African Oral Literature and the Humanities: Challenges and Prospects

Enongene Sone

doi:10.3390/h7020030

Abstract

This paper examines the origin, evolution and emergence of folklore (oral literature) as an academic discipline in Africa and its place in the humanities. It draws attention to the richness of indigenous knowledge contained in oral literature and demonstrates how the ethical and moral gap in the existing educational system can be filled by the moral precepts embedded in oral literature. The paper argues that African oral literature has not received the attention it deserves among other disciplines of the humanities in institutions of higher learning in Africa. It concludes that any discussion on African literature will be incomplete, and indeed irrelevant, if it does not equally give adequate attention to the oral literature of the African people. As a result, a new curriculum and pedagogy must be designed to give pride of place to folklore and oral literature as the best repository of our cultural norms and values especially in African tertiary institutions.

Highlights

It would seem that the study of the cultural achievements that make us human should hold pride of place in every educational system of higher education and research
This paper examines the origin, evolution and emergence of folklore as an academic discipline in Africa and its place in the humanities
It draws attention to the richness of indigenous knowledge contained in oral literature and demonstrates how the ethical and moral gap in the existing educational system can be filled by the moral precepts embedded in oral literature

Summary

Introduction

It would seem that the study of the cultural achievements that make us human should hold pride of place in every educational system of higher education and research. The humanistic disciplines, and folklore, have a clear practical value: they teach critical and analytical thinking while at the same time stimulating the imagination and promoting ethical values Leaders need these skills to lead, to identify problems, and to conceive creative solutions. The marginalization of oral literature as an academic discipline in Africa must be remedied, because every knowledge-led development strategy of any nation must have a solid folklore core of humanistic understanding and humane values. This is because a sound educational policy in any country with folklore at the center enables students to understand their own society before proceeding to learn about other cultures. In its process of evolution, it has encountered prejudice and misinterpretation by many scholars who attempt to coerce it into other non-literary disciplines

Conceptualizing Folklore and the Humanities

Early Misconceptions of African Folklore

Academic Studies of African Folklore Yesterday and Today

Folklore and Educational Systems in Africa

The Situation Today and Its Challenges

Conclusions