The Third Bagre: A Myth Revisited - Jack Goody cover
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The Third Bagre: A Myth Revisited - Jack Goody

by Jack Goody

ISBN
9780890892299
Publisher
Carolina Academic Press
Condition
$56.99 one-time purchase · 15% restocking fee on returns

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The Third Bagre: A Myth Revisited Jack Goody ISBN 9780890892299

The Third Bagre explores the nature of myth and long oral recitations in traditional cultures, emphasizing the significance of variation, the structure of thought in oral societies, and the broader patterns of “traditional” life. The Bagre is a lengthy myth associated with a secret society among the LoDagaa people of northern Ghana, and authors Goody and Gandah have documented these recitations over a span of forty years.

This insightful work illuminates the relationship between myth and cognition in early cultures. Myths have often been treated as fixed reflections of oral societies, a perspective that underpins much of the scholarship on “primitive mentalities.” Earlier analyses tended to overemphasize memory as the defining feature of long recitations, largely because transcribing these myths was difficult. However, with the use of tape recorders, the authors were able to capture multiple variations of the Bagre, revealing not merely remarkable memory but the creativity of individual reciters and the diversity of worldviews embedded in the performances. These range from evolutionary to creation narratives, and from theocentric accounts to those emphasizing human agency.

The Third Bagre presents these variations through several versions of the White and Black Bagre. The White Bagre recounts the sequence of initiation rituals spanning several months, while the Black Bagre focuses on the origins of LoDagaa culture and the role of the Bagre performances in addressing human challenges on earth. This volume offers a compelling window into the dynamic interplay of myth, thought, and cultural expression in an oral society.

The Third Bagre: A Myth Revisited Jack Goody ISBN 9780890892299, 978-0890892299 & 9781531010843

Authors
Jack Goody
S.W.D.K. Gandah

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