Yoruba Trickster Tales

Oyekan Owomoyela

U of Nebraska Press, Jan 1, 1997 - Social Science - 218 pages

Yoruba Trickster Tales comes out of the tradition of evening storytelling, a popular form of entertainment in traditional African societies. A favorite genre among these folktales is the trickster tale, variations of which are found in many cultures around the world. Among the Yoruba of West Africa (mostly in western Nigeria but also in neighboring Benin), the trickster character is Ajapa, the tortoise. In this volume Oyekan Owomoyela offers a representative gathering of twenty-three Yoruba trickster tales. Ajapa is notable for his strikingly human habits, abilities, weaknesses, moods, and disposition. In the course of the stories, we discover various sides of Ajapa's character. He is mischievous, cunning, lazy, tight-fisted, greedy, and, alternately, highly intelligent and preposterously gullible. As we read through these entertaining stories, we gain a many-sided view of this fascinating character and the spirited world in which he lives.

Contents

• Àjàpá and Elédè the Pig: 3
• Àjàpá and Òjòlá the Royal Python: 17
• APPETITE: 27
• Àjàpá and the Akàrà Hawker: 41
• Àjàpá and the RoastedPeanut Seller: 47
• Àjàpá Ajá the Dog and the Yams: 83
• Àjàpá and Bola the Mute Princess: 94
• Àjàpá and the Playful Children: 145
• Àjàpá Ajá the Dog and the Princess: 193
• Àjàpá and the Bounteous Ladle: 203
• Glossary: 217

About the author

Oyekan Owomoyela is a professor of English at the University of Nebraska and a popular teller of trickster tales. He is the author of African Literatures: An Introduction and the editor of A History of Twentieth-Century African Literatures (Nebraska 1993).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Yoruba Trickster Tales; Bison books
• Author: Oyekan Owomoyela
• Publisher: U of Nebraska Press, 1997
• ISBN: 0803286112, 9780803286115
• Length: 218 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; History / Africa / General; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology