Orature weaves many different literary genres into one. It is a type of literature in which the collective dimension subsumes individualities. This paper defines orature as a specific literary genre and also as a literary theory that favours a criticism of the literatures produced by writers of Western Africa, especially Titinga Frédéric Pacéré and Gnepo Werewere-Liking. It presents orature as an alternative to Western literary criticism and genre theory.

Orature, oral and written literatures, mixture of genres, performance, comparative literature, literary theory