Friday, November 12, 2010

Blog 10 African Fairy Tales

Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe’s presentation was very interesting. I thought that out of all the guest speakers that we have in class so far, he was one of the most entertaining presenters to listen to. When he came to our class you could tell right away that he was going to be very energetic and enthusiastic when telling the class about folktales and story telling in Africa. Another reason why I enjoyed this lecture is because Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe was very interactive with the class, having us sing and dance along with him as he told us his tales. This lecture enriched my knowledge of folk and fairy tales because it gave me a better understanding of how people in Africa look at these tales and why they tell them. The professor told us the reasons that people use these tales were to celebrate wit and their culture, as well as to entertain the people. They teach people values, beliefs, rules, and different taboos. These tales and stories were normally told at night after everyone was done with work. And they wanted everyone to focus only on the voice so they liked to tell them in the dark so people could only listen to the words of the tale. The main thing I learned about these tales are that they bring the African community together, that even now more people use the verbal form of the stories than the written versions. The stories bring the old and young together for bonding time and it gives the people a sense that the community is not lost. 

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