African Folk and Fairy Tales


In class on Tuesday, we had the pleasure of having guest speaker Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe! I was very excited when I realized he was going to be telling us stories from his own culture. My favorite story he told happened to be the one where the monkey was throwing the mangoes and coconuts in the water only to make friends with a shark. Kenyan folk and fairy tales are unique because they all (at least the ones he told) were surrounded by nature and animals) instead of princesses and other royalty. Furthermore, the different types of nature and animals were used to teach lessons to the people listening—a lot of times regarding being selfless, kind, and accepting.

Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe said that African orature is a part of people’s ecology, which conveys their communities, origin, and social foundation. He compared folklores/tales to a “fabric” because you cannot unweave the folktale from the culture’s history, geography, music, and religion; they are all intertwined and connected. African folk and fairy tales teach people values and how everything is interconnected between people and people and people and nature. A special detail he stated was that the African environment celebrates wit and quick thinking—he said you can solve many of your problems with it! For example, the monkey and the shark story: the monkey had to think very quickly on its’ toes and lie to the shark, saying its heart was still on the land because monkeys don’t carry their hearts around with them during the day.

Lastly, Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe stated that African folk and fairy tales provide a common understanding of a shared phenomenon; sustain the history of a people/community; share experiences; and try to explain the unexplainable. Written stories are done the moment they are finished, there is no room for them to expand, grow, and adapt like oral stories can. In our society, I believe it is something we are heavily losing, and quickly. Technology is taking over print, which took over oral. I believe that we need to bring back the phenomenon of oral stories, so that it evokes more interconnectedness between family and friends, but also allows for all of the benefits Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe stated in his great presentation.
(below I've provided pictures of Kenyan folk and fairy tales!)
Image result for african folk and fairy tales kenyaImage result for african folk and fairy tales kenyaImage result for african folk and fairy tales kenya

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