Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures

Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures

Author: Toyin Falola

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures challenges the traditional view of exotic and atavistic Africa with a balanced examination of the continent's realities and challenges. It shows how oral and written expressions capture the complexity, concerns, dynamism, challenges and ingenuity of African masses. It brings together thirteen scholars from different academic backgrounds who draw from the rich repertoire of music, poetry, literature and the media in the continent to unearth the underlying socio-cultural, economic and political factors that shape African societies in the twenty first century. These scholars discuss issues ranging from political manipulations of popular music in Kenya and Argentina, the role of print media in the democratization process in Nigeria, motivations of "vulgar poetry" in South Africa, contemporary gender issues in the Islamic Republic of Sudan, the perseverance of aspects of African cultures in Puerto Rico, misrepresentations of Africa in Rene Maran's Batouala, the function of "lowbrow fiction" in Apartheid South Africa, female African authors' techniques to counter male dominance, to HIV/AID and the cultural taboos associated with the disease in southern Africa, among others.


Book Synopsis Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures by : Toyin Falola

Download or read book Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures written by Toyin Falola and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures challenges the traditional view of exotic and atavistic Africa with a balanced examination of the continent's realities and challenges. It shows how oral and written expressions capture the complexity, concerns, dynamism, challenges and ingenuity of African masses. It brings together thirteen scholars from different academic backgrounds who draw from the rich repertoire of music, poetry, literature and the media in the continent to unearth the underlying socio-cultural, economic and political factors that shape African societies in the twenty first century. These scholars discuss issues ranging from political manipulations of popular music in Kenya and Argentina, the role of print media in the democratization process in Nigeria, motivations of "vulgar poetry" in South Africa, contemporary gender issues in the Islamic Republic of Sudan, the perseverance of aspects of African cultures in Puerto Rico, misrepresentations of Africa in Rene Maran's Batouala, the function of "lowbrow fiction" in Apartheid South Africa, female African authors' techniques to counter male dominance, to HIV/AID and the cultural taboos associated with the disease in southern Africa, among others.

Oral Literature in Africa

Oral Literature in Africa

Author: Ruth Finnegan

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

Published: 2012-09

Total Pages: 614

ISBN-13: 1906924708

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Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http: //www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.


Book Synopsis Oral Literature in Africa by : Ruth Finnegan

Download or read book Oral Literature in Africa written by Ruth Finnegan and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http: //www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.

The Oral Tradition of Africa: Words as Intellectual, Cultural, and Spiritual Nourishment!

The Oral Tradition of Africa: Words as Intellectual, Cultural, and Spiritual Nourishment!

Author: Akinjide Bonotchi Montgomery

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2009-06-17

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 0557154677

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Book Synopsis The Oral Tradition of Africa: Words as Intellectual, Cultural, and Spiritual Nourishment! by : Akinjide Bonotchi Montgomery

Download or read book The Oral Tradition of Africa: Words as Intellectual, Cultural, and Spiritual Nourishment! written by Akinjide Bonotchi Montgomery and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2009-06-17 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Palgrave Handbook of African Oral Traditions and Folklore

The Palgrave Handbook of African Oral Traditions and Folklore

Author: Akintunde Akinyemi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-03-05

Total Pages: 1041

ISBN-13: 3030555178

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This handbook offers the most comprehensive, analytic, and multidisciplinary study of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the African Diaspora to date. Preeminent scholars Akintunde Akinyemi and Toyin Falola assemble a team of leading and rising stars across African Studies research to retrieve and renew the scholarship of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the Diaspora just as critical concerns about their survival are pushed to the forefront of the field. With five sections on the central themes within orality and folklore – including engagement ranging from popular culture to technology, methods to pedagogy – this handbook is an indispensable resource to scholars, students, and practitioners of oral traditions and folklore preservation alike. This definitive reference is the first to provide detailed, systematic discussion, and up-to-date analysis of African oral traditions and folklore.


Book Synopsis The Palgrave Handbook of African Oral Traditions and Folklore by : Akintunde Akinyemi

Download or read book The Palgrave Handbook of African Oral Traditions and Folklore written by Akintunde Akinyemi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-03-05 with total page 1041 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook offers the most comprehensive, analytic, and multidisciplinary study of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the African Diaspora to date. Preeminent scholars Akintunde Akinyemi and Toyin Falola assemble a team of leading and rising stars across African Studies research to retrieve and renew the scholarship of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the Diaspora just as critical concerns about their survival are pushed to the forefront of the field. With five sections on the central themes within orality and folklore – including engagement ranging from popular culture to technology, methods to pedagogy – this handbook is an indispensable resource to scholars, students, and practitioners of oral traditions and folklore preservation alike. This definitive reference is the first to provide detailed, systematic discussion, and up-to-date analysis of African oral traditions and folklore.

The Oral and Beyond

The Oral and Beyond

Author: Ruth H. Finnegan

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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Africa has long been known as the oral continent, at once the home of oral literature, orature and orality, the oral background to the postcolonial literatures of today, and the inspirer of the voiced traditions of the diaspora. But does this image of Africa and orality still stand up to scrutiny? In this new synthesis of her earlier and most recent work Ruth Finnegan illustrates the continuing interest of African verbal arts and performances and reflects on the related development of 'orality' studies through the decades since the 1960s. Her provocative conclusion is that it is time to abandon the long-entrenched image of Africa as 'the oral continent' and to adopt a more critical comparative perspective on 'the oral'. RUTH FINNEGAN, FBA is Visiting Research Professor and Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University and is the author of the classic study Oral Literature in Africa North America: University of Chicago Press; South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press


Book Synopsis The Oral and Beyond by : Ruth H. Finnegan

Download or read book The Oral and Beyond written by Ruth H. Finnegan and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa has long been known as the oral continent, at once the home of oral literature, orature and orality, the oral background to the postcolonial literatures of today, and the inspirer of the voiced traditions of the diaspora. But does this image of Africa and orality still stand up to scrutiny? In this new synthesis of her earlier and most recent work Ruth Finnegan illustrates the continuing interest of African verbal arts and performances and reflects on the related development of 'orality' studies through the decades since the 1960s. Her provocative conclusion is that it is time to abandon the long-entrenched image of Africa as 'the oral continent' and to adopt a more critical comparative perspective on 'the oral'. RUTH FINNEGAN, FBA is Visiting Research Professor and Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University and is the author of the classic study Oral Literature in Africa North America: University of Chicago Press; South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press

The Music of Africa

The Music of Africa

Author: J. H. Kwabena Nketia

Publisher:

Published: 1974

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13:

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The study of African music is a study at once of unity and diversity. The range of indigenous musical resources and practices found on this vast continent is as wide and varies as its topography. In this informative and highly readable book, Professor Nketia provides an overview of the musical traditions of Africa with respect to their historical, cultural, and social background, their organization and practice, and delineates the most significant aspects of musical style.


Book Synopsis The Music of Africa by : J. H. Kwabena Nketia

Download or read book The Music of Africa written by J. H. Kwabena Nketia and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of African music is a study at once of unity and diversity. The range of indigenous musical resources and practices found on this vast continent is as wide and varies as its topography. In this informative and highly readable book, Professor Nketia provides an overview of the musical traditions of Africa with respect to their historical, cultural, and social background, their organization and practice, and delineates the most significant aspects of musical style.

Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart

Author: Chinua Achebe

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1994-09-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0385474547

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“A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order. With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.


Book Synopsis Things Fall Apart by : Chinua Achebe

Download or read book Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1994-09-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order. With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

Oral Tradition as History

Oral Tradition as History

Author: Jan M. Vansina

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1985-09-06

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0299102130

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Jan Vansina’s 1961 book, Oral Tradition, was hailed internationally as a pioneering work in the field of ethno-history. Originally published in French, it was translated into English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Hungarian. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Vansina’s success in subjecting oral traditions to intense functional analysis. Now, Vansina—with the benefit of two decades of additional thought and research—has revised his original work substantially, completely rewriting some sections and adding much new material. The result is an essentially new work, indispensable to all students and scholars of history, anthropology, folklore, and ethno-history who are concerned with the transmission and potential uses of oral material. “Those embarking on the challenging adventure of historical fieldwork with an oral community will find the book a valuable companion, filled with good practical advice. Those who already have collected bodies of oral material, or who strive to interpret and analyze that collected by others, will be forced to subject their own methodological approaches to a critical reexamination in the light of Vansina’s thoughtful and provocative insights. . . . For the second time in a quarter of a century, we are profoundly in the debt of Jan Vansina.”—Research in African Literatures “Oral Traditions as History is an essential addition to the basic literature of African history.”—American Historical Review


Book Synopsis Oral Tradition as History by : Jan M. Vansina

Download or read book Oral Tradition as History written by Jan M. Vansina and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1985-09-06 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jan Vansina’s 1961 book, Oral Tradition, was hailed internationally as a pioneering work in the field of ethno-history. Originally published in French, it was translated into English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Hungarian. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Vansina’s success in subjecting oral traditions to intense functional analysis. Now, Vansina—with the benefit of two decades of additional thought and research—has revised his original work substantially, completely rewriting some sections and adding much new material. The result is an essentially new work, indispensable to all students and scholars of history, anthropology, folklore, and ethno-history who are concerned with the transmission and potential uses of oral material. “Those embarking on the challenging adventure of historical fieldwork with an oral community will find the book a valuable companion, filled with good practical advice. Those who already have collected bodies of oral material, or who strive to interpret and analyze that collected by others, will be forced to subject their own methodological approaches to a critical reexamination in the light of Vansina’s thoughtful and provocative insights. . . . For the second time in a quarter of a century, we are profoundly in the debt of Jan Vansina.”—Research in African Literatures “Oral Traditions as History is an essential addition to the basic literature of African history.”—American Historical Review

Orality and Literacy

Orality and Literacy

Author: Walter J. Ong

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-12-16

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1134461615

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This classic work explores the vast differences between oral and literate cultures offering a very clear account of the intellectual, literary and social effects of writing, print and electronic technology. In the course of his study, Walter J. Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. He considers the impact of orality-literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human being, conscious of self and other. This is a book no reader, writer or speaker should be without.


Book Synopsis Orality and Literacy by : Walter J. Ong

Download or read book Orality and Literacy written by Walter J. Ong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-12-16 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic work explores the vast differences between oral and literate cultures offering a very clear account of the intellectual, literary and social effects of writing, print and electronic technology. In the course of his study, Walter J. Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. He considers the impact of orality-literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human being, conscious of self and other. This is a book no reader, writer or speaker should be without.

African Oral Literature

African Oral Literature

Author: Russell Kaschula

Publisher: New Africa Books

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9781919876078

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Throughout Africa, oral literature is flourishing, though it is perceived by some as anachronistic to the modern world. This work refutes this idea in its entirety by presenting 22 chapters, which firmly place the study of oral literature within contemporary African existence. The study analyzes how oral literature relates to media, music, technology, text, gender, religion, power, politics and globalization.


Book Synopsis African Oral Literature by : Russell Kaschula

Download or read book African Oral Literature written by Russell Kaschula and published by New Africa Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout Africa, oral literature is flourishing, though it is perceived by some as anachronistic to the modern world. This work refutes this idea in its entirety by presenting 22 chapters, which firmly place the study of oral literature within contemporary African existence. The study analyzes how oral literature relates to media, music, technology, text, gender, religion, power, politics and globalization.