Is African Oral Literature Literature ?

Using two books from the 1960s as a point of reference, this paper addresses the literary quality of African oral literature. Both books surprisingly underscore orature's objectives such as propriety as well as quotability, which are discussed together with orature's quality of finalization. The paper finally answers the question in its title, and points to a possible resolution of the comparative dilemma entailed in the varying notions of literature embraced by different cultures and eras.