Lit Africa and Middle East Flashcards
(71 cards)
African literature before 20th century
oral tradition
Words change meaning from
tone
Fixture in African tradition
Bards, town criers, storytellers, and oral historians
Tradition keepers of African literature
“griots” or living libraries
Audience joins in oral performance
repeated lines
Refrains
“Elephant-Hunter, Take Your Bow!”
imagery
fear and doom
Weeping/Frigthened forest, dark moon, star fled trembling, firefly put out their lights, spirits wandering, antelopes’ ears prick up
Elephant
Strong, without fear, careless, walking heavily, sure of himself, disturbs the silent forest.
what was the Refrain
Motivation for the team/getting prepared
“Why We Tell Stories About Spiders”
(archetypal trickster tale)
Anaau-Spider wants stories to be told about him->
to be remembered
Beefs fall for trick
to prove Anaaus friend wrong
Python is
prideful
Lesson/Vaules
The impossible can be accomplished
“the Fiver Helpers”
dilmena tale
First helper
smelled/tracked her
Second helper
Drank the water from the lake
Third helper
dug out all of the mud from the lake
Fourth helper
pulled the python out of the hole
Fifth helper
Made the girl come back to life
The dilemma
Which of the five helper did the best?
What is the tale about the yam talking called
“Talk”
First surprise to the farmer
Yam talks
Fish trap man not frightened intill his fish trap talks
he doesn’t believe the farmer
Final Joke
The chief doesn’t believe in the men but then his stool speaks (irony)
