Joan Anim-Addo, Imoinda

Marl'ene Edwin (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
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Joan Anim-Addo’s libretto was first published in 2003 as a bi-lingual edition (English and Italian) titled

Imoinda: Or She Who Will Lose Her Name – A Play for Twelve Voices in Three Acts/Imoinda, colei Che Perder Il Nome – Opera dodici voci in tre atti 

(translated by Giovanna Covi & Chiara Pedrotti). A single language edition was published in 2008 by Mango Publishing and all further references will use the shortened title of

Imoinda

.

Imoinda is a play for twelve voices in three acts and is a re-writing of Aphra Behn’s (the first English female playwright) novella Oroonoko (1688).  In Behn’s novella Imoinda is silenced and Anim-Addo’s rewriting places Imoinda at the centre of her libretto giving voice to the silenced black female. Act one consists of eight scenes portraying

2382 words

Citation: Edwin, Marl'ene. "Imoinda". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 December 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38888, accessed 23 November 2024.]

38888 Imoinda 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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