Is African Oral Literature Literature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9250342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leif Lorentzon (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1-12 |
| Publication date | 2007-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research in African Literatures (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-5210 • E-ISSN: 1527-2044 |
| Publisher | Indiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2979/ral.2007.38.3.1 |
| OpenAlex | W2024989638 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 15 |
Using two books from the 1960s as a point of reference, this paper addresses the literary quality of African oral literature. Both books surprisingly underscore orature's objectives such as propriety as well as quotability, which are discussed together with orature's quality of finalization. The paper finally answers the question in its title, and points to a possible resolution of the comparative dilemma entailed in the varying notions of literature embraced by different cultures and eras
Art · Dilemma · Epistemology · Literary criticism · Literature · Oral literature · Point (geometry) · Quality (philosophy) · Sociology · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics · Mathematics · Media, Communication, and Education · Philosophy
African oral literature
The Epic of Son-Jara
The Distinction of Fiction
Oral Poetry
How to Kill a Dragon
The Path Is Open
Forms of Folklore in Africa
Oral literature in Africa
Quotation in the Constitution of Yor b Oral Texts
Griots and Griottes
The Xhosa Ntsomi
The Epic of Son-Jara
The Epic in Africa
In Search of Sunjata
Verbal Art as Performance1
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |