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Contribution to Book
The Meaning of the “Meaningless” Refrain in Igbo Folksongs and Storytelling Events
Traditional Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook (1999)
  • Chukwuma Azuonye, University of Massachusetts Boston
Abstract

In this chapter, 'Chukwuma Azuonye...considers possible meanings of the “nonsense” refrains from Igbo folk songs that audiences sing during storytelling events in southeastern Nigeria. He classifies the refrains into eight categories, and concludes (and convinces the reader) that the “meaningless” description given to these refrains is erroneous. Each sound has a definite connotation, symbolic value, or specific meaning' (De Vos, Gail, 2001, Review of Traditional Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook, ed. Margaret Reed Macdonald, Journal of American Folklore, Volume 114, Number 454, Fall, p. 503).

Publication Date
1999
Editor
Margaret Read MacDonald
Publisher
Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers
ISBN
ISBN 1-57958-011-4
Citation Information
Chukwuma Azuonye. "The Meaning of the “Meaningless” Refrain in Igbo Folksongs and Storytelling Events" Chicago and LondonTraditional Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook (1999)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/chukwuma_azuonye/72/