The aesthetics of storytelling in African
culture deepen beyond the literal; it is not
just the narration of the story that matters,
but rather, its literary import. Its literal
essence is expressed in terms of its
ideological and sociological relevance to
the survival of the society.
On the lay surface, the practice of
storytelling may be seen as a socio-cultural
activity practiced by members of the society
as a form of entertainment. This results in
the ignorance of the sociological grandeur
that endears it to social vigor. They are
educative, informative and acts as moral
lesson bearers. They are a unifying force to
strengthen that ligament which ties people
together. A story on its own as an entity may
not do much wonders in the context of the
foregoing view, but it becomes a vibrant and
viable socio-cultural collaborative
apparatus for social enhancement through
the form of vehicle it reaches the audience
with, a storyteller. That is why, in this case,
we should strive to be our very own
storytellers and tell our stories like we best
know them, undiluted and uncensored.
Over the years, the art of storytelling has
evolved and taken a different direction.
From visual (drawings) on stones, to oral
during gatherings, and to written and
printed as well as motion picture in the form
of films and plays, the art of storytelling still
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carry with it the same set of lessons, to
reinforce our identity as a people, to pass
down wisdom, to help in making decisions
and to teach generations after generations
about what morally is right and wrong. The
introduction and spread of technology has
introduced a different way of passing down
knowledge from one generation to the next
through different media such as TV, radio
and print. The spread of the internet has
also increased the number of people a story
can reach. Stories that would have been
shared between small numbers of people
can now reach hundreds, in different parts
of the world.
What is unfortunate though, is the fact that
the loudest voices that tell stories through
different methods of technology tell stories
that are current, and a few of those who
create content about where we come from;
our history. The majority of the history
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