"Belcher's volume contains a much needed and extremely well-integrated overview and discussion of a vast inter-related West African culture complex that deserve

It seems incredible that heretofore there has not been an introductory anthology of African epics presented in English. Western literary culture has long emphas

" . . . a major addition to the literature on oral traditions." —Journal of Religion in Africa This 750-year-old epic celebrates the exploits of the legendary

Gathering a wide range of traditional African myths, this compelling new collection offers tales of heroes battling mighty serpents and monstrous birds, brutal

There exists a strong tendency within Western literary criticism to either deny the existence of epics in Africa or to see African literatures as exotic copies