Literary discourse: African folklore

Introduction Folklore is an integral part of African tradition. It constitutes a source of intellectual growth, moral training, and cultural education. Sometimes, folklore employs facts and fictions to carry out effective education. Also, it blends seriousness and humour to discuss issues of concern to society. As students of African Literature, we need to examine folklore in view of its importance in the exploration of the interesting course.

Learning Outcomes After going through this lecture, fellow learners/readers are expected to maximize their understanding of: The meaning of Folklore Characteristics of African Folklore The role of animals in Folklore Examples of Folklore in various African traditions.

Meaning of Folklore Folklore is a type of oral literature, which comprises legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, and customs that constitute the tradition of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics, and people who study folklore are referred to as "folklorists".

The word "folklore" was first used by the English antiquarian William Thoms in a letter published in the London journal THE ATHENAEUM in 1846 (Georges & Jones,1995). However, Folklore has since been subjected to different interpretations or meanings by different literary experts. Some illustrations are as follows:

“Folklore is many things, and it’s almost impossible to define succinctly. It’s both what folklorists study and the name of the discipline they work within. Yes, folklore is folk songs and legends. It’s also quilts, Boy Scout badges, high school marching band initiations, jokes, chain letters, nicknames, holiday food… and many other things you might or might not expect. Folklore exists in cities, suburbs and rural villages, in families, work groups and dormitories.

Folklore is present in many kinds of informal communication, whether verbal (oral and written texts), customary (behaviors, rituals) or material (physical objects). It involves values, traditions, ways of thinking and behaving. It’s about art. It’s about people and the way people learn. It helps us learn who we are and how to make meaning in the world around us.” – Martha C. Sims and Martine Stephens.

“Folklore is a metacultural category used to mark certain genres and practices within modern societies as being not modern. By extension, the word refers to the study of such materials. More specific definitions place folklore on the far side of the various epistemological, aesthetic and technological binary oppositions that distinguish the modern from its presumptive contraries. Folklore therefore typically evokes both repudiation and nostalgia.” – Dorothy Noyes.

“Folklore has four basic meanings. First, it denotes oral narration, rituals, crafts, and other forms of vernacular expressive culture. Second, folklore, or ‘folkloristics,’ names an academic discipline devoted to the study of such phenomena. Third, in everyday usage, folklore sometimes describes colorful ‘folkloric’ phenomena linked to the music, tourist, and fashion industries. Fourth, like myth, folklore can mean falsehood.” – Barbro Klein.

Characteristics of African Folklore African folklore is passed down from generation to generation, and the stories are very important to the traditions and customs of all African people. Tricksters and animals play a common role in African folklore.

The stories are not only entertaining but serve to teach lessons as well, sometimes of a moral value and other times of survival. West Africans have many tales about a wandering trickster spirit who is associated with change and quarrels. In some stories, he is the messenger between the world and the Supreme God.

Among the Fon people of Dahomey (Benin), Legba is the guardian and trickster of crossroads and entrances. He speaks all languages and has the power to remove obstacles and provide opportunities. All ceremonies begin and end with Legba because no communication with the gods can exist without consulting him.

Role of Animals in Folklore African folklore about animal tricksters often describe how helpless creatures manage to outwit fierce animals. One of the most important animal tricksters of West African legends is Anansi, who acts on behalf of the sky god, Nyame. Anansi became the King of All Stories after proving to Nyame that he could trick a jaguar, hornets and a fairy. Anansi is often depicted as a spider, a human or a combination of both.

Other animal tricksters common to African legends include the tortoise and the hare. There are even stories of animals who help humans. According to the San Bushmen, the praying mantis gave them words and fire. The Bambara people of Mali claim that an antelope taught them agriculture.

In other African Legends, animals played an important role in how death came into the world. An example is the tale of the lizard that carried the message of death to mankind or the hyena that severed the rope between heaven and earth. Many stories are based on talking animals with human characteristics, such as greed, jealousy and loneliness. (It is hoped that fellow learners/readers would remember PERSONIFICATION as a figure of speech).

Conclusion Fellow learner/reader, having understood folklore, we need to share among ourselves samples of folklore in our traditions. This is to maximize our intellectual growth and our appetite for literary discourse. Over to you, pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssse!

References Busby, M. (Ed.). (1992). Daughters of Africa: an international anthology of words and writings by women of African descent from the ancient Egyptian to the present. New York: Random House.

Georges, R. A., & Jones, M. O. (1995). Folkloristics: an Introduction. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Gordon, A. A., & Gordon, D. L. (1996). Understanding contemporary Africa, London: Routledge.

Hufford, M. (1991). American folklife: a commonwealth of cultures. Washington: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Irele, A., & Gikandi, S. (Eds.). (2004). The Cambridge history of African and Caribbean literature, (vol. 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Martha C. S., & Stephens, M. (2005). Living Folklore: an introduction to the study of people and their traditions. Logan: Utah State University Press.

Noyes, D. (2004). Folklore. In the social science encyclopedia. (3rd ed.). Adam Kuper,. & Jessica Kuper, (Eds.). New York: Routledge.

By Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo, Lecturer/Editor, Bilingual Free Press