The form and content of the Wigashe dance songs of the Sukuma

This study focused on the relationship between context, content and form in oral poetry as exemplified in the wigashe dance songs of the Sukuma in Tanzania. The concern was to investigate how context influences the content and form of the wigashe dance songs. Context is defined as the social, cultural and historical setting of a work of art. The objective of the study was to establish the influence of context on the content and form of the wigashe dance songs. The data was collected using various methods and techniques which included tape recording, photographing, interviews, observations and discussions. These songs were analyzed with regard to their social, cultural, historical contexts in order to establish the influence of these aspects on the content and form. This study has come up with four major findings: the primacy of context in oral poetry composition, performance and interpretation, composition as a method and technique in wigashe dance songs, collective memory as an aid to remembering long compositions, and the role of medicine (the occult) in the composition and performance of oral poems as exemplified in the wigashe dance songs. The study's recommendations are that further musicological studies should be conducted for further understanding of the nature of oral poetry issues related to it.