Performing Wisdom
Proverbial Lore in Modern Ugandan Society
Published on 1. January 2013
Book
Hardback
420 pages
978-90-420-3811-0 (ISBN)
Description
This is the third collection produced by members of a six-year research project, funded by the NUFU (Norwegian Programme for Development, Research, and Education), whose concern was to find, preserve, and analyse 'orature' - spoken forms of all kinds, both their unique qualities and their equivalence in importance to 'literature'. A major focus was the ways in which forms of orature can be made relevant to the demands of rapidly developing nations faced with insistent problems (HIV/AIDS, administrative needs, shifts in social and familial structure, the changing roles of women).
Both innovative and archival, the essays explore older legends and modern performances to outline their positive and dynamic contribution to a protean society. Some contributors address the ways in which traditional forms may be adapted: e.g., via new media to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to educate children in social and individual responsibility. Traditional narratives and children's songs can function to counter cannibalism and child sacrifice.
Less dark aspects of contemporary society also receive attention. Traditional patterns of leadership are adapted to today's conditions, especially by offering women models in the form of earlier figures and their actions. Two essays analyse the use of proverbs in the speeches of political candidates and discussing traditional music festivals as celebrations of traditional kingship and rule. Others examine the nature and operation of specific forms of orature - riddles and their subtle alteration according to performer and audience; concepts of heroism; stories of origin; and variants of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. These sensitive analyses are framed by pieces from members of the research project in Norway and Uganda.
Both innovative and archival, the essays explore older legends and modern performances to outline their positive and dynamic contribution to a protean society. Some contributors address the ways in which traditional forms may be adapted: e.g., via new media to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to educate children in social and individual responsibility. Traditional narratives and children's songs can function to counter cannibalism and child sacrifice.
Less dark aspects of contemporary society also receive attention. Traditional patterns of leadership are adapted to today's conditions, especially by offering women models in the form of earlier figures and their actions. Two essays analyse the use of proverbs in the speeches of political candidates and discussing traditional music festivals as celebrations of traditional kingship and rule. Others examine the nature and operation of specific forms of orature - riddles and their subtle alteration according to performer and audience; concepts of heroism; stories of origin; and variants of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. These sensitive analyses are framed by pieces from members of the research project in Norway and Uganda.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Publishing group
Brill
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
762 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-420-3811-0 (9789042038110)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dominica Dipio is Associate Professor in the Department of Literature, Makerere University and coordinator in the south of the NUFU research project. Stuart Sillars is Professor of English Literature in the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen, and coordinator in the north of the research project.
Content
Acknowledgements
Lene Johannessen: Introduction: Folklore and Cultural Memory: Promises and Pitfalls
Wotsuna Khamalwa: Survival of the Fittest and Stories of Cannibalism
Saidah Namayanja: Mythical Implications in the Origin Stories of the Baganda and Bagishu
Cindy E. Magara: The Concept of Heroism Among the Bunyoro
Dominica Dipio: Traditional Leadership Wisdoms and Their Contemporary Parallels: The Madi of Uganda
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli: Audience Perspectives on the Music Festivals Phenomenon in Buganda
Abasi Kiyimba: Proverbial Imagery in Contemporary Political Discourse in Uganda
Aaron Mushengyezi: Riddling Among the Banyankore and Baganda in Uganda
Gulere Wambi: The Popular Form and Structure of Riddle Discourse in Lusoga
Danson Sylvester Kahyana: The Potential Role of Orature in Fighting the Spread of HIV/AIDS
Lillian Bukaayi Tibasiima: "Mudo": The Soga 'Little Red Riding Hood'
Edgar Nabutanyi: Transplanting the Pumpkin: Folktales in New Media Formats for Children's Instruction
Isaac Tibasiima: 'Heed my Voice': Children's Song in the Wake of Child Sacrifice
Stuart Sillars: Afterword: Ancestral Voices Prophesying
Marketplace
Uzoechi Nwagbara: Achebe's Fiction and the Changing Generation of Nigerian Women: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Leadership
Ignatius Chukwumah: Lazarus, Noah, and the Enunciation of the Resurrection Mythos in Soyinka's The Interpreters
Omolola A. Ladele: The Abiku Mystique: The Metaphor of Subversive Narrative in Buchi Emecheta's Kehinde
Dele Bamidele and Rotimi Agbana: Richard Maduku's Kokoro Compound: A Postmodern Reading
H. Oby Okolocha and Sophia I. Akhuemokhan: The Violation of Women's Human Rights: Transformative Processes in Julie Okoh's Edewede and Stella 'Dia Oyedepo's Brain Has No Gender
Bright Molande: The Fatal Voyage: Colonialism as Tragedy in Steve Chimombo's Writing
Robert Nathan: "The Religion of the Dream": Colonial Myths and the Epistemology of Power in Alain Mabanckou's Bleu blanc rouge
Creative Writing
Wumi Raji: Born to Run
Nick Tembo: Three Poems
Reviews
Gordon Collier: Up Jumped a Jumbie
Tosin Gbogi: Destructive Deluge
Books Received
Notes on Contributors
Notes for Contributors
Lene Johannessen: Introduction: Folklore and Cultural Memory: Promises and Pitfalls
Wotsuna Khamalwa: Survival of the Fittest and Stories of Cannibalism
Saidah Namayanja: Mythical Implications in the Origin Stories of the Baganda and Bagishu
Cindy E. Magara: The Concept of Heroism Among the Bunyoro
Dominica Dipio: Traditional Leadership Wisdoms and Their Contemporary Parallels: The Madi of Uganda
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli: Audience Perspectives on the Music Festivals Phenomenon in Buganda
Abasi Kiyimba: Proverbial Imagery in Contemporary Political Discourse in Uganda
Aaron Mushengyezi: Riddling Among the Banyankore and Baganda in Uganda
Gulere Wambi: The Popular Form and Structure of Riddle Discourse in Lusoga
Danson Sylvester Kahyana: The Potential Role of Orature in Fighting the Spread of HIV/AIDS
Lillian Bukaayi Tibasiima: "Mudo": The Soga 'Little Red Riding Hood'
Edgar Nabutanyi: Transplanting the Pumpkin: Folktales in New Media Formats for Children's Instruction
Isaac Tibasiima: 'Heed my Voice': Children's Song in the Wake of Child Sacrifice
Stuart Sillars: Afterword: Ancestral Voices Prophesying
Marketplace
Uzoechi Nwagbara: Achebe's Fiction and the Changing Generation of Nigerian Women: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Leadership
Ignatius Chukwumah: Lazarus, Noah, and the Enunciation of the Resurrection Mythos in Soyinka's The Interpreters
Omolola A. Ladele: The Abiku Mystique: The Metaphor of Subversive Narrative in Buchi Emecheta's Kehinde
Dele Bamidele and Rotimi Agbana: Richard Maduku's Kokoro Compound: A Postmodern Reading
H. Oby Okolocha and Sophia I. Akhuemokhan: The Violation of Women's Human Rights: Transformative Processes in Julie Okoh's Edewede and Stella 'Dia Oyedepo's Brain Has No Gender
Bright Molande: The Fatal Voyage: Colonialism as Tragedy in Steve Chimombo's Writing
Robert Nathan: "The Religion of the Dream": Colonial Myths and the Epistemology of Power in Alain Mabanckou's Bleu blanc rouge
Creative Writing
Wumi Raji: Born to Run
Nick Tembo: Three Poems
Reviews
Gordon Collier: Up Jumped a Jumbie
Tosin Gbogi: Destructive Deluge
Books Received
Notes on Contributors
Notes for Contributors