A Philosophical Study of Igbala Funeral Songs in Egba Land of Yoruba Nation

Abstract

Scholars have identified the need for investigating traditional oral poetry pertaining to specific events like birth, marriage and death for the purpose of gaining a deeper insight into the system of genres, as well as the phenomena to which they are applied. Despite the numerous works on Yoruba oral poetry, few works exist on the Yoruba funeral dirges. This makes its study a greater necessity. This paper examined the Igbala funeral poetry among Egba people of Southwestern Nigeria to reveal the perception of death among the Yoruba. The paper highlighted the composition and performance process of the dirge and interpreted the philosophical issues in the content of the dirge to unveil performers' intention and emotions being expressed. It also identified the spiritual or native intelligence embedded in the poetry. It investigates its functional use as well as the effects of modernity on the poem. It is qualitative research, and the study dwells on participant observation and recordings of real-life experiences. Hermeneutic and cultural theories that priorities context of culture is combined with Emotional theory for the analysis. The findings reveal that Igbala as a folk lore of  Egba Yoruba is part of the funeral rite that serve as soul-searcher and soul-mender. It is fulfilling aesthetic, therapeutic, and communicative functions till today, It's content serve as tension reliever and elixir, in a way that firmly reassures individuals of humanity's enduring hope.