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African Folklore & Mythology
African Tales by Harold Scheub — book cover

African Tales

by Harold Scheub
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Overview

The latest work from Harold Scheub, one of the world's leading scholars of African folktales, is the broadest collection yet assembled with tales from the entire continent of Africa, north to south. It brings together mythic, fantastic, and coming-of-age tales, some transcribed more than a hundred years ago, others dating to modern-day Africa. Scheub includes the work of storytellers from major African language groups, as well as many storytellers whose work is not often heard outside of Africa. This anthology offers a classroom-ready collection that should appeal to any scholar of African literature and culture. Realizing that these tales are part of a dying art, Scheub writes for the inner ear in everyone, bringing an oral tradition to life in written form.

About the Author, Harold Scheub

Harold Scheub is the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Humanities in the Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the author of many books, including Story, The Poem in the Story, The Tongue Is Fire: South African Storytellers and Apartheid, and The World and the Word, all published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

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Editorials

KLIATT

Scheub, an expert in the storytellers and the tales of Africa, presents over 40 stories from as many language groups and tribes of the continent. Some tales are short, others lengthy; some are humorous, many quite violent; some are magical, while many are based on the deepest foibles of human nature. As a compiler, Scheub goes to great lengths to capture the tone, rhythm and style of the tellers, many of whom are pictured in the text. His introduction challenges the reader to read as a listener, to bring to the stories a sense of excitement, of drama, and a flair for audience participation like those that first greeted the tales. Recommended for cultural studies. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2005, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 286p. illus. notes. bibliog., Ages 15 to adult.
—Patricia Moore

Book Details

Published
April 29, 2005
Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press
Pages
368
ISBN
9780299209438

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