The signifying culture: An intercultural and qualitative analysis of Tiv and Yoruba folktales for moral instruction and character determination in children

Abstract

Background: In the study of African communities, folktales have remained a constant element. With their origin in the culture of oral storytelling, folktales have often been used by older age groups to guide and mould behavioural patterns in children. In ancient and traditional African societies, children were gathered at the end of the day by older members of the community for tales by moonlight sessions aimed at guiding their moral decisions. With globalisation and its consequent effects such as migration, dislocation and disindigenisation, the culture of communal folktale sessions is experiencing a quick death. This paper engages with the relevance of folktales as moral guides for children in African societies and as a renewed path to increased societal stability facilitated by morally set individuals.  Methods: The folktales were randomly selected from a pool of Tiv and Yoruba folktales in Nigeria. Two animal-based folktales which are part of shared folk culture were picked from the Tiv society and one from the Yoruba society.  The study follows a narrative and content analysis approach where the selected folktales are corroborated by four key informants, two males and two females within the ages of 50-65.   Results: With particular focus on the benefits of promoting and re-introducing the folktale culture to encourage positive behavioural traits amongst individuals in the society, the study primarily highlights folktales as reflective of human life. In identifying this similarity, the character of children is largely influenced by the moral values inherent in these folktales.   Conclusions: There needs to be an increased use of media and audio-visual tools to expand the knowledge and accessibility of indigenous African folktales in order to preserve ethnic, national and social identity as well as to provide a moral compass for children.