What is an oral historian called in West Africa?
What is an oral historian called in West Africa?
griot
A griot is a West African storyteller, singer, musician, and oral historian. They train to excel as orators, lyricists and musicians. The griot keeps records of all the births, deaths, marriages through the generations of the village or family.
Why is oral history important to historians of Africa?
Oral history both corrected the records of the colonial era and filled in the institutional gaps resulting from post-colonial African governments’s inability and unwillingness to continue the bureaucratic record keeping traditions of their predecessors.
What is the oral tradition in Africa?
The African oral tradition distills the essences of human experiences, shaping them into rememberable, readily retrievable images of broad applicability with an extraordinary potential for eliciting emotional responses.
What was a traditional African storyteller called?
griots
They are told by people known as griots (pronounced gree-oh), also known in some cultures as jeliw, who are the narrators of oral traditions. Born into their highly respected position, griots play an important role. As well as being storytellers, they are poets, historians, genealogists, and musicians.
What is a Djali?
Jali comes from the root word jali or djali (blood). This is also the title given to griots in regions within the former Mali Empire.
What is another word for griot?
What is another word for griot?
| storyteller | narrator |
|---|---|
| fabler | minstrel |
| poet | relater |
| relator | teller |
| tale teller | tale-teller |
What role does oral history play in modern studies of life in West Africa?
West Africans passed on their history and culture through stories and oral history. The Arabs traders brought “written language” to West Africa. professional storytellers and oral historians were called “griots.” They worked for kings and nobles. They memorized and recited stories of famous people and events.
What impact did oral traditions have on Africa’s history?
The most successful of the early African writers knew what could be done with the oral tradition; they understood how its structures and images could be transposed to a literary mode, and they were able to distinguish mimicry from organic growth.
How will you describe the African oral literature?
Oral literature (or orature, the term by Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu) may be in prose or verse. The prose is often mythological or historical and often includes tales of the trickster character. Storytellers in Africa sometimes use call-and-response techniques to tell their stories.
What historical roles have the oral traditions played in African culture?
The history of Africa is rich with oral tradition. Much of these traditions have been preserved by griots, people who tell tales, speak proverbs and even sing songs to pass down the traditions of their culture. Folktales and proverbs are both examples of African oral traditions.
What is a female griot called?
The wordsmiths of West Africa are popularly referred to as “Griots,” but in the West African language of Bamanakan or Mande Kan, they are known as Jali or Jeli (pl. Jeliw or Jalolu), depending on the region you travel into. A female griot is referred to as a Jelimuso or Jalimuso (muso meaning “woman).
What is African storytelling?
African storytelling: A Communal Participatory Experience It is a shared communal event where people congregate together, listening, and participating in accounts and stories of past deeds, beliefs, wisdom, counsel, morals, taboos, and myths (Ngugi wa Thiong’o 1982, Utley 2008).