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Accepted Paper:
Digitalization of African stories
Joe Odedina
(Kwara State University Malete)
African stories were told through oral traditions and passed on through generations. Over time, these popular cultural entertainments have evolved into digital format. This study examined the evolution of Yoruba popular culture through drama and cinema from the beginning to the digital period.
Paper long abstract:
For a long period of time, the Yoruba popular culture has been entertaining, engaging and enduring, even as it kept pace with the changing times by adapting to it. In the beginning, it started with folklore storytelling. The major performers of that period were the griots who made that task entertaining and lively by dint of their verbal skills. The stories began to take life forms through the Egungun Apidan at the old Oyo Empire, evolving to Egungun Alarinjo, which were the precursor to the Yoruba travelling theatre troupes. This study examined Yoruba popular culture and its adaptation to technological development. The objectives were to find out whether the Yoruba popular culture is growing or declining and if the digital revolution has a positive or negative impact on it. The study employed the methodology of qualitative analysis. The findings were that the Yoruba troupes have transformed to Yoruba cinema and presently, their digital movies are all part of this generic folklore that stays relevant by adopting the current popular storytelling format. It also found that Yoruba popular culture is on the ascent and thanks to the digitalization of entertainment distribution methods, it is now able to reach everyone that wants it. This study, therefore, concludes that the digital revolution has positively impacted Yoruba culture and ensures its growth.