Power, Marginality and African Oral Literature
Liz Gunner editor Graham Furniss editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:11th Dec '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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- Hardback£90.00(9780521480611)
A collection of essays on African oral literature and its place in popular culture.
This collection of essays examines African oral literature and the ways in which, like other forms of popular culture, it is not merely a form of entertainment but a medium for commenting on contemporary social and political events, and even a significant agent of social change.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.
ISBN: 9780521087940
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 17mm
Weight: 440g
300 pages