Odanta through a child's eye: a study on Buchi Emecheta's The Moonlight Bride

An interesting story session often takes its listeners on a journey to an imaginary land where 'good' always prevails over 'evil'. Such stories, generally narrated by elders, reinforce the spiritual values of a particular community by consciously building up its moral strength th...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Unnithan, A Karthika (Author) ; Jayaraman, Harini (Author) ; Priya, M. G. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2019]
In: International journal of children's spirituality
Year: 2019, Volume: 24, Issue: 2, Pages: 202-220
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
BB Indigenous religions
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
Further subjects:B ethnic community living
B Traditional culture
B African patriarchy
B African storytelling
B child narrator
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:An interesting story session often takes its listeners on a journey to an imaginary land where 'good' always prevails over 'evil'. Such stories, generally narrated by elders, reinforce the spiritual values of a particular community by consciously building up its moral strength through its own religious beliefs and practices. However, in Emecheta's The Moonlight Bride, the story is told by the child protagonist Ngbeke and in her responsibility as a griot, the profound spiritual message that she conveys through her story is: 'the most important beauty is the beauty of the heart' (77). The focus of this study will be specifically on Ngbeke and how she explains the cultural traditions of Odanta community to an outside world., In the course of this study, the researcher has understood that the traditional practices of Odanta community is a mixed bag in which a few precious conventional ideals deserve appreciation and assimilation, while a few need to be critically looked at and rejected even, taking the interest of women and children into consideration. Positive values can be inculcated universally in today's world, where community living and its positive effects on people are fast disappearing and losing its value.
ISSN:1469-8455
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1364436X.2019.1619525