Folktales reveal the cultural values of the community: A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis

Anthropologist

Volume 19, Issue 1, 1 January 2015, Pages 295-302

Open Access

  (Article)

Mphasha, L.E. 

 

M.E.R. Mathivha Centre for African Languages, Arts and Culture, University of Venda, South Africa 

View references (30)

Abstract

Folktales help the community to maximize their strengths. They develop their weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities. As folktales are figurative in nature, their comparison with various facets of life is expressed metaphorically. They identify culture which is learned and shared by all members of the community. They conceal the deeper meaning which is unambiguous in speech or writing and are truthful. They may be as old as the hill, but they contain real issues about life in general and human nature in particular which people have observed. The way in which folktales are composed, distinguish them from other parts of oral art. Through the folktales, people gain their cultural heritage which, to a great extent, determines their further thinking, desires and attitudes. They form a project which is seen as problems from real life and studied in detail from various possible angles. © Kamla-Raj 2015.

Author keywords

Amusement; Audience; Cultural heritage; Narrator; Social control

ISSN: 09720073Source Type: Journal Original language: English

Document Type: Article

Publisher: Kamla-Raj Enterprises

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  Mphasha, L.E.; M.E.R. Mathivha Centre for African Languages, Arts and Culture, University of Venda, South Africa
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