Yembaphone literature and women’s power of expression through traditional song

ABSTRACT: Our paper poses the problem of the progressive disappearance of traditional songs in the Yemba linguistic zone. Thus, in a cultural context dominated by foreign languages, and consequently, by the influence of modern songs, how can women, guardians of tradition, rescue traditional songs from the fatality of their disappearance in order to safeguard them, conserve them with the aim of transmitting cultural heritage, intangible heritage, and measure the stakes? As a cultural heritage, they are transmitted from generation to generation through the much more feminine speech, and the texts of this register of songs constitute an oral literary corpus, making two oral genres in their own right. Hence the theme: “Yembaphone Literature and Women’s Power of Expression through Traditional Song”. At this level, our research is concerned with the safeguarding and even the popularisation of Yemba traditional songs by women’s associations. The description of the aesthetic and symbolic value of this oral literature and the analysis of the perspectives of their popularisation was done through ethno-linguistics. We have come to the conclusion that the preservation and popularisation of this cultural heritage requires associative movements that place women at the centre of public events. Thus, it would be beneficial, in view of the rapidly changing world, to rethink the possibility of readapting Yemba traditional songs to the current context in the Yemba linguistic zone. This could galvanise the new generation and help to find a solution to their reluctance with regard to Yemba traditional songs. A reflection on the new forms of Yemba traditional songs in the context of cultural domination in the Yemba linguistic zone could be the subject of further research.