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Book Cover
E-book
Author Thompson, Katrina Daly, 1975- author

Title Popobawa : Tanzanian talk, global misreadings / Katrina Daly Thompson
Published Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, [2017]

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Contextualizing popobawa -- Voicing expertise and authority -- Talk and believe: how to prevent a popobawa attack in two easy steps -- The butt of a joke -- Queering popobawa -- Women as sexual and discursive agents -- Batman in Africa -- Global metanarratives
Summary Since the 1960s, people on the islands off the coast of Tanzania have talked about being attacked by a mysterious creature called Popobawa, a shapeshifter often described as having an enormous penis. Popobawa's recurring attacks have become a popular subject for stories, conversation, gossip, and humor that has spread far beyond East Africa. Katrina Daly Thompson shows that talk about Popobawa becomes a tool that Swahili speakers use for various creative purposes such as subverting gender segregation, advertising homosexuality, or discussing female sexuality. By situating Popobawa discourse within the social and cultural world of the Swahili Coast as well as the wider world of global popular culture, Thompson demonstrates that uses of this legend are more diverse and complex than previously thought and provides insight into how women and men communicate in a place where taboo, prohibition, and restraint remain powerful cultural forces
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher
Subject Sex customs -- Tanzania -- Zanzibar -- Attitudes
Tanzanians -- Sexual behavior -- Attitudes
Animals, Mythical -- Tanzania -- Zanzibar
Demonology -- Tanzania -- Zanzibar
Public opinion -- Tanzania -- Zanzibar
Swahili language -- Discourse analysis
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Gender Studies.
Animals, Mythical
Demonology
Manners and customs
Public opinion
Swahili language -- Discourse analysis
SUBJECT Zanzibar -- Social life and customs
Subject Tanzania -- Zanzibar
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2016043138
ISBN 9780253024619
0253024617