Kenyan Folk and Fairy tales
The class rhythmically chanted, “come story come” and Dr.
Ochieng’ K K’Olewe began another magnificent Kenyan folk or fairy tale. Dr.
Ochieng kept the class engaged, and wanting more, like the best story tellers
tend to do. Not only did Dr. Ochieng recite interesting Kenyan folk and fairy tales,
he also taught about the culture, and the importance of storytelling.
In Kenya, folk and fairy tale stories are culturally
intertwined. These stories will relate to religion, music, history, or even
geography. Folk and fairy tales have become a part of people’s social ecology. In
Kenya, and many other places people thrive off of storytelling. Weather one is
dramatically conveying a story, or one is closely listening, these Kenyan folk
and fairy tales are sure to be interesting, and teach a lesson.
African Stories always have meaningful lessons or a moral.
Many African stories also include songs. Songs are included to engage in participation
from the audience, create a dramatic effect, re-emphasize main points, and
create episodes or parts to a story. Another common trend in African stories is
the setting. The setting is majority of the time at night.
One of the most unique and important aspects of
storytelling is that it is done orally, it is not written down. One has the
freedom to change details. Dr. Ochieng said, “You own the story, and invite
others to participate.” The theme, or lesson of these stories still must be the
outcome. This is different from the folk and fairy tales we read in class
because these stories are written by the authors, and not up for debate, or
imagination. Once a story is written it is those exact words, from the one
author. African storytelling is free to manipulate and change in creative ways.
Dr. Ochieng told incredible Kenyan stories about why
things are the way they are, affirmation of identity, or even origin. His
stories were witty, entertaining, and meaningful. My favorite story that Dr.
Ochieng told was the one with the stranger looking for a place to stay while
traveling to visit relatives. A song was intertwined in this story, and lesson
in the end was to simply be kind to people, and strangers. Kenyan folk and
fairy tales have proved to be an important aspect to that culture, and many
alike. Hopefully this type of storytelling will continue forever.
Photo Source: Google Images
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