THE PLACE OF ORAL LITERATURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN LITERATURE

Abstract

This study examined the claim that the written literary form has its roots in the oral literature. It also seeks to determine how the emergence of written literature helped to stabilize the Igbo oral literature. Oral Literature conveys the norms values, cultures and traditions of a people from generation to generation. It transmits culture by word of mouth. This study adopts the survey research method. There is a review of related literature through which works of earlier researchers and authors were visited. This work x-rays the different forms of oral literature and establishes that written literature is seriously influenced by the oral literary form. It is hoped that this work would inspire as well as encourage writers of the modern times to reflect on the culture and traditions of the Igbo race when creating their literary work. It is also expected to encourage all and sundry to promote and sustain those positive aspects of Igbo culture in order to prevent the Igbo Language from going into extinction. This study finds out that oral literature is a sine qua non for the development of written literature.