Some Cameroonian folktales: a study in ethical values

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Periodical article

Title:	Some Cameroonian folktales: a study in ethical values
Author:	Lambo, John A.
Year:	1994
Periodical:	Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research
Issue:	34-35
Pages:	161-172
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Cameroon
Subjects:	Bamileke folk tales (form)
Abstract:	Among the Bamileke of Cameroon storytelling has entertainment as its main objective. At the same time stories serve many other purposes as well: to pass on knowledge to the younger generation, to mould the character of children, to persuade members of society to conform to established truths of existence and norms of behaviour, to inform the present about the past, and to criticize misconduct. Whatever the content or subject of a tale may be, it invariably conveys a moral lesson. Each of the three Bamileke folktales presented here - the child of Mangrita, the hunter and the gorilla, and the tiger and the hare - is followed by commentary indicating the extent to which the characters in them act out or negate Bamileke norms of morality. The author concludes that the moral lessons to be learnt from the stories are either clearly stated at the end of the tale or made implicitly lucid from the behaviour of the characters. In these tales, the forces of good and evil are invariably in opposition, and it is always the forces of evil which are vanquished. Bibliogr., notes.