Malawian Oral Literature: The Aesthetics of Indigenous Arts The first edition of Malawian Oral Literature was seminal in the study of oral literature, giving a truly indigenous theoretical framework for the study of Malawi’s oral literature, which could be replicated for other Bantu language cultures. Despite the fact that the text was first published more than 30 years ago, the theory and related studies herein remain remarkably current. For example, the trickster and the dupe continue to appear in news stories, both local and international, in different forms and environments, from politics to finance, as well as literature.