Introduction
Introduction | Storytelling |
Drumming | Doudou
N'Diaye Rose | The Mandinka
Epic | The Mandinka Story
Do
you know the song Ring Around the Rosie? Did you know that
this song is about the people who died of the bubonic plague in 16th
Century England?
This story, now
a cultural memory, has been passed down through a children's song
for centuries. This is one example of oral tradition. Before
the invention of written language, and before the advent of widespread
literacy, oral tradition was much more of a daily presence in people's
lives than it is in our world today. Nowadays, popular forms
of storytelling in Western culture include movies and television.
In West Africa,
storytelling encompasses the telling of the story of a people, their
history and genealogy. For more ideas about storytelling and the special
role of storytellers and oral historians in West Africa, read on!
![[image: drum]](graphics/side-top.gif)
