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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Usishike Shauri la Mwanamke: Irony in Kiswahili Folktales
Author:Njozi, Hamza MustafaISNI
Year:1998
Periodical:Journal of African Cultural Studies
Volume:11
Issue:1
Period:June
Pages:59-71
Language:English
Geographic term:East Africa
Subjects:folk tales
Swahili language
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Education and Oral Traditions
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696819808717826
Abstract:By way of commemorating the centennial anniversary of the publication in 1898 of C. Velten's collection of Kiswahili folktales, 'Märchen und Erzählungen der Suaheli', the present author examines how irony as an artistic device has been used in three of the tales collected by Velten in German East Africa: 'Usishike shauri la mwanamke' (Do not follow the advice of a woman), 'Wanawake watu gani?' (What sort of people are women?') and 'Mfalme na waziri wake' (The chief and his minister). As works of art, and particularly when the artistic device of irony is used, folktales are often capable of having more than one legitimate interpretation. The author submits that the artistry with which the device of irony has been deployed in these tales was by design, and that irony conditions much of their aesthetic effect. App., bibliogr., sum.
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