Pio Zirimu | |
|---|---|
 2022 portrait of Pio Zirimu by Enam Bosokah | |
| Born | Pio Zirimu Uganda |
| Died | 1977 |
| Occupation | Writer, academic |
| Alma mater | Makerere University King's College Budo |
| Notable works | Black Aesthetics: Papers from a Colloquium Held at the University of Nairobi, June, 1971 |
| Spouse | Elvania Namukwaya Zirimu |
Pio Zirimu (died 1977) was a Ugandan linguist, scholar and literary theorist. He is credited with coining the word "orature" as an alternative to the self-contradictory term, "oral literature"[1] used to refer to the non-written expressive African traditions. Zirimu was also central in reforming the literature syllabus at Makerere University to focus on African literature and culture instead of the English canon.[2]
- ^ "Notes towards a Performance Theory of Orature", ohio.edu, 3 September 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ Simon Gikwandi, Evan Mwangi (2013). The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English Since 1945, p. 177. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0231125208.