A Dictionary Of African Mythology: The Mythmaker As Storyteller by Scheub

A Dictionary Of African Mythology: The Mythmaker As Storyteller by Scheub

This collection of fascinating and revealing tales captures the sprawling diversity of African mythology. Four hundred alphabetically arranged entries touch on virtually every aspect of African religious belief, from Africa's great epic themes (dualistic gods, divine tricksters, creator gods, and heroes) to descriptions of major mythic systems (the Dogon, the Asante, and the San) and beyond. Scheub covers the entire continent, from the mouth of the Nile to the shores of the Cape of Good Hope, including North African as well as sub-Saharan cultures. His retellings provide information about the respective belief system, the main characters, and related stories or variants. Perhaps most important, Scheub emphasizes the role of mythmaker as storyteller--as a performer for an audience. He studies various techniques, from the rhythmic movements of a Zulu mythmaker's hands to the way a storyteller will play on the familiar context of other myths within her cultural context. An invaluable bridge to the richly diverse oral cultures of Africa, this collection uncovers a place where story and storyteller, tradition and performance, all merge.

Nongenile Masithathu Zenani lived in the Ciskei homeland of southeastern South Africa. She met Harold Scheub in 1967 and worked with him at various times during the next fifteen years. Harold Scheub is professor of African languages and literature at the University of Wisconsin Madison. His books include The African Storyteller, African Images, and The Xhosa Ntsomi. In his efforts to collect African stories, poems, and oral histories, he has walked more than 6,000 miles through South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho, recording some 10,000 narratives on audio tape and film.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195124576
ISBN 10	019512457X
Title	A Dictionary Of African Mythology: The Mythmaker As Storyteller
Author	Scheub
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2002-04-11
Number of pages	384
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.