A spirit of dialogue : incarnations of Ợgbañje, the born-to-die, in African American literature /
Okonkwo, Christopher N.
Knoxville, Tenn. : The University of Tennessee Press,
c2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-239) and index.
Introduction: an aesthetic (re)mark on the spirit child -- Ợgbañje and Àbíkú: contexts, conceptualizations, and two West African literary archetypes -- Chinua Achebe, the neo-slave narrative, the nationalist aesthetic, and African American (re)visions of the spirit child -- Of power, protest, and revolution: wild seed and mind of my mind -- Binary nativity, subjectivity, and the wages of (in)fidelity to "origins": The between -- Mediating character, theme, and narration: "Ợgbañje" as hermeneutics in The cattle killing -- Sula, Beloved, and the constructive synchrony of good and evil -- Epilogue: this blues called Ợgbañje.
American literature
English literature
Myth in literature.
Mourning customs in literature.
African Americans
African Americans in literature.
Death in literature.