The Palgrave Handbook of African Oral Traditions and Folklore

"This volume is not a displacement of the late 1990s/early 2000s publications on folklore in Africa, in which African functional aesthetics gave way to Western formal aesthetics, but is a definitive source book of 50 original essays which provide a multidisciplinary study of the undercurrents of African and African Diaspora folklore and oral traditions - indeed a tour de force work in the currency and originality of its 'African voice and perspective."

• Pamela J. Olubunmi Smith, Professor Emerita, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA

"This is a comprehensive, well-researched, and impressive volume that offers significant insights and perspectives into the dynamics of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the African Diaspora. Systematically and thematically arranged with an interdisciplinary approach, the volume is enlightening and riveting. The volume is a must-read for professionals, students, and lovers of culture."

• Julius O. Adekunle, Professor of History, Monmouth University, USA

This handbook offers the most comprehensive, analytic, and multidisciplinary study of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the African Diaspora to date. Preeminent scholars Akintunde Akinyemi and Toyin Falola assemble a team of leading and rising stars across African Studies research to retrieve and renew the scholarship of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the Diaspora just as critical concerns about their survival are pushed to the forefront of the field. With five sections on the central themes within orality and folklore - including engagement ranging from popular culture to technology, methods to pedagogy - this handbook is an indispensable resource to scholars, students, and practitioners of oral traditions and folklore preservation alike. This definitive reference is the first to provide detailed, systematic discussion, and up-to-date analysis of African oral traditions and folklore.

Akintunde Akinyemi is Professor and Chair in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Florida, USA.

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Auteur

Editors:

Akintunde Akinyemi is Professor and Chair in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Florida, USA.

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Partial Listing of Contributors: Julius Adekunle, Monmouth University

Simeon Ibigbolade Aderibigbe, University of Georgia at Athens, USA

Chiji Akoma, Villanova University, USA

Adetayo Alabi, University of Mississippi, USA

Joyce Ashuntantang, University of Hartford, USA

Karin Barber, University of Birmingham, UK

Ragi Bashonga, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Robert Cancel, University of California, San Diego, USA Raphael d'Abdon, University of South Africa

Ernest N. Emenyonu, University of MichiganFlint, USA

Olawole Famule, University of Wisconsin at Superior, USA

Artisia Green, College of William and Mary, USA

Marame Gueye, East Carolina University, USA

Lee Haring, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA

Kathryn Jones, Swansea University, UK

Kasongo M. Kapanga, University of Richmond, USA Russell H. Kaschula, Rhodes University, South Africa

Cécile Leguy, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, France

Joseph McLaren, Hofstra University, USA

Patricia Beatrice Mireku-Gyimah, University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Mustafa Kemal Mirzeler, Western Michigan University, USA Besi Brillian Muhonja, James Madison University, USA

Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi, North Carolina State University, USA

Jacomien van Niekerk, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Felicia Ohwovoriole, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Rose Opondo, Moi University, Kenya

Félix Ayoh'Omidire, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Gail Presbey, University of Detroit Mercy, USA

Lesibana Rafapa, University of South Africa Relfiwe M. Ramagoshi, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Angela M. Farr Schiller, Kennesaw State University, USA

Enongene Mirabeau Sone, Walter Sisulu University, Cameroon

Mobolanle Sotunsa, Babcock University, Nigeria

Rémi Armand Tchokothe, University of Bayreuth, Germany

Antoinette Tidjani Alaou, Niamey University, Niger

Karim Traoré, University of Georgia, USA

Hanétha Vété-Congolo, Bowdoin College, USA Hein Willemse, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Felicity Wood, University of Fort Hare, South Africa

Résumé
This handbook offers the most comprehensive, analytic, and multidisciplinary study of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the African Diaspora to date. Preeminent scholars Akintunde Akinyemi and Toyin Falola assemble a team of leading and rising stars across African Studies research to retrieve and renew the scholarship of oral traditions and folklore in Africa and the Diaspora just as critical concerns about their survival are pushed to the forefront of the field. With five sections on the central themes within orality and folklore including engagement ranging from popular culture to technology, methods to pedagogy this handbook is an indispensable resource to scholars, students, and practitioners of oral traditions and folklore preservation alike. This definitive reference is the first to provide detailed, systematic discussion, and up-to-date analysis of African oral traditions and folklore.