Oral literature in Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Folk literature -- Study and teaching -- Africa , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folklore and education -- Africa , Books -- Africa -- Reviews
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59355 , vital:27563 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2012.756804
- Description: I have in my possession a first edition, hard copy of Ruth Finnegan’s quintessential work, Oral Literature in Africa. It has a yellow cover, preserved by a plastic sheathe, it is a little frayed around the edges and has that old, musty library smell about it. I love and treasure this book. It is dedicated by Professor Finnegan ‘[t]o all my teachers’. Professor Finnegan is indeed one of my teachers. I properly met Ruth Finnegan at the second International Society for Oral Literature (ISOLA) conference in 1998, which I hosted at the University of Cape Town. She gave a keynote address which included reference to her seminal work and the future of oral literary studies. She has continually influenced our work as researchers following in her footsteps: Isidore Okpewho, Harold Scheub, Abiola Irele, Graham Furniss, Elizabeth Gunner, Karin Barber, Isobel Hofmeyr, John Foley, Olayibi Yai, Edgard Sienaert, Brian Street, Noverino Canonici, Mark Turin, Daniela Merolla, Jan Jansen, Jeff Opland, and many others; some younger, some older, some living, some departed, scholars influenced by this great and humble intellectual and her body of work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Folk literature -- Study and teaching -- Africa , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folklore and education -- Africa , Books -- Africa -- Reviews
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59355 , vital:27563 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2012.756804
- Description: I have in my possession a first edition, hard copy of Ruth Finnegan’s quintessential work, Oral Literature in Africa. It has a yellow cover, preserved by a plastic sheathe, it is a little frayed around the edges and has that old, musty library smell about it. I love and treasure this book. It is dedicated by Professor Finnegan ‘[t]o all my teachers’. Professor Finnegan is indeed one of my teachers. I properly met Ruth Finnegan at the second International Society for Oral Literature (ISOLA) conference in 1998, which I hosted at the University of Cape Town. She gave a keynote address which included reference to her seminal work and the future of oral literary studies. She has continually influenced our work as researchers following in her footsteps: Isidore Okpewho, Harold Scheub, Abiola Irele, Graham Furniss, Elizabeth Gunner, Karin Barber, Isobel Hofmeyr, John Foley, Olayibi Yai, Edgard Sienaert, Brian Street, Noverino Canonici, Mark Turin, Daniela Merolla, Jan Jansen, Jeff Opland, and many others; some younger, some older, some living, some departed, scholars influenced by this great and humble intellectual and her body of work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Imbongi and griot: toward a comparative analysis of oral poetics in Southern and West Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Folk poetry, African , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folk literature -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59379 , vital:27576 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696819908717840
- Description: This article takes up the challenge of comparative research in Africa by analysing and comparing the oral art of West African griots and Southern African iimbongi or oral poets. Similarities and differences between these performers and their respective societies are highlighted through the use of an ethnographic methodology. A distinction is drawn between the more traditional performers such as Thiam Anchou and D.L.P. Yali-Manisi, and the more modern performers such as M’Bana Diop, Bongani Sitole and Zolani Mkiva. The rich use of genealogy and history in the more traditional performances is highlighted. In comparing the work of the more contemporary, urban poets such as M’bana Diop of Senegal and Zolani Mkiva from Southern Africa, similarities are found in their performances on post-independence leaders such as Senghor and Mandela. Political pressures which have been brought to bear on the performer are also discussed. This article explores the continuity between the past and the present in relation to aspects such as the following: how performers gain recognition, their continued survival, their relationship with politics and religion, the orality- literacy debate, and the stylistic techniques used by these performers. Wherever possible, examples of performers and their work are provided.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Folk poetry, African , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folk literature -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59379 , vital:27576 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696819908717840
- Description: This article takes up the challenge of comparative research in Africa by analysing and comparing the oral art of West African griots and Southern African iimbongi or oral poets. Similarities and differences between these performers and their respective societies are highlighted through the use of an ethnographic methodology. A distinction is drawn between the more traditional performers such as Thiam Anchou and D.L.P. Yali-Manisi, and the more modern performers such as M’Bana Diop, Bongani Sitole and Zolani Mkiva. The rich use of genealogy and history in the more traditional performances is highlighted. In comparing the work of the more contemporary, urban poets such as M’bana Diop of Senegal and Zolani Mkiva from Southern Africa, similarities are found in their performances on post-independence leaders such as Senghor and Mandela. Political pressures which have been brought to bear on the performer are also discussed. This article explores the continuity between the past and the present in relation to aspects such as the following: how performers gain recognition, their continued survival, their relationship with politics and religion, the orality- literacy debate, and the stylistic techniques used by these performers. Wherever possible, examples of performers and their work are provided.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
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