This latest contribution of the Kenya Oral Literature Association to explorations in oral literature is multi-disciplinary in approach. It includes a wide-ranging selection of papers from twelve Kenyan literary scholars, linguists, educationists, material culture specialists, and historians. The central questions addressed are why oral literature should be taught, what should be included, and how it should be taught. Amongst the topics covered are translation problems, understanding proverbs, oral narrative as discourse, the use of audio visual aids in teaching, general and the politics of control, images of women in African oral literature, the relationship with material culture, and oral literature as part of oral traditions.

A further new title in this series on East African oral literature, considering East African-Indian genres of oral literature and cultures, which developed as people from India/Asia migrated to East Africa. The authors discuss how these literatures have been a source of creativity and renewal; and how they give expression to the values, perceptions and aspirations of cultures. The book is organised into sections on the socio-cultural background and historical origins of the literatures; patterns of migration and settlement in East Africa; styles in Indian literature as preserved in East Africa, common symbols, images and figures of speech; the role of the artist in literary production; and performance of oral literature. The authors further provide and discuss narratives from many genres: e.g. myths, legends, animal tales, moral stories; tales of wisdom and wit; riddles, proverbs and songs. Many passages appear in the original languages, transcribed from primary sources - in particular Gujerati; also Sindhi, Punjabi, Cutchi, Hindi, Kondani - as well as in English translation.

This is the sixth title in a series of titles focussing on the oral literary tradition of various East African ethnic groups - the Maasai, the Embu and the Mbeere amongst others - published by EAEP. Okumba Miruka, particularly known for his contribution to oral literature in Kenya, sets out to contexualise his subject by first explaining about the Luo people and culture - from migratory patterns and economic activity to the concept of divinity, death, warfare and Luo cuisine and eating culture. He then approaches the oral literature of the Luo through the genres of riddles, proverbs, poetry and narratives. For each genre, he offers a general introduction, notes on style, convention, performance and social function, and a wide range of samples, or 'primary texts' with commentaries.

This is a new title from the Kenyan publisher who is publishing works of scholarship on the oral literature of the different groups in Kenya. The background is the rich repository in oral literature of the enduring wisdom and cultural values of the peoples of Africa. Within the proverbs and riddles, oral narratives and songs, philosophical and material cultures are captured and expressed. These ethnic-based oral literature titles seek to preserve this wisdom in the written form. The literature of the Embu and Mbeere of Eastern Kenya is fully explored here by a renowned scholar and writer on oral literature. She covers the historical and cultural background; genres of oral literature and their performance; form and style; and the social functions of oral literature. Literary texts examined are narratives, oral poetry, proverbs, and riddles and puzzles.

The author has undertaken extensive research in oral literature and is the author of A Dictionary of Oral Literature. Here he uses an anthological approach to examine the various genres of oral literature both at the theoretical and analytical level. The anthology emphasises the areas of definition, classification, style and themes. The book is essentially an analysis of the four genres of riddles, proverbs, oral poetry and narratives. It introduces a new way of looking at oral literature, particularly in the case of riddles and proverbs which have received little analytical attention locally in terms of classifying them and discussing their styles and social functions. The author contends that the four genres exist in a continuum rather than as disparate phenomena.

This latest contribution of the Kenya Oral Literature Association to explorations in oral literature is multi-disciplinary in approach. It includes a wide-ranging selection of papers from twelve Kenyan literary scholars, linguists, educationists, material culture specialists, and historians. The central questions addressed are why oral literature should be taught, what should be included, and how it should be taught. Amongst the topics covered are translation problems, understanding proverbs, oral narrative as discourse, the use of audio visual aids in teaching, general and the politics of control, images of women in African oral literature, the relationship with material culture, and oral literature as part of oral traditions.