A Spirit of Dialogue: Incarnations of Ogbanje the Born-to-Die, in African American Literature
A groundbreaking study, A Spirit of Dialogue examines through extensive, interdisciplinary research, theory, and close reading the intricate reconstructions, extensions, and resonances of the West African myth of spirit children, the “Born-to-Die,” in contemporary African American neo-slave narratives. Arguing that the myth, called “Ogbañje” in Igbo language and “àbíkú” in Yoruba, has had over thirty years of uncharted presence in African American literature, Okonkwo advances a compelling...
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Acknowledgments ixNote on Orthography xiIntroduction: An Aesthetic (Re)Mark on the Spirit Child xiiiO'gbanje and Abiku: Contexts, Conceptualizations, and Two West African Literary Archetypes 1Chinua Achebe, the Neo-Slave Narrative, the Nationalist Aesthetic, and African American (Re)Visions of the Spirit Child 25Of Power, Protest, and Revolution: Wild Seed and Mind of My Mind 59Binary Nativity, Subjectivity, and the Wages of (In)Fidelity to "Origins": The Between 89Mediating Character, Theme, and Narration: "O'gbanje" as Hermeneutics in The Cattle Killing 111Sula, Beloved, and the Constructive Synchrony of Good and Evil 139Epilogue: This Blues Called O'gbanje 169Notes 179Bibliography 211Index 239
