Publication details
Overcoming the Constraints of Narrative Traditions
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The aim of the presentation was to discuss the narrative technique of the African author Amos Tutuola and his use of various linguistic and stylistic features in his novels My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads' Town. The debate was based on the juxtaposition of the two seemingly opposing elements – the traditional narrativeness of African folk-tales with their characteristics typical of oral transmission, and the incorporation of modern elements into those tradition-oriented stories. Although many modern features of contemporary Africa were formed under the influence of European colonial expansion, it does not automatically form inauthenticity of experience in contemporary African environment. In this respect, the analysis of Tutuola's texts is representative of the current developments in postcolonial studies in the increasingly interconnected globalized world. |