Performer-critics in oral performance in African societies

The Idea of Performer-Critics Scholarship in African literature has had to admit the central role that live performance plays in the literary material coming from and focussing on the different parts of Africa. A debate on how oral literature and live performance should be analysed still rages, particularly since many scholars look at the subject from a Western view point that not only categorises the work according to schemas based on writing and Western perception, but also concentrates on written literature. Besides many of the scholars who have examined verbal arts in Africa have not emphasised understanding the work within its specific contexts, time and even intercultural connections without imposing on it preconceived rules or subdivisions.