Latir,
Thanks for forwarding this piece of information on the art of storry
telling.
I think it should be an eye opener for our policy makers at GRTS and the
Ministry of culture how important it is to preserve these treasures of
ours. There are many good stories out there that could be dramatised as
programes for children.
I remember being fund of giving a hand full of my supper (kini mondoo) to
one of my step mothers for a story and I really enjoyed them very much,
specially those accompanied with songs.
Momodou Camara
[log in to unmask],Internet writes:
>Gambia-L,
>
>I had sent this article, "The Art of Storytelling Threatened" by Adel
>Arab of the Inter-Press Service, to the Bush List as it was decided long
>ago that we should avoid sending material under copyright to Gambia-L.
>I've been asked to transgress that policy this once and have forwarded
>the same article here. I think it is something worth looking at and
>should be the catalyst to an interesting discussion about our culture.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Latir Gheran
>
>________________________
>Latir Downes-Thomas
>[log in to unmask]
>http://wwp.icq.com/11908313
>
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - CULTURE-SENEGAL:
>
>The Art of Storytelling Threatened
>
> By Adel Arab
>
>DAKAR, June 8 (IPS) - The art of storytelling, considered the
>holy grail of tradition and moral values for centuries, has
>become almost nonexistent in Senegalese cities.
>
> ''In the urban setting, alas, the wood fire and the voice of
>the storyteller have been crushed under the weight of concrete,
>modern construction material'', laments Boubacar Barry, a
>professor of history at Cheikh Anta Diop University in the
>capital Dakar.
>
> The village storyteller, grandparents, the noble courtyard,
>the wood fire setting, the breeze and the evening's serenity are
>all elements of an environment where the tradition was passed
>down from generation to generation.
>
> ''Without a main courtyard where relationships can be built
>and where people can bond socially, our cramped, new homes
>encourage isolation and lack of communication between society
>members'', explains Raphael Ndiaye, a Senegalese researcher.
>
> The influence of television is cited among the main causes of
>storytelling's disappearance.
>
> ''In the urban setting, the family gathers each evening around
>the television, so we must reintroduce storytelling through this
>indisputable means of entertainment'', proposes Babacar Mbaye,
>President of the Association of Storytellers and Artists of the
>Spoken Word.
>
> Even more worrisome, he says, the disappearing culture of
>storytelling is not only restricted to the urban environment but
>also to the rural setting. ''There are villages where
>storytelling no longer exists, in spite of the fact that great
>storytellers still live there'', Mbaye says.
>
> Mbaye believes that the disappearance of storytelling will
>deprive society of an important teaching tool. ''It's an art and
>a teaching tool which came about naturally from family life in
>the country'', he explains.
>
> The purpose of the stories were to entertain the children in
>the evening and, as a byproduct, to educate. The group often
>gathered around the grandmother or the grandfather who played the
>role of the storyteller, Mbaye adds.
>
> Mbaye's group is trying to revive Senegal's oral tradition by
>organising storytelling programmes in schools.
>
> According to researchers, the arrival of digital technology in
>Africa may help safeguard the art of story telling. ''We have to
>reinvent the traditional evenings through new communications
>media'', advises Seydi Sow, a writer.
>
> ''The FM (Frequency Modulation) revolution offers oral
>tradition, which has always been the stepchild of the all-
>powerful written word, a kind of revenge'', notes Ndiaye.
>
> Ndiaye refers to the local rural radio network (Rer), an
>umbrella of about 40 sub-Saharan radio stations put together to
>safeguard and disseminate the oral tradition in the communities
>it serves.
>
> ''The initiative which may most be able to safeguard and
>broadcast oral tradition and myth, stories, and legends, in
>particular, is digital satellite broadcast'', emphasises Ndiaye
>during a conference organised on the theme, ''Stories, Myths, and
>Legends of Senegal: Between Tradition and Modernity'', in Dakar
>recently.
>
> During the conference, Senegal's minister of culture,
>Abdoulaye Elimane Kane urged researchers, ''to find, develop, and
>write the legend of the next century.''
>
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