Literary appreciation of Dangme play songs

Abstract

Children‟s plays and play songs are part of the oral literature that was handed down from generation to generation by a word of mouth. The study focuses on the literary appreciation of Dangme play songs and the significance of devices in the songs. The research study was conducted among three dialects out of the seven dialects of Dangme. The researcher used qualitative methods to collect and analyse data. Data was collected by using interviews, observation, recording and documentations. To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher collected children‟s plays and play songs, identified different types of literary devices in the play songs and provided a detailed analysis of them. Some of the literary devices identified include: alliteration, repetition, hyperbole, parallelism, symbolism and anadiplosis. The significance of these devices to the play songs were outlined as follows: makes the songs to inspire emotions, helps sustain and maintain audience‟s attention and interest for which some could even join in singing, helps memorisation and good presentation. It helps to portray sound made by objects and actions in musical form, helps the song to be picture-like in memory by creating sensory impressions, it heightens emotions and also a useful means of conveying certain important truths or lessons about human life. The researcher recommended that some plays and play songs could be integrated in the formal programmes of teaching and learning. Furthermore, the play and play songs must be collected and appreciated and be preserved for future use.