Analysing discourse of praise singing in African oral literature: The psychological implications

Abstract

This paper analyses praise singing in African oral literature, and its psychological implications. The psychological implication of analysing the discourse of praise singing in African oral literature is the application of ideas from the speech of the singer by bringing out the linguistic aspects of the speech and relating their psychological effects on society. Since society connects discourse analysis and psychology, discursive psychology has to do with the application of ideas from discourse analysis to issues in psychology. Discourse analysis studies speech, text, signs, and symbols, as well as their usage in performing actions. Praise singing in oral literature is an aspect of human behaviour and this informs the psychological implications. Since discourse analysis is a qualitative research investigating language use in a social context, this paper uses the speech act theory and critical discourse analysis approach as the theoretical framework. The study revealed that in modern-day technology, recorded audio praise songs are replacing face-to-face singing, and praise singing is implicated in the social connectedness and motivation of individuals. The findings also show that oral literature touches the body and feeds the soul, acting as a therapy which improves mental health. The paper concluded that praise singing in Africa adds aesthetics to oral literature as well as psychological satiety to individuals. Furthermore, the linguistic features in praise songs create awareness of the application of Discourse Analysis to African literature. Thus, praise singing nourishes the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of humans. Recorded audio and video praise songs were recommended for documentation.