Research Catalog

Title

West Africa : word, symbol, song / edited by Gus Casely-Hayford, Janet Topp Fargion and Marion Wallace.

Publication

• London : British Library, 2015.
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Casely-Hayford, Gus
• Topp Fargion, Janet, 1963-
• Wallace, Marion
• British Library, issuing body, host institution.

Description

160 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color); 28 cm

Summary

"This bold, challenging and celebratory new book accompanies a major exhibition at the British Library - the first in the UK to explore in such detail the vibrant cultural history of this complex and compelling region. The authors explain how West Africans have profoundly shaped their own histories, focusing in particular on their profound and engaging literary culture, exploring the region's centuries-old written heritage alongside its even older oral traditions. The book ranges across a millennium of history, from the great empires of the middle ages through colonialism, resistance and independence to contemporary life and culture. Writers, scholars and artists have harnessed the power of words to build societies, to make political statements, to communicate faith, to fight injustice and enslavement, and to respond to the experience of diaspora. Today, West Africa is experiencing an outpouring of creativity in a variety of media. In this richly illustrated book, leading international scholars of music, literature, history and anthropology offer a unique insight into the stories of West African societies past and present."--

Subject

• British Library > Exhibitions
• British Library
• African literature > History and criticism > Exhibitions
• Oral tradition > Africa, West > Exhibitions
• African literature > Exhibitions
• African literature
• Civilization
• Oral tradition
• Songs
• Africa, West > Songs and music > Exhibitions
• Africa, West > Civilization > Exhibitions
• West Africa

Genre/Form

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• Exhibition catalogs.
• Songs and music.

Note

• Published on the occasion of an exhibition of the same name, held at the British Library October 16, 2015-February 16, 2016.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-157) and index.

Contents

Building : narrative and knowledge in precolonial West Africa / Gus Casely-Hayford -- Spirit : histories of religion and the word / Insa Nolte -- Crossings : word and music across the Atlantic / Lucy Durán, Janet Topp Fargion and Marion Wallace -- Speaking out : dissent and creativity in the colonial era and beyond / Karin Barber and Stephanie Newell -- Making : the West African imagination since independence / Pius Adesanmi.

Call Number

Sc F 23-267

ISBN

• 9780712309899
• 0712309896

OCLC

917360947

Title

West Africa : word, symbol, song / edited by Gus Casely-Hayford, Janet Topp Fargion and Marion Wallace.

Publisher

London : British Library, 2015.

Copyright Date

©2015

Type of Content

text

still image

cartographic image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-157) and index.

Added Author

Casely-Hayford, Gus, editor.

Topp Fargion, Janet, 1963- editor.

Wallace, Marion, editor.

British Library, issuing body, host institution.

Research Call Number

Sc F 23-267