Power, Marginality and African Oral Literature

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.

• The nature of African societies viewed ‘from the inside’ through popular expression in oral literature • African and Western researchers presenting multiple voices from right across Africa • Highly topical and compelling study of the politics of popular cultures

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.