AFRICAN POETICS IN AN EVOLUTIONARY WORLD OF CYBER TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

This paper is a position paper that contributes to the search for the
delineation of what African poetics represents, and it looks at the
constituents of African poetics through an historical overview of the
genre. The paper relies heavily on orality as a distinguishing feature
of African poetic through a thorough assessment of the motivation
that provides the raw materials for what is known as African literary
tradition. Consequent, upon this discovery, the paper strives to create
a plausible intersection between African oral literary tradition and the
emerging technology popularly known as AI. This paper also looks at
the operational modus of AI and comes up with a dialectics of
whether the incorporation of AI into oral poetics negates the fact of
its orality. The paper holds the position that the relationship that
exists between AI and Oral poetics is a mutually beneficial one that
will see AI reciting oral pieces through what is referred to as embodied
AI. The paper adopts eclectic theoretical frameworks that properly
elucidate on the core values of African poetics. These theoretical
frameworks include evolutionary theory, performance theory and
digital humanity. The paper concludes by making recommendations
that will enhance this synergy.