The Trickster in West Africa: A Study of Mythic Irony and Sacred Delight

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University of California Press, Sep 21, 1989 - Religion - 312 pages
The trickster appears in the myths and folktales of nearly every traditional society. Robert Pelton examines Ashanti, Fon, Yoruba, and Dogon trickster-figures in their social and mythical contexts and in light of contemporary thought, exploring the way the trickster links animality and ritual transformation; culture, sex, and laughter; cosmic process and personal history; divination and social change.

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Contents

Interpreting the Trickster
1
Spinner of Ashanti Doubleness
25
Master of the Fon Dialectic
71
Writers of Destiny
113
Lord of the Random
164
Toward a Theory of the Trickster
223
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About the author (1989)

Robert D. Pelton is a Roman Catholic priest, a member of Madonna House Apostolate.

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