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| Title: | The roles of Oromo-speaking children in the storytelling tradition in Ethiopia |
| Authors: | Jirata, Tadesse Jaleta Simonsen, Jan Ketil |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Periodical: | Research in African Literatures (ISSN 0034-5210) |
| Volume: | 45 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 135-149 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Ethiopia |
| Subjects: | Oromo language Guji storytelling folk tales oral traditions children values learning |
| External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/research_in_african_literatures/v045/45.2.jirata.pdf |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the roles of children in storytelling events, using ethnographic field research among the Oromo-speaking Guji people of Southern Ethiopia. The emphasis is on 'duri duri' folktales. These are tales that communicate an ethics of virtue, referred to by the Guji as 'saffu', and regarded as essential to inter-human relationships. Far from being passive knowledge receivers, the Guji children are attentive listeners and engaged narrators. They express their sentiments and opinions in gestures and words, pose questions to clarify points, make meta-communicative comments on the proper ways of narrating stories, and pass judgments on the moral messages. This article argues for a more child-centred perspective in the study of oral traditions in African societies, which recognizes the children's agency in the intergenerational transfer and change of storytelling traditions as well as of the cultural notions, values, and norms transpiring through them. In the past, the study of storytelling practices in African societies focused mostly on adults and elders, in particular men, neglecting the roles of women and children. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |
