The Arrival of Uncle Blenblen in Zimbabwean Literature

You know a name works when you open a package and tell the kids that you just received a book on African Folktales for Children by Uncle Blenblen and soon your five-year-old is laughing and singing "Uncle Blenblen! Uncle Blenblen!" That's the pen name of Jonathan Masere, who has released his collestion of tales with Lion Press Ltd in the UK. This, together with Sarudzayi Barnes's The Village Story-teller, is an addition to the growing list of African fairytale collections being published in and outside of Africa. They tap into the rich story-telling tradition of Africa and have a great potential to grip the hearts of many readers in the world.

Let me tell you why story-telling, in its traditional sense, is important. As student populations' attention spans continue to be affected by the excess of electronica, teachers everywhere are figuring ways to engage students, and story-telling keeps coming up. Teaching through story-telling, but where are these stories? They are buried somewhere in the oral traditions of societies, and there is a danger that they may just vanish as the main storyteller nowadays is the television.

Writers like Uncle Blenblen, Sarudzayi Barnes, and many others, Ignatius Mabasa, for instance, have shown an interest in recording, or preserving in some form, this wealth of stories from orature. But these authors are not just recording; they are also inventing their stories formatted in the style of folktales.

As I read Masere's book, I notice that at one level he taps into versions of stories we already know, but he also invents some, adding to the wealth of folktales for children. The book can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

A more detailed review will come soon.

Comments

Masibanda said…
Thanks Emmanuel for promoting an art that is on the verge of extinction. I remember when I decided to write The Village Story-Teller, one Zimbabwean man, a very educated man with a PhD, looked at me up and down as if was sizing me up,and asked what a big woman like me hoped to achieve by writing Ngano. I gave them to publisher after publisher, and all I got was rejection and negative criticism. One Irish publisher told me point blank that African folktales promoted animal cruelty and violence. Why did they end with Baboon being locked in a hut and the house put on fire, or why Hare killed lion's cubs and counted one cub more than once? For a while I felt that our African folktales were inferior,but when I thought about the violent movies they show on television, I made the decision to write the folktales the African way, always punishing the wrong-doer.
Petina Gappah said…
Congratulations Jonathan, and Sarudzayi too, of course, Jonathan, when things are more settled over at my blog, i do hope you can do a short piece on why you chose this interesting and neglected subject matter. You guys may be interested to learn that my son who is 5 is fascinated by the tsuro and gudo stories, especially the gruesome bits where they cook each other and make mbira out of each other's bones:)
Masibanda said…
Thanks, Petina. There are three more folktale books coming out soon, Ignatius Mabasa's The Man, shaggy Leopard and Jackal. This will be launched in mid June in San Francesco,and Aaron Chiundura Moyo's two African Children's story books (titles not yet decided) which we will launch at Zimfest. My local branch of Waterstones is promoting my Village Story-Teller and I will be doing regular story-telling sessions with them soon.
m said…
i just got my free copy and i'm excited as hell for the simple reason that they're a rarity, not many are exploiting this gem. i'm sure grown diasporans will be up in the book too, we all suffer from nolstagia... i was beaming myself from the illustrations, in my old age :)
Jonathan Masere said…
Like all worthwhile causes in life, the feedback of others is always important. It is like the wind under the wings of an eagle. Without the wind, eagles could not soar. My little book is no exception. Every bit of advice was taken seriously no matter the source; my teenage son, my boss (wife), friends, publisher and people who were strangers when they first stumbled upon my rarely updated blog. I will never be able to find words to thank all those who chipped in even if I had the power of a thousand tongues.

Petina, let me know when you want me to put together the piece for your blog. My email is j_masereATyahoo.com.

Emmanuel, I owe you an interview, right? We can chat about Glen View, my old haunts.

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