Content and Form of Selected Ukwuani Lullabies

This paper examines the content and form of selected Ukwuani lullabies. Lullabies have

been studied by various scholars over the years for their sociological, literary and

linguistic values. However, not much attention has been paid to Ukwuani lullabies by

oral literature scholars. This study engages some Ukwuani lullabies with the intent of

identifying some of its themes and technical qualities. The songs selected for this

research were sourced in the course of a fieldwork where those interviewed were made

to perform some of the songs. The researcher recorded the songs and transcribed them

for analysis. Formalism was adopted as the theoretical fulcrum for this research with its

focus on literary texts as independent aesthetic entities. The findings of this paper reveal

that Ukwuani lullabies reflect various universal truths and lessons, with themes such as

infertility, fear of leaving home, fear of not being loved or giving love, happiness,

kindness, friendship, generosity, and merits of hard work. These themes are conveyed

using techniques such as metaphor, imagery, repetition, proverbs, symbolism,

personification, hyperbole, etc.