Once Upon A Time: Storytelling in Anglophone West Africa; A Psychological Coping Method in Colonial Resistance 公开

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine the role of storytelling during British colonization in West Africa. West African traditional storytelling tends to be dismissed by dominant scholarship as not meticulous enough to be utilized as a form of methodology. However, storytelling has been one of the main methods of knowledge production for African societies, keeping alive traditions and beliefs for communities to come. Prior to colonization, various West African ethnic groups existed in societies holding their own cultural heritage, traditions, language and systems of governing. British colonization sought to eliminate these identities, labeling them as one entity under the British with English as the unifying language. Through the use of existing stories from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, I explore the cultural concepts of each story and its relations to colonial rule, emphasizing the power storytelling cultivates for each society. By positioning this project within the framework of African psychology, I argue that storytelling has served as a method of living resistance against colonization and operated as a psychological coping method for the people. Storytelling within these three nations functioned as a means to disrupt the Eurocentric colonial norms, ideals and rules embedded within the roots of racism and oppression. By critically engaging with the traditional oral stories of each nation, storytelling appears to be the strongest form of resistance that existed against colonial oppression. 

Table of Contents

Introduction...........................................................................................1

Literature Review.....................................................................................7

Case Study 1: Ghana................................................................................24

Case Study 2: Nigeria..............................................................................38

Case Study 3: Sierra Leone.........................................................................56

Future Directions of Storytelling and Conclusion..............................................67

References.............................................................................................71 

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	African Studies
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	African Studies
关键词	West Africa Nigeria coping method Sierra Leone colonization storytelling Ghana oral tradition
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Salmon Shomade, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Stu Marvel, Emory University Dr. Kristin Phillips, Emory University

最新修改

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	Once Upon A Time: Storytelling in Anglophone West Africa; A Psychological Coping Method in Colonial Resistance ()	2020-04-10 18:35:03 -0400	Press to Select an action Download

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions