Recreating Words, Reshaping Worlds: The Verbal Art of Women from Niger, Mali, and Senegal

by Aissata Sidikou

This ground-breaking book examines the verbal art of women from three Sahelian societies. It relates West African women’s voices to a broader literary, political, and cultural context and succeeds in crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. In her book, Sidikou argues that through verbal art women create a ritual space that serves as the locus of both their creativity and their efforts to negotiate power as well as to affirm their own selfhood. By offering a new way of approaching oral literature in West Africa, this study re-thinks verbal art by and about women. It also debunks assumptions about African women by suggesting a re-vision of what has been written about them. This significant and unique study will have a tremendous impact on research and teaching in general and will make a strong contribution not only to African studies, but to cultural studies, feminism, theory, and education.

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000