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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The significance of deception in the Liongo epic |
Author: | Mbele, Joseph L. |
Year: | 1997 |
Periodical: | Kiswahili (ISSN 0856-048X) |
Volume: | 60 |
Pages: | 7-14 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Kenya East Africa |
Subjects: | Swahili epics (form) literature Swahili literature Deception in literature |
Abstract: | The Liongo epic originated and flourished on the northern Kenya coast. The evidence that constitutes the main themes and outlines of this epic became available to outsiders between 1870 and 1928. Focusing on the Liongo tradition as told by the Swahili, rather than the Pokomo and others, the present author explores a motif which plays an important part in the Liongo epic, deception. Not only do both hero and villain resort to deception in their efforts to realize their different aims, but deception is also an indispensable element of the plot, a bound motif. In addition, the use of deception by both hero and villain raises fundamental questions concerning the nature and meaning of heroism in the epic, as well as the relationship between hero, trickster, and villain. Ref. |