the elders which sometimes culminates in the imposition of sanctions on erring individuals as deterrents to others. Adjudication and sanctions are, however, seen as extreme measures employed as a last resort because they are indicative of the breakdown of law and order thus necessitating sanctions which are oftentimes unpalatable. To avoid these and prevent the necessitation of extreme measures, Bakor society has built-in traditional methods for the control of deviant behavior evident in the moral messages drawn from folk narratives. Folk narratives of all kinds become the prime media for education and societal control as well as address to the citizenry. However, folktales and other such narratives do not exercise monopoly of moral rectification. Along with these folktales, maiden songs are found to be very efficacious as traditional means of ethical prescription as is exemplified in their content and thematic thrust which has motivated this research into their symbolic and ethical relevance in Bakor community which seems to recognize and lay much emphasis on their utilization. It is discovered that the artistry and aesthetics, the subtlety of message delivery and the pungency of the songs bear them out as vibrant and dynamic forms of social and ethical rejuvenation in Bakor community. They remain as the artist’s acute observation of human life and interactions.