ABSTRACT
Colonialist
and Eurocentric scholarship has always refuted the existence of
literature in Africa before and after European intrusion on the African
continent. In instances where such scholarship had evidenced of the
existence of African orature, it was treated with skepticism, and in
most cases regarded as less serious or child-like. However, a re-look at
African oral art forms shows that not only did the people have a large
body of literature, but also that the literature was a very serious and
illuminating exploration and celebration of both life and the indigenous
people‟s cultural values. It was a literature bound on producing a real
African who fitted well into the dictates of life on African soil.
Using examples from the Lele folktales, and using the postcolonial
deconstructive approach, the dissertation argues that looking at African
oral art forms through Eurocentric lens robs Africans of an informed
and robust exposition of the rich layers of meaning embedded therein.
The dissertation unearthed the significance of Lele folktales, including
even the obvious, so as to challenge Africans, who have been colonized
for nearly a century to revisit their perceptions, assumptions and
attitude towards African oral art forms. This is because self-discovery
and self-definition are the necessary points of departure in the
decolonization process that many African countries are engaged in. The
dissertation is consisted of five chapters. Chapter one describes the
geographical location and historical background of Lele and a survey of
their mode of life which include, cultural, economical and political
organizations and it also deals with the background, the statement of
the problem, aim and objectives, scope and focus, the justification, the
methodology and the framework of the study. Chapter two is about the
review of literature, the chapter three is concerned with what urged the
creation and enunciation of folktales and their motives among the Lele,
chapter four puts in contrast the Lele folktales with modernization and
the Eurocentric bias. And chapter five regards the conclusion.