A Current Bibliography on African Affairs - Baywood Publishing

350 / A CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHY ON AFRICAN AFFAIRS
1143. Osaaji, M. G. SUBVERSION OF PATRIARCHAL IDEOLOGY: A CASE
STUDY OF MAGDALENE, A WOMAN ORAL NARRATIVE PERFORMER FROM
THE SAMBURU OF KENYA. Research in African Literatures. 2009, 40(1):19-26.
This paper is based on narrative performances collected in research by students of the
University of Nairobi under the guidance of their lecturers. The fieldwork was conducted in
February 2005 among nomadic communities in northern Kenya. The main thrust of the
paper is to explore how Magdalene, a woman narrator, subverts the dominant masculine
ideology inherent in the structure and orientation of oral narratives. The paper identifies the
discrete and subtle ways in which the narrator seeks to undermine the manifest inclination
of oral narratives towards male dominance.
1144. Potgieter, F. THEORISING SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE IN SOUTH
AFRICAN TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS. de arte. 2008, 78:18-32.
An overview of current television advertisements suggests that the pre- and post-1994
endeavour to engage directly and explicitly with the differences that constitute this rainbow
nation seem to be declining. I find this unfortunate as we are, after all, still a divided nation
where pretending otherwise does not solve problems. Furthermore, advertisements that
engage with differences are, as argued, often artistically creative and exciting, whereas
those that are predicated on human sameness tend to be tired and predictable. This article
also argues that advertisements that exploit human sameness are generally speaking more
morally dubious than those that engage with human differences.
1145. Stoeltje, B. J. ASANTE TRADITIONS AND FEMALE SELF-ASSERTION:
SISTER ABENA’S NARRATIVE. Research in African Literatures. 2009, 40(1):27-41.
Exploring the relationship between narrative and conflict, this study takes as its subject
the narrative of one individual woman in Kumasi, Ghana. In her account, she narrates the
situation in which her former boyfriend places a curse on her, and the process she followed
in order to revoke the curse. Utilizing Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of a dialogic process and
recent work on the representation of conflict in narrative, the paper examines the
significance of narrative in shaping social life. Specifically, it identifies the link between
the performance of oral traditions, narrative in particular, and traditional institutions. It also
reveals the process by which one genre links to another, moving the process forward, and it
explores how experience is communicated and conflict interpreted and resolved through
the performance of narrative.
1146. Tadjo, V. PUBLISHING CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN FRANCOPHONE WEST
AFRICA. Mousaion Special Issue. 2008, 192-204.
This article focuses on the production of children’s books in francophone West Africa. It
starts by defining the meaning of “francophone” and, by extension, of “francophonie.” It
also addresses the language issue in relation to French in Africa. It questions the
commercial viability of the publishing industry in francophone Africa, as the main French
companies remain strongly entrenched in local markets, through their branches and their
control of the lucrative textbook industry. There is no reciprocity, as books published on the
African continent can seldom be found abroad. However, books for children seem to have
found a niche.