“Catching them Young”: African Youth, Folktale and the Communication of Universal Moral Values

Abstract

Many African youths can learn moral values through the oral tradition of folktales as these narratives are used as vehicles to communicate such values. In the past, the oral tradition was the main method of passing on beliefs from generation to generation by word of mouth. Technological and other developments, especially the invention of the book and the increase of literacy, have had an important effect on African oral traditions as previously unwritten folktales could be accorded permanent existence in the form of books. This has afforded African youths in different geographical locations the opportunity to access in their own time the oral folktale and the universal values that it communicates in the written form. Oral forms, such as folktales, are created and developed in specific contexts by individuals, and these can now be experienced by readers in different locations. The aim of this article is to highlight what African youths in different parts of Africa can gain from being exposed to folktales in their written form. For this purpose, four folktale stories by Greaves (1988) contained in the anthology, When Hippo Was Hairy: And Other Tales from Africa, were analysed. The selected stories are representative of certain thematic threads intended to impart certain moral values.