Analysis of Trickster Figures in Yoruba Folktales: A Comparative Study of Ijapa Stories

Trickster figures in African oral literature embody cultural anxieties about social order, power, and moral ambiguity, functioning as both cautionary and celebratory narrative archetypes. This study analyses the trickster figure of Ijapa (the tortoise) in Yoruba folktales, drawing on a corpus of 50 stories collected from rural and urban storytelling contexts in Ondo, Oyo, and Ogun States, South West Nigeria. The study adopts a comparative oral literary analysis approach, applying trickster archetype theory and Yoruba cultural aesthetics to examine how Ijapa's characterisation varies across different regional and contextual storytelling traditions. Data were collected through recorded storytelling sessions with elder narrators and focus group discussions with audiences in community settings. Existing scholarship on African trickster figures has engaged extensively with Anansi and Hare traditions across the continent, while Ijapa has received comparatively limited systematic comparative treatment in the scholarly literature. This study addresses that gap. The research investigates whether Ijapa's trickster qualities reflect consistent pan-Yoruba moral frameworks or whether regional narrative traditions present divergent moral evaluations of cunning and subversion. The study further examines how contemporary storytellers adapt Ijapa narratives to comment on modern social and political realities. Findings are expected to reveal both a stable core trickster archetype and significant regional variation in the moral framing of Ijapa's exploits. Recommendations will address the integration of Ijapa stories into Yoruba cultural education and the comparative study of African trickster traditions. Keywords: trickster figure, Ijapa, Yoruba folktales, oral literature, comparative analysis.