Tackling the Preservation of African Tales in the Technological Era

Abstract

It appears that the great story-tellers of the Ghanaian society and the traditional singers, bards and griots were the “knowledge houses” of the Ghanaian society. This tradition is slowly dying out in the technological era. This study sought to determine the extent to which the Anansesem oral tradition is still practiced among Ghanaians living outside Ghana, particularly Botswana and Ghana where the study was conducted. The study employed an exploratory qualitative approach using interviews. The findings reveal that although elders and storytellers were able to weave morals into children's activities from a very young age, Ghanaians who were not raised speaking their native tongue find it difficult to relate to the messages woven deeply into the Ananse stories. The study concludes that globalisation has reduced the importance Ghanaians attach to Ananse stories. The authors see a need for strategies to be put in place to resuscitate the oral story telling tradition of Anansesem.