Orature and Yorùbá Riddles This page intentionally left blank Orature and Yorùbá Riddles Akíntúndé Akínyẹmí ORATURE AND YORÙBÁ RIDDLES Copyright © Akíntúndé Akínyẹmí, 2015. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-50262-9 All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-69958-2 ISBN 978-1-137-50263-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137502636 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Bólú and her brother, Tọ̀míwá— the bridge between the past and the future. This page intentionally left blank C O N T E N T S List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Note on Transcription and Translation of Yorùbá Data xv Introduction 1 One Yorùbá Riddles in Performance: Content and Context 11 Two Riddles and Metaphors: The Creation of Meaning 37 Three The Dynamics of Tale-Riddling 89 Four The Variability and Function of Song-Riddle 131 Five Current Trends in the Use of Enigmatic Forms 179 Six Orature and Indigenous Education 231 Notes 237 Bibliography 247 Index 253 This page intentionally left blank I L L U S T R A T I O N S Table 1.1 Intertwining of riddles with other verbal art forms during performance 23 Figures 2.1 The intersection of “vehicle” and “tenor” in metaphor 43 2.2 The intersection of common features of “vehicle” and “tenor” in metaphor 44