"The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt
A number of scholarly and critical arguments have explored the poetics of nonfiction, otherwise called life writing, as a sub-genre of prose literature. Against the common expectation of a detailed concentration on facts about the subject (the self or the other) which has made nonfiction to be seen...
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| Language: | English |
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LibraryPress@UF
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Yoruba Studies Review |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130154 |
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| _version_ | 1825206092817235968 |
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| author | Ibrahim A. Odugbemi |
| author_facet | Ibrahim A. Odugbemi |
| author_sort | Ibrahim A. Odugbemi |
| collection | DOAJ |
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A number of scholarly and critical arguments have explored the poetics of nonfiction, otherwise called life writing, as a sub-genre of prose literature. Against the common expectation of a detailed concentration on facts about the subject (the self or the other) which has made nonfiction to be seen in some quarters as a concern of history, such critical arguments have shown that this genre has its peculiar, predominant pattern and structure, which make it arguably a concern of the literary enterprise. A part of such arguments theoretically postulates that nonfiction is a meta-history, based on its identification of some textual and contextual properties and patterns of narration which transform the life account of the self or other into a meta-historical (and not historical) expression, and therefore makes such writing a concern of literature. In extension of this argument, this paper examines Toyin Falola's memoir, A Mouth Sweeter than Salt, as a genre of life writing and, especially, a form of autobiography, by showing how the setting, Ibadan, in its cultural and social formations, is depicted as having contributed to the self-awareness, self-image and identity of the subject, and how this reflection makes the narrative a meta-historical expression.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-899e1f692943443fa765b66657ad031e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2473-4713 2578-692X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | LibraryPress@UF |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Yoruba Studies Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-899e1f692943443fa765b66657ad031e2025-02-07T13:44:39ZengLibraryPress@UFYoruba Studies Review2473-47132578-692X2021-12-0112"The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than SaltIbrahim A. Odugbemi0University of Ibadan A number of scholarly and critical arguments have explored the poetics of nonfiction, otherwise called life writing, as a sub-genre of prose literature. Against the common expectation of a detailed concentration on facts about the subject (the self or the other) which has made nonfiction to be seen in some quarters as a concern of history, such critical arguments have shown that this genre has its peculiar, predominant pattern and structure, which make it arguably a concern of the literary enterprise. A part of such arguments theoretically postulates that nonfiction is a meta-history, based on its identification of some textual and contextual properties and patterns of narration which transform the life account of the self or other into a meta-historical (and not historical) expression, and therefore makes such writing a concern of literature. In extension of this argument, this paper examines Toyin Falola's memoir, A Mouth Sweeter than Salt, as a genre of life writing and, especially, a form of autobiography, by showing how the setting, Ibadan, in its cultural and social formations, is depicted as having contributed to the self-awareness, self-image and identity of the subject, and how this reflection makes the narrative a meta-historical expression. https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130154meta-historycontextual factorsself-writingindependently oriented self and interdependently oriented selfhistoriography |
| spellingShingle | Ibrahim A. Odugbemi "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt Yoruba Studies Review meta-history contextual factors self-writing independently oriented self and interdependently oriented self historiography |
| title | "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt |
| title_full | "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt |
| title_fullStr | "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt |
| title_full_unstemmed | "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt |
| title_short | "The City as Muse": A Context-Oriented Meta-Historical Reading of Toyin Falola's A Mouth Sweeter than Salt |
| title_sort | the city as muse a context oriented meta historical reading of toyin falola s a mouth sweeter than salt |
| topic | meta-history contextual factors self-writing independently oriented self and interdependently oriented self historiography |
| url | https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130154 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ibrahimaodugbemi thecityasmuseacontextorientedmetahistoricalreadingoftoyinfalolasamouthsweeterthansalt |