Comparison and Contrast of the Short Story and Oral Narrative. By Henry Kwaghkule.

The short story and oral narrative are subgenres of prose fiction. The short story refers to a literary text with a considerable small length that can be read within a day which discusses one major issue. It is usually less than a novel in size and treats one major issue using few characters,a concise and condensed language and straight plot. It has abrupt starting, a single setting, singleness of event among others as its basic features. According to Edgar Allan Poe as cited in The substance of Literature by Tyoor Victor, "short story is enough to be read in one sitting and constructed to create a single effect" This means a story writer has one particular issue to tackle. Oral narrative on the other hand, is an aspect of oral literature that refer to moonlight stories told with the chief aim of teaching moral lessons especially the younger ones. Oral narrative usually has a lively beginning known as opening glee and state its lessons at the end. In African continent, the trickster's story features a wise and crafty animals often finding itself in terrible situation but amazingly using it craftiness and wisdom to escape as in the Heir in Tiv KwaghLom and the Tortoise in Yoruba Ijapa, all are brief examples of common oral narrative in African setting. A striking feature that contrast the short story and oral narrative is that, the short story neither requires an opening glee nor ending that States the lesson derivable from the story. The tradition of oral narrative is to teach moral lessons to younger generation hence the narrator is expected to state the lesson learnable from the story. Also it is dramatic in nature, the oral narrative begins with an opening glee that invites the already sited audience in the story. The case with the short story is different. Even though it is possible to derive a lesson from a short story the author does not state in his or her narration what he or she considers to be the lessons but allow the readers to judge on their own. Also the beginning of a short story does not include an opening glee at all but rather begins with an action that is so arresting to attract the readers. Because of its advance nature, the short story uses narrative techniques that the oral narrative may not care to use such as suspense, Flash back media res etc. These techniques enable the author to tell a long story in a narratively short time. Media res , for instance is a technique employ by the short story writer to writers in which part of the story is left untold thus the narration begins to the climax. In a layman explanation, a short story has a copy that one can touch but one can't touch a copy of oral narrative as is done orally. Although comparatively, they are aimed at entertaining, educating and informing the society etc. Another point of comparison and contrast is that every short story has a legitimate authorship that creates and makes public the creativity of his ideas for consumption by reading the story. A story of a man who revenge to kill some one base on the primary of insult that occurred for 50 years ago title "The cask of Amontillado" is authored by Edgar Allan Poe and he is known as the owner of the story anywhere in the world. In oral narrative people cannot claimed authorship because the stories are handed down from generation to generation. More so, oral narrative can be move from one place to another with slight modification either by the narrators or their sources. To crown it all in a brief conclusion, oral narrative and short story are sub- genres of prose fiction that works in similar ways because they both need a narration to be realized, they are intended to create a single effect, etc . However they can also be contrasted in the sense that, short stories have authors. While oral narratives do not have authors but are handed down from generation to generation But aims to inform, entertaining, educate and correct things. 

Henry Kwaghkule A short story writer and a script writer. Kwaghkulehenry@gmail.com 08064795340

Realism in Maya Angelou's 'Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas.' By Henry Kwaghkule

Realism often refers to the artistic movement which began in France in the 1850's. It is a theory that can be seen as an accurate, detailed unembellished depiction of nature or contemporary life. It rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearance, it rejects the artificiality of both the classicism and romanticism of the academics. The writer gives a composite picture of every day life and unveil motivation that are more than admirable. He or She comprehend something for people to understand either Social or Critical realism which Maya Angelo is not an exception in Critical study of realism in documenting and testifying to the deteriorating conditions of the society such as exploitation, violence, poverty, racial segregation, corruption etc.

In American literature, the term "Realism" encompasses the period of the time from civil war to the turn of the century during which scholars like William Jean Howells, Rebecca Harding, Henry James, Mark Twain and many others wrote frictions devoted to accurate representation and exploration.

American lives in Various context, as the United States grew rapidly after the civil war the increasing rates of democracy and literacy was in progress form, the rapid growth in technology, industrialization, and urbanizations, an expanding population base due to immigration and relatively  rise in middle class affluence providing a fertile literacy movement for readers and scholars to put interest in understanding these rapid shift in culture.

African Americans are well known as Blacks in America, they constitute the second largest racial and ethics minority in the United States which started in 15, 16th century with Africans forcibly taken to Spanish and English colonies in Northern America as slaves. The Blacks were use as labourers in farming, Instruments for the civil war and possible use Blacks women for sex and abandoned them. After the United States come in to being, black people continued to be enslaved and treated inferiors as the native sons and daughters of the country, the circumstances were change by reformation, reconstruction, peace movement, and equality of human beings been black or White, some blacks communities like Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, etc were developed based on the black participation in the great Military  conflicts of the United States.

Despite the struggles of Blacks in developing America they were not recognize in any affairs of the country. The elimination of racial segregation and civil rights movement brings hope for some blacks and in 2008, Barrack Obama became the first black Man to be elected as president of the United States.

Maya Angelo in her Singin and Swingin and Gettin Marry Like Christmas, she portrays the realistic happening within her struggle to achieve in life as a Black woman which presents Angelo's confinement resulting from racism, suppression, oppression, injustice, slavery, maltreatments, religious bigotry, inferiority, segregation, etc. 

She succeeds in using critical realism to mirrored the American society in its state of Corruption, racial segregation and prejudice etc against the African Americans known as blacks. In her autobiographical text

One will sort out the following realism as captures

Denial or right and opportunity from Whites to Blacks. In the text, Maya Angelo works with Purple Onion Club and Porgy and Bess as a singer but the whites who manage those clubs at the end of every Show, gives her a little money saying "blacks  songs are not competitive enough" and the manager of those clubs Don  Lyold could not allow her to go out for other clubs that wishes to sign her for her musical profession. Example in the text shows where Bernard Bobby and Bem who comes for Maya Angelo to join them in their forth coming production but Purple Onion turn down the wishes of the musicians.

Sexual Abuse: The whites finds advantage of seducing the blacks, as Maya Angelo Sing and Swing on stage the whites touches her breast and wish to sleep with her in the hotel rooms.

Betrayal of trust: In the text, Tosh Angelo betray the trust that Maya has in him confidently, concerning marriage where one day Tosh Angelo confirms to Maya that " I think I am just tired of being married " page 37. This result to Tosh to divorce Maya quickly and Maya comes to Arkansas where she stays with her grandmother until she fully recover  from her failed marriage and betrayal of trust from Tosh Angelo. Any marriage between black and White never last for years as whites feels blacks are inhuman and chimpanzees.

In fact Maya Angelo shares many ill facts about the Whites to African Americans in all her books as a renounced and influential voice of African Americans. Hailed as a global Renaissance woman,

a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, film producer actress, Singer, historian, and civil rights activist who was born April 4th 1928 in St Louis Missouri and died on 28th May, 2014.

Also one can see her struggle as  a black woman who is proud of her Black identity in her following books:

I know why the cage Bird Sings ( 1969).

Gather Together in my Name ( 1974).

Just give me a cool drink of water fore I diie (1971)

Including her " Pulse of Morning " a recited poem at the President Bill Clinton's innuaguration in 1993. The first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at JF Kennedy's innuaguration in 1960. She was highly honored for her body of work and including being awarded other 30 honorary degrees.

In Conclusion, Realism is a very strong instrument for literary analysis, weather critical or socialist realism. In Nigeria,  Tyoor Victor in his book Substance of Literature, and Joshua Agbo in  Beyond the dark Cloud never exclude any of the two realism, Femi Osifisan, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa thiongo, Moses Tsenongu, Maria Ajima, David Ker, Joseph Iorhii, Terzungwe Qua-Aondo, Andrew Aba,  Su'eddie Vershima Agema, Sewe Leah, Sarah John, Vershima Terzungwe Tasco, Chris UKANDE, Terwase Shittu  etc equally uses those realisms in  their intellectual schollary works to call for change either in Short story, poems, novels, plays and paper presentations on the contemporary life and happenings of 21st century. ( A close reading of their literary works)

Realism therefore, is a good tool that writers can be use to exposed ills in their societies and possible effect changes. Today , the experience of Blacks Americans in America society is not harsh, hard or unbearable as it used to be due to efforts of realist Writers like Maya Angelo and many others to present the real life situation of their society and make adequate need for change.

Literature represent society and the society is in Literature as writers write for society.

 

Henry Kwaghkule is a Poet.

kwaghkulehenry@gmail.com.

Ikoyi, Lagos.

Nigeria.