Folktales in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: An Analysis of Folklore/Tribal-lore Function in Igbo Folktales

Abstract

‘Folklore’ and ‘Folk life’ (or Tribal lore and Tribal life) are not separate communal dimensions, but are rather a singular composite entity where the folklore emerges from folk life and in turn folk life is regulated by the folklore as land, people and environment form an important context for the creation, propagation, relevance and sustenance of folk practices and cultural expressions. Folklore stores and transmits cultural knowledge, representing the aesthetic and expressive aspect of an indigenous culture, which can be translated into both generalised and highly specific registers through various artistic oral productions, such as folktales, folk songs, myths and legends, and utterances (Puzzles, Jokes and Riddles). Thus, folklore, in a way, is the language of culture which, like any language system, is established and practiced in oral communities through the collective acceptance of certain norms and practices.