Description
Book SynopsisA collection of over five thousand Yoruban proverbs arranged according to theme. It includes an introduction, which provides a framework and description of Yoruba cultural beliefs, the proverbs are arranged by theme into five sections: the good person; the fortunate person; relationships; human nature; rights and responsibilities; and truisms.
Trade Review“Obviously aimed at the specialist, it nevertheless also offers the casual reader considerable rewards. It’s not an inexpensive volume, but it’s a bargain for what it, in many respects, a monumental achievement.”—
Complete Review"When it comes to the correct usage of Yoruba proverbs, Mr. Owomoyela should know."—
Chronicle of Higher Education“This gigantic collection contains 5,235 Yoruba proverbs, their English translations, excellent brief annotations on usage and contexts, and a 38-page introduction! The tome also comes with a companion website . . . of even more proverbs. Readers will find in the book, preceded by two earlier proverb collections and one trickster tales compilation, a truly majestic culmination of Oyekan Owomoyela’s four-decade long labor at constructing a formidable textual archive of Yoruba oral literatures. . . . The size of this collection . . . attests to Owomoyela’s preeminence in proverb studies. The elephant of contemporary proverb scholarship has rustled the bush again, and only an incompetent liar or a malicious euphemist would report after perusing this book that he has merely ‘caught a fleeting glimpse of something’ in the forest of African proverb studies.”—Adeleke Adeeko,
Research in African Literatures
