Search

The portrayal of sexuality in folktale course-books that are prescribed for secondary school learners in Zimbabwe is indeed a cause for concern. Not much attention, if any, has been given to exploring the portrayal of 'sexuality' especially in ChiShona prescribed course-books. This article qualitatively explored through content and discourse analysis the portrayal of 'sexuality' in folktales prescribed course-books based on an Afrocentric perspective of Unhu and Ubuntu. The study sought to determine whether course-books are an asset or a liability for the socialisation of learners of both genders especially at the critical adolescence stage of development. This undertaking assessed gender attributes, norms, values, and behaviour patterns proffered in school course-books. The examination of the 'sexuality' portrayed in these course-books was based on the assumption that education is value-laden. The gender value inherent in these course-books being a vaccine for the social ills like gender inequalities bedevilling Shona communities. The major finding was that the portrayal of 'sexuality' in the course-books analysed in this study shows that they are more of a liability. The article recommended a gender discourse that evaluates and critically analyses the gender portrayals in the course-books to avoid losing the gender equality milestones achieved so far in Zimbabwe. Contribution: The study examined sexuality sensibilities secondary school learners are exposed to through the authority of folktale prescribed course-books: Hodza's (1983) Ngano Dzamatambidzanwa and Fortune's (ed. 1983) Ngano Volume 4. It adopted the Afrocentric perspective of Unhu and Ubuntu to assess the impact of these instructional materials on the learners' socialisation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Folktales constitute one of the oldest traditional forms of education based on the method of delivery through oral tradition. Among the Yorùbá, folktale is a viable medium for transmission of cultural values, belief, history and philosophy of the community to the younger generation. The fact that African societies’ customs, morals and way of life are ingrained and codified in folktales shows the veracity of the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) embedded therein. This has contributed immensely to appreciating the culture, as well as the African people’s social norms. This study examines the aesthetics and utilitarian essence of African folktales, using four purposively selected Yorùbá folktales as case study. The goal of the paper is to bring the aesthetics and usefulness of African folktales, thus the songs are documented in a staff notation for musical analysis. Data for the study were collected through oral interviews and review of related literature. The selected Yorùbá folktales were examined through a descriptive method. Findings show that the essence of African folktales, as noticed in this present day, is being jettisoned and will soon become extinct by the current realities brought about by globalisation. This has greatly affected the cultural values which African folktales retain, maintain and disseminate. Hence, the need for the revitalization and digitization of African folktales to preserve the indigenous knowledge system deep-rooted in the narratives for future generations. This study concludes that the importance of African folktales would be better understood if properly harnessed, translated and notated from the musicological viewpoint, as it will further popularise the old tradition of storytelling in this modern age.

The Kgolomodumo story is becoming extinct in Sepedi folklore with the risk of losing its deep structure and embedded meaning. Very little, if any, has been performed to determine the relationship between the monsters and cosmology, also revealing how they are used to construct eschatology. In this article, I analyse the story of a monster and explain how monstrosity and the grotesque are used as a discourse to craft, uncover and (re)construct how Bapedi interprets the teleological and eschatological from the tale; Kgolomodumo. The tale is a source of explaining the metaphor of the devouring monster to describe the end of things and messianic eschatology in Sepedi religious conceptions. The story was conveniently chosen from a folklore anthology, Diphekotšabagologolo because it is a threatened textual construct. The interpretation of the tale is both Afrocentric and hermeneutical relying largely on my knowledge of Sepedi culture and folklore; drawing from my insider, self-reflexive engagement after teaching of folklore as indigenous knowledge for the past 30 years. The story is framed within the postcolonial discourse, selecting the Afrocentric lens as a tool to explain and contextualise eschatology within African religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about arts and culture of Zimbabwe. Topics discussed include carving of woven baskets and stools with single piece of wood; talks about Shona sculpture which is fusion of African folklore with European influences; and highlights traditional story writings of Charles Mungoshi whose books are sell in African and European communities.

In spite of its evident presence in Southern Africa's rich cultural heritage, the bird metaphor has received surprisingly little attention. The cultural materials analysed in this article include children's stories, songs, heroic poetry and ethnographic accounts of rites of passage. At first the data seems to suggest that bird symbolism could be interpreted in terms of a simple dual conception of gender identity. Some magical birds signify the prowess and authority of men. Others could be linked symbolically to the procreative powers of women. On further reflection, however, we identified a third category of more ambiguously gendered birds. It is contended that this additional bird type can be explained in terms of the female-male dialectic that shaped gender relations in small-scale societies. It is further proposed tentatively that the bird metaphor could have provided women with a symbolic means to negotiate their identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses several aspects of a /Xam Bushman story in which a man brings home a lion cub and insists that it is a dog. The paper seeks to demonstrate that the text is capable of eliciting a range of important critical questions. It argues that the call to exegesis is inherent in most forms of literature, including those that are often treated as folklore or mythology. The paper suggests that there are several aspects of the story that accord with current critical concerns. It concentrates on just two of these: the tension between character and identity in the text and the different modes of knowledge that are present in it. The paper does not attempt to provide an exhaustive or authoritative analysis of the story. Instead it contends that the interpretative possibilities in /Xam literature are more extensive than some of the ways in which it is read would suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout world folklore, tales of animal trickery such as the West African tales featuring Anancy the Spider showcase the use of cunning and thievery to overwhelm stronger foes. In several such tales, Anancy leads a liminal life on the edges of society, which provides him easy access to communities while allowing him to maintain a safe distance. He uses shape-shifting abilities to fool his opponents or his victims and manipulates language through Signifyin(g) processes to trick his prey or enemy and disrupt social practices. In Black bazar (2009), the Franco-congolese writer Alain Mabanckou draws upon these three trickster strategies to illustrate the complexity of francophone migrant identities in Paris. In so doing, Mabanckou emerges as a master trickster himself who elaborates a new Francophone discourse of migrant identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes the absence of an African presence in Argentinean and Dominican official history, becoming Blacks assimilated into an homogeneous national culture that not only lacks an African perspective but also a gender one. Through a further analysis of the role of women in current social movements, and the elucidation of a symbolic connection to the domestic struggle and resistance from the part of women during Colonial times, it attempts to unveil this paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the constellation of Orion and the cosmic hunt in equatorial Africa. It states that the association of specific constellations with a hunting scene and stories related to hunting is apparent in the folklore of many traditional culture of the Americas and North Central Eurasia. It discusses several subtopics related to Orion constellation and the cosmic hunt in the country including the African cosmic hunts, diffusion of African myths, and the similarities of African and Eurasian-American Cosmic Hunts.

The culture of a people is usually reflected in its folklore. As important constituents of folklore, folktales are consequently expressive of the worldview of a society at some point in time; they convey indicators of the prevailing ideology in a society. Thus, they are suitable sources for an inquiry into gender relations at work in a given social formation, especially when folktales by women are considered. This essay embarks on a listening/reading of such folktales in search of transformational trends in gender relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a single story from the /Xam materials in the Bleek and Lloyd collection. After briefly relating the narrative, I discuss its aetiological implications. Various interpretations of the story are then offered and critiqued. The article proceeds to consider the story in terms of power and agency and to investigate its discursive features: its chain of speaking, the nature of the laughter it presents and its mode of interpellation. This is followed by an examination of identity in the context of the narrative and an investigation into how a /Xam mythic framework plays itself out in the story. The article concludes with a consideration of the story's narrative voice. My discussion of the story aims primarily to show that the structuralist, comparative and functionalist ways in which the /Xam narratives have previously been read have missed much of the play of difference that becomes apparent when the discursive character of the /Xam materials is foregrounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles, named the "Mascareignes" after a Portuguese explorer, are products of an eastward African diaspora, almost invisible in the West except to a few historians. Empty of human population until European exploitation settled them with a few colonists and thousands of slaves from East Africa and Madagascar, their multicultural history demonstrates the astonishing durability of African and Malagasy cultures. Folktales provide the finest window into that history and its values. Through that window, creolization is revealed in its actual occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the significance of the tale of the kind and unkind girls (AT 480) by treating an African example. The ensuing analysis does not pretend to be exhaustive or definitive; experience teaches us that such rich and complex narratives allow for the possibility of multiple levels of interpretation. In the course of previous tale analyses, the theme of initiatory quests repeatedly commanded the author attention. Passage from childhood to adulthood and integration into the social group pose a fundamental problem in the majority of human societies.

Copyright of Revue Française de Sociologie is the property of Presses de Sciences Po and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This review summarizes existing scholarship in order to theorize how Abrahamic religions and Hinduism were influenced by African beliefs, in order to illuminate the contributions that African beliefs have had on other world religions. The review begins with a brief historical overview of the origins of indigenous ideologies, followed by a review of classical theories of religion and a summary of contemporary religious trends, with particular attention on African beliefs. The Black Madonna, with origins in Africa, is a prominent example of how African beliefs have been integrated into other faiths in ways that are often obscured from view. The Black Madonna is compared with the characteristics and symbolism of the traditional fair-skinned Virgin Mary. It is estimated that there are hundreds of depictions of the Black Madonna, yet her identity as truly black is generally minimized. This review contributes a theoretical rationale for the lack of recognition and acceptance of the Madonna as black, contextualizing this within a feminist theoretical viewpoint and analyzing the connection to African folklore and traditional religious beliefs. The theoretical framework articulated in this paper contributes an elucidation of the ways that indigenous African religions have affected other world religions. Acknowledging this influence challenges the simplistic notion of reified distinctions between Western and non-Western religions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]