Leaf and bone : African praise-poems
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Leaf and bone : African praise-poems
Penguin, c1994
Updated ed
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Originally published: New York : Viking, 1980
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Praise poetry is a mode of verbal celebration that is distinctly African - not uniquely African, for throughout the ages and among all peoples, poetry has been uttered and written in tribute to singular existences. But in Africa praising is ubiquitous, a cultural institution cutting across ethnic differences, and expressing a profound humanism grounded in inter-relationships. All the poems in this book were originally "performances". Some praises are of individuals, others are more concerned with the family or clan. Plants and animals, even bicycles and trains are also addressed. Many praises are lively descriptions intended to elicit from the subject some service to the human community. By paying close attention to the way these praises present themselves as poetry on the printed page (rendering their imagery and rhythms as precisely as possible in English while retaining their African idiom), and by annotating the poems to make their cultural references intelligible, Dr Judith Gleason has brought traditional Africa into focus for the general reader, to whom the continent remains all too dark and hazy.
There is African humour in action, there is the delicacy with which African poets have traditionally perceived the things of this world, there is the respect these poets feel for themselves and for others there are the hopes and despairs all people live through on whatever continent.
by "Nielsen BookData"