TY - BOOK ID - 5230107 TI - Power, marginality and African oral literature AU - Furniss, Graham AU - Gunner, Elizabeth PY - 1995 SN - 0521480612 0521087945 0511521162 0511835043 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Oral tradition KW - Folklore KW - Power (Social sciences) KW - Social structure KW - Marginality, Social KW - Tradition orale KW - Pouvoir (Sciences sociales) KW - Structure sociale KW - Marginalité sociale KW - Africa KW - Afrique KW - Politics and government. KW - Social life and customs. KW - Politique et gouvernement KW - Moeurs et coutumes KW - Narrative poetry, African. KW - Marginalité sociale KW - Narrative poetry, African KW - Organization, Social KW - Social organization KW - Anthropology KW - Sociology KW - Social institutions KW - Empowerment (Social sciences) KW - Political power KW - Exchange theory (Sociology) KW - Political science KW - Social sciences KW - Consensus (Social sciences) KW - African narrative poetry KW - African poetry KW - Exclusion, Social KW - Marginal peoples KW - Social exclusion KW - Social marginality KW - Assimilation (Sociology) KW - Culture conflict KW - Social isolation KW - People with social disabilities KW - Social Sciences UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:5230107 AB - 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. ER -