The Context and Poetics of Kasena Dirges and War Songs

Oral traditions have served as torch stones for great literary expressions. In recent times however, many oral traditions are dying or perhaps dead entirely as no efforts are made to document or study them. In The Context and poetics of Kasena Dirges and War Songs, Asangba Reginald Taluah, a performance poet by tradition and scholar by profession undertakes an in-depth analysis of dirges and war songs of the Kasena of North Eastern Ghana. In both a descriptive and analytic approach, Taluah identifies the significant role of dirges and war songs amongst the Kasena and draws a comparative analysis of some notable dirges and war songs in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. A literary analysis is also undertaken to prove the creative inventiveness of the texts and the contexts that shape their mode of expression. An inextricable link between context and poetics is established and a Matrix of Orature proposed. The genius of this book lies in the fact that it draws liberally from diverse theories and approaches of critics of Orature.