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African-American Proverbs in Context. By Sw. Anand Prahlad. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Pp. xiv + 292, preface, appendix, notes, references, index.)
Sw. Anand Prahlad's African-American Proverbs in Context builds on the best work done so far in the study of proverbs, in general, and of African American proverbs, specifically. More importandy, this study provides a well-crafted approach that I think will inspire further work. Combined with an overview of pertinent scholarship, the book offers comprehensive theory balanced with fieldwork. Prahlad provides a structure for a contextual analysis of proverbs that will aid many in this field of study.
The opening chapter reviews past African American proverb studies, then introduces a blueprint for a more context-sensitive investigation of proverb use and function. Divided into two parts, the body of the book demonstrates the flexibility and effectiveness of Prahlad's theories. In the first section, he applies them to WPA records of interviews with ex-slaves, then to blues lyrics. The second section is devoted to analysis of materials gleaned from either Prahlad's fieldwork or the Folklore Archives at the University of California, Berkeley.
Some of Prahlad's theoretical suggestions may strike readers as new, but he grounds them thoroughly in the context of past studies. Following the direction of recent work in proverb studies, he focuses on the "creativity of proverbial usage and ... the opinion that proverbs should be considered creative performances rather than merely quotations" (p. 5). He...