Papers are invited on the theme ORAL LITERATURE(S) IN THE AGE OF THE NEW MEDIA for presentation (and subsequent publication after review) at a colloquium in honour of Prof. Ademola Dasylva @ 60
Date of programme is 25th October 2012 at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan at 9.00 a.m.
All are invited to attend.
ABOUT PROF. ADEMOLA O DASYLVA Professor Ademola O. Dasylva, poet and biographer, literary theorist and critic co-coordinates the Ibadan Cultural Studies Group. He has sucessfully convened the well attended international Toyin Falola Annual Conference (TOFAC) at the University of Ibadan in 2011 and the 2012 edition co sponsored by CBAAC at Excellence Hotel, Lagos. He was the convener, 2008 Ibadan International Conference on African Literature (IICAL) He is a Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar, Session 374, Austria, 2000.
Prof. Dasylva teaches Drama, Poetry, the African Novel, and Oral Literature/Folklore Studies at the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is currently the Director of General Studies Programme Unit. He was the Acting Head of Department of English, University of Ibadan 1999-2001. He was the project coordinator University of Ibadan Cultural Heritage Museum Project, 2010.
His scholarly publications include Dapo Adelugba on Theatre Practice in Nigeria, Understanding Wole Soyinka: Death and the King's Horseman; Studies in Drama; Classificatory Paradigms in African Oral Narrative (a monograph), and co-edited with Prof. Kola Owolabi Forms and Functions of English and Indigenous Languages in Nigeria; co-authored with Dr. Toyin Jegede, Studies in Poetry. His collection of poems, Songs of Odamolugbe won the 2006 ANA/Cadbury National Award for Poetry. In March 2009,
Prof. Ademola Dasylva won the 2009 Distinguished Africanist Research Excellence Award, University of Texas at Austin, USA. He is widely published in local and international scholarly journals. Prof. Dasylva's teaching interests include African Literature (The African novel, Drama & Poetry), Folklore Studies; Creative Writing; Biographies; Women Studies; Film study; Scholarly Book Publishing
Professor Dasylva is higly respected for his skills as a prolific, efficient, meticulous and caring supervisor of many post graduate students.
He is External Moderator/Examiner (Undergraduate & Postgraduate) Literature, Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.2001-2003; 2006 - .and
External Moderator/Examiner Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. 2008- as well as
External Moderator/Examiner Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria, 2009 -
Prof Dasylva's area of specialization is African literature, oral and written (indigenous and modern in English language expression), including the three major generic forms: drama, poetry and narrative fiction. His research focus has largely been in the area of literary criticism and theorization, in pursuance of his desire for a more appropriate home-grown poetics for indigenous and modern African literature, for the purpose of advancing knowledge in this direction, and in facilitating its accessibility to scholars and students, globally. Prof. Dasylva's contributions to scholarship can be categorized into three distinct and yet interrelated areas: Literary Theory; Literary Criticism; and Book Development in African Literature.
i) Literary Theory
He has succeeded in evolving appropriate canons that facilitate a better understanding of African oral and written literatures through the deployment of indigenous African philosophical hermeneutics. For example, some of his publications are on the devolution of the indigenous concept of the hero and his migratory patterns and phases of transformation in the African novel.
He used the indigenous Yoruba (African) concept of "Kadara/Ayanmo"-Destiny/Fate, to arrive at, and locate, a truly African tragic spirit, and to de-construct the inappropriate transposition of the classical Greek tragedy and tragic hero to the contemporary African drama. One of his publications attempts evolving a home-grown or "alter-Native" taxonomy for the purpose of generating appropriate classificatory paradigms for African oral narrative.Similarly Dasylva evolved the concept of Neo-rationalist theatre.
ii) Criticism
Dasylva is a literary critic who has focused on African oral literature and modern African literature. Dasylva's publications draw attention to the problem of neglect, and possible miscegenation of indigenous African oral performances in view of the alarming mortality rate of the custodians of the tradition; changing values, and modern challenges, including the overwhelming influence of hi-tech multimedia. In the same breath he suggests enduring solutions that are capable of checking the unfortunate trend, and ensuring sustenance, growth, development, and continuity of indigenous sources of oral literature, as well as its performance. This informed his concern for the practice of theatre in Nigeria, which has resulted in the biographical documentation by interviews, as well as direct involvement in May/July 2003, in the assessment of the UNICEF/University of Ibadan Theatre Arts Department commissioned Theatre for Development (TFD) and Child Survival Program (CSP) project. It points to new trends in the Nigerian Theatre. TFD and CSP are carefully designed community-based experimental theatre that fully exploits the resources of oral performance at the grass-root level, for the purpose of disseminating information on government health programmes through entertainment. Dasylva's involvement in the assessment of the project was in recognition of his contributions to African drama and oral performance.
Similarly, his research interests include examination of trends, patterns and extent of transposition and, or adaptation of non-African literary materials by African writers.
iii Development of Scholarly Books
Besides the above Prof. Dasylva has contributed to scholarship through
development of scholarly books on African Literature
Prof. Dasylva is a native of Ado-Ekiti (Ekiti State), of Aduloju family extraction. He had his elementary school education at St Mary's Catholic Church, Ilesa, Osun State. He attended Our Lady & St. Kizito's Catholic Minor Seminary, Ede, Osun State. He has his B.A. Hons, (English) and M.A. (African Literature), University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife. He obtained his Ph.D in African Literature, from Nigeria's premier University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
For further enquiries contact:
Dr. Mobolanle E. Sotunsa Dr. Sola Olorunyomi
Dept. of Languages and Literary Studies Institute of African Studies
Babcock University, Nigeria University of Ibadan
bolasotunsa@yahoo.com whereissola@yahoo.com
+234 7060947611 +234 7038762371
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