Table of Contents

1. Introduction: power, marginality and oral literature Graham Furniss and Liz Gunner; Part I. Orality and the Power of the State: 2. Oral art and contemporary cultural nationalism Penina Mlama; 3. The letter and the law: the politics of orality and literacy in the chiefdoms of the northern Transvaal Isabel Hofmeyr; 4. A king is not above insult: the politics of good governance in Nzema avudwene festival songs Kofi Agovi; Part II. Representing Power Relations: 5. Igbo enwe eze: monarchical power versus democratic values in Igbo oral narratives Chukwuma Azuonye; 6. Tales and ideology: the revolt of sons in Bambara-Malinke tales Veronika Gorog-Karady; 7. Images of the powerful in Lyela folktales Sabine Steinbrich; Part III. Oral Forms and the Dynamics of Power: 8. Power, marginality and Somali oral poetry: case studies in the dynamics of tradition John William Johnson; 9. The function of oral art for the regulation of social power in Dyula society Jean Derive; 10. The power of words and the relation between Hausa genres Graham Furniss; Part IV. Endorsing or Subverting the Paradigms: Women and Oral Forms: 11. Sexuality and socialisation in Shona praises and lyrics Herbert Chimhundu; 12. Nontsizi Mgqwetho: stranger in town Jeff Opland; 13. Clashes of interest: gender, status and power in Zulu praise poetry Liz Gunner; 14. Jelimusow: the superwoman of Malian music Lucy Duran; Part V. Mediators and Communicative Strategies: 15. Power and the circuit of formal talk Kwesi Yankah; 16. Praise splits the subject of speech: constructions of kingship in the Manden and Borgu Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias; 17. Beyond the communal warmth: the poet as loner in Ewe oral tradition Kofi Anyidoho.

Promotional Information

A collection of essays on African oral literature and its place in popular culture.