LELE FOLKTALES: A STOY OF FORM AND FUNCTIONS

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Author

Presented To

Department of Arts

ABSTRACT
Colonialist and Eurocentric scholarship has always refuted the existence of literature in Africa before and after European intrusion on the African continent. In instances where such scholarship had evidenced of the existence of African orature, it was treated with skepticism, and in most cases regarded as less serious or child-like. However, a re-look at African oral art forms shows that not only did the people have a large body of literature, but also that the literature was a very serious and illuminating exploration and celebration of both life and the indigenous people‟s cultural values. It was a literature bound on producing a real African who fitted well into the dictates of life on African soil. Using examples from the Lele folktales, and using the postcolonial deconstructive approach, the dissertation argues that looking at African oral art forms through Eurocentric lens robs Africans of an informed and robust exposition of the rich layers of meaning embedded therein. The dissertation unearthed the significance of Lele folktales, including even the obvious, so as to challenge Africans, who have been colonized for nearly a century to revisit their perceptions, assumptions and attitude towards African oral art forms. This is because self-discovery and self-definition are the necessary points of departure in the decolonization process that many African countries are engaged in. The dissertation is consisted of five chapters. Chapter one describes the geographical location and historical background of Lele and a survey of their mode of life which include, cultural, economical and political organizations and it also deals with the background, the statement of the problem, aim and objectives, scope and focus, the justification, the methodology and the framework of the study. Chapter two is about the review of literature, the chapter three is concerned with what urged the creation and enunciation of folktales and their motives among the Lele, chapter four puts in contrast the Lele folktales with modernization and the Eurocentric bias. And chapter five regards the conclusion.