FOLKTALES IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT: THE ROLE OF FOLKTALES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BAKGALAGARI CHILDREN

Abstract

Folktales are a type of folk literary genre. They are old and enduring culture-saturated stories which have been passed down from generation to generation by word; and serve as conveyors of these traditions, customs and values of people to future generations. They are typically narrative in form, with songs frequently interspersed in the narrative. Although they are conventionally relayed in a recreational setting, like other folklore genres, folktales have a fascinating combination of both aesthetic pleasure and education. Their richness in cultural content and social importance make them a most interesting and inspiring subject of study. As with many other African societies, in pre-literate periods, education of younger generations of Bakgalagari[1] was largely informal, fluid and unstructured, and was conducted through oral literary genres such as folktales. This study is an in-depth study of three folktales of Bakgalagari people. As with many other aspects of this ethnic group, there appears to be no study conducted on any Shekgalagari folktale to date, and their importance in this culture appears to be on the verge of extinction. The study examines the tales to extract the various lessons and skills derived from them. These are studied in the light of their role in the education and development of Bakgalagari children. The study attempts to drive home the point that from time immemorial, folktales made an important contribution to a child's education among the Bakgalagari people.

[1] Bakgalagari are Bantu people of the Sotho-Tswana extraction, and are classified as Western Sotho-

Tswana (Chebanne, 2003). They are found in Botswana and Namibia only, and they speak Shekgalagari language (Monaka, 2018).