Oral Literatures: African Perspectives

The course aims at introducing students to the rich oral tradition of African people and communities and to provide them with a critical framework within which it can be analyzed.  The course offers and understanding both of the generic variety within the different cultural traditions in Africa and of the religious beliefs and value systems which have served as the as the basis of this kind of literature. The material discussed comes from the rich folklore material which has been collected among African communities for centuries while its interpretation is based on the latest theories in the field of oral literature and postcolonial studies.