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.
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
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.