Oral Literature in Africa

Ruth Finnegan’s Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan’s ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, “drum language” and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. As with all Open Book publications, this entire book can be read for free online. It is also available as a free pdf and ebook download, thanks to generous donations from supporters using the crowd-funding website Unglue.it. In addition, there is a free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s. All these digital extras are hosted by the World Oral Literature Project and available from the publisher’s website or at: http://www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and the World Oral Literature Project.