Blood on the Tides: The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora)

Examines the Ozidi Saga - one of Africa's best-known epics - as an example of oral literature and as a reflection of the specific social and political concerns of the Nigerian Delta. The Ozidi Saga is one of Africa's best known prosimetric epics, set in the Delta region of Nigeria. Blood on the Tides examines the epic - a tale of a warrior and his sorcerer grandmother's revenge upon the assassins who killed her son - both as an example of oral literature and as a reflection of the specific social and political concerns of the Nigerian Delta and the country as a whole. Okpewho examines various iterations of the saga, including a performance of the entire saga in 1963 in Ibadan by the folk artist Okabou Okobolo. This performance was subsequently transcribed, translated, and edited by the renowned Nigerian poet, playwright, and scholar John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo.