AFS 2250 - African Storytellers as Traditional Historians

To understand Africa’s past from the perspectives of the African storytellers, we must understand their art and their ability to cross boundaries between the present and the past, as well as understand how they fuse fact and fiction at the boundaries of myth and history, where transformations occur. This is the area where fact and fiction become endowed with meaning. What makes the narration of past artistically engaging and emotionally evocative is the metaphorical center, “the poem in the story.” Drawing on the art of storytelling, this course will examine Africa’s past through myths, epics, and local African stories.

Credits: 3 hours