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Selected African Literature & Theater Sources

Helpful Information

Contact

Atoma Batoma, PhD
African Studies Bibliographer
323 Library
batoma@illinois.edu

African Studies Internet Portal

Related Pages:

New Africana Books

This web page serves as a research guide for anyone interested in African Literature, Folklore and Theater. The following are electronic resources. To find our collection of print-only resources, click here.

GUIDES AND SURVEYS

  • African folklore : an encyclopedia
  • Written by an international team of experts, the 300 entries provide insight into many facets of African culture and folklore.
  • A dictionary of African mythology : the mythmaker as storyteller
  • Harold Scheub has constructed an invaluable bridge to the richly diverse oral cultures of Africa. In this magnificent collection, he not only provides hundreds of fascinating myths, but recaptures their cultural contexts–in which story and storyteller, tradition and performance, all merge.
  • The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife
  • Volume 1 is on Africa, Australia and Oceania; Southeast Asia, India, Central and East Asia, and the Middle East are in v.2; Europe is found in v.3; and North and South America are the subject of v.4. In addition, v.1 contains a useful series of two- or three-page essays on 39 issues of concern to the field, including antiquarianism, archives, diffusion, gender, hero, hybridity, nativism, race, and trickster. The entries are each devoted to either a people or a specific place, with discussion of topics that can include geography and history, stories, tales, historic tradition, social structure, beliefs, religions, poetry, proverbs, music, dance, food, and the differences found between urban and rural areas … Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
  • Contemporary Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English
    Originally developed for students in his courses at Brown University, Professor George Landow invites contributions to his site.
  • Onshita Market Literature Digital Library of Popular Nigerian Literature
    Hosted by the University of Kansas Library.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

  • “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth literature.” In Journal of Commonwealth Literature.
  • African Language Materials Archive (ALMA)
    The African Language Materials Archive, or ALMA, is a multi-partner project focusing on the promotion and documentation of literature and literacy in the languages of Africa. It further serves to assist African language authors and publishers in publicizing and distributing their work.
  • Reading African Women Writers
    From the University of Western Australia. Includes A Bibliography of Lusophone Women Writers and a Bibliography of Anglophone Women Writers.

INDEXES AND DATABASES

LITERARY BIOGRAPHY, BOOK REVIEWS, AND CRITICISM