How To Read A Folktale: The Ibonia Epic From Madagascar
by Lee Haring /
2013 / English / PDF
3.3 MB Download
How to Read a Folktale offers the first English translation of
Ibonia, a spellbinding tale of old Madagascar. Ibonia is a folktale
on epic scale. Much of its plot sounds familiar: a powerful royal
hero attempts to rescue his betrothed from an evil adversary and,
after a series of tests and duels, he and his lover are joyfully
united with a marriage that affirms the royal lineage. These
fairytale elements link Ibonia with European folktales, but the
tale is still very much a product of Madagascar. It contains
African-style praise poetry for the hero; it presents
Indonesian-style riddles and poems; and it inflates the form of
folktale into epic proportions. Recorded when the Malagasy people
were experiencing European contact for the first time, Ibonia
proclaims the power of the ancestors against the foreigner. Through
Ibonia, Lee Haring expertly helps readers to understand the very
nature of folktales. His definitive translation, originally
published in 1994, has now been fully revised to emphasize its
poetic qualities, while his new introduction and detailed notes
give insight into the fascinating imagination and symbols of the
Malagasy. Haring's research connects this exotic narrative with
fundamental questions not only of anthropology but also of literary
criticism. This book is part of our World Oral Literature Series in
conjunction with the World Oral Literature Project.
How to Read a Folktale offers the first English translation of
Ibonia, a spellbinding tale of old Madagascar. Ibonia is a folktale
on epic scale. Much of its plot sounds familiar: a powerful royal
hero attempts to rescue his betrothed from an evil adversary and,
after a series of tests and duels, he and his lover are joyfully
united with a marriage that affirms the royal lineage. These
fairytale elements link Ibonia with European folktales, but the
tale is still very much a product of Madagascar. It contains
African-style praise poetry for the hero; it presents
Indonesian-style riddles and poems; and it inflates the form of
folktale into epic proportions. Recorded when the Malagasy people
were experiencing European contact for the first time, Ibonia
proclaims the power of the ancestors against the foreigner. Through
Ibonia, Lee Haring expertly helps readers to understand the very
nature of folktales. His definitive translation, originally
published in 1994, has now been fully revised to emphasize its
poetic qualities, while his new introduction and detailed notes
give insight into the fascinating imagination and symbols of the
Malagasy. Haring's research connects this exotic narrative with
fundamental questions not only of anthropology but also of literary
criticism. This book is part of our World Oral Literature Series in
conjunction with the World Oral Literature Project.