Abstract: | Point of departure is oral narrative research. European studies of African oral traditions have frequently laboured under the assumption of a them/us divide; in many cases the conclusions reached have suffered because the scholars, instead of preparing themselves to encounter the wisdom of an unfamiliar world on equal terms, assumed - rather like missionaries - that their essential task was to bring light to a benighted people and to bring Africa under the benevolent umbrella of European culture. The author gives a brief sketch of some of the major approaches to the study of the African oral narratives so as to illustrate some of the superior postures in which this work has been conducted. Notes. |