Satire in Sobowale Sowande's and Bunmi Ayelaagbe's Poems

TABLE OF CONTENT

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Table of content

Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the Study
1.1 Statement of Problem
1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study
1.3 Scope of the Study
1.4 Research Methodology
1.5 Significance of the Study
1.6 Historical Background of Sobowale Sowande (a.k.a Sobo Arobiodu)
1.7 Historical Background of Bunmi Ayelaagbe (a.k.a Oligba-ohun-lona-ofun)
Endnotes

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Theoretical Framework
2.1.1 Sociology of Literature
2.1.2 Marxist Criticism
2.2 Definition and Nature of Satire
2.3 Origin of Western Satire
2.4 Types of Western Satire
2.4.1 Horatian Satire
2.4.2 Juvelanian Satire
2.5 Qrigin of Satire in Yoruba Society
2.6 Review of Related Literature
2.7 Satire and its Devices
2.7.1 Ridicule
2.7.2 Joke
2.7.3 Sarcasm
2.7.4 Lampoon
2.7.5 Jest
2.8 Functions of Satire
2.9 Satire in Arungbe Genre
Endnotes

CHAPTER THREE: SOCIO-POLITICAL SATIRE
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Representation of socio-political satire in the Poems
3.2 Socio-Satirical Themes
3.2.1 Marriage by Ordinance
3.2.2 Divorce
3.2.3 Celibacy/Solitary
3.2.4 Polygamy
3.2.5 Excessive Drinking
3.2.6 Fornication
3.2.7 Nonchalant Attitude to Education
3.2.8 Non-caring Attitude 59 3.3 Political Satire 62 3.3.1 Politico-Satirical Themes
3.3.1.1 Imperialism
3.3.1.2 Incompetence
3.3.1.3 Excesses
3.3.1.4 Injustice
3.3.1.5 Civic irresponsibility and Political Thuggery 70 Endnotes

CHAPTER FOUR: ETHICO-RELIGIOUS SATIRE
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Religio-Satirical Themes
4.1.1 Loss of Religious and Cultural Identity
4.1.2 Hypocrisy
4.1.3 Backsliding
4.1.4 Worldliness
4.2 Ethical Satire
4.2.1 Pride
4.2.2 Gossip
4.2.3 Cultural Decadence Endnotes

CHAPTER FIVE: STYLISTIC AND LITERARY DEVICES
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Stylistic Devices
5.1.1 Parallelism, Repetition and Tonal Counterpoint
5.2 Literary Devices
5.2.1 Metaphor
5.2.2 Simile
5.3 Traditional Materials
5.3.1 Proverbs
5.3.2 Songs Endnotes

CHAPTER SIX: A COMPARATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE VIEWS OF THE TWO POETS
6.0 Introduction
6.1 The Convergence
6.1.1 Satirical Themes
6.1.2 Structure
6.1.3 Stylistic and Literary Devices
6.2 The Divergence
6.2.1 Satirical Themes
6.2.2 Style of Presentation
6.2.2.1 Autobiographical Style
6.2.2.2 Use of Humour
6.2.2.3 Sharp Satirical Method 115 6.3 Reasons for the Convergence and Divergence
6.3.1 Cultural and Social Background
6.3.2 Civilization

CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.0 Introduction
7.1 Summary and findings
7.2 Conclusion and Recommendations

References

Appendices
i. List of Informants
ii. List of Poems Used as Data

DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to the glory of God Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I give all thanks and glory to God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, Ancient of days and All-wise God for granting me wisdom and working things out for me by His mercy and grace. He is indeed worthy of my praise and to Him be all honour and adoration.

I am very grateful to my s for her relentless support and advice to me during the course of this work. She is more than a supervisor to me. She is my mother and guardian; I say thank you very much ma. May God bless you abundantly and increase you on every side. Your children will be greatly favoured in their endeavours in Jesus name.

My gratitude also goes to advice during the course of this study. I equally acknowledge Professor Professor and who imparted me with knowledge. God bless you all.

I am very grateful to Prof father and mentor. My sincere gratitude also goes to usually walk to at any point in time for help, God bless you sir.

My immense gratitude also goes to and Angitso Michael. I also acknowledge my colleagues, I appreciate Mr assisted me in the analysis of this work. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, especially my mother. May you live long to enjoy the fruit of your labour in Jesusn throughout the course of this work God bless you. To my s . We will all live long to achieve great things in Jesus Name. Once more, I appreciate the Immortal King, Invisible and Everlasting Father who is my Alpha and Omega for the successful completion of this work.

ABSTRACT

Satire is a universal phenomenon. Satire is a literary device employed by literary artistes for deriding and correcting vices. laced with satire.

Previous works on poems have concentrated on their historical background, style of presentation and literary analyses of the content of their poems but none has emphasised on the theme of satire in their poems. This study therefore sets out with a view to analyse how they have employed satire and its devices to address socio-political and ethico-religious issues.

This study adopted Sociology of Literature and Marxist Criticism theory. Twenty-four poems were purposively selected for their satirical relevance; sixteen poems were selected poems and eight poems from and forms our secondary source of data. Data were subjected to literary and critical analyses. society and Nigeria at large. The poet-satirists employed satirical devices such as ridicule, joke, sarcasm, lampoon and jest to condemn social vices such as marriage by ordinance, divorce, celibacy, polygamy, excessive drinking, fornication, nonchalant at excesses, injustice, civic irresponsibility and political thuggery to reform our political system. Ethico- -satirists condemn loss of religious and cultural identity, hypocrisy, backsliding, worldliness, pride, gossip and cultural decadence to sanitize and rebuild the ethical and Nigeria at large. Stylistic and literary devices such as parallelism, repetition, tonal counterpoint, metaphor and simile were employed to emphasize on the theme of satire in the selected poems. Traditional materials such as proverbs and songs also featured in their satirical works. They were employed not only for aesthetics but to warn against socio­political and ethico-religious vices and to encourage good conduct. Comparatively, it was discovered that presented to the general audience in a mild way.

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CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Literature reflects the society. Dobie (2009:94) asserts that literature is a powerful tool for maintaining the social status quo because it operates under the guise of being entertainment, making it possible to influence an audience even when its members are unaware of being swayed. The lifestyle, tradition and customs of a particular society are all embedded in their literature. Literature serves diverse purposes among which are: to educate, to inform and to entertain.1 Literature also gives the author the chance to express himself. His opinion about the happenings in the society is made known through his work. His text is a reflection of his context.2 There is always a relationship between the artiste and his society because the artiste cannot operate in a vacuum. The artiste is usually very observant to pick something out of what he sees in order to inform, educate and entertain his audience.

The three main branches of literature are prose, poetry and drama.3 Various scholars have worked on the three genres of literature in or . Some of these are: gu j mg l t nj , g n j g n n olorun o , among others. Literature reflects and projects the ideology of a particular society through different genres. The three genres of literature namely: drama, prose and poetry contri ute immensely to the projection of a people’s culture. Literature is about man, society and the universe. It is a out man’s search for perfection an for etter society.4 This means that literature stands to reflect and adjust man’s life through its genres. As many tribes in the world have their literature, the or people of Southwestern Nigeria have their literature which reflects their tra itions an culture. he or literary artistes serve as instrument of change in the society as they condemn social vice in their works. Poetry which is one of the genres of literature is our concern in this work. or poets satirise some aspect of life, be it political, social, religious, family, individual lifestyle and the like, in order to bring about a change which will lead to the betterment of the society. or poetry is an important means through which the poets transmit the happenings in their context to everyone in the society. This serves as a critical check on the different individuals and their ways of life in the society. Yoruba poetry can be classified into two, namely oral poetry an written poetry. ral poetry is more prominent in or traditional society. The advent of civilization has helped in reducing the or language into writing which make or poetry to e written own. espite the a vent of written culture oral poetry is more pronounce in or society than written poetry. However, the intention of some poets is to satirise thereby acting as social critics that uphold the moral of the society and expose deviant behaviours through their poems. They reshape the society by condemning human vices, follies and the like in order to bring about the desired change which will make everybody in the society to e m l one that is worthy in character which everyone in or society is expecte to e. They satirise some aspect of or life an also satirise people of different calibre. The contemporary poets take after the traditional poets as traditional elements and style are still visible in their works. Satire is a very strong instrument used by these artistes in exposing human follies and ridiculing vices in the society. Satire is common to every society but the form it takes in different societies varies. The main focus is to rebrand the society in to a new and better form through the use of its instrument. The poets take this advantage by using satire and its instrument to expose deviant acts and lead the people of a society in the proper way to go.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

There are critical works on different genres of literature. In Drama, we have critical works such as gu (1967), j g n j , 2001, 2014 j mo k ng (2005), among other. In or prose, we have scholarly works that have been carried out by different scholars, which include: mg ol y t l y l nipekun , g n n , 2006), a at n , l w wo l r nw , r ig ), among others. This work will be based on poems that are structure in the or er of r ng chant. A lot of scholarly works have also been done on or poetry. Such works include Finnnegan (1970, 1990), l mt n j l t nj 1975, 1982a, 1982b, 1984), g je , ol , Sheba (1990) , ow l kin l olorun w - sho , l j nm , w , y l g ) , y w l an the like. Many scholars have also worked on satire both in drama, prose and poetry and such scholars include Elliot (1966), gu (1967), w j j ), g n j (1987), g nr nt ewo j mo 1995, 2001, 2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2012 r ig y nt yo 006), Le Boeuf (2007), among other. Critical works above reveal that lots have been done on satire in different genre of literature but none has carried out an in-depth study on satirical elements in the poems structure in r ng pattern. Previous scholars like j l t nj l mt n 1975, 1983), kin l (1997), g n ey w - sho y l g ), an ol os who have worke on r ng focused on the compilation of the poems, analysis of the poems and in-depth study of the r ng poets. Hence, the aim of the stu y is to examine satire in the poems structure in r ng pattern. rin r ng which is known as orin or in stan ard or is a song of the r cult. l mt n as cite y y l g ) asserts that Orin r ng poems belong to the Or cult of the or g tra ition till ate. r ng chants an songs are prominent features of the annual or festival in e k ta even to ay.6 he rin r ng of g is similar to the r ng tra ition of the k r people. w - sho (2005) asserts that the r ng oral tra ition is use to control eviant ehaviours uring r ritual.

Accor ing to j mo the exposition of the deviant in the society is done by ridiculing bad behaviours through festival songs. he r ng poems also take the satirical form of the r chants. It is against this ackgroun that we want to attempt a constructive criticism and literary assessment of satire in ow l w n ’s an nmi y l g ’s poems in order to explore more information on its importance and to assess its impact as a tool for social change in or society. This work will therefore contribute immensely to the existing knowledge in this field.

1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to examine satire in the poems of ow l w n an nmi y l g . The objectives of this study include: 1. The assessment of how satire is deployed in the poems of w n an y l g . 2. The assessment of the role of satire in the r ng poems of the selecte poets. 3. The analysis of the devices employed by the selected poets in satirizing deviant behaviour. 4. The critical analysis of satirical themes in the poems of o r o u an nmi y l g . 5. A comparative analysis of w n and y l g ’s poems.

1.3 Scope of the Study

Since we have a lot of works on poetry of other forms, the poems to be studied in this work are w n ’s an y l g ’s poems. Both poets write in the g ialect and the structure an pattern of their poems follow strictly the form of r ng an r chant among the g . The selected poets are oral poets that have the collection of their poems already reduced to writing. We shall be examining satire in the collection of ow l w n ’s poems y j titled - an l t nj titled and also in nmi y l g ’s anthology of poems titled (1997) and (2007). We shall be examining the satirical themes in the selected poems based on four segments namely: Social, political, religion and ethical satire.

1.4 Research Methodology

The theories employed in this work are Sociology of Literature and Marxist Criticism. The primary source of data is j ’s - (1974) and y l g ’s (1997) and (2007).

Secondary sources would be used to compliment primary sources. l t nj ’s collections on w n which include ’ . . w n o r o u is rt an ignificance’’ an (1982) would be used. Information relevant to the research either nglish or or would be considered. Library and archive materials, unpublished articles and dissertations would be used extensively to shed more light on the issue being discussed in this work. Textual and critical analyses of the content of the poems would be done to assess the satirical elements in them and their functions. In addition, an in-depth interview would be con ucte with r y l g for additional information needed as data for the study.

1.5 Significance of the Study

Literature as we know reflects the happenings in the society. The work of art is not done in a vacuum rather it reflects every aspect of human endeavours. Poetry is a very important genre of literature that has the ability of changing a society positively. Poets serve as watch-dog to every individual in the society, whether rich or poor and their aim is to change every individual for better.

This study will investigate how the selected poets deployed satire to expose follies, ridicule and deride bad behaviour in their form of poetry. This serves as a check into the social ills in our society and a way of reforming the society. The satirical themes in the works of the selected poets will also provide a tangible platform for the analysis of their views. The exploration of these themes will illuminate people on the didactic intent of the selected poets’ satirist.

This study will also remain significant as it will contribute immensely to the existing knowle ge in or literature and it will also serve as a springboard for more researches on the poems structure on r ng pattern.

1.6 Historical Background of .a. )

Ow l w popularly known as o r o u l r oro was orn in at e k ta g n tate igeria. is father osiah w , was a herbal medicine man who came along with others from r l k to settle in e k ta in 1830.7. w n atten e the Church Missionary Society Training Institute ar e k ta, a kind of elementary school. He was always running away from school to perform with traditional chanters. is e ucation was therefore impaire . o he coul only rea an write the or language. In effect, his reading consiste mostly of the or translation of the Bible and the hymn book. e ecame an r chanter r or an ecame famous for his nocturnal performance.8 e ha farms an for a time he was a oatman on the g n River, ferrying people from e k ta an agos. e was in the service of a o the l k of e k ta as a prison warder between 1900 and 1906. He resigned from there to become a farmer because he felt he was not paid well. . . w n wrote most of his poems when he resigne as a prison war er. is first published work was in 1906 and by the time of his death in 1936, he had published about twelve or thirteen of his poems. These works are popularly read and quoted in scholarly arguments. he importance attache to these works an the high esteem in which they were hel can e seen from the fact that most of his poems were pu lishe y the g Government Printer. His poetry covers a wide range of topics. He was a political commentator, social critic and observer and a religiously imbued writer. He passed comments on events and the development in the society. He wrote on important men in g government; he cast a critical look on the colonial administration and the Africans as he saw Africans as the enemy of themselves. He passed comments on the practices and attitudes such as the arrogant attitu e of g women marrie un er the ritish or inance laziness an the like. He recognised the importance of regeneration to the Christian and wrote a lot about the Christian faith by incorporating Bible quotations and hymn songs into his poems. In a nutshell w n is a fearless critic of the government an the masses. e writes in g dialect and his poems are structure in r ngb pattern of the r cult. hat influence his style is that he elonge to a family of r chanter. is maternal uncle at tok was a chanter as well as his father osiah w n . He satirised the events in his society just as r chanters satirize the happenings and events in the society through their songs. That was why people nicknamed him o r o u. u is a chain that is place on the neck of a og while the dog walked about, the odu will be making different sounds. w n also walks aroun the town chanting r ng poems an satirising the events in the community.9 This is why he used to eulogize himself in all his poems by referring to himself as: I o r o u The one that has money to buy dog when hunting The one that has money to buy hoe when farming w n can be regarded as a unique writer whose impact in the literary scene especially in the area of oral poetry cannot e forgotten. e can therefore say that ’’ (if on r s esist from the act of making craft the impact of the ones he had made cannot be forgotten). He died in 1936 but his work still lives on. ichael l nmi y l g was orn on the 20th of e ruary in e k ta g n State. is father hief on. zekiel lol y l g an his mother are from mta an Ij mu. his is the reason he always makes allusions to these two places at the end of his poems as follows:

I have finished chanting God, preserve me, so I that can perform another time If an g nr n has tri al marks If an g nr n oes not have money His honour still remains He is contented with that he son of or chanters I am the son of y l g He who has a sonorous voice I am the son of r m A brave son that conquers conspiracy nmi y l g atten e St. James African Church School - pe from 1967 to 1972. It was there the teachers discovered he was talented. He used to memorize and presente poems in school at the end of year parties. From 1972 to 1978, he attended ev. t Memorial Grammar School o. os n nw iscovere the gift he ha an traine him when he was in class four. He founded a poets’ society, composed poems and presented the poems in honour of ate rs. t . He worked for a year at the Federal Pay office, e k ta from 1978 to 1979. He later decided to go to the Teachers Training College, n k k e k ta. He was known for his talent in the college where he founded the l m w tar roup. he first outing of the group took place at the we ing of o n nkol . he group did excellently well. He started casting news for the college roa casting group an he also performe at festival. e worke at l ku- ipa nite rimary chool as a teacher for a month and proceeded to work at g n tate Polytechnic Staff School from 1982 to 1984. unmi y l g was highly interested in education. He further proceeded to g n State College of Education - now known as larin ollege of ucation g n tate where he stu ie or . . . e met r. og l who a vise him to e presenting his poems in g ialect in the or er of o r o u at the college in 1984. That was when he decided to be employing g ialect for his poem rendition. o was his source of inspiration and he presented his poems in the or er an structure of r ng . He presented programmes on ra io stations an he also compose a poem when l w was mur ere in . e is a social commentator. e composes and passes comments on the events in the society. He condemns vices and extols virtues. e worke at fa rammar School in 1988 and got married in the year to race l nmi w n . He was later transferred to e k ta rammar School in 1993. e starte working at g n tate roa casting orporation in and got his Bachelor’s degree at l s n nj niversity g - woy g n tate in 2001. He further went for Master of Arts in or anguage an iterature at femi w lowo niversity Il -Ife from to .

He has written many poems and his books are being used in the primary an secon ary schools in g n tate. He is currently the anager of rogrammes at g n a io e k ta.

Endnotes

1. www.studymode.com/...ays/The -purpose-of-Literature
2. ee pef y t m , A. -. 1997, pp.49-50
3. www.ask.com/art-literature/branches-literature
4. See Ngara (1982) as cited in Ibeawuchi (2006). Unpublished B.A thesis of the Department of Linguistics an frican anguages niversity of n.
5. y l g . . t pale r ng g ey n o’’. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Department of Linguistics and African Languages femi w lowo niversity Il -Ife, (2013).
6. ee g n n , B. . 2006, pp.8.
7. he iographical sketch of w n was seen in l t nj ’s work on w n title J.S. w n o r o u is rt an ignificance’’, in or ral ra ition oetry in usic ance an rama. . n m ol . .
8. ee l t nj 975)
9. I am grateful to rofessor l y nk olorun o for the information he gave me on ow l w n . he interview was one on the 3rd of September, 2015 at 3:25pm.
10. The biographical sketch was collected by the author in a personal interview with nmi y l g on the 23rd of May, 2015 at 9:45a.m in his house at y l g ’s villa, y l g close ol way e k ta g n tate.
11. g nr n is an g town also known as mta
12. r m is a chieftaincy title in e k ta. nmi y l g ’s father was a r m in e k ta.

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK and LITERATURE REWIEW

2.0 Introduction

In this chapter, the theoretical framework adopted for this study shall be discussed and we shall also be reviewing the relevant works on satire. In addition, previous works on r ng genre will also be examined.

2.1 Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework is a collection of interrelated concepts that guide a research. A literary theory is a body of ideas and methods we use in the practical reading of literature. Literary theories reveal what literature can mean. It is an asset of concepts and intellectual assumptions on which rests the work of explaining or interpreting literary texts. Literary theories include Structuralism, Post modernism, Marxist criticism, Postcolonial criticism, Sociology of Literature, among others. This study employs the Sociology of Literature and Marxist Criticism to examine satire in the selecte poets’ works.

2.1.1 Sociology of Literature

Laurenson and Swingewood (1971) as cite y g n n posits that the term sociology of literature’ was coine y aine a French Philosopher and critic (1828-1893). Sociology of literature is the combination of two different disciplines namely: sociology and literature. Sociology studies the origin, history and constitution of human society. The organisations an institutions an man’s ehaviour with his relationship with larger society is also studied under sociology. Sociology explains the various changes in society and the effect these changes have on the social structure. Literature concerns itself with man and his society. The happenings in the society are reflected through literature. g n n affirms that sociology of literature is a subfield of the sociology culture. It studies the social production of literature and its social implication. Sociology of literature examines the relationship that is between literature and the society. g n n hol s the view that sociology of literature is an attempt to understand the inter-relationship between literature and the society. It postulates that a work of art does not exist in isolation and should not be studied as such. This is because works of arts are not independent of their society. Literature is a language of action. The literary artiste is not independent of his society; his personality is influenced by many socio-political and economic factors. Sociology of literature sees the relationship between a work of art, the artiste, and the society as one of constant interaction and that each one affects and is affected by the other.

Thus, it can be deduced that literature does not exist in a vacuum, it operates within a context. The literary text is a product of its context pef y t m . he social political religion an the i eology of the society is reflecte in the text. y m ) asserts that there is always a relationship between literature an the society - ’ the author’s narrative technique and language do not exist in a vacuum, everything mirrors the society). By this, we understand the benefits of sociology of literature as it reflects the happenings in the society and not just what is written down. There is always an underlying meaning to any text produced by an artiste and this is made out of the societal conditions. mi l :10) affirms that literature and sociology have common conspectus which is the understanding of society and the behaviour of man in the society. Literature studies the context of the text, which is the society. Literature depicts the happenings in the society through it genres. Literature mirrors the society; everything that happens in the society is reflected in literary works. asylva as cite in l r nw submits that Literature discusses life by reflecting or refracting what happens or what might (have) happen(ed) or what ought to have happen(ed) and not necessarily what had actually happene or is happening now’’. Literature delineates the role of man in his environment, as well as the conflicts an tensions etween groups an social classes mi l , 2000:4). The society influences literature and literature in turn mirrors the activities in the society. The social, religious, political, economic and other aspects of the society are either reflected or refracted in literature.

This theory is relevant to this stu y ecause literature reflects the context from which it is pro uce . or artistes improvise in their performance and satirise virtually all aspects of its audience. The prominent matters in the society are not left out. They deride vices and ridicule follies. This simply means that the relationship between literature and the society is very strong and can never be broken.

2.1.2 Marxist Criticism

Marxism was propounded by Karl Marx, a German philosopher and Fredrich Engels, a German Sociologist. Barry (1995) asserts that the aim of Marxism is to bring about a classless society based on the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. Marxism seeks to change the world and it sees progress as coming about through the struggle for power between different social classes. The exploitation of one social class (proletariat) by another (bourgeoisie) is seen especially in modern industrial capitalism. Barry (1995) opines that the result of this exploitation is alienation which is a state which comes about when the worker is deskilled and made to perform fragmented repetitive tasks in a sequence of whose nature and purpose he or she has no overall grasp’’. Barry (19995) further affirms that when capitalist goals and questions of profit and loss are paramount, workers are bereft of their full humanity and people become things.

Marxist literary criticism maintains that a writer’s social class an its prevailing ideology have a major bearing on what is written by a member of that social class. Barry (1995) avows that instead of seeing authors as primarily autonomous individuals whose creative imagination enables them to bring forth original and timeless works of art, the Marxist sees them as constantly formed by their social contexts in ways which they themselves would usually not admit. Dobie (2009) affirms that Marxism provided a new way of reading and understanding literature. The first major Marxist critic appeared outside ussia. eorge uk cs a Hungarian critic was responsible for what has become known as reflectionism named for the assumption that a text will reflect the society that produced it but it is practised by the reflectionists for the purpose of discovering how characters and their relationships typify and reveal class conflict, the socioeconomic system or the politics of a time and place but reflectionism cannot be equated with Marxism. Writers and critics alike began to use Marxist interpretation in their works to evaluate the society.

Dobie (2009) identifies four ways in which writers or critics apply Marxism to literary texts. Firstly, Marx describes economic power as the moving force behind human history ecause people’s lives are determined by their economic circumstances. Dobie (2009:89) affirms that a society is shaped by its forces of production, that is, the methods it uses to produce the material elements of life. Dobie (2009:89) further states that the conditions underlying the society are called material circumstances and the ideological atmosphere they generate is known as the historical situation’’. Dobie (2009) further asserts that if a society is shaped by its forces of production, the way in which society provides food, clothing, shelter and other such necessities creates among groups of people social relations that become the culture’s foun ation. Capitalism which has two part structures, consist of the ’bourgeoisie’’ who own property and thereby control the means of production and the ’proletariat’’, the workers controlled by the bourgeoisie and whose labour produces their wealth. The bourgeoisie can manipulate politics, government, education, the arts and entertainment and all aspects of culture.

Similarly, under Materialism versus Spirituality’’, Dobie (2009) expresses Marx’s view by maintaining that reality is material not spiritual. It is not our philosophical or religious beliefs that make us who we are for we are not spiritual beings but socially constructed ones (Dobie, 2009:91). Dobie (2009:92) further affirms that we are not products of divine design but creations of our own cultural and social circumstances. Also, under ’class conflict’’, Dobie (2009) argues that one of the basic assumptions of Marxism is that the forces of production generate conflict between the social classes created by the way economic resources are used and who profits from them. The struggle takes place between the bourgeoisie who control the means of production by owning the natural and human resources and the proletariat supply the labour that allows the owners to make profit. The conflict is always realised as a clash of management and labour. The Marxist is aware that the dominant class use its power to entrap the proletariat into holding the sense of identity and worth that the bourgeoisie want them to hold for the powerful to remain in control.

Under Art, Literature and Ideologies’’, Dobie (2009) opines that ideology is a term that turns up frequently in Marxist discussions. Dobie (2009:93-94) defines ideology as a belief system produced by the relations between the different classes between the different class in a society, that is, classes that have come a out ecause of the society’s mo es of production’’. Dobie (2009) posits that Marx was aware that art and literature are attractive and effective means of convincing the proletariat that their oppression is just and right. Marxist critics see a literary work not as an aesthetic object to be experienced for its own intrinsic worth but as a product of the socioeconomic aspects of a particular culture. Marxist critic operates a warning system that alerts readers to social wrongs. Dobie (2009:95) opines that Marxist critic is a mentor to the proletariat, pointing out how they can free themselves from the powerless position in which they have been placed’’. Literature functions as a tool for making the populace aware of the social ills and sympathetic to action that will wipe those ills away. Dobie (2009) views that Marxists critics must be concerned with identifying the ideology of a work and pointing out its worth or its deficiencies. Marxist critics search out the depiction of inequalities in social classes, an imbalance of goods and power among people or manipulation of the worker by the bourgeoisie and will then point out the injustice of that society. mi l opines that Marxist approach is a radical approach to the issue of man’s exploitation in society. It is a theory of class-less society and it is based on the rule of the proletariat. He further asserts that Marxist view has an overriding concern for the poor, the deprived and generally the underdog. mi l (2000) further states that Marxist theory regard texts in which its theme does not dwell on classless society where there is an equal opportunity in school or educational system, social class relationship, power and priviledge in industry, equal distribution of wealth and power in the community as poor. To the Marxists, art is an ideological phenomenon and so they perceive magic in drama or the novel as some creativity that can change the world in a political way. Change, which is a tonic to the prolectariat and a toxic to the bourgeoisie, is the main aim of Marxism. There are lots of or literary texts which reflect the Marxist ideas and we have those that were successful and those unsuccessful. There are five steps1 in identifying a text that followed a Marxist approach and they include: self-consciousness’’, determination’’, collective responsibilities’’, protest’’ and revolution’’. Examples of successful Marxist texts include: l l tej ’s , yo l t ’s and the like. l ej k ij ’s was not a success because there was something missing in the five steps which is collective responsibility which made the effort of the prolectariat to be fruitless. For a Marxist text to succeed, it must be able to carry the prolectariat along to getting the desired change. The two theories are very relevant to this study and will be used in analysing satire in ow l w n an nmi y l g ’s poems ecause the poets employe the mode of satire in r ng poems to expose and ridicule human follies and evils. They thereby condemn vices and extol virtues in order to engender and promote a peaceful atmosphere in society.

2.2 Definition and Nature of Satire

Satire is a universal phenomenon that conceals itself in a variety of forms: in novels, poems, paintings, advertisement, sermons; in plays such as comedy, farce, and even tragedy.2 Several scholars have worked on satire. Bridgman (1965), Langdon (1966), Flynn (1971), Weisgerber (1973), Deer and Deer (1977) and George (1989) consider satire as a kind of poetry invented for purging minds. w j asserts that efe (satire), is a way of ridiculing or criticising certain aspects of life in the community. Ebewo defines satire from the point of its characteristics as he states that satire’s definitions include:

1. An attack, rebuke or censure of the follies of mankind in society.
2. A distortion either by overstatement or understatement.
3. listering’ effect on the o ject ri iculed.
4. A domination of the work by the techniques of the genre.
5. A travesty-an extraordinary inversion of the real world.

(Ebewo, 1988:19)

Ebewo further states that the attack of satire must not be for the animalistic joy of attack, but attack with redress potential. That is, the attack should have a positive impact on the object of the satire. The impact should be potent enough to change the object for the better because satire is not only based on ridiculing its object but also correcting its object to change for the better.

Satire is the use of humour, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupi ity or vices particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.3 This simply means that satire is a literary device employed by literary artistes to expose vicious and foolish things. A person is usually considered foolish when he or she runs contrary to the ideology and ethics of a particular society. ccor ing to e ster’s Compact Dictionary, satire can be defined as: a literary work in which folly or evil in people’s behaviour are held up to ridicule; trenchant wit, sarcasm (Webster, 2003:409)

The efinition given in e ster’s ompact Dictionary conforms with the definition given y j mo (2007), where she reflects that:

Satire is a mechanism for social control in which emphasis is placed on ridiculing the erring members of society. j mo b:29)

Therefore the or elieve that the moral standards of behaviour that is set for everyone in the society should not be tampered with. If the consensus is violated, the victim will face the consequence. This is done to encourage the young ones not to deviate from the norms and values of such society. The satirist’s best way of exposing evil and condemning vices is largely done y ri iculing the su ject. j mo asserts that satire is ifferent from its devices and the aim of satire is to warn deviants and deride bad behaviours in the society.4 y nt yo (2006) defines satire as: a literary manner in which human vices, follies, abuses or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, burlesque, irony, parody and the like with an intent to correct the immorality of the society. y nt yo r ig :47) defines satire as: a form of societal punitive measure against violators of social rules. It employs scorn, ridicule, sacarsm, irony and the like as its weapon, with a sense of humour or amusement for corrective purpose. Ibeawuchi efines satire as an evaluative instrument that measures the progress of a society and he affirms that satire measures this not by a manner of praise but by attacking and exposing the incongruous’’. his conforms to the role of literature as a tool of societal reformation and re-adjustment. re hol s the view that satire is a form of writing which is deliberately critical and humorously dilating in expression. e o not agree with re totally ecause satire is not only in form of writing in or society. Since we have the oral and written tradition, satire could be oral or written. Taiwo (2007) opines that satire in literature employs wit to expose human wickedness and folly. He further explains that satire is used to correct vices wherever they are found. koje (2014) asserts that: koje Satire is an act of ridiculing a people. person’s secret is being revealed and ridiculed when such person steals This clearly states that satire reveals deviant behaviours of people. Its aim is to deride and condemn vices. This will make the society a better place for everyone to live.

Satire is the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupi ity or vices particularly in the context of contemporary politics an other topical issues.5 Satire can also be defined as an artistic genre in which follies, vices and shortcomings are ridiculed with the purpose of shaming the subject and in effect push the subject to improvement. Though satire aims at making people laugh, it does not limit itself to farce or comedy.6 Satire is an instrument for social control j mo, 2007).

Satire is meant to be witty; not always funny, and it is widely used to offer constructive criticism. One of the features of satire is strong irony or sarcasm but it also has other features such as exaggeration, comparison, analogy, burlesque and parody. Satire can be found in different forms. In our view, satire is a tool employed by literary artist in upholding the general consensus of a particular society. They do this by condemning vices and deviant behaviours. By doing this, the object is reformed.

2.3 Origin of Western Satire

The concept of satire originated from atin wor satur’’ which means full and the Latin phrase lanx satura’’ meaning a full ish of various kin s of fruits. j mo ) asserts that satire originated from the Greeks and the Romans. Elliot (1966:231) affirms that satire came out of the traditional festivals in Greece. ewo affirms that there are ifferent theories hypothesis arguments conflicting views an historical speculations a out the true origin of satire. his is also reflecte in j mo . Ebewo asserts that the evolutionist theorists of satirical literature usually trace the origin of satire to rituals of purification (these are occasions set aside in the year to exorcise evil forces that endanger the good health of the society). He further states that the practice is popular in the ancient Greece and Rome. Ebewo (1988:5) asserts that a lot of speculations among writers that Horace, Ennius or Naevius must have been the original inventors of satire. He opines that three major kinds of satiric writing have been known to have existed in Greece prior to the oman’s art of satiric composition.

The first was called philosophical criticism and experts in this category included the Ionian Xenophanes, Crates, Cercidas, Menippus, and Timon of Phlius. The second category was labelled hats poems with Archilochus, Hipponax, and Callimachus as champions. The third category was known as misogynistic satires and these were satires mainly directed against women. Ebewo therefore supports the school of thought that agreed that satire originated from Greece.

2.4 Types of Western Satire

Satire takes different forms. Every satirist has his unique way of presenting the work of art in a way that will deride vices and correct individual and societal follies. The satirist uses the type that suits him in order to achieve his aim which is to expose follies an re-shape the society in general. atirical literature can e categorize as oratian an uvenalian. w (2007:3-6) discusses extensively these two types of satire.

2.4.1 Horatian Satire

Horatian satire, named after the Roman satirist Horace, who playfully criticize some vice through gentle, mild and light-hearted humour. Horace (Quitus Horatius Flaccus) wrote satire to ridicule the dominant opinions and philosophical beliefs of an ancient Rome and Greece. Rather than writing in harsh or accusing tones, he addressed issues with humour and clever mockery. Horatian satire follows this same pattern of gentle ridiculing the absurdities and follies of human beings. It directs wit, exaggeration and self-deprecating humour toward what it i entifies as folly rather than evil. oratian satire’s sympathetic tone is common in mo ern society. oratian satirist’s goal is to heal the situation with smiles rather than anger. oratian satirist makes fun of general human folly rather than pointing to any specific follier. w (2007) posits that Horace, the creator of Horatian satire, wrote under the gloom and apprehension of the Augustustan autocracy, and tempered his moralising with wit and humour, using social types, which he represented by pseudonyms from mythology, the living or the dead. He further states that orace was not particular a out attacking contemporary in ivi uals yet his satires calle attention to men’s follies an vices. his type of satire is common in or society, especially among the theatre artistes. They ridicule and deride vices in a humorous way. Examples of such artistes are nyer an p in their films where they expose human follies such as lies, jealousy, covetousness and the like in a gentle and mild way. Their movies, though funny, intend to ridicule and reform the society.

2.4.2 Juvelanian Satire

Juvenalian satire named after the Roman satirist Juvenal is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenal disagreed with the opinions of the public figures and institutions of the Republic and actively attacked them through his literature. Juvenal satire addresses social evil through scorn, outrage and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterised by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humour. uvenal satirist’s goal is to provoke some sort of change because he sees his opponent as evil or harmful. A Juvenal satirist mocks societal structure, power and civilization. He will do this by exaggerating the words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize his opponent’s reputation or power. uvenalian satire can also e seen in or society. hey are always harsh on their subjects, whether the government or the masses. w describes Juvenalian satire as the one that comes with so much venom; deploying its cliché and rhetoric at various kinds of social and sexual obsequies; including the corrupting power of wealth. Juvenal, the originator of Juvenalian satire, lampoons the decadent aristocrat whom he feels ha etraye the upper class co e’ whose con uct fails to reach those well- efine social an moral stan ar s impose on the governing class as a complement to their privileges w I i . The Juvelanian satirist want quick change, therefore they expose evil acts whether political, social or religious. Examples of such in the or society include nl l gun in Circumstance Presidents, l t nj l po in le oy nmu in an the like. hen we look at nl l gun in Circumstance Presidents, l gun was very harsh on the government in his poems as he exposed the evil ravaging our country, Nigeria. He ridicules the government for mismanagement of funds, injustice, high rate of unemployment, looting of treasury, extravagant lifestyle, political ineptitude and the like. He also ridiculed the masses for religion intolerance and hypocrisy. His poems are less humorous because they contain serious matter that is affecting the sustainable development and growth of Nigeria. Therefore l gun ’s wor s are always provoking change with the harsh way he normally scorn social evils, vices, follies, religion hypocrisy, political ineptitude and the like. 2.5 ust like any other frican society or literary artistes embrace satire as a form of social change and that is why satirical elements occur in the three genres of literature namely: drama, prose and poetry. j su mits that the asic nee of satire in or society is for exercising certain controls and maintaining equilibrium and peace of mind. In most parts of or society satire can e associate with rituals.7 The main aim of these literary artistes is to criticise behaviour in a way that will bring positive change to the society. ccor ing to j satire in or society originate from the l r nj . He opines that satire was bore out of the rituals an festivals of the or people such as k n in n k mes in k - es in Il -Ife in yo an j g in k t . e emphasize on masquera e festivals. e su mits that the l r nj always engage themselves in acrobatic display and mimicking. They had the poetic license to pass comment on any event that contra icts the consensus of the or society. This point is further uttresse in j ) where he postulates that the performance of the l r nj is always filled with satirical sketches. w j posits that fe songs in ele e festival are always laced with satirical elements. w j further affirms that the main interest of the poets centre generally aroun events an happenings in an aroun their homes. fe songs are for the purpose of criticising or ridiculing certain aspect of life in the community.8 These songs are always used to pass some ideas that go contrary to the consensus of the society in order to condemn vices. He opines that: qually they hol themselves as custo ians of society’s cultural values, and accordingly pose as critics of factors and forces threatening existing standards. It is their role as critics that make the loro-efe in relevant Western or communities comparable to celebrated Western Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and their respective society. (A w j , 1975: 237-238) he loro-efe is compare to the estern hilosophers that criticise the folly of human ehaviour. he efe songs are so potent. They are equated with the works of Western critics and Philosophers. his simply point to the fact that satire in or society is as ol as the or oral tradition. A good example of such song given y w j (1975: 244-245) is a song against young political aspirants in mek in the early ’s and the youths that engaged in politics instead of farming. The poets were very conversant with their community and they condemned the bad behaviour of the contemporary youths. The involvement of the youths in politics as seen by the satirist is jeopardising the agricultural sector. he loro-efe predicted a bleak old age for such individuals an viewe the new tren as contra ictory to the consensus of the or society which hol s that the political activities should be reserved for the elderly members of the community. In the same vein uring ko festival in pe their songs are usually laced with satirical sketches. ccor ing to g npol ko festival is an annual cele ration y the je who live in towns an villages along the coasts of the reek from pe to Makun- Omi. They engage in satirising the deviants as they row from one side of the river to the other. These songs refer to actual events and are sung even in the presence of the offender.9 his is parallel to the k n festival in n in which satirical and abusive songs have the moral value of examining immoral acts in the society. Below is an example of satirical song being sung in ko festival:

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

The excerpt above is a satirical song that was sung for someone who, instead of fishing, was caught stealing. They admonished him not to do such again in line two. Since satire is for ridiculing and correcting vices, the song in the excerpt was sung to ridicule the act of stealing and to implore the object to change his evil ways. g n j :9) posits that the k n festival songs are always lace with satirical elements about human private organs and they are rendered in memory of the promiscuous lives lived by the progenitors of the two towns. This serves as a means of curbing immoral acts because no one will want them to make jest of him or her as it is done in the satirical songs used to deride the promiscuous lives lived by their progenitors. An example of such song is seen below: g n j (Male: flop vaginal Female: flop testicles w asserts that tra itional frica places premium on how the ehaviour of an individual affects the society. The communal well-being is more paramount than the interest of individual. He affirms that Africa satire is bore out of traditional religious festivals.

African satire has always been performative, as songs, rituals and entertainment. Indeed this mode is as old as the institution of oral tradition in the various African communities. These communities have and place premium on human dignity, thus any deviation from this norm attracts sanctions, in form of ridicule and jeers for the individual or goups affected. African culture is one that condemns shameful acts, thus individuals are careful to avoid getting involved in acts that may bring shame and disgrace on them, either as individuals or as a family… w 32) This means that shame and ridicule are dreaded phenomena in African communities. ost scholars trace the origin of or satire to or tra itional festivals. During rituals or festivals, the erring members of the community are usually ridiculed. r ilol opines that satire is the major pre-occupation of emur g festival. The songs that the preformers sing during the festival are usually satirical songs. The songs are used to expose evil ee s of any of the in igenes of e- k t . uch vices as fornication a ultery stealing, pride, gossiping and the likes are ridiculed by the youths.10 r ilol (2005) affirms that the integration of Western culture with that of or has brought many things into or culture. Yor wives now act like the estern wives to their husbands. or instance uring emur g festival a proud and disrespectful wife whom, due to her exposure and educational level, feels too big to kneel down for her husband is ridiculed with festival songs. Other eviants’ ehaviours are also ridiculed during the festival. y nt yo (2006) submits that the Ewe Suku festival songs are always filled with satirical element. Vices like laziness, indecent dressing, housewife rivalry, gossip and indiscriminate sexual affair are derided during the festival. or instance a la y that violate the norms of the we uku cult an or norms y engaging in indiscriminate sexual affair was ridiculed during Ewe Suku festival y nt yo . What the lady did was seen by the cult members as an act of treachery because she violated the rules and regulations of the cult. In traditional Yor society chastity before marriage is held in high esteem and ladies are always ridiculed whenever they violate the rule. If a lady is guilty of the violation of the rule, she is ridiculed alongside her family. What is seen in the work of y nt yo (2006) conforms with the views of other scholars on the origin of satire in or society.

With the views of these scholars, we can rightly submit that satire originate from tra itional or rituals an festivals. he or maxim that says ’’ (the king cannot arrest a poet) makes satire to e very paramount in or society especially in festival songs kin l . Moreover, from the concept established by scholars, the fact that satire originate from tra itional or rituals an festival is also asserte y If literary corpus which states the consensus that is set for peaceful living among the people of or society. here are a lot of verses in If literary corpus that talk a out the consensus that people of or society shoul a here to. he punishment meted out to anyone that deviates from the norms is also stated. For instance, If frowns at eviant ehaviours such as deceit, stealing and treachery and it reflects in m ol xvii : Backbiting kills a slave Curses kill thieves Treachery kills traitorous friends In the above excerpt, If an all the go s in or tra itional religion detest gossip, stealing and treachery. Anyone that is involved in any of the acts suffers the consequence. The consequence is death as seen in the excerpt above.

2.6 Review of Related Literature

A lot of works have been done on satire in drama, prose and poetry by different scholars. gun opines that satire takes many forms. He illustrates that among those forms are satire in rituals and festivals and states that verbal abuse, caricature, insults, mockery and ridicule and other sorts of satiric behaviour are allowed and expected; clapping, dancing and laughing are included. This means that the deviants are ridiculed during festivals through abusive and insulting songs. j su mits that the asic nee of satire in or society is for exercising certain control an maintaining equili rium an peace of min . In most part of or society, satire can be associated with rituals. The main aim of these literary artistes is to criticise behaviour in a way that will bring positive change to the society. j affirms that satire originate from the l r nj in or society. He opines that satire was born out of the rituals an festivals of the or people such as k n in n k mes in k - es in Il -Ife in yo an j g in k t . e emphasises on masquerade festivals. He submits that the l r nj always engage themselves in acro atic display and mimicking. They have the poetic license to pass comment on any event that contra icts the consensus of the or society. his point is further uttresse in j (1978) where he postulates that the performance of the l r nj is always fille with satirical sketches which are used to ridicule the butt. g nr nt asserts that satire is use in or society to attack ri icule an to maintain the culture of the society. He further explains that satire comes in different forms: political satire, social satire and the like. He maintains that its main aim is to maintain the tra itions an culture of the or people. e further states the efinitions given to satire y different scholars and submits that satire originated from the Romans. He further explains that in or society, satire originate from the l r nj ecause they have the licence to pass any comments on anybody or anything in the society and he also observes that satire is seen in the day to day activities of the or people. g nr nt affirms that satire exists in folktale and that the characters in folktales are presented in a mockery manner to show the guilt and the vice they commit. He further presents that satire in poetry in performance is another form of satire as he illustrates that the poets have the liberty to say whatever pleases them, either in favour or against anybody in the community. The last form he mentions is satire in jokes as he states that the or people introduce jokes in form of caricature and parody in their day-to-day activities. This helps in exposing and deriding vices and follies. g nra t further illustrates the development in satire as he asserts that the forms of traditional satire are actualized orally or through acrobatic display and the use of costumes. He also mentions modern satire which exists as a result of western education and he states that this may be in form of written novels, poetry and drama. he author examines the functions of satire in or society. e opines that the functions of satire are reflected in its use in education, entertainment or amusement and politics. He concludes that many of the satirists nowadays have taken satire as a means of their daily bread and illustrates that satire has lost its value because it is now used for entertainment and amusement. g nr nt ’s work on satire serves as a point of reference to other works but he did not discuss all his works deeply and we deter his opinion that satire is no more in use for social control but for entertainment and amusement. There have een a lot of works on satire after g nr nt ’s work an it is evi ent that satire is a potent instrument for social change an it is very effective in controlling people’s social conduct.

Ebewo (1988) opines that satire is an instrument of social criticism as he argues that satire helps to expose, ridicule and denounce vices and follies. He describes y nka as an African satirist influenced by African and Western satirical modes. He also examines the functions of comic and tragic satire in various cultural contexts as he exposes the political scene, religious hypocrites and the like. Ebewo also offers some thoughts about the importance of satire as a potent weapon for addressing contemporary problems and bringing change to the society. y w l opines that festival came into existence through a woman calle orem j sor . e opines that festival comprises a series of events such as Oluro and Loogun cultural dance whose songs are mostly satirical type of songs. He further illuminates that satirists stigmatise crime or ridicule folly purposely to make sure that diminishing return happens to the rate at which crimes are being committed in the society and probably to get rid of crimes completely. y w l asserts that the satirists in festivals express their views ironically by mocking the deviants in different satirical songs. e further explains ifferent satirical songs foun in the festival. ccor ing to him the songs have different themes among are stealing housewives rivalry extra-marital affair pre-marital sexual affair incest parental irresponsi ility among other. ll these themes are prominent in satirical songs. ices are always derided in the songs. The author gives various examples to support his claim. Among the examples given is:

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

The above example of satirical songs in Ed festival gives an insight into a practice con emne y or tra ition. Incest is a very a act that is frowne at in or a society and it is derided in the satirical songs of Ed festival. y w l affirms that incest is ridiculed to correct the perpetrator and to inform the people of the society about the norms and tradition of the or society. part from incest yew l states that there are lots of satirical themes in the songs of festival an all the themes are mentioned in order to correct an re irect the steps of everyone that is of eviant ehaviour in the society. In his conclusion y w l asserts that satire is a way through which social evils are eing expose an it is universal. y w l ’s work is commen a le ut he i not explain his analysis deeply. Another observation made is that, though, most of his examples centre on family and social satires, he did not classify the songs; he should have classified it into either social, religion, political and the like instead of mingling them together in his analysis. j mo classifies or plays into two namely: pure satirical plays and plays lace with satirical elements. he opines that the aim of satire is to ring positive change to the society y ri iculing follies vices an other eviant ehaviours. he also classifie satire in or written plays in to political religion an domestic as she illustrate how playwrights employ jokes, jest, ridicule and other devices to present satire in a way that will bring about change. She however makes a distinction between satire and its related instruments as there have always been different misconceptions about satire, jokes, jest and the likes. According to her, people tend to give satire and its instruments the same meaning. j mo asserts that one of the esires of a satirist is to o a critical work on past an present events in the society so as to correct deviant behaviours. The author did an excellent work as she looked deeply into different satirical plays by different authors to portray how satire is being depicted politically, religiously and domestically. j mo’s work serves as a vital source of information for any researcher that may want to research into the concept of satire especially in or society an igeria as a whole.

In j mo the Functionalist approach is used to examine or Philosophical thoughts in satirical songs. She asserts that: Like the functionalist, the main objective of satire is to foresee a social system held together by norms and a common morality. This is achievable by what is referred to as voluntary cooperation’or general consensus of the in ivi ual actors’ in a given social system. he opines that the cultural values of the or people are eing versifie through or satirical songs in or er to envision a social system hel together y norms with a view to maintaining equili rium in or society. sing the functionalist approach, she affirms that the two key concepts propounded by functionalist for effective interrelationship that can lead to maintaining equilibrium in a society are socialization and social-control mechanisms. She further claims that most times, the social control mechanism comes through satire.

Evil acts like vanity, hypocrisy, pedantry, idolatry, and bigotry are revealed to effect reform through such exposures. j mo She further stresses the importance of songs in or society. She opines that the deviants are exposed through satirical songs in order to ridicule them. She affirms that morality is achieved as the satirist condemns evils and extols virtues through satirical songs and poetry. She states that moral evils are exposed during all forms of festival and secular songs. he cultural heritage of the or people as well as the or philosophical thoughts and ideological views are embedded in the songs. This is done with the view to imparting the or norms an values into the younger generation in order to bring out a complete moral uprightness in them for a healthy growth of the larger society. Raheem (2002) opines that satire evolves from man’s attempt at correcting eli erate negation of the acceptable social norms an stan ar s. e further illustrates that in most cultures of the worl most especially reek oman an frican ultures ramatic satire thrives in the cele ration of communal festivals. aheem focuses on selecte plays of l y nk , namely A play of Giants, From Zia, With Love and The Beatification of Area Boys. The plays attack greed, hypocrisy, corruption, tyranny, gluttony and other social vices. Raheem further asserts that y nk satirises the political concept of dictatorship in Africa and also blames the Western Society for being responsible for the sustainability of tyrannical regimes in Africa. He further explains that the corrupt practices in the military regime in Nigeria are also satirized ironically. Raheem concludes by stating that y nk employs a revolutionary approach to the problem of dictatorial rule that once engulfed the whole of Africa and also says that the adoption of satirical medium is a way of using a subtle but salient way to provoke his audience into conscious revolt against the dominant force of tyranny. g n examines g nn ran’s language in his novels as a very strong one that satirises and exposes follies, vices and ridicules deviant behaviours by the people of the society and the government. She also asserts that this helps in bringing positive change to the society and concludes that the best satire does not seek to do harm or damage but by its ridicule, seeks to correct and bring change to the society. y nt yo posits that the purpose of satire is to attack man’s imperfection correct vices an reinstate virtues. he examines ifferent efinitions given to satire y scholars. he explains that we k is a group of girls who form association with the aim of promoting sexual morality among mem ers an g m n society. he mentions how the festival starte the organization structure of we k an illustrates the performance of the festival as she states that it has to do strictly with matters related to sexual activities with emphasis on issues like pre-marital sex an a ultery. he further explains that sexual satire is of two categories in we k . irstly she mentions that mem ers who ha pre-marital sex before the wedding time are exposed by breaking into pieces the e k em lem. he secon category is concerned with members who had pre-marital sex but the act was not known until after the wedding day and illustrates that the two categories are treated the same way. The culprit and her family are hereby ridiculed through satirical songs. y nt yo asserts that the we k tradition upholds high moral as illicit sexual affair in ecent ressing laziness gossiping or tale earing are ri icule in songs of we k festival. y nt yo’s work is here y commen e . In her conclusion an recommendation, a suggestion to young men and women to be using protection for promiscuous acts is not the best option. Early marriage could be another option that will not lead to the compromise of or culture. We still have young men and women that hold on to their virginity till marriage in this contemporary time. r ig 6) examines satire and the performance of r festival in n o tate.

She explains that satire can be in different forms like burlesque, parody, irony, ridiclule, sarcasm, invective, affectation and exaggeration. She also explains the function of satire as an instrument that is aimed at correcting social vices and consequently effecting change in the society. She asserts that there are elements of satire in Ora festival and that the satirical elements are seen in the songs of the festival. The themes of the satirical songs include social vices like adultery, stealing, corruption, addiction (smoking, drug, alcohol etc. prostitution etc. r ig therefore conclu es y asserting that violators of social norms are expose and ridiculed, a development that makes such defaulters correct their ways. Ibeawuchi (2006) posits that satire is a tool employed by literary artistes for criticism in the society. He points to the fact that Achebe uses literary mode as a means of evaluating and denouncing human societies. He also examines the function of satire and states that satire exists where there is something to disapprove of and the object of disapproval is exposed and ridiculed. The author also asserts that Achebe uses the ironic mode of satire to expose the high level of corruption in the Nigerian society. His work is commendable because it is a call to correct vices in the political system as it exposes how corruption and dictatorship have eaten deep into the Nigeria political system. j mo examines satirical songs and their functions in or society. sing Consensus theory, she shares her view that lots of institutions play crucial role in supporting consensus to make society effective. She further states that the use of satire in festivals and rituals rests on the belief that if the aberrants are expose the go s will e please with the lan . his means that or traditional religion frowns at deviant behaviour. The author asserts that satire is a mechanism for social control in which emphasis is placed on ridiculing the erring members of the society. She gives examples of the satirical songs used in satirising anyone that violates the norms an tra itions of the or society. Among the vices satirised are: adultery, tyranny, hegemony, uneven distribution of social amenities, premarital sex in ecent ressing etc. j mo illustrates that the satirists act as moral policemen by exercising control over deviant behaviours. She opines that the disgrace faced by the culprits publicly is believed to be a form of punishment that will deter other people from committing the same offence. She concludes that satire stands against anything that can jeopar ize the valua le or culture an recommen s that the asic morals norms an values of the or society must e re-visited for sustainable development. w opines that political restiveness characterised the English society of the 1950s, precipitating the use of satire as instrument of political propaganda. w submits that satire has dual nature which includes deriding vices and extoling virtues. He posits that satirists employ rhetorical figures such as irony, paradox, anaphors and oxymoron to induce the reader to fall to his point of view. He affirms that African satire has always been performed as songs, rituals and entertainment. He states that the or society place premium on human dignity, thus any deviation from this norm attracts sanctions in form of ridicule and jeers for the individual or groups affected. He opines that African culture is one that condemns shameful acts, thus individuals are careful to avoid getting involved in acts that may bring shame and disgrace on them, either as individuals or as a family; the itinerant singers of Cameroon, are known for their praise/abuse songs, the singers recite the chant at the top of their voice and accompany their recitals with leaps into the air, gesticulations as the excitement increases. iw further explains that satire creates shame and guilt which will force the culprit to change and dissuade others from similar lifestyle. e affirms that erisive songs in festivals serve as an instrument of social control. is opinion is also reflecte in j mo (2007) where she examines satire as a form of social control in festival songs. He asserts that satirical devices such as allegory, fable, parable, burlesque, exaggeration, sarcasm, sophisticated wit, broad humour and irony are used to expose human follies and vices. Such vices include corruption, hypocrisy, extravagance and lack of self-control, sumptuary excesses and effeminacy, political profligacy, political tyranny, inequality, exploitation, religious bigotry, cultural imperialism, political ineptitude and the like. He therefore concludes by saying that the aim of satire is for change. The butts of satire are expected to change from their evil ways. j mo 008) posits that the central theme in ol ’s plays focuses on frustrations, struggles, aspirations an hopes of the owntro en people in the society. he examines satire an the shame culture as she illustrates that the shame culture is always em race in tra itional frican societies. he also explores the satirical themes in kinw nm ol ’s plays. She adequately presents the artistic devices an presentation of satire in ol ’s plays as the devices are used to deride the butts of satire in the plays. l 008) asserts that humour is one of the vital ways of satirizing in or society. l presents how ol employs this instrument in his works to expose human follies an to eri e vices. he writer opines that the aim of ol is to instruct his rea ers about how best he thinks man should live. He however examines some comic episo e in ol ’s works. l illustrates how ol in , employs humour in exposing the hypocrisy in Christian religion as prophets who were supposed to be the custodian of Christian faith always seek the help of herbalists whose traditional practices Christianity condemns. l also examines the witty comments y ol as an instrument of ri iculing self- centeredness which is the bane of true happiness in human society. he writer conclu es y saying that ol ’s literary works are exten e humorous metaphor. Though, the writer does not mention satire in his works, we consider humour as a vital instrument of satire because human follies, vices, hypocrisy and other deviant behaviours are humorously satirised. o ol j 11) affirms that Parody is a form of satire in or society. he author explains parody as a philosophical term that carries a wide range of meanings, which include: animation, a representation, the act of resembling non-serious similarly, memory of the past art work to create fun, a counter song and the like. She further states that parody in contemporary usage is works created to mock, comment on or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style or some other target by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation. She asserts that satirists condemn evils and extol virtues through satirical songs and poetry. She also posits that the use of parody which is a potent instrument of satire is very paramount in most video films. In her opinion, satirical songs are offered in order to deride follies and vices socially, politically and religiously. The author concludes by illustrating that films that contain parody issues serve as a medium of change or channel through which artistes express their views or prevailing social issues, either good or bad. The good actors are complemented and the bad ones are rebuked. She concludes that this helps to inculcate morals in to the young ones. j mo examines the satirical portrayal of male-female actions in traditional festival songs. She explains the patriarchal nature of the festival songs both in female dominated festivals and general festivals by looking at the relationship that exists etween men an women in tra itional or society. She opines that there is inter-gender discrimination in the festival songs and the elements of female on female are portrayed in the festival songs of the female dominated festivals. goo example of such festival is the we k festival which is a female ominate festival in g m n un State, Nigeria. She affirms that the songs are mostly directed to the female folks and the themes in such songs include cheating, lying, pride, fornication, celibacy, patriarchy and the like. She emphasises that it is not only women that engage in these vices as men are not excluded. She therefore concludes that it is common in all festivals to always direct ridicule at the female folks and such acts according to her should not be because it is not only women that cheat, lie, fornicate and engage in other social vices. Anyone who is deviant, either man or woman, should be satirised. koje asserts that satire is used by artistes in different ways. e posits that nyer an ol go use jokes and jest in satirizing people of different calibre in their films.

He examines the impact of satire on their films as he posits that the themes the actors satirise in their video films include covetousness, stealing, adultery and lust for money, lying, deceit, impatience, retribution and the like. He further states that follies, vices are always derided by these actors in a jovial manner. In a nutshell, his work is a very interesting one that explores how deviant behaviours are satirized through jokes and jest. However, one shortcoming notice in the writer’s work is his taking joke and jest to mean the same thing as satire in some aspect of his analysis. We justify this with j mo who has ma e a istinction between satire and instruments of satire such as jest and jokes. From the foregoing, qualitative research has een one on satire in or festivals rama and novels with little or no attention to the r ng poems as a genre of literature that features element of satire. It is against this backdrop that the current study tends to investigate satire in ow l w n an nmi y l g ’s poems.

2.7 Satire and its Devices

Adej mo 1995, 2001) opines that many people have misunderstood satire and its devices. Many call joke, ridicule, sarcasm, invectives, lampoon and the like satire. This is not so because satire is quite different from all these elements. Ebewo (1988:17) affirms that many scholars equate satire with parody, invective, lampoon and the like. He opines that if one attacks a person in a literary work simply because he hates him, he is not writing satire but lampoon which is popular in Greek comedic dramas. We consider it necessary to examine some of the devices of satire employed by the selected poets to satirise in this work. For a clear understanding of the concept of satire and its devices, we have to define each device in order to have a better understanding of these devices as an instrument employed by the selected poets in satirizing the butt.

2.7.1 Ridicule

Ridicule is the subjection of someone or something to contemptuous and dismissive language or behaviour. r ig :56) affirms that ridicule is the objective of satire and it achieves this by presenting the subject or character as absurd. Ridicule can also be defined as speech or action intended to cause contemptuous laughter at a person or thing (www.searchridicule.com). It also means derision. or instance whenever someone eviates from the tra itional norms an values in or society such in ivi ual will e ri icule . lady that is not chastised before her wedding is subjected to ridicule after her husband finds her guilty on the wedding night. An empty match’s box, empty palm wine jar and punctured basket are thereby sent to her family just to ridicule them for not training their daughter in a proper manner ramol an eje, 1967). Ridicule is an important device used in satire and satire uses it to prevent others from engaging in the same shameful act.

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