African Oral Literature

An Introduction
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-61347-5
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 244 Seiten, Format (B × H): 174 mm x 246 mm

Reihe: Routledge Global Africa Textbooks

African Oral Literature: An Introduction guides us from the very beginnings of African oral traditions, through the whole range of theories and contexts, and right up to the modern technological age.

This comprehensive and engaging textbook covers the key concepts and methodologies behind the history, formation, delivery, and performance of oral literature. Folktales, proverbs, rhetoric, jokes, poetry, and theatre are explored in turn, before looking at compositional techniques, artistry, education, characterisation, and cosmology. The final part of the book investigates the interplay between oral traditions and technology such as social media in the twenty-first century. Drawing on traditional African pedagogy, the book weaves in African metaphors, rhetorical styles and performance modes, aiming for readers to imbibe African orality rhetoric page by page.

With key questions, exercises and further reading helping to guide readers at the end of each chapter, this book is the perfect introduction to the study of African oral literature.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Na'Allah, Abdul-Rasheed

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Afrikanische Literaturen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface  1. Introduction  2. Oral Narratives  3. Oral Poetry  4. Oral Dramatic Performance  5. Compositional Narrative Techniques  6. Oral Apprenticeships  7. Orality and Informal Education  8. Narrative Didacticism  9. Poetry of Engagement  10. African Drama of Total Theatre  11. Oral Literary Characters  12. African Cosmology and Oral Traditions  13. Oral Traditions and Technology  14. African Oral Literature and the Social Media  15. African Oral Literature and Historical Essence  16. African Oral Literature in the Twenty First Century: Platform and Performativity  17. Oral Texts, Writing and Textualities  18. Conclusion: Life and Performance: Life is a performance, every space a performance space!

Über Autor(innen)

Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah was formerly Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor of English, Comparative Oral Poetics and Performance, University of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. He’s the author of African Discourse in Islam, Oral Traditions, and Performance (Routeldge, 2010); Yoruba Oral Tradition in Islamic Nigeria (Routledge, 2020), among others.