Dried Millet Breaking: Time, Words, and Song in the Woi Epic of the Kpelle

by Ruth M. Stone

"Dried millet breaking," sung by the bard at the end of one episode of this Woi epic of the Kpelle people of Liberia, represents a formula that breaks the flow of events and introduces the epic's complex temporal scaffolding. Examining the singing, narration, dramatic performance, instrumental accompaniment, and timing of the Woi epic, Ruth M. Stone reveals that the Kpelle show time flux through changing timbres, motion, and spatial metaphors in...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253318181
• ISBN13: 9780253318183
• Release Date: October 1988
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"