Abstract:
Orin kete and Orin agbè are Yorùbá oral poetic forms predominantly performed among the
Ìbàràpá and Òkè-Ògùn people of Ọ̀ yọ́ State, South-West Nigeria. Previous studies on Yorùbá
oral poetry have focused largely on poetic types, such as, ẹ̀ ṣà and ìjálá; with little attention
devoted to Orin agbè and Orin kete. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate the
comparative performance semiotic features of Orin kete and Orin agbè, with a view to
establishing their socio-cultural relevance and factors responsible for their sustainability.
Yuri Lotman’s Cultural Semiotics, complemented by Richard Schechner’s Performance
Theory and Steven Totosy de Zepetnek’s Comparative Approach, was adopted as the
framework. The ethnographic design was employed. Five performances of Orin kete and
three performances of Orin agbè were collected from Igbó Ọrà in Ìbàràpá; while one
performance of Orin agbè was collected from each of Ìmia and Ilùà in Òkè-Ògùn. These
communities are where the performance of the genres are active. Audio-visual data were
recorded during the performances. Key informant interviews were conducted with four
respondents, purposively selected for being leaders in each of the performance groups. A
thirty-item questionnaire on the relevance and sustainability of Orin kete and Orin agbè, were
administered to 100 respondents, 51 members and 49 non-members of the performance
groups. The data were subjected to literary and descriptive analyses.
Both genres feature in secular performance contexts but Orin kete is primarily performed in
religious contexts. The two genres maintain a tripartite performance structure of prelude,
body and finale. The prelude sub-divided into ìsèlù, ìbà, ìwúre and ìfira-ẹni-hàn. Ìsèlù is,
however, not realised in Orin kete. Both genres are not gender-selective, as both attract female
and male performers as vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers. Male youthful acrobats are,
however, found only in Orin agbè performances. The costumes are either formal or informal.
Formal white constumes are used in Orin kete strictly during religious performances, while
in Orin agbè, a special uniform is worn for formal occassions. Musical instruments in Orin
kete consist of membranophones and idiophones, while only idiophones are found in Orin
agbè. Ìlù/agbè jíjá, ìdọ̀bálẹ̀ /ìyíkàá, yọpáyọsẹ̀ /ẹlẹ́ yọẹ̀ yọ, shoulder twisting and dancing, while
playing musical instruments are dance styles observed in both genres. However, while open
and close dance style is peculiar to Orin kete, fiwájújó-fẹ̀ yìnjó is restricted to Orin agbè.
Olóbìírípobírí, lifting with brooms, lifting with leaves and àlòṣílò are prominent acrobatic
displays in Orin agbè. The poetic exploration of qualisign, sinsign, legisign, index, symbol,
dicent and nonsensical codes are employed in the signification of poetic harmony, dance
skills, ọmọlúàbí attributes and women’s rights in both genres. Orin kete performs socioreligious functions, while Orin agbè performs only social functions. Both genres are deployed
for curbing societal anomalies. Religious status (80%), family sense of belonging (72%) and
kinship affiliation (72%) were identified as factors responsible for the sustainability of both
genres.
Among the Ibarapa and Oke ogun people, the performance semiotic features of Orin kete are
socio-religious, while those of Orin agbè are basically socially oriented.
