Story Telling of Kenya

Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe's lecture on Kenyan storytelling was probably my favorite lecture to date in class. I think this is because the class was less about learning about folk tales but rather experiencing them.  I loved how the doctor turned off the lights and told the stories as they were told to him.  The incorporation of music was very interesting and, even though I do not sing because of my terrible ability, I did sing along and am so happy that I had the experience to sing in a foreign language and be part of the stories that he brought to class.


In particular, my favorite "Importance" of African folk tales is to explain phenomenons.  One of my favorite examples of this is the story of 'How the Ostrich Got His Long Neck."  I liked how there was a question about the neck of the ostrich and, with no real explanation, a folk tale was created to explain the unexplainable.  I prefer this reason behind a folk tale more that morals because it is original and the unexplainable is very interesting to me and something I research regularly in my free time.

http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/marciaimages.htm

The other thing I enjoyed about his lecture was his discussion on the use of riddles in African cultures to incorporate the importance of knowledge in every day activities.  The riddle he told in class had to do with three people crossing the river, but I did find a website with many riddles from Kenya, one in which I particularly liked: 

Riddle: My lamp illuminates the whole world.

Answer: The Moon

(http://www.blissites.com/kenya/culture/riddles.html) - Website of Kenyan Riddles

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0650.html

I particularly liked this riddle because it brings everything we have discussed in class back together.  The idea of folk tales being common the world around, story telling taking place at night, the presence of education in stories, and so on. 

Overall, the lecture opened my eyes to different cultures and their use of folk tales as I was able to experience it for myself as opposed to reading or hearing about it. Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe painted a clear picture of how stories were told in Kenya and allowed the class to experience first hand and get involved.  It almost made me feel like I was in a Kenyan village hearing and experiencing the story.  It brought all the stories we read into perspective and made me really think about the story telling habits of the various cultures of whose folk tales we read.

...and that is the end of my blog.