WHAT IS FOLKLORE?
Simply, folklore is "the story of people." Initially, in the early 19th century, the 'folk' in folklore referred to the rural and poor and by extension, illiterate. Marxist theory, a social, political, and economic philosophy that examines the flaws inherent in capitalism and seeks to identify an alternative, was responsible for adding the urban working class as part of the 'poor folk' as they were considered part of the underclass. The 1960's brought the understanding that social groups were everywhere.
Social groups are at the heart of folklore, as it shared among a group of people. That group can be large like an ethnic group or small like a family. Folklore encompasses the traditions common to that group and includes, but is not limited to things like:
Folklore is informal, it is the expressive culture that identifies a group, it is creative, it is transmitted from person (usually orally, however, internet communication is now considered a substitution for oral tradition), it experience continuity and change, and it exists across time and space within a defined group.
Social groups are at the heart of folklore, as it shared among a group of people. That group can be large like an ethnic group or small like a family. Folklore encompasses the traditions common to that group and includes, but is not limited to things like:
- customs and traditions including holidays
- food
- religion
- tales, myths, and legends
- proverbs and saying
- poems and oral stories
- jokes
- material culture
- rituals
- internet memes
- accepted social behavior
- initiation rites
- music and dance
- conspiracy theories
Folklore is informal, it is the expressive culture that identifies a group, it is creative, it is transmitted from person (usually orally, however, internet communication is now considered a substitution for oral tradition), it experience continuity and change, and it exists across time and space within a defined group.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
Folklore in itself is important, according to American anthropologist William Bascom, because:
Oral tradition is important to African societies as it is the main way of preserving history in the still existing rural and nomadic peoples like those in Chad. Oral stories facilitate education through the literature of folktales as well as proverbs and riddles to teach social values, honesty, integrity, courage, and solidarity across African societies. It is through this folklore that the outsider to Africa can learn about the social values of indigenous African peoples, their culture and traditions, their social values, their religion, and their history.
The history of Africa, as taught in American public schools, is a carefully curated. Ancient Egypt may, or may not, be mentioned alongside Mesopotamia as the starting point of civilization. Students might then learn about pyramids, pharaohs, and mummification. Africa will not be mentioned again until the point on the historical timeline marked with the Transatlantic slave trade is reached. This oversight can be blamed, in part, on German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Fredrich Hegel (1770 - 1831).
Hegel had many misconceptions about Africa and Africans that have carried over to the present time. As his ideas circulated. they helped shape the western stereotypes of Africa and its peoples. First and foremost, Hegel claimed Africa had no history prior to colonization. His rational being there was no Western language and writing system available to Africans prior to colonization to write down their history, therefore it did not exist. This negates and erases all oral history of Africa as well as the accompanying folklore. Hegel also claimed "[The African is] natural man in his completely wild and untamed state" (Kuykendall). There are other racist comments pertaining to lack of soul and morality, lack of belief in a Christian god making them sorcerers with no respect for themselves. These beliefs would permeate western society and be used to justify slavery, as "primitive people can acquire freedom only if Europeans impose their civilization on them" (Stone).
Early African Studies, if it can even be termed as such, started in America in 1927. The bulk of those scholars, including Hegel, never visited the continent. They relied on second and third hand stories to form their opinions and "facts" succeeding in doing little more than perpetrating stereotypes. This problem filtered into the study of African folklore as white people were studying black people and their culture, both in American and overseas, through racism and their own personal biases. Racism would play a predominate part in all aspects of African Studies until sometime in the 1960's when the humanizing of African Americans started to take effect, leading to an expanding vision of African folklore to include urban settings, rather than just focusing on the South, a focus on oral tradition, and the intersection of history and folklore.
In short, the representation of African and its peoples, through history and folklore, have been curated and carefully constructed through a colonial lens leading to stereotypes, misconceptions, and lack of knowledge about the continent. As a society, we are still taught to believe that Africa's history started with colonization; that the only relevant history of Africa comes from what white colonizers did for, and to, the African people.
- It validates culture by justifying it's rituals and customs to those who perform and observe them. By extension this would also also validate different cultures to those who observe different rituals and customs.
- It is a means of applying social pressure as a way of social control for conformity.
- Folklore teaches lessons that reinforce morals and values. (1)
- Folklore allows people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society.
Oral tradition is important to African societies as it is the main way of preserving history in the still existing rural and nomadic peoples like those in Chad. Oral stories facilitate education through the literature of folktales as well as proverbs and riddles to teach social values, honesty, integrity, courage, and solidarity across African societies. It is through this folklore that the outsider to Africa can learn about the social values of indigenous African peoples, their culture and traditions, their social values, their religion, and their history.
The history of Africa, as taught in American public schools, is a carefully curated. Ancient Egypt may, or may not, be mentioned alongside Mesopotamia as the starting point of civilization. Students might then learn about pyramids, pharaohs, and mummification. Africa will not be mentioned again until the point on the historical timeline marked with the Transatlantic slave trade is reached. This oversight can be blamed, in part, on German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Fredrich Hegel (1770 - 1831).
Hegel had many misconceptions about Africa and Africans that have carried over to the present time. As his ideas circulated. they helped shape the western stereotypes of Africa and its peoples. First and foremost, Hegel claimed Africa had no history prior to colonization. His rational being there was no Western language and writing system available to Africans prior to colonization to write down their history, therefore it did not exist. This negates and erases all oral history of Africa as well as the accompanying folklore. Hegel also claimed "[The African is] natural man in his completely wild and untamed state" (Kuykendall). There are other racist comments pertaining to lack of soul and morality, lack of belief in a Christian god making them sorcerers with no respect for themselves. These beliefs would permeate western society and be used to justify slavery, as "primitive people can acquire freedom only if Europeans impose their civilization on them" (Stone).
Early African Studies, if it can even be termed as such, started in America in 1927. The bulk of those scholars, including Hegel, never visited the continent. They relied on second and third hand stories to form their opinions and "facts" succeeding in doing little more than perpetrating stereotypes. This problem filtered into the study of African folklore as white people were studying black people and their culture, both in American and overseas, through racism and their own personal biases. Racism would play a predominate part in all aspects of African Studies until sometime in the 1960's when the humanizing of African Americans started to take effect, leading to an expanding vision of African folklore to include urban settings, rather than just focusing on the South, a focus on oral tradition, and the intersection of history and folklore.
In short, the representation of African and its peoples, through history and folklore, have been curated and carefully constructed through a colonial lens leading to stereotypes, misconceptions, and lack of knowledge about the continent. As a society, we are still taught to believe that Africa's history started with colonization; that the only relevant history of Africa comes from what white colonizers did for, and to, the African people.
(1) Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ?: Contemporary Legends, Folklore, and Human Sexuality by Marianne H. Whatley and Elissa R. Henken (2001) provides an interesting look at how folklore functions in this manner.
STEREOTYPES AND MISCONCPETIONS ABOUT AFRICA
Many of these stereotypes are left over from the colonial period and are propagated by Hollywood. As a whole, those entities responsible for these stereotypes have done nothing to fix their view and little is done to combat it. Western society believes it is better than other countries and has an investment to keep things that way, where it can retain dominance. Obviously, not all colonial ideas have died off. Education, through learning about other peoples and their cultures goes a long way to reverse stereotypes such as the following:
- Africa is a poor country. While 47% of Sub-Sahara Africa, those countries south of the Sahara, lives on $1.25 American dollars a day, things are improving. 1 in 3 Africans are part of the middle-class. This means everyone isn't living in a mud hut. Mud huts do exist in the more rural areas .A large amount of the population has real houses in real cities. The country is more than jungles, savannahs, and wildlife. There are large cities and access to technology. In fact, tech companies are investing in Africa.
- Africans do nothing to help themselves. Here's the thing, those who left the continent and live in the diaspora send money back to their families in Africa where houses can be repaired, necessities and luxuries can be bought, and so forth. Those Africans in the diaspora send more money to African than any country or organization providing aid. Africans are also expert farmers who are able to grow a lot of food on little land without invasive and factory farming of the west. Africans are also building their own schools, hospitals, and refugee camps. Since decolonizing, African countries have been doing pretty well for themselves.
- Everyone in Africa has AIDS. In the 1980's HIV/AIDS was traced to Africa and non-human primates as apes have a similar virus. While science still isn't sure how the virus jumped between species, it is possible infection came from butchering an animal for food, as it is a blood born pathogen.
Out of the 1.22 billion people in Africa, 25.5 million people in Africa have HIV/AIDS. Africa has been the most impacted by the pandemic because of poverty, lack of education and prevention as many African governments ignored the disease for upward of 20 years, going along with the lack of education and prevention there is a stigma around it and HIV positive people are often expelled from society so HIV status is kept secret. Africa also lacks the doctors and hospitals to deal with the number of infected people. South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS cases, and also the highest rape rate against women in the world. This plays a much larger part in the transmission of the virus than either polygamy or prostitution.
- African is a language. There are over 2,000 languages spoken in Africa, including English and French. There is no "African" language.
- All Africans are dark skinned. African's are as diverse as everyone else and skin tone depends on everything from where they live, to genetics introduced by immigrants generations ago. Don't forget, at one time most of Africa was colonized by different groups of Europeans. Their descendants also live there.
- Africa is one big homogenous culture. Africa is home to 54 different countries each with their own culture, religion, folklore, food, cosmologies, and way of life. No one considers. Nigeria is much different than Zimbabwe. Yes, they may share some similarities, but they are different.Many of these stereotypes are left over from the colonial period and are propagated by Hollywood. As a whole, those entities responsible for these stereotypes have done nothing to fix their view and little is done to combat it. Western society believes it is better than other countries and has an investment to keep things that way, where it can retain dominance. Obviously, not all colonial ideas have died off.
WEBSITES FEATURING AFRICAN FOLKLORE
When most people think of folklore, they think of the folktales that are passed down from generation to generation. When one googles "African folklore", they are presented with these stories first and foremost. These stories are constructed very much like like folktales from other parts of the world, such as The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault. Fairy tales are a form of folklore, especially the original non-Disney versions, as they were not always for young children and were used to teach lessons. (Wikipedia page on the Uther Index and fairy tale types (2)). The following websites talk about African folklore while sharing popular African folktales.
African Folktales Reimagined - Short Films from Netflix and UNESCO
Once Upon a Time in Africa
African Folklore and Legends via Victoria Falls Guide
World of Tales - the page is difficult to read but it contains the most popular African folktales as well as book recommendations
African Folktales Reimagined - Short Films from Netflix and UNESCO
Once Upon a Time in Africa
African Folklore and Legends via Victoria Falls Guide
World of Tales - the page is difficult to read but it contains the most popular African folktales as well as book recommendations
(2) I chose the Wikipedia entry as other sites on the Uther Index are maintained by universities and require access to their library system in order to retrieve linked information.