Oral Literature In Africa Research Articles

Voice in a narrative: A trialogue with Ruth Finnegan

Abstract Ruth Finnegan FBA OBE (1933, Derry, Northern Ireland) took a DPhil in Anthropology at Oxford, then joined the Open University of which she is now an Emeritus Professor. Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa (1970), Oral Poetry (1977), The Hidden Musicians: Music-Making in an English Town (1989), and Why Do We Quote? The Culture and History of Quotation (2011). Ruth Finnegan was interviewed by Sarali Gintsburg (ICS, University of Navarra) and Luis Galván Moreno (University of Navarra) on the occasion of an online lecture delivered at the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Navarra. In this trialogue-like interview, Ruth tells about the childhood experiences that were decisive for her interest in orality and storytelling, about her education and training as a Classicist in Oxford, the beginnings of her fieldwork in Africa among the Limba of Sierra Leone, and her recent activity as a novelist. She stresses the importance of voice, of its physical, bodily dimensions, its pitch and cadence; and then affirms the essential role of audience in communication. The discussion then touches upon several features of African languages, classical Arabic and Greek, and authoritative texts of Western culture, from Homer and the Bible to the 19th century novel. Through discussing her childhood memories, her assessment of the development and challenges of anthropology, and her views on the digital transformation of the world, Ruth concludes that the notion of narrative, communication, and multimodality are inseparably linked.

Myth, Theory and Area Studies

Journal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Religion Compass 3/1 (2009): 1–6, 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00130.x [Please note: the three articles referred to in this editorial (Segal, Shuxian and van Binsbergen) are published in Volume 3, Issue 2]. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK RECO eligion Compass 1749-8171 © 200 The Aut or Journal Compil tion © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 30 0.111 /j. 749-8171.20 8.00130.x D cember 2008 0??? 6 rigi l A ticle EDIT RI L aniela Merolla and Mineke Schipper

Ruth Finnegan, The Oral and Beyond.

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 ...

Postproverbials in Yoruba Culture: A Playful Blasphemy

In the study of oral literature in Africa, the collection (and analysis) of Yoruba proverbs has attracted so much attention that it would be painfully repetitive for a paroemiographer to begin to make belated speculation on the meaning and function of a proverb. There is virtually no substantial controversy about the value of proverbs in culture, and the significance of proverbs in Yoruba traditional societies as repository and verbal effulgence of wisdom is indeed proverbial. They are "culture markers" in the sense that they tell us, in rather brief and intense terms, so much about the history and psychology of the peoples and communities from which they emanate.

Reflecting back on‘Oral literature in Africa’:Some reconsiderations after 21 years

In this article the background to Oral Literature in Africa (first published in 1970) is considered, as well as its aims of providing a foundation for further research and enhancing the visibility of oral literature. Among the continuing issues raised by the book and similar work on the subject are questions of terminology, particularly the terms ‘literature’ and ‘oral’. Other issues relate to studies of oral composition, of narrative/narratology, and of genre (including the question of ‘epic’). The basic theoretical and methodological approach of the book may still in essence be acceptable, but needs to be supplemented by newer insights arising from recent and future research.

Visimu vya mukatikati—dilemma tales and ‘arithmetical puzzles’ collected among the Valuchazi

Dilemma tales are among some of the lesser known genres of oral literature in Africa. Working with taxonomies elicited from Luchazi—one of the languages of the so-called Ngangela cluster—dilemma tales are discussed on the basis of recordings and cinematographic documentation of narrative performances from eastern Angola and northwestern Zambia. In the oral literature of the Valuchazi use is sometimes made of explanatory visual symbols, or ideographs, drawn in the sand. This is exemplified by Chindamba Ngunga's dilemma tale, comprehensively transcribed and analysed in this article.

: Oral Literature in Africa . Ruth Finnegan.

American AnthropologistVolume 81, Issue 1 p. 175-176 Free Access Ethnology: Oral Literature in Africa. Ruth Finnegan. Edgar G. Polome, Edgar G. Polome University of TexasSearch for more papers by this author Edgar G. Polome, Edgar G. Polome University of TexasSearch for more papers by this author First published: March 1979 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1979.81.1.02a00860AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume81, Issue1March 1979Pages 175-176 RelatedInformation

Women as Verbal Artists: Reclaiming the Sisters of Enheduanna

ed by Anne Kaplan in Folklore Communication, No. 16, Fall 1978, p. 20; and Mary P. Coote, Women's Songs in Serbo-Croatian, Journal of American Folklore, 90 (1977), 331-38. 44. For example: Finnegan, Formal Speaking, and Other Stylized Forms, in Oral Literature in Africa, pp. 444-80; On the Ethnography of Oratory, papers by Michelle Rosaldo and Elinor O. Keenan in Language in Society, 2 (1973), 193-243; Maurice Bloch, ed., Political Language and Oratory in Traditional Society (New York: Academic Press, 1975); William J. Samarin, ed., Language in Religious Practice (Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, 1976); Sapir and Crocker, ed., The Social Use of Metaphor. 45. Finnegan, Oral Literature in Africa, p. 374. Katherine Luomala, for example, reports that both western and eastern Polynesian groups have terms for genres which include not only myth, proverb, hero saga, and legend, but also artistic conversation, but gives no further data (Survey of Research on Polynesian Prose and Poetry, Journal of American Folklore, 74 [1961], 421). 46. Stephanie Mills, Salons and Their Keepers, CoEvolution Quarterly, Summer 1974, p. 102. Also see Marta Weigle, Salons and Saloons, Folklore Communication, No. 16, Fall 1978, pp. 21-24. 47. Edwin Ardener, Belief and the Problem of in Perceiving Women, ed. Shirley Ardener (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1975), p. 3. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.127 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 06:14:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Reviews: Guide to African Oral Literature: Oral Literature in Africa

Reviews: Guide to African Oral Literature: Oral Literature in Africa

Oral Literature in Africa

Oral Literature in Africa

Oral Literature in Africa

Journal Article Oral Literature in Africa Get access Oral Literature in Africa, by Ruth Finnegan. Clarendon Press, 1970. xviii+558pp. £5.00. GERALD MOORE GERALD MOORE University of Sussex Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 71, Issue 283, April 1972, Pages 218–219, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096245 Published: 01 April 1972

Approaches to the Study of African Oral Literature

Opening ParagraphDr. Ruth Finnegan's study Oral Literature in Africa (The Oxford Library of African Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970, pp. xix+558, £5) is likely to become an influential book. It surveys and summarizes much of our knowledge regarding the basic forms of African oral literature. Although there have been a number of essays published discussing some of the issues involved in recording, analysing, and appreciating such literature, as well as on the use of oral tradition for historical studies, this is the first modern attempt to take stock of our general knowledge in this field and to suggest how and along what paths future research should proceed.

Oral Literature in Africa

Oral Literature in Africa