The Meaning and Function of Proverbs Integrated into the Kabyle Poetic Discourse: Case of Idir’s Sung Texts

Abstract

The present article focuses on the meaning and function of some proverbs used in Idir's sung poetry. In this article, we have chosen to talk about a single singer to only sketch our study of proverbs. That singer is Idir. We take him as a case in our research because, along with other Kabyle singers, he also immerses himself in the oral tradition and uses it in his sung text. In addition, the main reason that led us to choose this topic is the way Idir uses proverbs in his sung texts. We will try, through a corpus of proverbs, to penetrate the meaning that this singer gives to these proverbs in order to deduce whether it is the same when it is out of discourse or does it differ? To do this, we have chosen a set of proverbs from seven songs. This work on the association of two oral forms: proverbs and song could perhaps help us to redefine them, to distinguish them and/or to bring them closer together to better illustrate them in the collective and individual imaginary as well.

Keywords : Kabyle proverb; Kabyle song; Meaning; Function; Poetic discourse.