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1. ORAL LITERATURE MYTH IN PERSPECTIVE

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE -Definition of myths - Types of myths -Characteristics of myths - Functions of myths in social constructions - Highlights of Okpewho’s thoughts on myths - Conclusion- References

3. MYTHS Myths are prose narratives which, in the society in which they are told are considered to be truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests or priestesses and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. The main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans. ( Okpewho , 1998)

4. Many societies put their myths and legends and history together, considering myths and legends to be true accounts of their remote past. Other myths explain how a society’s customs, institutions and taboos were established and sanctified. Since the term myth is used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrative as a myth can be highly political.

5. TYPES OF MYTHS Aetiological myths: explains how certain things came to be. Examples of such myths in the Ghanaian society are the myth of why the sky is far above us and the myth of the origin of the Kente clothe.

6. Functional myth: This type talks about how myths were used to teach morality and social behaviour . Eg . _If you beat a child with a broom you will give birth to a broom. This myth indicates that it is inhumane to beat a child with a broom, that one should not beat a child with the object used to sweep filth.

7. Historical myths They are told about a historical event, and they help to keep the memory of that event alive. Ironically, in historical myths, the historical accuracy is lost but the meaning is gained. Examples of such historical myths include why the capital of Asante is Kumasi, the myths surrounding the friendly crocodiles at Paga , and the myths of Lake Bosomtwe .

8. THE MYTH AS A GENRE OF ORAL LITERATURE Verbal variability: This is influenced by the artist’s skill at composition and improvision . Because myths are transmitted orally, the speaker in order to make it interesting can bring in modifications unlike written literature where what is written cannot be changed.

9. Performance: Oral literature relies on repeated performance for its existence. In myths, performance is highly expected. Gestures, facial expressions, movement of some body parts like hands and legs are needed to bring home the desired result on the audience.

10. Audience: Engaging the audience in the narration of a myth is a vital skill that a good narrator should possess. Oral literature is distinct from written literature because oral literature is an art form created in the warm presence of audience.

11. Dynamism: As the creation of society, oral literature changes with time to accommodate new ideas and challenges. It is common to see the use of modern imagery in telling narratives to be able to appeal to the audience who are listening so that they can be able to relate with the artist and the content of the narrative.

12. CHARACTERISTICS OF MYTHS It is considered a true explanation of a natural world and how it came to be. Eg . Indigenous people tell the story of how human beings came on earth The characters are often non-human and immortal. The characters are typically gods, goddesses, supernatural beings or mystical people and sometimes animals like snake and spider

13. The third feature of a myth is the setting. Setting in myths are typically ancient or prior to the time when actual records were kept. Myths are typically set in a world very similar to our own, but with supernatural monsters or areas.

14. There are lots of myths that surround why something is or was at a particular spot. An example is seen in the myth of the mystic stone at Larabanga . This sacred stone holds incredible power and is located in Larabanga , a village in the northern region of Ghana. The various myths have various setting that distinguishes them from culture to culture.

15. The plot is another feature of the myth. The plot indicate how a story develops unfolds and moves in time. There are five main elements of the plot. The exposition introduces the characters, setting, and the main conflict. The rising action happens when the story becomes complicated; when the main character is in crisis and the events lead up to face the conflict in the story.

16. The climax is the pick of the story where major events occur in which the main character faces a major enemy, fear or challenge, or other sources of conflict. The dramatic action changes to create excitement in the story. The falling action occurs when the story begins to slow down and work toward its end tying loose ends. The story begins to slow down in the resolution, like the concluding part that resolves any remaining issues and ends the story.

17. Another notable feature that makes the myth distinct from other literary genre is that the myth possesses events the bend natural laws. It promotes acceptable social actions. Social actions are the behaviour of people and the life changes that are not determined by the way their social background.

18. Social actions emphasises the role of the active individual and interactions between people in shaping the personal identity and in turn the wider society. Usually, the language of a myth is in the original language of the oral people. Most of the time, the language is easy to understand.

19. FUNCTIONS OF MYTHS IN SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS Metaphysical function: serve to awaken the consciousness of the oral people to reality lying just beyond the veil of normal perception. This is a spiritual and religious purpose meant to inspire a sense of awe and reverence to great mystery of existence.

20. Cosmological function: explains the origins, shapes size, location, and birth and death and the whole universe. Myths are not an intellectual explanations or artistic imagination but living chronicles in the minds of people. Each culture contains its own creation story.

21. Sociological function: deals with validating the order and ideas of a culture. Myths can provide a model of social behaviour that when adhered to makes for a good society.

22. Pedagogical functions: presents myths as teacher, an outline of life, and reference manual for existence. Myths teach strength in unity, the importance of peaceful co-existence and the spirit of patriotism. Eg . If you take a stick out of one broom, it breaks but the broom as one bundle can never be broken

23. HIGHLIGHTS OF OKPEWHO’S THOUGHTS ON MYTH “Myth is not really a particular type of tale against another; it is neither the spoken counterpart of an antecedent ritual, nor is it a tale determined exclusively by a binary scheme of abstract ideas or a sequential order of elements. It is simply that quality of fancy which informs the creative or configurative powers of the human mind in varying degrees of intensity.

24. In that sense we are free to call any narrative of the oral tradition a myth, so long as it gives due emphasis to fanciful play” (69).

25. According to Okpewho , Freud actually places dreams and myths along the same realm of the unconscious mind. So with this, Okpewho equates with Freud’s focus on symbol in dreams coming from (I’m assuming) specifically the psychological domain.

26. CONCLUSION Myths are symbolic narratives usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional especially associated with religious beliefs. Even if they may not be entirely true, they have in their own way explained some of our way of life to oral people from generation to generation.

27. REFERENCES Okpewho , Isidore . Once Upon a Kingdom: Myth, Hegemony, and Identity. Bloomington: Indiana UP (forthcoming, Spring 1998). Afigbo , Adiele E. The Warrant Chiefs: IndirectRule in South-Eastern Nigeria , 1891- 19 London: Longman, 1997 Ajayi , J. F. Ade. History and the Nation and Other Addresses. Ibadan: Spec

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