Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts


Book Description

Provides up-to-date guidance on how to approach the study of oral forms and their performances, examining both the practicalities of fieldwork and the methods by which oral texts and performances can be observed, collected and analysed.




Oral Literature in Africa


Book Description

Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http: //www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.




Where is Language?


Book Description

Language is central to human experience and our understanding of who we are, whether written or unwritten, sung or spoken. But what is language and how do we record it? Where does it reside? Does it exist and evolve within written sources, in performance, in the mind or in speech? For too long, ethnographic, aesthetic and sociolinguistic studies of language have remained apart from analyses emerging from traditions such as literature and performance. Where is Language? argues for a more complex and contextualized understanding of language across this range of disciplines, engaging with key issues, including orality, literacy, narrative, ideology, performance and the human communities in which these take place. Eminent anthropologist Ruth Finnegan draws together a lifetime of ethnographic case studies, reading and personal commentary to explore the roles and nature of language in cultures across the world, from West Africa to the South Pacific. By combining research and reflections, Finnegan discusses the multi-modality of language to provide an account not simply of vocabulary and grammar, but one which questions the importance of cultural settings and the essence of human communication itself.




African Perspectives of King Dingane kaSenzangakhona


Book Description

This book examines the active role played by Africans in the pre-colonial production of historical knowledge in South Africa, focusing on perspectives of the second king of amaZulu, King Dingane. It draws upon a wealth of oral traditions, izibongo, and the work of public intellectuals such as Magolwane kaMkhathini Jiyane and Mshongweni to present African perspectives of King Dingane as multifaceted, and in some cases, constructed according to socio-political formations and aimed at particular audiences. By bringing African perspectives to the fore, this innovative historiography centralizes indigenous African languages in the production of historical knowledge.




The Road to Democracy in South Africa


Book Description

In South Africa, the decade of 1980–1990 not only saw the mobilisation of the popular masses, but also the marked escalation of the armed struggle inside the country, initiated and waged by the African National Congress (ANC). The liberation movement, headed by the ANC-led Congress Alliance, took major strides which finally broke the backbone of white supremacist rule. This book examines and analyses the events leading to the settlement of democracy in South Africa during this period. Amongst other topics, the subject matter of this book also includes a discussion of – The apartheid regime ANC underground, armed actions and popular resistance Liberation struggle in the 1980s in the Eastern Cape Bophuthatswana and the role of the UDF in the Western Transvaal Trade Unionism Print editions not for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa. This book is part of Routledge’s co-published series 30 Years of Democracy in South Africa, in collaboration with UNISA Press, which reflects on the past years of a democratic South Africa and assesses the future opportunities and challenges.




An Introduction to the Literature of eSwatini


Book Description

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to the literature of eSwatini. It details a literary trajectory that begins with renditions of the country by early travelers and settlers and follows with the emergence of a national literature that is marked by early oral influences and molded by unique sociopolitical interests. Along the way, the author considers how contemporary writing by visitors, expatriates, and journalists have salvaged and recycled earlier images and attitudes through a series of representational and rhetorical practices. In particular, the lingering influence of colonial discourse is explored in the context of the nation’s pivotal incwala ritual. A chapter on Hilda Kuper that situates her fiction and drama between outsider and insider accounts is followed by the final two chapters that trace the development of anglophone and siSwati writing and identify themes arising from the major literary genres produced by local authors. The concluding section features a comprehensive registry of writers, with brief summaries of their works.




Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days


Book Description

The first three volumes of Saints tell the story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Joseph Smith’s First Vision to the dedication of the first temple outside North America. Now, the fourth volume carries the story to the present day, recounting the Church’s astounding growth and inspired development since 1955. As the book opens, the Church has nine temples and more than one million members. Thousands of missionaries are preaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. And for the first time in history, sacred saving ordinances are available in multiple languages. But the work of the Lord is not yet done. While many nations, kindreds, tongues, and people thirst for restored truth, the world is troubled by war, civil unrest, sickness, hunger, and prejudice. The Latter-day Saints, too, have much to learn about each other as the Church spreads far and wide, welcoming people from many cultures and traditions. The Lord’s command to “be one” has never been more vital—or more challenging—for His people to follow. Sounded in Every Ear is the final book in Saints, a new, four-volume narrative history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fast-paced, meticulously researched, and written under the direction of the First Presidency, Saints recounts true stories of Latter-day Saints across the globe and answers the Lord’s call to write a history “for the good of the church, and for the rising generations” (Doctrine and Covenants 69:8).




History from South Africa


Book Description

More starkly than any other contemporary social conflict, the crisis in South Africa highlights the complexities and conflicts in race, gender, class, and nation. These original articles, most of which were written by South African authors, are from a special issue of the Radical History Review, published in Spring 1990, that mapped the development of interpretations of the South African past that depart radically from the official history. The articles range from the politics of black movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to studies of film, television, and theater as reflections of modern social conflict. History from South Africa is presented in two main sections: discussions of the historiography of South Africa from the viewpoint of those rewriting it with a radical outlook; and investigations into popular history and popular culture—the production and reception of history in the public realm. In addition, two photo essays dramatize this history visually; maps and a chronology complete the presentation. The book provides a fresh look at major issues in South African social and labor history and popular culture, and focuses on the role of historians in creating and interacting with a popular movement of resistance and social change.




Africa in Global History


Book Description

This handbook places emphasis on modern/contemporary times, and offers relevant sophisticated and comprehensive overviews. It aims to emphasize the religious, economic, political, cultural and social connections between Africa and the rest of the world and features comparisons as well as an interdisciplinary approach in order to examine the place of Africa in global history. "This book makes an important contribution to the discussion on the place of Africa in the world and of the world in Africa. An outstanding work of scholarship, it powerfully demonstrates that Africa is not marginal to global concerns. Its labor and resources have made our world, and the continent deserves our respect." – Mukhtar Umar Bunza, Professor of Social History, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and Commissioner for Higher Education, Kebbi State, Nigeria "This is a deep plunge into the critical place of Africa in global history. The handbook blends a rich set of important tapestries and analysis of the conceptual framework of African diaspora histories, imperialism and globalization. By foregrounding the authentic voices of African interpreters of transnational interactions and exchanges, the Handbook demonstrates a genuine commitment to the promotion of decolonized and indigenous knowledge on African continent and its peoples." – Samuel Oloruntoba, Visiting Research Professor, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University