Literature

Tiv literature

Most of the Tiv literary tradition was composed to be spoken, sung and performed rather than read. Proverbs, folktales, songs and praise poetry were passed down in the compound, at the evening fire, at markets and at public gatherings, and they carried the history, humour and moral teaching of the community. This section collects that tradition alongside the written literature that grew from it.

Proverbs

Proverbs are the most compact form of Tiv literature. In a single line they can settle an argument, give advice or comment on a person without naming them, and elders were often judged by how well they used them. The proverbs collection gives each one in Tiv with an English translation and an explanation of what it means and when it is used.

Folktales

Tiv folktales were told in the evenings, often with songs that the audience joined in. Many feature animals that stand for human types: the clever trickster, the greedy, the proud and the foolish. A tale usually ends with a lesson about honesty, patience, generosity or the cost of cunning. Storytelling also feeds the kwagh-hir theatre, in which puppets and masquerades act tales out for a whole community.

Songs and poetry

Song is central to Tiv life. There are songs for work, for weddings and funerals, for praise and for satire, and in Tiv tradition a composer can speak publicly about matters that would otherwise be hard to raise. Because the language is tonal, the melody of a song is closely bound to the words, which is part of why Tiv song poetry is difficult to translate. Wedding and nuptial poetry in particular has drawn attention from scholars of African oral literature.

The written tradition

Writing in Tiv grew during the twentieth century through schools, church publications and newspapers. The best-known early work by a Tiv author is Akiga Sai's account of Tiv life and history, published in English in 1939 as Akiga's Story. Since then Tiv writers have produced poetry, plays, fiction and history in both Tiv and English, and the oral forms remain a source for their work.

Using this section

Start with the proverbs, which are the largest collection, then the folktales, stories and poems as they are added. If you remember a tale, a song or a proverb from your family, please record it through the contribution form below. Many of these works survive only in living memory.