CLASSIFICATION OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

CLASSIFICATION OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Introduction

It was just a few years ago when awareness struck African Communication Scholars that Mass Communication was taken and thought to be as a Western perspective. Research and analysis of human communication phenomena were done against the backdrop of western and technology- mediated situations. With such intellectual oversight, much of the beauty and potency of the Traditional African Communication System was ignored. But it is heartwarming that efforts of some African communication Scholars like Abigail Ogwezzy, Ansu-Kyeremeh Kwasi and many others are paying off and the attention has shifted to the various indigenous communication systems.

According to Ansu-Kyeremeh a Ghanaian scholar, indigenous communication system is any form of endogenous communication system , which by virtue of its origin, form and integration into a specific culture, serves as a channel for messages in a way and manner that requires the utilization of values, symbolism, institution and ethos of the host culture through its unique qualities and attributes.

Akpabio Enos (2003) says, indigenous communication system is the process and system which utilizes symbols, values and institution which directly appeal and readily connect with the people  and thus enhance  the variety and effectiveness of the message that circulates in the community.

For us to understand the classification of traditional channels of communication, it is necessary to know the meaning of the following words traditional and channel. Traditional refers to cultural institutions, ceremonies, events, and arts of African ancestors observed, practiced and perpetuated by successors from generation to generations. For instance among the Luo removing six teeth on the lower jaw a sign of maturity ; while Channels are link up ways and means by which ideas, messages information, orders, instructions, secrets and movements are carried out, contacted and contracted. In communication it is the means through which information is shared or disseminated.

Traditional channels of communication are many and they tend to serve specific purpose and others serve the interest of all in general. Though some are outdated, their use still lingers on today in our society and they are used to advise, inform, warn, encourage and incite people on what, when, where and how to act.

Classification of Traditional Channels of Communication

Communication in Africa just like in other parts of the world may occur without any deliberate attempt by an information sender. Communication occurs in different forms like verbal or non-verbal; oral or written; formal or informal; and intentional or unintentional. They are all interactive and do not exist in isolation of one another. For instance, observers might get much from the action of people’s way of dressing, physical appearance and body language. So, the receiver must decode the incoming information against the backdrop of their culture and match it with existing knowledge. Always culture and existing knowledge have impact on encoding, decoding and matching processes, which sometimes produce noise in the communication channel and results in no two people with a very few exceptions having exactly the same knowledge about anything. This explains why there are problems in defining and classifying African communication systems.

The classification of Omu, F. (1978), Wilson and Unoh (1991) states that in looking at the roles oral  play in the indigenous communication network, it is easy to infer that among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria, communication was more informal than the formal.

Oreh, O. (1980) divided local media into several categories – interpersonal, face-to-face type of communication; a broader level inter-group communication and communication at the mass level. He further says verbal or non-verbal communication would be used in each of the communication levels depending on the type, which ensures message fidelity. So, some of the types are verbal or oral and the channel is speech which is the use of human mouths including all sounds made with the human mouth that involves the use of spoken word; and non-verbal that uses body language as channels.

Wilson, D. (1998) a Nigerian  scholar, based his observation in two Nigerian States – Akwa-Ibom and Cross River came up with classes which he holds and states, that others scholars can contest, but stressed that they provide insights and approximation on the subject. He identified six classes and they are, Instrumental, Demonstrative, Iconographic, Extra-Mundane, Visual, and Institutional.  Ansu-Kyeremeh (1998) in looking at intra-village patterns of communication added venue-oriented communication; events as communication modes; games as communication; and performance-oriented communication to Wilson’s list.

Akpabio, E. (2003), combined the classification of other scholars like Doob Leonard, Wilson Des and Ansu-Kyeremeh Kwasi and came up with ten classes of traditional channel of communication which are, Instrumental, demonstrative, iconographic, extra-mundane, visual, institutional, venue-oriented, myths and legend, names as communication and folktales and proverbs. Verbal (spoken language) and non-verbal (body language) and natural phenomena were also added in this list.

Instrumental communication channels

Communication in which the primary goal is to ‘transmit’ an intended meaning (informational and/or persuasive) accurately and effectively, and in which communication is merely a means to an end. The primary focus is on explicit content (and/or effects) rather than on form or stylistic features. It is a communicative style that foregrounds clarity of denotation and backgrounds ambiguity, connotation, and aesthetic and expressive functions. Gender stereotypes often frame instrumental communication as a masculine style. Compare expressive communication; informational communication; relational communication.This channel employs the use of instruments so as to pass information from one person to another. It is further divided into, membranophones, idiophones, aerophones, and symbolography.

Idiophones

According to Ogwezzy, G. refering Ibagere (1994) idiophone these are self-sounding instruments or technical wares which produce sound without the addition or use of an intermediary medium. The sound or message emanates from the materials from which the instruments are made and they could be shaken, scratched, struck, pricked (pulled) or pressed with the feet. In this group we have the gong, woodlock, wooden drum, bell, hand shakers, pot drum and rattle.

Membranophones

These are media on which sound is produced through the vibration of membranes. They include all varieties of skin or leather drum. These drums are beaten or struck with well-carved sticks. Among the various Nigerian groups, skin drums of various sizes and shapes abound. Perhaps the most popular, because it is the most exposed and intricate in its craftsmanship, is the Yoruba talking drum, locally called 'dundun'

Aerophones

These are media which produce sound as a result of the vibration of a column of air. They comprise media of the flute family, whistle reed pipes, horns deer horn, ivory tusk, and trumpets. Members of the society would easily interpret a message depending on the instrument used.

Symbolography

This simply means symbolic writing or representation.Communication takes place when an encorder uses graphic representations to convey a message which is understood within the context of a known social event and an accompanying verbal message. It is a descriptive representational device for conveying meaning. There are three main kinds of symbolography used among the Cross River people namely:

a)      The fresh unfolding frond of the palm tree usually with a greenish yellow colour. It is tied and shaped in different ways to convey different meanings.

b)      A decorated stick made from the outer part of the dry branch of the raffia palm tree. It is called Nsadang among the people of old Calabar.

c)      Is a kind of cryptic writing used among the Cross River people and in the border areas of Western Cameroun.

Demonstrative Communication Channel

Demonstrative communication is defined as the process of sending and receiving messages and involves, exchanging thoughts, messages or information. One of the most common ways to communicate non-verbally is with our body language and facial expressions. For example, when someone is tired, he or she will normally yawn and stretch their arms. This type of body language could be perceived as tiredness by others. Body language and facial expressions also allow us to receive negative or positive feedback from others.

Demonstrative communication can be summed up in three categories: body, physiology and nonverbal.

How your body communicates

You communicate using your body through eye contact, gestures or facial expressions. Sometimes you can send conflicting verbal and nonverbal communications. This happening is where the saying originated: "Actions speak louder than words." Problems arise if you don't pay close attention to the nonverbal signals you send during communication.

·         Space: While couples in love can't get close enough to each other, you might not enjoy it when someone sits or stands too close to you. When you take a step back, you're communicating demonstratively that someone is invading your space.

·         Appearance: The way you dress, apply makeup or wear your hair is also a form of communication. While you might opt for a suit for business, you might reach for something less formal when relaxing or more seductively for a date.

Physiology in communication

Body language is generally clearly understood

·         Posture: How you sit and stand communicates with others how you feel about them. Turning your back on someone sends a clear message that you want nothing to do with the other person. Crossing your arms over your chest could mean that you're upset, impatiently waiting or that you're closing yourself off and wish to remain aloof.

·         Gestures: Hearing impaired aren't the only ones who "speak" with their hands. Every day, you communicate with others with hand gestures. Consider how you would ask a friend a question without saying a word. With hand gestures you say hello, goodbye, come closer or go away. People make use of all kinds of gestures to emphasize their words or they use no words at all.

·         Facial expressions: A smile or a frown is probably the most common form of demonstrative communication, but there are many other facial expressions as well. You might tighten your forehead in amazement, wrinkle your nose in disgust, pout your lips when thinking or bite your lips while concentrating.

Nonverbal communication

·         Eye contact: Children know when they've done something wrong, simply by "the look" their parent's give them. Young lovers can communicate their feelings by gazing in each other's eyes, while older couples can look across a room and know what the other one is thinking.

·         Emotion: Fear, joy and sorrow are often not expressed in words, but read by others through facial expressions.

·         Tone of voice: In some cases it's not what you say, but how you say it that makes you understood. You can use your voice in so many nuances that simple words can be communicated as threatening, sexy, despondent or anything you want them to be.

·         Touch: The way you touch someone is a form of communication too. You can playfully tap someone on the arm, reach for someone's hand in fear or to offer comfort. Some people claim they can determine what kind of person you are simply by your handshake.

Signals

Wilson, D (1998) says signals are the physical embodiments of a message. Many ancient signals are still being used for modern communication today. For example, in Nigeria, there is hardly a broadcasting station which does not utilize drum signals to draw the attention of its listeners to the fact that they are about to begin transmission for the day, deliver their main news broadcast or announce time, close down or prepare for the broadcast of the local or national leader. Some of the signals include fire, gunshots, canon shots, drum (wooden or skin).

Music

Itinerant musical entertainment groups sing satirical songs, praise songs, and generally criticize wrong doings of individuals in society. Names of those being satirized or praised may be mentioned or descriptions of their physical or personality attributes, where they live, or what they do may form part of such songs. Grapevine stories concerning events that are being planned for the society may be featured as a way of alerting the generality of the people. They are potent sources of information and the latest gossip.

What is demonstrative communication? It's everything you do that doesn't involve language.

Iconograhpic Communication Channel

According to Ogwezzy, G. referring to  Doob (1966), “In a symbolic relation, the medium is able to suggest reality because, not through any necessary or inherent connection but through custom and habituation, the symbol arouses response very similar to those evoked by reality itself”.

Akpabio (2003) stated that “icons are generally regarded as standing for or representing something”; do not uniformly communicate the same message; and they are culture specific as what they communicate is based on a society’s history, experience and circumstance, elements, symbols and icons . This might account for why a number of icons have been in use to communicate and people decoded their meanings as result of long association with their use.

Objectifies

Media presented in concrete forms which may have significance for a specific society only or may be universal through their traditional association with specific contextual meanings. These include: kola nut, the young unopened bud of the palm frond, charcoal, White Pigeon or fowl, white egg, feather, cowries, mimosa, flowers, sculptures, pictures, drawing, the flag etc.

Extra-Mundane Communication Channel

According to Wilson, D (1988), this is the mode of communication between the living and the dead, the supernatural or Supreme Being. This is usually done through incantation, spiritual chants, ritual, prayers, sacrifice, invocation, trance, hysterics or liberation. This is a multi-dimensional communication transaction which has become more pervasive in all societies most especially in Africa. Cultural ritual performance evokes intensity of emotion which may lead to a temporary spiritual transmigration of the participants as in religious or spiritual ceremonies. Such a performance conveys the elements of 93 a cultural celebration, dedication and consecration as is often witnessed in marriage and funeral rites. Modem forms of extramundane communication are found in obituary and in memorial notices published in newspapers, magazines or on radio and television.

Visual Communication Channel

In traditional African society visuals communicate is derived mainly from the sense of sight and knowledge of the peoples of Africa. The mere sight of someone’s tribal marks, hairdo, tattoos, and incisions communicates. Visual communication is used for different purposes and communicates different messages. Each has its own peculiar meaning. Some warn people or signify sundry things. Black for instance communicates mourning; red, signifies danger, fire, war; green, conveys life; black, gloom, white, purity, simplicity, innocence.

Colour schemes

Colour schemes are the general conception and use of combination of colours in a design to convey some meanings. Colour uses the advantages of pictorial communication by combining the speed of its impact and freedom from linguistic boundaries to achieve instant and effective communication. Among the prominent colours used to communicate different meanings among the Cross River people are: red, white black, green, yellow, brown and turquoise. Combinations of these colours produce certain significant meanings for the society. (ibid)

Verbal and Non verbal Communication

Verbal communication refers to direct contacts and actions or words of mouth. People communicate through discussions and songs as needs arise. By this mode, people meet face to face to discuss, decide and act. It is practised in almost all affairs of life from age to age. Since, most of the various ethnic groups in Nigeria were basically non-literate, oral forms of communication played a significant role in their indigenous communication network. It offers them opportunities for finding peaceful solutions to problems of life. It encourages and promotes

socialization, peace and harmony among individuals, groups and societies. 

Verbal communication refers to the use of sounds and language to relay a message. It is a form of interaction which involves the use of sound. It is a way of expressing desires, ideas and concepts and is vital to the processes of learning and teaching

Verbal communication had many purposes in the Traditional African Communication Systems, but its main function was relaying a message to one or more recipients. It encompasses everything from simple one-syllable sounds to complex discussions and relied on both language and emotion to produce the desired effect. Verbal communication could be used to inform, inquire, argue and discuss topics of all kinds. It was vital to teaching and learning, as well as forming bonds and building relationships with other people.

Non verbal communication

According to Rothwell (2000) “Non-verbal communication is sharing meaning with others non linguistically.” So, it refers to the mode of communication done with the human body and does not involve the use of words.

 According to Wikipedia, Non verbal describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Some forms of non verbal communication include, gesture, body language or posture, facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles, architecture, symbols, info graphics, and tone of voice, as well as through an aggregate of the above. Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage. These include voice lesson quality, emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress.

Folktales, parables and proverbs

A folktale is a type of traditional story that tries to explain something, or which is meant to help people behave well in the world. Such stories usually are fiction-based with magical or supernatural elements, and they often are woven around talking animals, royalty, peasants or mythical creatures. Initially passed down through oral tradition, they were a major means of educating and entertaining prior to the development of printed materials and modern technologies, and they remain instrumental in preserving aspects of the culture in which they develop.

A parable is a short story or poem that teaches a moral or religious lesson. It is different from a fable, because fables usually animals, plants, or forces of nature as characters, whereas a parable will normally use human characters.

A proverb is most often a phrase or saying that gives advice in an obscure way. The phrase usually has an allegorical type of message behind that when first heard may seem a little odd. Usually a proverb is very well known because of its popular use in colloquial language.

According to Livingstone Sewanyana, proverbs are the most valued by the Africans themselves. Parables and proverbs are seen as distilled wisdom of the ancestors and are unmistakably so regarded by the African peoples. Parables are very appropriate in a society whose bulk of the population is illiterate and therefore most likely to pay attention to parable stories than to direct speech or abstract words. Proverbs had a deterrent effect on wrong doing. If a man is tempted by his own desire or by the suggestion of an evil friend and in the process remembers a proverb, he would desist immediately.

Proverbs cannot be dismissed as a simple form of amusement as a deeper meaning lies beneath their great deal of humour. Proverbs and folktales provide an opportunity for people to talk about kinds of behaviour which society prohibits them from indulging in and about kinds of success which they can scarcely hope to achieve themselves. In arguing cases in traditional courts, proverbs are cited in much the same way that western lawyers cite statutes and precedents. The more proverbs a man has at his command and the better he knows how to apply them, the better spokesman he is considered to be. A proverb once misquoted or applied badly could tarnish the whole case. Proverbs or for that matter verbal communication is an important mechanism of maintaining the stability and continuity of culture. This form of communication inculcates customs and ethical standards in the young. It transmits and validates social institutions and forces individualism to conform to them but at the same time provides socially approved outlets for the repression which these customs and institutions produce.

Institutional Communication Channel

This channels stands for social and spiritual media which is very important in most African  communities. Institutional communication channels are like marriage, chieftaincy, shrine and masquerade.

Name as Communication

Names constitute a veritable medium of communication in Africa because a person’s name speaks volume. Names are what people are known with and are called. They usually communicate and tell stories about people and events at the time of christening. In Africa naming usually involves a ceremony that is why Africans hold naming ceremonies. This explains why in Yoruba land the naming of a child is not the exclusive duty of its parents. Virtually everyone in the family will want to christen a child depending on their understanding of the circumstance which the child came.  Even though all cultures in Africa have names, their uses vary from people to people. The main function of naming is for identification purpose and also serves to link departed members of the family and a system of record keeping. For instance, Yetunde among Yoruba means dead mother has come back again. Ogwezzy, A. referring to Olusanya and Olurode (1994)

Conclusion

Traditional Africa Communication channels are very important and they play a key role in transmitting messages and information from one person to another. It is obvious that no classification is right or wrong. As far as there are many scholars of African communication, their cultures, observations, and experiences would impact on their classification; and so there would be sundry classifications of African communication modes. However, this does not discount the fact that the classification attempt made by this author would enhance our understanding of the traditional modes of communication in Africa.

  References

Ansu-Kyeremeh, Kwasi (1998). “Indigenous Communication Systems: A Conceptual Framework” in Ansu-Kyeremeh Kwasi (ed) (1998)

Akpabio, E (2003). African Communication Systems: An Introductory Text. Lagos: B Print Publications

Omu, F. (1978). Press And Politics in Nigeria 1880-1937 London: Longman.

Oreh, O. O. (1980).  Readings in African Humanities: African Cultural DevelopmentEnugu: Fourth Dimension Publishing Co.

Rothwell, J.D. (2000). In the Company of Others: An Introduction to Communication. New York: McGraw Hill.

Sewanyana, L. The Use of Traditional Communications in Conflict Management: The Case of Uganda

Wilson, D. (1998). “A Taxonomy of Traditional Media in Africa” in

Wilson, D. and Unoh, S. (1991) “A Survey of Traditional and Modern Mass Communication Media in Oil Calabar” in Unoh, S. (ed.) (1991)Topical Issues in Communication Arts Vol. II. Uyo: Business