What was the purpose of African folktales in African culture?

African folktales are believed to have the power to hold the community together: the ancestors, the living, and those not yet born. They serve to communicate morals and traditions to the young in preparation of life’s obstacles.

What are African folktales?

An African Folktale is an adaptation of a traditional tale told by the Efik people of southeastern Nigeria about why the sun and the moon live in the sky. Briefly, it goes like this: “Long ago, the Sun and the Water lived together in friendship on earth.

What are some famous African folktales?

Illustrated Folktales

• Afiong the Proud Princess.
• Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom.
• Why Antelope Lives in the Bush.
• The Baby Mouse and The Baby Snake.
• The Best Cook With a Sore and the Wise King.
• The Boy Who Wanted to be a Man.
• The Calabash Kids, A Tale from Tanzania.
• The Cheetah and the Lazy Hunter, A Traditional Zulu Story.

What are the 7 categories of African American folklore?

In general, most African-American Folktales fall into one of seven categories: tales of origin, tales of trickery and trouble, tales of triumph over natural or supernatural evils, comic heartwarming tales, tales teaching life lessons, tales of ghosts and spirits, and tales of slaves and their slave-owners.

Why is the African story important to you?

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.

What is the importance of folktales?

Folktales “allow students to experience one of the ways a society develops a sense of moral behavior in its children.”3 Children today can learn from this rich literary heritage, which provides both a window into other cultures, and a mirror that allows viewers to reflect more clearly on aspects of their own culture.

What is the purpose of folktales?

The purpose of folktales is to create a sense of unity in a cultural group. The telling from generation to generation reinforces the group’s identity…

What are 3 examples of folktale?

Some examples of folk tales include:

• “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” – a British story about a girl who breaks into the house of the three bears, tries everything out, and gets scared away.
• “The White Elephant” – a folktale from Asia about how the kind white elephant is treated kindly.

What is the purpose of African American folklore?

This folkore is used by elders to teach family and friends about their collective cultural past. And for African Americans, folklore has played a particularly important part in documenting history too.

What is folktales and its features?

Folktales are usually about ordinary people and everyday life. • The stories include setting, characters, and a problem. • The characters are often flat, representing one particular trait such as cleverness.

What is unique about the function of African sculpture?

Their purposes are very varied; bringing fertility, rain, good harvests; warding off disease, natural calamities, evil spirits; helping with social decisions and judgments; commemorating important events, making political statements.