Resumo

OJO, Esther Titilayo. Gospel Apala music in African Christian worship: Thematic and stylistic analysis. Tydskr. letterkd. [online]. 2023, vol.60, n.3, pp.106-122. ISSN 2309-9070.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/tl.v60i3.14469.

Music is an indispensable tool of cultural transmission. Considering the vast nature of oral traditions, of which indigenous music is encapsulated, many studies on Nigerian indigenous music have concentrated on Juju, Ijala, Dadakuada, Esa, and Apala. However, much research still needs to be done on Gospel Apala, a variant of Traditional Apala which was popularised by Haruna Ishola and Ayinla Omowura, noted for its highly proverbial folklore, blended with percussive instruments of which dundun drum and. sekere play leading roles to give aesthetic appeal. In this research, therefore, I investigate and document Gospel Apala as it translates from traditional Apala into praise and worship of God, in order to identify and describe its unique style and communicative functions, especially in these changing times of modernisation and globalisation. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics and sociology of literature, in this article I provide an analysis and interpretation of six Apala Gospel songs from three Apala Gospel artistes:. Sade Osoba, Yomi Olabisi, and Boiz Olorun. I portray the relevance of Apala music both in Christian worship and events and gathering. Themes in Apala Gospel include praises, thanksgiving and adoration to God, salvation/acknowledging Jesus, God's greatness and miracles, forgiveness, unity, holiness, heaven, love among brethren, commitment, and dedication to God's work. My findings reveal, among others, that Gospel Apala music encapsulates indigenous knowledge contained in oral literature. I identify stylistic devices such as repetition, rhetorical question, personification, loan words, code-mixing/code-switching, and proverbs which garnish the metamorphosed music and conclude that Apala has metamorphosed from traditional Apala into Gospel Christian worship.

Palavras-chave : stylistics; deviation; Gospel Apala music; Christian worship; oral literature.

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