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Functions of Folktales. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, Oct 2008, Pages: 120
Among the ethnic groups of Eastern Africa, the nomadic Maasai people experience one of the richest and proudest traditional cultures. Close to a million Maasai now live in Tanzania and Kenya. However, change has come to this part of Africa. Rapidly expanding urban areas and increasing modernization is transforming traditional life and it is in danger of annihilating it. The culture of the Maasai people is especially in peril because their history, mores and customs, have been transmitted from one generation to the next by oral communication, reciting stories, myths and legends. If these gems of the world‘s cultural inheritance are not studied and recorded soon, they will be lost forever and the Maasai people will be adrift in a world unable to build their future from the guideposts of their past. This book explores the nature and function of oral folktale performance as practiced among the Maasai people. The Maasai maintain their cultural values by communicating through oral folktales. These could be used to advocate for social transformation in a way that is compatible with their societal values and norms contained in the narratives explored in this book.
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