Folklore Reconstructing African-American Culture

140 Words1 Pages
“Folklore represents a line to a vast, interconnected network of meanings, values, and cognitions. Folklore contains seeds of wisdom, problem solving, and prophecy, through tales of rebellion, triumph, reasoning, moralizing, and satire” (Ogunleye, Tolagbe, African American Folklore: Its Role In Reconstructing African-American History, 1997). Folklore is a medium in which to impart teachings and principles. By using storytelling, folklore becomes an accessible means of relaying cultural guidelines. Contrary to popular perception, tales are not merely told for entertainment purposes. Rather, they represent the collective ideology of a culture to be passed on to later generations. While the stories take different forms, their purpose is to convey