📢#OutNow in #OA: '#Folktales of #Mayotte, an #African Island' by Lee Haring, foreword by Mark Turin.
The book uncovers the versatility and literary skills of #oralnarrators in a small #African island. Relying on the researches of three #French #ethnographers who interviewed #storytellers in the 1970s-80s, Lee Haring shows a once-#colonised people using #verbal #art to preserve ancient values in the #postcolonial world, when the island of #Mayotte was transforming itself from a neglected #colony to an overseas department of #France.
The author’s innovation is to read #ethnographic researches as #play scripts—to see printed folktales as accounts of live #performances.
#Literary specialists, #folklore enthusiasts, and people who like #reading stories will find much to appreciate in this engaging and sophisticated book.
Access this OA title for free or get a hard copy at https://openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0315
The book uncovers the versatility and literary skills of oral narrators in a small African island. Relying on the researches of three French ethnographers who interviewed storytellers in the 1970s-80s, Lee Haring shows a once-colonised people using verbal art to preserve ancient values in the postcolonial world, when the island of Mayotte was transforming itself from a neglected colony to an overseas department of France.
And here’s the need for nuance: our concern, as #ethnographers, isn’t mostly about whether or not Herbie Hancock “did something bad”. It’s about the effect and meaning of the ways musicians borrow from one another.
Therein lies #complexity. As in, “it’s complex, not just complicated”.
Things also get tricky when we talk about #RyCooder having an outsized impact on a large #CubanMusic scene, with help from #WimWenders.