Representation of Children in Ankole Folk Tales

chapter ONE INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: 1.0. INTRODUCTION: The folktale is a story passed on by words of mouth rather than by writing and thus partly modified by successive rn-telling before being written down or recorded.(oxford dictionary of literary terms, 2008) Folktales were the oral traditions of adults; they are stories about people’s lives and imaginations as they struggled with their fears and anxieties about the world with them. Folk tales have been shared in every society to entertain, educate and preserve culture. Folk tales play an invaluable role along with other cultural traditions in bringing people closer together and ensuring exchange and understanding among them. Today’s children may think of folic tales as old fashioned or even irrelevant. However the influence of is alive and well even today. Folk tales are imaginative narratives and were the oral traditions of adults. They were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They are stories about people’s lives and imagination as they struggled with their fears and anxieties about the world around them. In folk tales goodness, honesty and unity are depicted as important virtues which the heroes and heroines of folktales always use to prevail over their problems.