from Research in African Literatures Volume 31, Number 4African Verbal Arts and the Study of African Visual Aesthetics
Wilfried van Damme 1
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In this paper I would like to briefly explore the possibilities that analyses of African verbal arts present for an understanding of ìaestheticsî in African cultures. When used in African studies, by both nonindigenous and indigenous scholars, the Western-derived label ìaestheticsî generally serves to refer to a given culture's views on ìbeautyî or related qualities. Scholarly attention has until now been largely focused on beauty as an attribute of human beings and anthropomorphic renditions in statuary art and masked performances, in addition to several other visual phenomena. Although analyses of African verbal arts, both oral and written, may also instruct us on notions of quality in nonvisual domains, in the present paper emphasis will be on what the opinions that are expressed in various literary types may teach us about the aesthetics informing the creation and evaluation of the visual arts in African cultures. While in keeping with the focus of this special issue of Research in African Literatures, this emphasis also reflects a disciplinary bias of the present author who has a background in African visual art studies.
Although in African studies aesthetics usually refers to the idea of beauty, a limited number of scholars in this field—additionally—employ the term in the sense in which it has been used by most twentieth-century Western philosophers, namely, as pertaining to ìthe philosophy of art.î In the West, this conception of the label aesthetics has come to refer to—the study of—the philosophical views that throughout the documented history of Western thinking have been expressed vis-à-vis the phenomena of ìart and beauty.î Indeed, at least from the time of the ancient Greeks onwards, philosophers and others in the West have been concerned with systematic reflections on such topics as the origin and nature of the arts, their classification and various functions, the creativity and inspiration involved in their production, the experience and evaluation of their qualities, and the nature of these qualities themselves. In recent decades scholars have started to address the views that have been expressed on these and related topics in cultures beyond the West. Attention has until now been leveled particularly at the literate traditions of Oriental cultures, whereas research into the art philosophical views of so-called nonliterate or traditionally oral cultures has only just begun. Although the latter views do not constitute the main focus of this paper, I would like to seize the opportunity to encourage literary and other scholars to investigate art philosophical topics through the study of African oral traditions, in order also to thus contribute to the emerging field of study of ìintercultural philosophy of artî or ìworld aesthetics.î2
If in this paper I draw attention to African literary types as potentially rich sources of information on aesthetics, I am simply echoing the calls that several African scholars have made during the past few decades. In one of the first essays on African aesthetics written by an African scholar, Harris Memel-Fotê already briefly suggested that we turn to the verbal arts in our attempts to learn about African views on beauty: ìEcoutons les contes et les légendes [. . .] dépositaires de l'esthétiqueî ëLet us listen to the tales and legends [. . .] depositories of the aesthetic' (50). Memel-Fotê argues that a consideration of the various literary types will inform us on the range of natural and human-made objects considered beautiful in African cultures. Furthermore, in a somewhat different context he suggests that the study of verbal art forms in Africa may also teach us about more philosophical views on matters aesthetic. Memel-Fotê more specifically refers to two ìcontes philosophiquesî ëphilosophical tales' of the Bete of Côte d'Ivoire that are concerned with the relative nature of aesthetic judgments. In one of these, a male chimpanzee and antelope are held captive near a village. The antelope is longing for his lovers who, down in the forest, are grieving for his absence. The chimpanzee thereupon expresses a similar yearning. The antelope is quite surprised to hear that the chimpanzee has lovers at home who regret his absence. For is not the ugliness of the monkey proverbial? To which the monkey replies, ìRetiens simplement qu'il n'y a de laideur absolue de chimpanzé qu'au village et dans l'esprit des antilopes et autres animauxî ëJust remember that the absolute ugliness of the chimpanzee does not exist but in the village and in the minds of antilopes and other animals' (51).
Unfortunately, we are not informed about the contexts in which such philosophical tales are told among the Bete, nor are we provided with other relevant information concerning, for example, the persons involved in creating, transmitting, and amending these tales. Ideally, we should also be presented with the original Bete versions, together with an extensive examination of the key concepts involved, such as in this case the notion of ìugliness.î
Several African scholars have since made similar pleas for directing attention to the verbal arts in the context of studying African aesthetics, most notably Yoruba scholars like Rowland Abiodun, to whom we shall return. Likewise, in a recent publication Mohamed Abusabib observes that it is well known to specialized scholars that ìin non-literate societies oral traditional forms are the reservoir of theoretical and practical knowledge. Proverbs, sayings, dictums, verse and many other poetic formulations are loaded with meaning reflecting the society's outlook and experience in all aspects of lifeî (76). This then also applies to the ìAfrican aesthetic outlookî that is directly and indirectly expressed in various forms of oral tradition that ìusually contain deep artistic and aesthetic insights which reflect the prevalent principles and canons of criticism, evaluation, creativity, etc.î (30). Abusabib relates that in his field work-based MA thesis dealing with the aesthetics of adornment among the Shaigiya of northern Sudan, ì[o]ne chapter is devoted to proverbs, sayings, and fragments of poems which give more clues to the traditional aesthetic outlook [. . .]î (30, n.31).3 As an example, he refers to the Shaigiya proverb Al-ilgi mabtazeed khilgi, which he does not translate, but of which he says: ìThis proverb has two connotations: one is direct, and simply refers to ornament as something that cannot give beauty to the human form if the human form is in itself not beautiful; the other is indirect, and asserts that ornament could not be of help to the uglyî (76).
Abusabib also shows an awareness of the difficulties involved in approaching oral traditions as a source of data on aesthetics, emphasizing that ìonly those who have had first-hand experience of these cultures can pick up the clues offered by these statements and delve further into their meaningî (30). It is indeed true that forms of oral tradition, which may be quite cryptic to a cultural outsider, frequently need to be contextualized on several levels before their actual significance for understanding aesthetic views is revealed to the analyst. Several dimensions of the problems involved in the contextualization and interpretation of oral traditions relating to aesthetics will be touched upon below. Here we may consider the following associated topic.
In expressing his methodological concerns, Abusabib does not question a basic assumption that would seem to underlie virtually all calls for considering the verbal arts as valuable sources of information on aesthetics. According to this assumption, the relevant forms of oral tradition embody the communis opinio in matters aesthetic. Abusabib in fact explicitly endorses this assumption when he observes that, in comparison to the data which individuals in a given culture provide on aesthetics, ìtraditional oral forms—that is, proverbs and sayings, etc.—are more rewarding and far more reliable, since they are usually the products of deep and refined thinking which certainly reflects the communal experience of the peopleî (30). A similar line of reasoning has been employed by Cornelius Adepegba in drawing attention to the verbal arts as tools for understanding African visual arts and aesthetics. He notes that it is his experience among the Yoruba of Nigeria that people acting as informants ìsometimes give information which would make themselves or their activities appear important or mysteriousî (21). Informants' statements should therefore be balanced by taking into account information that is ìextracted from the language,î and that is ìmore likely to be free of personal bias. Languages are the unbroken transmitter of a people's pastî (21). Adepegba therefore advises students of African visual arts and aesthetics to seriously consider linguistic data, including transmitted verbal art forms, which ìwould perhaps reduce some of the unnecessary mysticism with which African art may have been inadvertently surroundedî (21).
The crucial question regarding the extent to which forms of oral tradition reflect shared views is no doubt related to the type of oral tradition or verbal art we are concerned with, which may range from commonly employed proverbs to esoteric literary types the knowledge of which is limited to a select group of people in a given culture, who may additionally differ as to the interpretation of the content of these verbal art forms.
Of all the forms of oral tradition in Africa, it is particularly proverbs and sayings that are commonly held to express consensual views. For example, Kwesi Yankah, while noting that African concepts corresponding to the Western notion of proverb are usually more encompassing, including, say, the idea of parable, anecdote, or tale (237), conceives of a proverb as a ìcultural truismî (326). However accepted the view that proverbs express collective opinions, as Mineke Schipper has pointed out, we should always try to critically assess the degree of catholicity of a proverb, as well as to consider who utters them in which context, thereby taking into account which perspectives and interests are at issue (14). Given the problems of interpretation that proverbs and other literary types pose to an outsider, an additional epistemological and methodological concern should be that scholars pay close attention to the perspectives and interests of those cultural spokespersons who provide researchers with an exegesis. As with other forms of oral tradition, the reference to proverbs in the context of—consensual—notions of beauty and related qualities should therefore ideally be combined with the results of other types of investigation into aesthetics (see also below).
Proverbs in African cultures may indeed in various ways provide interesting entries into views on beauty. This is clearly demonstrated in a study by Bwenge Kule Mate, whose analysis of the aesthetics of the Nande (Kivu region, Congo) is primarily based on a detailed consideration of several Nande proverbs and sayings pertaining to beauty. The examples provided and discussed by Mate, which are said to be predominantly used in the education of youngsters, concern, among other things, the transitory character of physical beauty, as in the saying vuvuya vunahera, ìla beauté est éphémèreî ëbeauty is ephemeral' (246). This theme is in itself related to the relationship between outer and inner beauty of human beings, which is referred to, for example, in the saying, ovuvuya si mutima, ìla beauté n'est pas le coeurî ëbeauty is not the heart' (246).
Mate prefaces his observations on proverbs by an analysis of the semantic fields and contexts of application of Nande nouns that are interpreted to refer to the idea of beauty as an attribute of human beings—as regards both their physical appearance and their character and conduct—and objects. This type of information is in fact indispensable for an appropriate contextual interpretation of proverbs referring to beauty. Still, this information is usually missing, not only in the more obvious cases where all that is available are translations into English, French, or any other language, but also when the proverb is cited in its original language. An in-depth study of the aesthetic vocabulary, including its expression in the verbal arts, should indeed occupy a central place in any examination of aesthetics in a given culture (Van Damme Beauty 193-98).4
The relationship between inner and outer beauty that is the subject matter of some of the Nande proverbs considered by Mate is also addressed in several of the African proverbs relating to female beauty that Schipper has collected. Thus it is said among the Kundu of Cameroon that ìBeauty is an empty calabash,î while according to a Swahili proverb, ìThe beauty of a woman does not reside in her faceî (88). Similarly, among the Igbo of Nigeria the relationship between the physical qualities and character of a woman is the subject of several set phrases. As Chike Aniakor points out, an Igbo girl or woman who is considered to be physically attractive, but is deemed to have a bad character, may be referred to as agu mara mma mana obi ya abula agbara, ìthe beautiful leopard with the heart of an alusi (deity),î o mara mma n'anya koro evu na oma, ìshe looks beautiful to the eyes but is rotten inside,î or as ochara ocha n'oku atoghi uto n'onu, ìa beautiful and attractive dish that tastes badî (69).5 Other themes that surface from Schipper's collection include the physical features of a female body that are considered attractive, the difference between natural and artificial beauty in a woman, and the various consequences of having an attractive physical appearance (87-89).
In addition to proverbs, many other forms of verbal art may express views on aesthetics, as we shall see below. In the study of aesthetics, the relevant opinions that surface in these various literary forms may be used as a confirmation or supplement to findings yielded by other means, such as the results of examining art criticism. Focusing primarily on the visual arts, the study of art or aesthetic criticism has been the main methodological tool in the empirical research into African aesthetics (Van Damme, Beauty ch. 6).
The number of scholars who point to correspondences between the results of empirical studies in visual aesthetics and the views expressed in the verbal arts would still seem to be quite limited. One of these scholars is Loretta Reinhardt (136). In support of her findings that masks among the Mende of Sierra Leone emphasize features of ideal female beauty—like a large forehead, abundant hair, and a ringed neck—she refers to a Mende praise song published by Sjoerd Hofstra in which these same characteristics are stressed:
My child, big forehead,
woman with plenty of hair.
O big forehead,
O my child, fine neck.(182)Such comparisons may be made to the mutual benefit of the two domains involved, for it could be argued that while the lyric underscores Reinhardt's observations on sculptural aesthetics, the latter in turn shed new light on the praise song collected by Hofstra.6
Kate Ezra similarly corroborates her findings on the aesthetics of the nyeleni statues among the Bamana of Mali with references to a form of verbal art. Nyeleni are female figures that are used by members of the Jo society and can be described as ìrepresentations of the physical qualities desired in young, marriageable womenî (18). In discussing these qualities, Ezra refers to the lyrics of the bard Seydou Camara from the neighboring Malinke, another Mande people7: ìWhen Camara's lyrics are examined for the specific traits that are considered beautiful in a young woman, it becomes evident that these same features are emphasized in the nyeleni figuresî (18). For example, in one of the songs the ungrateful hunter Famori is transformed into a beautiful woman, whose charms are described as follows:
Her breasts completely filled her chest,
Namu [. . .]
Her buttocks stood firmly behind her.(21)When Famori's wife Nuntènèn saves him from his predicament, Camara praises her by describing identical features, adding
Look at her slender, young bamboo-like
Nuntènèn is the favorite forever.In another song by Camara, an antelope called Dagwè is transformed into a woman, whose physical attractiveness is described in similar terms, with the following addition:
Her neck was ridged with fat.
Her buttocks were so nicely shaped.
Eee, this Dagwè woman is really pretty.Ezra concludes, ìThe projecting breasts, jutting buttocks, and slim waists of the nyeleni figures correspond to the ideal of female beauty and sexual attractiveness set forth in these songsî (21).8 Camara's lyrics thus focus our attention on certain visual or morphological characteristics of nyeleni and other female Bamana figures, such as the elongated, pole-like middle part of the torso that students of Bamana statuary art might not have previously considered an accentuated rendition of a slender waist that adds to a figure's beauty.
In his exposition of Yoruba visual art and aesthetics, Adepegba similarly draws on various literary types, such as Ifá divination verses, proverbs, and even popular song lyrics. For example, in referring to the famous Ife brass and terra cotta heads, he first observes: ìApparently they are all idealized, mostly representing people in their prime with features like the eye and the neck corresponding to the Yoruba's people's standard of human beautyî (17). The eyes, especially in women, should be well-delineated, and the neck is highly esteemed when it overfolds or ìspirals.î Adepegba subsequently points out that these views on female beauty also surface in the lyrics of a song recorded by the contemporary Yoruba musician Ebenezer Obey that enumerate the attributes a man should look for in a woman9:
Eleyinyu ege She who has seductive well delineated eyes Awelorun bi okoto She whose neck is spiralled like a snail shellEji wonu eji
She who has gaps in both her upper and lower teeth(17)One of the first scholars to combine research into visual aesthetics with references to the verbal arts is Robert Thompson. Reporting on his study of artistic criticism among the Yoruba, he observes that one of the major principles used in the evaluation of sculpture is ìwòntúnwònsì or moderation, conceived of as a mean between extremes. Having outlined the importance of this criterion, Thompson cites the Yoruba writer Amos Tutuola(Thompson 58-59) who observes in his Feather Woman of the Jungle: ìShe was indeed a beautiful woman. She was not too tall and not too short. She was not too black and not yellow.î10 The question as to the degree of catholicity of the aesthetic views expressed in literary types evidently becomes more pressing in the case of more individualized products such as contemporary novels. As the above example demonstrates, the opinions communicated herein may well be in keeping with what research suggests to be consensual views, so that these literary products can at times indeed be referred to as confirming results obtained by other means.
In his essay on Yoruba artistic criticism Thompson also provides references to other Yoruba verbal arts, such as a fable and a verse from the Ifá divination orature (29, 31-32). Yoruba scholars have suggested that particularly the Ifá corpus provides an important source of information on Yoruba concepts of beauty. Thus, Wande Abimbpla has argued that every serious student of Yoruba art, aesthetics, and culture must take into consideration the divination verses of the Ifá oracle, which he considers the most authoritative among the many genres of Yoruba orature. Examining Ifá poetry, he argues, ìsheds wonderful light on Yoruba life and thought. Through the study of Ifa one discovers the philosophical concepts that are the basis for understanding Yoruba aestheticsî (11). A similar observation has been made by Abiodun (ìVerbalî 252), and Yoruba scholars are indeed to an increasing degree referring to Ifá poetry in their analyses of Yoruba art and aesthetics (e.g., Abiodun, ìFutureî; Lawal). The divination verse referred to by Thompson (29), quoting Ulli Beier and Bakare Gbadamosi (30), is rendered in the following English translation:
Anybody who meets beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor.
The red feathers are the pride of the parrot.
The young leaves are the pride of the palm tree.
The white flowers are the pride of the leaves.
The well-swept verandah is the pride of the landlord.
The straight tree is the pride of the forest.
The fast deer is the pride of the bush.
The rainbow is the pride of heaven.
The beautiful woman is the pride of her husband.
The children are the pride of the mother. The moon and the stars are the pride of the sun.
Ifa says: beauty and all sorts of good fortune arrive.Thompson also provides an interpretation of this verse, concluding that ìthe moral is clear: aesthetic sensibility brilliantly embarks a man upon his careerî (30). Ifá divination verses relating to art and beauty are likely to play a prominent role in future discussions of Yoruba aesthetics and philosophy of art, which may lead to an interesting confrontation of the exegesis provided by the babaláwo or Ifá priests (see, e.g., Adepegba 15) and the interpretations of these verses, including their exegesis, by both native and non-native scholars of Yoruba art and culture.
The well-known Yoruba oríkì or praise poems or songs, especially those concerning various types of artists, would seem to present another important source for Yoruba aesthetics, in addition to providing valuable information on other aspects of Yoruba art and artistry (see, e.g., Pemberton). For example, the following fragment of the oríkì of the sculptor Taiwo of Ila- Orangun (ca. 1855-1935) appears to emphasize the importance in male anthropomorphic figures of well-delineated eyes, a clearly rendered mouth, the presence of a broad and powerful chest, and the rendition of a circumcised penis11:
[40] Baba oko mi
Ó gbégi lójú ó gbégi lénu
Ó gbégi ní gèngè àyà
Ó láketè lórí okó
Baba oko mi Àjàlá
[45] Ó gbégi olójú o gbégi o lénu
Ó gbégi ó ní gèngè àyà
Baba oko mi Àjàlá
Ó gbégi o láketè pénpé lórí okó[40]ÝÝÝÝ My father in law.
He carved wood so that it had eyes and a mouth.
He carved it so that it had a broad and powerful chest.
He carved the penis with a cap [i.e., circumcised].
Ajala, my father in law.
[45]ÝÝÝÝ His carving properly depicts the eyes and the mouth.
His carving has a broad and muscular chest.
Ajala, my father in law.
His carving depicted the penis perfectly with its cap.(Pemberton 126)It will be clear that one cannot safely draw conclusions concerning Yoruba sculptural aesthetics on the basis of the clues provided in a sculptor's praise poem, but such clues may serve as an incentive to further investigation, or may, once again, be used as a confirmation of research results obtained by other means. More generally, an appropriate interpretation of artists' oríkì not only presupposes an intimate acquaintance with the stylistic devices of the genre, but also assumes an extensive knowledge of the conceptual, sociocultural, and historical background against which the poem is set. As John Pemberton points out:
It is clear that oríkì for carvers reveal the recognition bestowed upon an artist by his contemporaries and how he is remembered by his descendants. While set phrases, such as, ëOne who carves wood as though it were a calabash' and ëHe transforms wood into a human being,' are often employed, the oríkì are highly personal, referring to the carver in the context of his particular lineage and workshop, albeit often in an oblique and highly stylized language dependent upon local knowledge for its understanding.(130)One may nonetheless be tempted to interpret sculptors' oríkì as providing valuable insights into several dimensions of Yoruba artistry, including those that could be said to go beyond aesthetics, such as artists' self-regard. The latter appears to be referred to in the following lines from the oríkì of the sculptor Fakeye (ca. 1870-1946), who was apprenticed to Taiwo (Pemberton 129)12:
Àrè Òjé, bi mo gbénà bí ò tà [25] Bí mo gbénà bí ò pé
Ma roko ma fi mosé se
Ma sòwò, ma sì nájà l'Ojè
Gbigbé ni wón 'ngbé, àíru Òjè-Ile
Osé agbé mórù[30] Oòni agbé rekete fóba If Are Oje does not prosper from his creations, [25] If carving is not profitable,
Then I [Are Oje] shall add farming to my work.
I shall trade and go to the market at Oje.
But we are carvers, not carriers of ordinary loads in Oje.
Carvers who do not carry loads
[30] Are the powerful persons who create beautifully carved figures for kings. Although there is no doubt, as Babatunde Lawal reminds us, that ìoral traditionî is one ìvaluable research source not yet fully explored by students of Yoruba artî (xxii), Yoruba scholarship has at least already demonstrated the considerable potentialities of studying the verbal arts in order to understand Yoruba visual art and aesthetics. Indeed, the examples provided in this paper only hint at the richness of Yoruba oral tradition in this regard. The views expressed in the various literary types among the Yoruba may very well be instrumental also in addressing more philosophical questions regarding the arts and their qualities in the Yoruba universe. Abiodun would seem to be justified in casting an optimistic eye on the future when he argues that ìfamiliarity with Yoruba oral traditions will enhance our present understanding of Yoruba art immensely, as well as the visual arts informing our perceptions of oral traditions. With the progress made so far in Yoruba studies, and the thought-provoking research going on today, the time has come to start asking questions about the nature and concept of art in Yoruba cultureî (ìIntroductionî 46).13
Intimately related to these art philosophical questions are those that concern the nature of the fundamental quality of ewà, or ìbeauty,î and its relationship with other central concepts in Yoruba thought. Lawal has recently summarized and discussed diverse views concerning the relationship between ewà and the complex and crucial notion of ìwà, variously interpreted as ìexistence,î ìessential nature,î and especially ìcharacter.î Indeed, both the concept of ìwà and its relationship to ewà, particularly with respect to human beings, are the subject of debate among scholars of Yoruba culture (26-29). Suffice it here to observe, finally, that in this context Lawal cites the following—anonymous—poem, of which he says that it is ìoften recited by parents to educate their childrenî (28):
[5] Omo t'ó dára tíkò n'íwà
Omo-langidi ni i
Íwà rere l'èsó ènìà
B'óbìrín dára bí Egbara
Bí kò n'íwà
[10] Omo-langidi ni i
B'ókùnrin suwòn, suwòn
Bí eja inú omi
Bí kò n'íwà rere
Omo-langidi ni[5] If a child is beautiful but has no character
He is no more than a wooden doll.
Good character is the beauty of a person.
A woman can be as beautiful as the Egbara14
If she has no character[10] She is no more than a wooden doll.
A man may be very handsome
Like a fish in the water
If he has no character
He is no more than a wooden doll.The main purpose of this exploratory paper has been to suggest that research into African verbal arts may significantly contribute to the study of African aesthetics as well as philosophies of art. Several problems involved in considering literary types from this perspective have been briefly identified. Among others, these concern the extent to which the opinions expressed in oral or written literature reflect collective views, the proper interpretation of key concepts within the ìtextualî and contextual settings in which they occur, and the need for a thorough general background knowledge in order to appropriately interpret the information provided in relevant verbal art forms. However, rather than stressing epistemological and methodological issues, the elaboration of which would require the assistance of literary scholars, emphasis has been placed on the prospects that the study of the verbal arts offers for understanding the views which inform the creation and evaluation of aesthetic and artistic activities in African cultures. The examples provided in this paper, and the brief consideration of Yoruba verbal arts in particular, suggest that the potentialities of this type of study are indeed considerable. Together with the intensive study of the aesthetic and artistic vocabulary, a more thorough consideration of relevant forms of literature will therefore have to occupy a more prominent place in our attempts to comprehend African aesthetic views and philosophies of art. As Abiodun has argued, ìThe recognition of how important African languages and literatures are to the understanding of African art will lead to a reconsideration of many ëclosed' issues, theoretical frameworks, and artistic conceptsî (ìFutureî 64).
NOTES1. Postdoctoral Fellow, Fund for Scientific Research Flanders, University of Ghent, Belgium.
2. See, for example, Anderson; Higgins; Benitez; and Van Damme, ìWorld.î
3. This MA thesis, submitted in 1982 at Alexandria University, is entitled ìAl-Tafseer Al-Jamali li Adawat Al-Zeena ind Majmooat Al-Shaigiya wa Usooluha Al-Tareekhiya,î which is translated as ìThe Aesthetic Interpretation of Shaigiya Ornaments and their Historical Sourcesî (Abusabib 30, n.31).
4. A good example of this type of study is Jean Derive's semantical and contextual examination of the various terms for ìbeautyî as employed by the DyulaÝof Côte d'Ivoire in their daily speech and various literary types. Derive presented his paper during a seminar on ìThe Concept of Beauty in Oral Traditions,î organized in 1998 at the University of Leiden by Mineke Schipper, and marking an increased interest in examining aesthetics through the study of verbal art forms (for a brief report on this seminar, see Jansen).
5. The physical attractiveness of a girl or woman is circumscribed by the Igbo in a variety of ways, which often draw on referents from the natural environment: ìShe is referred to as eagle's kola because of her rare beauty and light skin; apunanwu — ëshe does not go out in the sun' because of her delicate form; Mili mma—ëwater of beauty', the result of her sparkling beauty; eje mmili—ëshe does not go to the stream,' a delicate beauty; Mmili umu mma—ëwater of the children of beauty', or ëAsa nwanyi'—female fish, glossy skin and smooth body. She is finally described as ëenenebe ejeghi olu'—ëyou admire her and forgo the day's work'î (Aniakor 67). Also: ìWhen a girl is well built and has all the physical attributes of manifest beauty, the Igbo refer to her as ëNwataa dika agbogho mmoo'—ëthis girl is like the maiden spirit' or ëeagle in search of beauty'—ëUgonachomma'î (67).
6. In a special issue of the journal Word & Image, devoted to the relationship between the verbal and the visual arts in Africa, Abi]dun similarly observes with respect to the Yoruba that ìit would be difficult to understand Yoruba art without familiarity with Yoruba literature, particularly the Ifá literary corpus. In the same way, the study of Yoruba oral tradition is greatly enhanced by the study of the visual art in which the literary concepts are concretizedî (ìVerbalî 252). Elsewhere, Abiodun refers in more general terms to ìthe grossly understudied aspects of African arts, primarily the unity of verbal, visual, and philosophical elementsî (ìFutureî 85). Compare also Lawal who writes that ì[a]mong the Yoruba, art and oral tradition are so interrelated that the one is like a pictorial abstraction of the otherî (xxiii).
7. Ezra bases herself on Gerald Anthony Cashion's doctoral dissertation, ìHunters of the Mande: A Behavorial Code and Worldview Derived from a Study of their Folklore.î
8. The same visual characteristics are found in Yayoroba, ìthe Beautiful Woman,î a character appearing in the puppet masquerades of youth associations among the Bamana. The puppet representing Yayoroba, says Mary Jo Arnoldi, ìhas firm jutting breasts, rounded buttocks, and a slender waistî (174). In this case, too, a song lyric is called upon to confirm that these visual characteristics are considered to lend beauty to a woman. Arnoldi points to what she calls the ìsignature songî of the Yayoroba character, which is sung during her performance, and includes verses that ìcelebrate her soft skin, her ample size, and her pleasing pear-shaped proportionsî (174).
9. Ebenezer Obey and His International Brothers, Vol. 4, side 2, track 3.
10. A passage from The Arrow of God, by the Igbo Chinua Achebe, has also attracted the interest of scholars dealing with African art and aesthetics. The passage in question reads: ìWhen [the sculptor Edogo] had finished carving the face and head [of the mask] he had been a little disapointed [. . .]. But the owners of the work had not complained; in fact they had praised it highly. Edogo knew, however, that he must see the Mask in action to know whether it was good or badî (250-51). Several visual art scholars have referred to this passage in underscoring the importance of the dynamic context in which African masks should be seen (for references, see Van Damme Beauty 339, n. 35).
11. This theme returns in lines 61, 64-65, 67, 71-76, and 78-85 of the oríkì in question; see Pemberton 126-27. Pemberton recorded this oríkì in Ila-Orangun in 1992, and acknowledges the assistance of Funso S. Afolayan in translating the transcribed text (136, n.6).
12. As Pemberton relates, ìRecited by Lamidi O. Fakeye at Inurin's compound on 25 March 1992 in Ila-Orangun. I am grateful to Funso S. Afolayan for transcribing the tape recording and assistance in translating the textî (136, n.13).
13. The oral tradition of less well-studied African cultures may be similarly revealing in terms of local philosophical views on the idea of ìart,î as is demonstrated by Zadi Grékou and Séri Dédy's analysis of the Bete myth of Srele.
14. Lawal explains that this is a ìbeautiful ratî (28).
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