The powers of genre : interpreting Haya oral literature / Peter Seitel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Seitel, Peter, author.

Series:

Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics ; 22.

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Haya (African people)--Folklore.

Haya (African people).

Folk literature, Haya--History and criticism.

Folk literature, Haya.

Oral tradition--Tanzania.

Oral tradition.

Discourse analysis, Narrative--Tanzania.

Discourse analysis, Narrative.

Haya language.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (259 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Powers of Genre describes a method for interpreting oral literature that depends upon and facilitates dialogue between insiders and outsiders to a tradition. Seitel illustrates this method with lively examples from Haya proverbs, folktales, and heroic verse. He then focuses on a single epic ballad to demonstrate, among other things, why stanzas need not rhyme, and how significance needs time in oral poetry and narrative. Making a controversial claim that an heroic age, similar to that of Ancient Greece, existed in Sub-Saharan Africa, this work will intrigue anyone who works in oral literature.

Contents:

Contents; 1 Introduction; Part I: Style, Theme, and Composition in Genre; 2 The Logic of Proverbs; 3 Emergent Complexities and Complex Emergencies in Folktales; 4 Heroic Society in Interlacustrine Africa; Part II: A Genre-Powered Reading of Kachwenyanja; 5 Stanzas Need No Rhyme; 6 Significance Needs Time; 7 Summary and Conclusion; Appendix: A; Appendix: B; References; Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 1999.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-240) and index.

Derived record based on print version record and publisher information.

ISBN:

0-19-772223-7

1-280-76152-0

0-19-802770-2

OCLC:

252642610