Limba Stories and Story-Telling

by Ruth Finnegan

Overview

The Limba are rice farmers living in the hills of northern Sierra Leone who have, until recently, been somewhat despised by their neighbours. Yet they possess a subtle and fascinating literature, as illustrated by this detailed study of their stories, collected and translated by Dr. Finnegan. Their literary and artistic value emerges clearly when the significance of their 'oral' character is realized. The introductory chapters full consider such points as the importance of the actual delivery, the part played by the story-teller, and the changing forms arising from the originality of individual narrators. The book throws light on the general study of oral composition and performance as well as on the literary spirit of a previously unstudied West African people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532645051
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	05/16/2018
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ruth Finnegan OBE, FBA, Emeritus Professor Open University. Her work has mainly been on oral performance, narrative, the ethnography of music, and communicating (including extra-sensory perception). Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa, The Hidden Musicians, Communicating: the Multiple Modes of Human Communication, Why Do We Quote? and, most recently, the novels Black Inked Pearl, Voyage of Pearl of the Seas, and The Helix Pearl. Born in Ireland, she now lives in Old Bletchley, southern England.

Table of Contents

Preface V

Acknowledgements IX

Part I Limba Life and Story-Telling

1 The Limb

1 Introductory 3

2 Limba villages 4

3 Rice farming 7

4 Chiefs 9

5 Marriage and the family 15

6 Religion 19

2 Limba oral literature and the meaning of 'story' (mboro)

1 Limba artistic expression 25

2 Types and classification of stories 28

3 Other forms of mb&revcipa;r&revcipa; 39

4 The concept of mb&revcipa;r&revcipa; 46

3 Topics and treatment in the stories

1 The setting and general treatment 49

2 The treatment of characters 51

3 The topics of the stories 53

4 Conclusion 62

4 Story-telling

1 Occasions of story-telling 64

2 The audience 66

3 The story-teller 69

4 Style and technique in story-telling 75

5 Style and form 85

5 The genesis of Limba stories 92

1 Individual authorship and tradition 93

2 'New' Limba stories 98

3 The genesis of stories-the Limba view 101

4 General conclusion 102

Part II The Stories

Introductory Note 107

List of Stories 110

Stories About People 113

Stories About Kanu and Origins 231

Stories About Animals 291

Shorter Forms 337

Appendix I Texts with word-for-word translation 341

Appendix II List of narrators 347

Select Bibliographies 351