Publication

1997 - University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb, Nebraska

Language

English

Word Count

54,500 words, Guess

Page Count

218 pages

Identifiers

and 2 more
  • Goodreads3517028
  • LibraryThing2865787

Classifications

  • DDC398.2/08996333
  • LCCGR351.32.Y56 O86 1997

Description

Yoruba Trickster Tales comes out of the tradition of evening storytelling, a popular form of entertainment in traditional African societies. A favorite genre among these folktales is the trickster tale, variations of which are found in many cultures around the world. Among the Yoruba of West Africa (mostly in western Nigeria but also in neighboring Benin), the trickster character is Ajapa, the tortoise. In this volume Oyekan Owomoyela offers a representative gathering of twenty-three Yoruba trickster tales. Ajapa is notable for his strikingly human habits, abilities, weaknesses, moods, and disposition. In the course of the stories, we discover various sides of Ajapa's character. He is mischievous, cunning, lazy, tight-fisted, greedy, and, alternately, highly intelligent and preposterously gullible. As we read through these entertaining stories, we gain a many-sided view of this fascinating character and the spirited world in which he lives.

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