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  • Cited by 31
  • Edited by Graham Furniss, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Liz Gunner, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
December 2009
Print publication year:
1995
Online ISBN:
9780511521164

Book description

African oral literature, like other forms of popular culture, is not merely folksy, domestic entertainment but a domain in which individuals in a variety of social roles are free to comment on power relations in society. It can also be a significant agent of change capable of directing, provoking, preventing, overturning and recasting social reality. This collection examines the way in which oral texts both reflect and affect contemporary social and political life in Africa. It addresses questions of power, gender, the dynamics of language use, the representation of social structures and the relation between culture and the state. The contributors are linguists, anthropologists, folklorists, ethnomusicologists and historians, who present fresh material and ideas to paint a lively picture of current real-life situations. The book is an important contribution to the study of African culture and literature, and to the anthropological study of oral literature in particular.

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