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Humboldt State University

Publication Date

Fall 2014

Program Name

Senegal: National Identity and the Arts

Abstract

Storytelling is an art form that has been flourishing in Senegal since the country’s origin. Traditionally, storytelling was a communal endeavor, oral and interactive. As modernity crept up on Senegal storytelling began to change, oral tradition only partially surviving in rural settings, almost completely obsolete in big cities. I am particularly interested in how Wolof tales and oral storytelling are surviving in a modernizing Senegal. I think that storytelling is a form of cultural education for children and adults alike, and that preservation is dire for the survival of this art. I will discuss story structure, content and the opinions of local storytellers in the form of a podcast. Through examining these topics, I will be revealing how important storytelling is to Senegalese culture, and exemplifying the necessity of cultural preservation via transcription.

Disciplines

African Languages and Societies | Anthropology | Folklore | Linguistic Anthropology | Social and Cultural Anthropology

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