what is african storytelling

Full Answer

What is the tradition of storytelling in Africa?

The tradition of African storytelling is one of the most ancient in African culture. Emmanuel Matateyou contends that storytelling is an integral part of the cultural life of the African people in Cameroon. "Storytelling like rhetoric is the exercise of the mind.

What was the most common form of storytelling among African slaves?

The most common form of storytelling among these enslaved people was the folktale. Most African folktales involve animals as the principal characters. In Africa, the stories may have been told about the hyena, lion, elephant, monkey, and trickster Anansi, the spider.

What do you call an African storyteller?

African and African American Storytelling. Each group has its own term to describe the storyteller. In the West, the most common is griot, a French word denoting an expert in oral performance. However, among the Yoruba, the storyteller is called Akewi; called Maroka among the Hausa; and Imbongi among the Xhosa people.

Can Storytelling help black folks represent themselves?

The late Virginia Hamilton, the author of The People Could Fly —a revered children’s book of African American storytelling—said that storytelling was the first opportunity for black folks to represent themselves as anything other than property.

What is an African storyteller called?

They are told by people known as griots (pronounced gree-oh), also known in some cultures as jeliw, who are the narrators of oral traditions. Born into their highly respected position, griots play an important role. As well as being storytellers, they are poets, historians, genealogists, and musicians.

What are some common elements of African storytelling?

There are distinctive narrative elements of African folktales that make them ideal for beginning storytellers. The narrative elements include: a short opening, generalized setting, trickster characters, and plots that move quickly to a satisfying or surprising ending.

What is storytelling explain?

Definition. Storytelling is the vivid description of ideas, beliefs, personal experiences, and life- lessons through stories or narratives that evoke powerful emotions and insights.

Why was storytelling important in early African communities?

Since the beginning of time, storytelling has been an important event in the African and African American communities. Through storytelling, questions were answered, history was conveyed, and lifelong lessons were taught and learned.

Why is storytelling important to culture?

"Storytelling is at the core of culture. It is how histories are passed down, how customs are shared and how traditions become endemic to a group. Shared culture is rooted in a shared tradition of communicating. The stories a group tells meta communicate what a culture values," states Rodriguez.

What is importance of storytelling?

Telling stories is one of the most powerful means that leaders have to influence, teach, and inspire. What makes storytelling so effective for learning? For starters, storytelling forges connections among people, and between people and ideas. Stories convey the culture, history, and values that unite people.

What are the 4 types of storytelling?

Here are four common types of narrative:Linear Narrative. A linear narrative presents the events of the story in the order in which they actually happened. ... Non-linear Narrative. ... Quest Narrative. ... Viewpoint Narrative.

What are the 5 types of storytelling?

The Storyteller's SecretStorytellers who ignite our inner fire. These are the people who inspire us to dream bigger by teaching us to reframe our internal narrative. ... Storytellers who educate. ... Storytellers who simplify. ... Storytellers who motivate. ... Storytellers who launch movements.

What are the 5 modes of storytelling?

Experienced writers understand that structure, in the form of the five narrative modes of fiction, intimately. These narrative modes of fiction are action, dialogue, thought, description, and exposition.

How does storytelling keep culture alive?

Storytelling reflects a culture because stories can be reactions to culture, sometimes critically, or by conveying a different way of thinking or being. Because storytelling is a sophisticated form of communication, stories are often used to convey elements of culture that cannot be described simply.

What is traditional storytelling?

Traditional storytelling involves a narrator transmitting a fixed story to an audience of one or more, employing various verbal tones, physical gestures, and facial expressions to evoke reactions and participation from the audience.

Why do we have African folktales?

Folktales and myths serve as a means of handing down traditions and customs from one generation to the next in Africa. For several generations, stories from Africa have traditionally been passed down by word of mouth.

What is the importance of African storytelling?

African storytelling has been used to interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain cultural values, pass on methods of survival, and to praise God (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1986, Vambe. 2001, Utley 2008, Kunene 2012). The trickster stories are found in many African cultures.

How are animals most often used in African storytelling?

How are animals most often used in African storytelling? They represent people. Which kinds of characters often appear in African folktales?

What are oral traditions in Africa?

The history of Africa is rich with oral tradition. Much of these traditions have been preserved by griots, people who tell tales, speak proverbs and even sing songs to pass down the traditions of their culture. Folktales and proverbs are both examples of African oral traditions.

What is an African griot?

The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African culture. The griots' role has traditionally been to preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their people; praise songs are also part of the griot's repertoire.

Building Background

Students should have some basic knowledge of slavery and its place in the south. While my students were familiar with slavery, many were unaware of the fact that Europeans first transported slaves to the Americas when first settling. So, we spent some time discussing how the Columbian Exchange brought trade to and from Europe and the Americas.

Arts Integration Incorporation

One of the things I love about African culture is the art that this group of people produces. It is some of the most vibrant and beautiful in the world. In the Time of the Drums has magnificent artwork by Brian Pinkney. These illustrations are hauntingly beautiful and tell a story on their own.

Why is storytelling important in Africa?

It reflects social values in a culture that motivate people in their pursuit of a meaningful life . The oral tradition of storytelling makes it possible for a culture to pass knowledge, history, and experiences from one generation to the next. Many cultures in Africa have rituals of oral storytelling. Traditional storytelling in Africa reveals ideas, themes, beliefs, and facts that are widely spread. It discloses conceptions that are unique to a tribe, village, or region. According to Harold Courlander, tribes may be united with a mainstream of African traditions and yet have stories of their own heroes, mythological idols, and unique ancient origins. 1 Storytelling in Africa has been manifested in many ways and was used to serve many purposes. It was used to interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain cultural values, pass on methods of survival, and to praise God.

Why are Africans so good at storytelling?

Africans are rooted in oral cultures and traditions; therefore they have admired good stories and storytellers. Since ancient times, storytelling in the African culture has been a way of passing on traditions, codes of behavior, as well as maintaining social order. Writing had not been developed in ancient Africa, but there were ways for Africans to transmit their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Africans utilized various forms of art, myths and ceremonies. The tradition of African storytelling is one of the most ancient in African culture.

Why are tricksters popular in Yoruba?

The Yoruba find the trickster folktales appealing because they can comment on antisocial behavior. Many children in Yoruba are exposed to Ajapa tales. Ajapa, the tortoise, is the animal trickster among the Yoruba of West Africa. He is the most frequent protagonist of Yoruba folktales. His popularity equals that of Ananse, the spider. Ajapa is known for his mischievous tricks to secure advantage for himself with little or no physical effort or material resources. Ajapa is portrayed as being so lazy that he will not work for a living. In times of scarcity of food, he relies on trickery and the reluctant generosity of some friends to obtain food. Aside from being lazy and greedy, Ajapa refuses to share with any animal. In "Ajapa and Inaki the Baboon," Ajapa reveals his gratuitous defiance.

Where did the Ananse story originate?

Ananse, the spider, is one of the major trickster characters in West African folktales. The Ananse folktales were originally told in Ghana, Africa. Ananse is a Ghanaian name for spider. "Ananse is a complex character who can play a plurality of roles." 11 Sometimes Ananse is personified to bring the story to life. Ananse plays human roles when his deeds are successful. In time of tragedy, especially when Ananse is humiliated, he shows his true image as a real spider. Ananse is characterized as clever, jealous, mischievous, and greedy. His greediness, mischief and trickery can't be outshined. The spider tales have traveled from Africa to the Caribbean Islands. Sometimes the spelling has changed from Ananse to Anansi. There is always a lesson to be learned from Anansi. Some of the Ananse folktales include: "Ananse and Some Strong Animals," "Ananse and the Cows," "Ananse the Daring Messenger," and "Ananse and the Greedy Lion."

Why are African folktales so popular?

Students will be motivated to read West African folktales, since they are amusing, fascinating, and appealing. There are distinctive narrative elements of African folktales that make them ideal for beginning storytellers.

How to recognize elements of a folktale?

Students will recognize the distinctive elements of a folktale by completing story/plot maps, character charts, graphic organizers and retelling a tale. Students will make judgments and inferences about characters, plot and events after viewing African film.

What is storytelling in a story?

2 Storytelling is a shared event with people sitting together, listening, and participating in accounts of past deeds, beliefs, taboos, and myths.

What is the name of the storyteller in Yoruba?

In the West, the most common is griot, a French word denoting an expert in oral performance. However, among the Yoruba, the storyteller is called Akewi; called Maroka among the Hausa; and Imbongi among the Xhosa people.

What are some of the most common stories of African slaves?

The most common form of storytelling among these enslaved people was the folktale. Most African folktales involve animals as the principal characters. In Africa, the stories may have been told about the hyena, lion, elephant, monkey, and trickster Anansi, the spider. Even though the tales retained their basic story lines, the characters changed to match the animal life of this new land. Tales about the lion, elephant, and hyena now featured the rabbit, fox, and bear—the stories we know as the Brer Rabbit tales. These stories entertained the plantation owner, so he saw little problem with allowing this form of activity.

What did the preacher dog confess to?

So, Preacher Dog, he confess to stealing some of the farmer's meat, and Preacher Rooster confess to chasing the chickens. This went on, all the preachers confessing about their human weakness, until it was time to begin the next sessions of preaching. Everybody confessed except Preacher Rabbit. He just sat there.

What did the slaves bring with them on the Middle Passage?

Those who survived the horrors of the Middle Passage, the route traveled by the slave ships across the Atlantic from West Africa to the West Indies and America, brought with them the clothes on their backs and the stories they had listened to and told in the motherland—Africa. And they told those stories.

Why are stories important?

Stories are our friends, our counsellors and our teachers. They are a means of nurturing a moral culture in the hearts and minds of people. They stir the imagination, they bring together people and they break down barriers. It is a tradition we must never lose in the rush to the cities.

Who is the host of I of Africa?

6. Aina Fadina: Fadina executive produces and hosts web-series I of Africa. The web-series celebrates innovative thinkers and tells African inspirational stories. She so far has featured guests from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, United States, England, France, and Germany. CNN named her series one of the top 8 African web-series to watch. She started the show after realizing that no one was telling the stories of Africans doing compelling things.

Who is the Kenyan film director?

5. Wanuri Kahiu : Kenyan film director Kahiu has received multiple awards and nominations for her films. In 2009, she bagged a total of twelve nominations and earned five awards for From a Whisper at the 2009 AMAA. According to CNN, she is “ one of Africa’s most aspirant directors, being part of a new, vibrant crop of talents representing contemporary African culture .” She also directed Pumzi and Homecoming.

How does the single story foundation change stereotypes?

We seek to change the stereotype through visual art, literature, and performing art. At The Single Story Foundation, we believe that storytelling is one of the ways we can fix the damage caused by Western storytelling.

How is storytelling used in African communities?

The African oral tradition of storytelling will be used to share stories of African participants and their communities’ employment experiences . Gbadegesin (1984) argues that the history of a people is re-constructed through oral testimonies and cultural data supplied by individuals or communities, which is basic for future construction, using oral means of transmission. The use of storytelling as an African paradigm has the benefit of empowering African communities in New Zealand as they share their personal and collective employment-related experiences and also suggest solutions to these related-challenges (McAdams 1993).

Why is African storytelling important?

The significance of African storytelling as a methodology in this research is appropriate because as individual participants and focus group members share their stories and testimonies regarding employment-related experiences, they will be expressing their views, thoughts, feelings and experiences in a way they are familiar with (Gbadegesin, 1984). As the function of storytelling has been identified as mediating and transmitting of knowledge and information across generations, about the culture, worldviews, morals and expectations, norms and values, it will be more appropriate to use it (storytelling) in this research as Africans share their employment-related experiences in New Zealand (Kouyate 1989, Alidou 2002).

What is the African oral tradition?

The African oral tradition of storytelling or framework is a genre of thought and knowledge created out of experience rooted in the cultural image and interest of the people of African descent. The basis of this tradition/framework is grounded in an African worldview (Carroll 2008). These worldviews and values play a pivotal role in the storytelling role of African communities as they narrate their employment-related experiences in New Zealand (Kambon 1992, Bishop 1998). Schiele (2000) stated that some of the dimensions of the African-centred worldview are spirituality, oral tradition, harmony, rhythm, stylistic expressiveness, interpersonal orientation and communalism. These dimensions also determine how the African communities will tell their stories and testimonies on the lived employment-experiences in New Zealand (Dixon 1976, Owens-Moore 1996).

What is traditional knowledge?

"Traditional knowledge" refers to a body of knowledge which is grounded in the traditional way of life of Indigenous peoples and is often characterized by local knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1982, Legat 1991). Traditional knowledge includes cosmologies, spirituality, relationships with the natural environment and the use of natural resources of a people. It is expressed through stories, language, social organization, values, institutions and laws (Legat, 1991).

What is the lesson of African storytelling?

The main lesson behind these oral African stories is to teach and impact principles of morality and provide youngster with a sense of identity and belonging. The young people will learn valuable lessons about life (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1982, Utley 2008). African storytelling has been used to interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain cultural values, pass on methods of survival, and to praise God (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1986, Vambe. 2001, Utley 2008, Kunene 2012).

What does Chinua Achebe say about stories?

It entertains, it informs and it instructs. The stories support and reinforce the basic doctrines of a culture. The storyteller would work out and calculate what is right and what is wrong, what is courageous and what is cowardly, and turns it into a vibrant story (Achebe 1987).

What are the characteristics of African storytelling?

The uniqueness of African storytelling is enshrined in its distinctive ability to provide entertainment, to satisfy the curiosities of the African people, and to teach and impact important moral lessons about everyday life (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1986, Utley 2008). Repetition of the language, rhythm and gesture are important characteristics of African oral storytelling (Matateyou 1997). Storytellers repeat words, phrases, gestures and verses or stanzas. The utilisation of repetition techniques makes it easy to understand and recall the stories from memory. When the audience is familiar with the stories, they actively participate as they learn important aspects of their culture (Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1986, Utley 2008).

Why is storytelling important?

It wasn’t just illegal, but could be deadly for the slave. But story is as essential to the human spirit as breathing. Slaves knew that telling story was the only way they could bear witness to what they’d been through. They knew that they didn’t dare write their story down, or read someone’s story, but the only freedom they had was to speak it.

Who said the movement without storytelling is like birds without wings?

As Congressman John Lewis, a standard bearer of the civil rights movement and equity in this country, says, “The movement without storytelling, is like birds without wings.”. Black folks come from a long line of storytellers, and we seek out the stories that shed light on who we are in this country. We have learned how to tell the story as it came ...

Does the brain make a distinction between reading and hearing a story?

One study recently published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience suggests that the brain doesn’t make a distinction between reading and hearing a story , or even experiencing it in real life. I believe that. When we read books, both fiction and nonfiction, by black authors, the best ones flow like oral narrative.

Is storytelling measured by response?

Good storytelling in my community is measured by the response. You know you made your point only by the reaction or lack thereof. Yes, we’ve been through some things. Presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris was there, telling us how she got to stand as one of the few black woman to run since Shirley Chisholm.

Introduction

Rationale

Objectives

• Visual Art
  One of the things I love about African culture is the art that this group of people produces. It is some of the most vibrant and beautiful in the world. In the Time of the Drumshas magnificent artwork by Brian Pinkney. These illustrations are hauntingly beautiful and tell a story on their ow…
• Drama
  Storytelling is a beautiful, often forgotten, art. This story focuses so much on the importance of oral tradition and carrying on culture that it is really a shame I did not have time to do it justice. 1. The ArtsIntegration.com site has so many resources on storytelling, all it takes is a simple searc…

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African Storytelling

The Role of The African Storyteller

Animal Trickster Tales

Animal Tricksters

• Africans are rooted in oral cultures and traditions; therefore they have admired good stories and storytellers. Since ancient times, storytelling in the African culture has been a way of passing on traditions, codes of behavior, as well as maintaining social order. Writing had not been developed in ancient Africa, but there were ways for Africans t...

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Strategies

Classroom Activities

Appendix A: Implementing District Standards