Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures

by Toyin Falola, Fallou Ngom

Oral and Written Expressions of African Cultures challenges the traditional view of exotic and atavistic Africa with a balanced examination of the continent's realities and challenges. It shows how oral and written expressions capture the complexity, concerns, dynamism, challenges and ingenuity of African masses. It brings together thirteen scholars from different academic backgrounds who draw from the rich repertoire of music, poetry, literature and the media in the continent to unearth the underlying socio-cultural, economic and political factors that shape African societies in the twenty first century. These scholars discuss issues ranging from political manipulations of popular music in Kenya and Argentina, the role of print media in the democratization process in Nigeria, motivations of "vulgar poetry" in South Africa, contemporary gender issues in the Islamic Republic of Sudan, the perseverance of aspects of African cultures in Puerto Rico, misrepresentations of Africa in Rene Maran's Batouala, the function of "lowbrow fiction" in Apartheid South Africa, female African authors' techniques to counter male dominance, to HIV/AID and the cultural taboos associated with the disease in southern Africa, among others.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Toyin Omoyeni Falola is a Nigerian historian and professor of African Studies. He is currently the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. Falola earned his B.A. and Ph.D. (1981) in History at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. Falola is author and editor of more than one hundred books, and he is the general editor of the Cambria African Studies Series (Cambria Press), Falola served as the president of the African Studies Association in 2014 and 2015.

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

super academic, so you get the full monty of literary and sociology deconstruction. but there are things to learn from this. in the 1940's-1960's most of the books read by whites and blacks were the same, pulp novels, romance, western, and noirs.
and, now, there are a group of poets who are questioning the new govt. saying they are just like the old govt. all fat cats. their poetry is extremely vulgar, iconoclastic, multi-lingual. and pretty good too. check out poets Kgafela oa Magogodi, Lesego Rampolokeng, Dambudzo Marechera. mogogodi is out to "rape the mind dog style", "cause blisters in the eardrums of society", poke a hole in the new anti-apartheid govt. where they say its sort of the same old thing, fat cats have everything, poor people have nothing. he's going "to slice through Black Power, White Money, Black Poverty". well, maybe i shouldn't quote any more, but they spear religion, health care, everything. look for a book entitled "Thy Condom Come" by magogodi. also new bands are taking this same attitude. check out BLK JKS