Isidore Okpewho's Books

Once Upon a Kingdom

Myth, Hegemony, and Identity

By: Isidore Okpewho

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Once Upon a Kingdom

Myth, Hegemony, and Identity

By: Isidore Okpewho

Using stories he collected from narrators from the old West African kingdom of Benin, the author shows how the present mirrors the past in both folklore and political reality, suggesting that African states fail to create a level playing field for the plural identities within their borders, leaving marginalized peoples uncertain of their place in an uneven socio-political landscape.

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Page Count

274

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0253211891

ISBN 13

9780253211897

Blood on the Tides

The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology

By: Isidore Okpewho

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Blood on the Tides

The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology

By: Isidore Okpewho

The Ozidi Saga is one of Africa's best known prosimetric epics, set in the Delta region of Nigeria. Blood on the Tides examines the epic -- a tale of a warrior and his sorcerer grandmother's revenge upon the assassins who killed her son -- both as an example of oral literature and as a reflection of the specific social and political concerns of the Nigerian Delta and the country as a whole. In addition the book considers various iterations of the saga, including a performance of the entire saga in 1963 in Ibadan by the folk artist Okabou Okobolo, which was subsequently transcribed, translated, and edited by the renowned Nigerian poet, playwright, and scholar John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo. The study concludes with a look at the work of contemporary Nigerian creative writers and their connection to the powerful literary and historical currents of the Ozidi story. Isidore Okpewho is Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies, English, and Comparative Literature at Binghamton University (SUNY). He is the author of The Epic in Africa, Myth in Africa, African Oral Literature, and Once upon a Kingdom. An award-winning novelist, he has published four titles: The Victims, The Last Duty, Tides, and Call Me by My Rightful Name.

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Page Count

296

Publisher

Boydell & Brewer

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580464874

ISBN 13

9781580464871

African Oral Literature

Backgrounds, Character, and Continuity

By: Isidore Okpewho

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African Oral Literature

Backgrounds, Character, and Continuity

By: Isidore Okpewho

. . . its pages come alive with wonderful illustrative material coupled with sensitve and insightful commentary." —Reviews in Anthropology " . . . the scope, breadth, and lucidity of this excellent study confirm that Okpewho is undoubtedly the most important authority writing on African oral literature right now . . . " —Research in African Literatures "Truly a tour de force of individual scholarship . . . " —World Literature Today " . . . excellent . . . " —African Affairs " . . . a thorough synthesis of the main issues of oral literature criticism, as well as a grounding in experienced fieldwork, a wide-ranging theoretical base, and a clarity of argument rare among academics." —Multicultural Review "This is a breathtakingly ambitious project . . . " —Harold Scheub " . . . a definitive accounting of the evidence of living oral traditions in Africa today. Professor Okpewho's authority as an expert in this important new field is unrivaled." —Gregory Nagy "Isidore Okpewho's African Oral Literature is a marvelous piece of scholarship and wide-ranging research. It presents the most comprehensive survey of the field of oral literature in Africa." —Emmanuel Obiechina " . . . a tour de force of scholarship in which Okpewho casts his net across the African continent, searching for its verbal forms through voluminous recent writings and presents African oral literature in a new voice, proclaiming the literariness of African folklore." —Dan Ben-Amos "This is an outstanding book by a scholar whose work has already influenced how African literature should be conceived. . . . Professor Okpewho is a scholar with a special talent to nurture scholarship in others. After this work, African literature will never be the same." —Mazisi Kunene Isidore Okpewho, for many years Professor of English at the University of Ibadan, is one of the handful of African scholars who has facilitated the growth of African oral literature to its status today as a literary enterprise concerned with the artistic foundations of human culture. This comprehensive critical work firmly establishes oral literature as a landmark of high artistic achievement and situates it within the broader framework of contemporary African culture.

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Page Count

412

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

025320710X

ISBN 13

9780253207104

Esiaba Irobi's Drama and the Postcolony

Theory and Practice of Postcolonial Performance

By: Diala, Isidore

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Esiaba Irobi's Drama and the Postcolony

Theory and Practice of Postcolonial Performance

By: Diala, Isidore

Esiaba Irobi (1960-2010) was one of Africa's most innovative and productive younger playwrights. Deeply rooted in the indigenous performance traditions of his Igbo ethnic group, Irobi's drama, in the tradition of Wole Soyinka, is a hybrid production involving an iconoclastic reconceptualisation of the heritage he appropriates, its fascinating conflation with other performance traditions, and their projection onto the arena of contemporary Nigerian politics. This study by Isidore Diala is the first book-length examination of Irobi's work. It portrays a highly creative individual who was literally driven by the creative urge. The five chapters of this study illuminate different aspects of Irobi's oeuvre and include a vivid portrayal of Irobi the actor in his dream role of Elesin Oba, the eponymous King's Horseman in Wole Soyinka's drama. Diala highlight's Irobi's fascination for African festivals, which feature prominently in the earlier plays.He also demonstrates that although he is rooted in his Igbo culture, Irobi draws on different ethnic groups, pointing to conceptions of pan-Africanism that include the African diaspora.

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Page Count

299

Publisher

Kraft Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

9789181132

ISBN 13

9789789181131

Book's by Isidore Okpewho

Once Upon a Kingdom

Once Upon a Kingdom

Blood on the Tides

Blood on the Tides

African Oral Literature

African Oral Literature

Esiaba Irobi's Drama and the Postcolony

Esiaba Irobi's Drama and the Postcolony

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