Ruth Finnegan, The Oral and Beyond.

Abstract

This dense and rich book, made up of four parts, twelve chapters, a comprehensive bibliography and index, echoes that of Oral Literature in Africa (1970) and responds to it across time, with the two books standing side by side and summarising a lifetime of fieldwork and Finnegan’s passion for orality. As she writes in the preface, “this book grew from my experience of reflecting on how the study of oral forms in Africa has changed since nearly half a century ago” (xi). The chapters, compiled ...