INTRODUCTION
Tales are as previous as language, as old as the earliest societies. A number of of the earliest stories even survive: these informed in pictorial sort on partitions of cave in Lascaux, in France or in the Mpongweni Mountains in Lesotho. And other individuals have come down to us in the world’s myths and folklore to which we now have entry on the printed age. Storytelling is older than printing, more mature than composing, and the initial tales to be set down on paper, papyrus or parchment had been not the function of these authors but data of the oral traditions of previous hundreds of years. In Sierra Leone as it is in most African nations storytelling is an integral part of the country’s daily life though oral traditions have very largely yielded to the composed word.
We understand as we reside whilst we are young children, young people and adults. Finding out is not confined to the classroom alone: it can just take place everywhere. Ethical values and social norms, beliefs and codes have to be transmitted from generation to the subsequent, regardless of whether modified or not. Casual finding out configurations are appropriate and may be dominant even today when much more formalized and distinct establishments have partly taken more than.
Although Sierra Leoneans guard them selves towards their previous both educationists and librarians see a good deal in storytelling that could be utilized as basis to orient and develop the younger in the school method. There are a lot of indications that an immense richness of standard pedagogy in respect to the principles, contents, methods and institutional arrangements existed and still exist in Sierra Leone. Story tellers, their tales and tunes, proverbs and riddles are still critical property and subjects for indigenous finding out and training. Oral traditions do not only move the mores and expectations of a society. They established out to explain the world and behaviour of the folks in it. Oral traditions offer accounts of how the world began and these creation myths are part also of the Holy Guides of all the world’s long-recognized religions this kind of as Christianity and Islam. Also described in allegorical phrases is all human conduct in which excellent does not always triumph more than evil.
Stories which do not depend on literature in turn do not rely on literacy. They can get to all of the local community and their interactive good quality is by itself electricity, for it facilitates the functions of tales in social instruction, what Leeson (1985) named “passing on the country’s shared knowledge and values to the subsequent technology.” Sadly there is a missing url in Sierra Leone as university likely young children are well acquainted with the stories of Wonderful Britain, the United States of The usa, Canada and Italy to cite a number of examples but know very small about their traditional stories.
STORYTELLING IN SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone contains sixteen (16) ethnic groups. The greatest of these is the Mende found in the Southern and Jap Provinces. Following to them in number is the Temne in the North. The third largest group is the Limba, also in the Northern Province, followed by the Kono in the Eastern Province. There’s also the Koranko in the North as properly as the Yalunka, Loko, Soso, Madingo and Fula. On the coastline, North and South are the Bullom and Sherbro followed by the significantly smaller sized teams of Krim, Vai and Gola, with the Kissi additional inland in the Eastern Province. The Western Spot, such as Freetown, is far more combined in inhabitants, but is basically the property of the Creole team. In all these ethnic groups storytelling is common as part of their society.
Ogutu and Roscoe (1974) experienced this to say about storytelling in Africa: “The continent has its personal fiction traditions it has the tradition of storytelling, narrated orally… the medium by way of which Africa down the generations has bared its soul, taught its folks and entertained alone” (pp. 43-forty four).
Standard stories in Sierra Leone are perceived as embodiment of the beliefs, customs, rituals and constructions of modern society that want to be preserved. Tales work inside of culture to insure conformity to the acknowledged cultural norms of continuity from technology to technology through their role in education and learning and the extent to which they mirror tradition. Most traditional storytellers claim to derive their art through dreams, spirits, and apprenticeship to expert storytellers others claim to get the artwork directly from God even though some say they paid out to obtain it. قصص عربية possess the adhering to features:
• Fluency in the local language and mastery of a broad variety of vocabulary for all levels of audiences
• Creativity and ability to build rapport with their audiences
• Information of their audiences and their needs
• Familiarity with and potential to refer to their society and atmosphere to enliven their tales and make them attraction to their viewers
• Very good memory of precise retention and narration of a big corpus of substance and
• Candour.
The contents of traditional tales can be grouped into:
• Myths-stories tinted with religion, superstition and traditional beliefs specially about the origins of mankind and phenomena
• Legends-tales about historic events and unforgettable people this kind of as war heroes, fantastic drugs men and migration
• Fiction-imaginary tales categorized into allegory, fables, fantasy and parables.
These can be additional labeled by social purpose or institution namely:
• Political stories-tales about leadership and the connection between leaders and their subjects
• Tribe tales-these reveal the buildings, families and communities i.e. marriage and genealogies
• Faith and deities-tales about development and phenomena such as dying and rain
• Ethical virtues-tales meant to deride this kind of vices as delight, greed, thievery, murder, dishonesty, foolishness and lack of perception
• Economics-stories that offer with perform, borrowing and lending, industriousness and laziness.
Figures in common standard Sierra Leonean tales assortment from men and women to animals, stones, trees, plants, deities, spirits and birds. These people are symbolic: Bra rabbit- trickery tortoise-wisdom elephant-nobility vulture-patience lion-bravery and energy sparrow, parrot and crow-intelligence dove-good fortune spider-crafty. Tales are informed purely for evening entertainments. Often storytelling periods could be any time of the day with audiences in non-public verandahs, ‘court barries’ or other general public spots. Nonetheless, the traditional setting in which 20 to forty folks sit with each other all around a kerosene lamp or fire at evening right after a day’s operate is completed and meals has been cooked and eaten. Storytellers are also invited to cultural social features this kind of as weddings, burials, key culture celebrations and crowning ceremonies. Tobacco is usually presented for without having using tobacco storytelling ideas will not stream.
Tales go collectively with tracks a tune commences off a story an essential line in a tale can make up a new tale a proverb finishes a story a song in the center of a story is used to wake up listeners or to prepare for the coming climax. Very typically songs do invite participation, and listeners grow to be energetic supporters of a refrain, clapping their arms, reaching to lies and jokes of the tale teller, who in turn answers the feedback often with one more tale. Songs are backed by the beating of classic musical instruments like ‘kaylain’, ‘sira’ ‘seigureh’ and ‘sangba’ (nearby drum) to include rhythm. Tale telling audience is normally lively. It catalyses the narratives by spontaneous exclamations, inquiries to the narrator, echoing of the narrator’s voice, and becoming a member of in the singing of choruses. For all these to take area self-discipline is managed. The audience is created to laugh and exclaim but without jeopardizing the continuation of the narration.