Research Catalog
A spirit of dialogue : incarnations of Ợgbañje, the born-to-die, in African American literature
- Title
- A spirit of dialogue : incarnations of Ợgbañje, the born-to-die, in African American literature / Christopher N. Okonkwo.
- Author
- Okonkwo, Christopher N.
- Publication
- Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [2008], ©2008.
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1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Request in advance | PS153.N5 O38 2008 | Off-site |
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Details
- Description
- xxv, 266 pages; 24 cm
- Summary
- "A groundbreaking study, A Spirit of Dialogue examines through extensive, interdisciplinary research, theory, and close reading the intricate reconstructions, extensions, and resonances of the West African myth of spirit children, the "Born-to-Die," in contemporary African American neo-slave narratives. Arguing that the myth, called "Ogbanje" in Igbo language and "abiku" in Yoruba, has had over thirty years of uncharted presence in African American literature, Okonkwo advances a compelling case absent in extant scholarship."--Jacket.
- Subjects
- English literature
- African Americans > Intellectual life
- Literatur
- 1900-1999
- Nigeria
- Tod > Motiv
- Myth in literature
- African Americans in literature
- Mourning customs in literature
- Death in literature
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- American literature > African American authors > History and criticism
- Schwarze
- English literature > 20th century > History and criticism
- USA
- Animismus > Motiv
- Genre/Form
- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-239) and index.
- Contents
- Introduction: an aesthetic (re)mark on the spirit child -- Ợgbañje and Àbíkú: contexts, conceptualizations, and two West African literary archetypes -- Chinua Achebe, the neo-slave narrative, the nationalist aesthetic, and African American (re)visions of the spirit child -- Of power, protest, and revolution: wild seed and mind of my mind -- Binary nativity, subjectivity, and the wages of (in)fidelity to "origins": The between -- Mediating character, theme, and narration: "Ợgbañje" as hermeneutics in The cattle killing -- Sula, Beloved, and the constructive synchrony of good and evil -- Epilogue: this blues called Ợgbañje.
- ISBN
- 9781572336155
- 1572336153
- LCCN
- 2007038322
- 99982041694
- OCLC
- ocn173218734
- 173218734
- SCSB-5413818
- Owning Institutions
- Columbia University Libraries