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.
Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) and Catherine Breillat’s Barbe Bleue (2009) are film adaptations of the tale Bluebeard, both of which have a seemingly bright closure — “and they all lived happily ...ever after”. “They”, as the female, are in the becoming process since “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” (de Beauvoir 1956: 273), which changes the nature of the film denouement. By looking at the female protagonists Ada McGrath in The Piano and Marie-Catherine in Barbe Bleue, this research aims to deal with how female “decisions” in attempting to accomplish themselves in the face of a crisis affect the understanding of the film’s ending. First, female characterisation and plot development are investigated with the construction of women’s feelings and perceptions at a given moment, influencing the subsequent outcomes. Second, the significance of narrative techniques is expounded with audience’s affective interaction with characters. The conclusion reached is that in both films, repressed female temperament allows women to make judgements and choices that predetermine the tragic core of the happy ending. The significance of this study is to draw attention to the plight of women in the undercurrent, to make it possible for the silent cries behind the beautiful fantasies to be heard.
Recognizing the imperative of enhancing students' comprehension in reading, especially within the context of vocational schools, the need for innovative learning approaches becomes crucial. This ...research aimed to assess the effectiveness of employing folktales to enhance the reading abilities of eleventh-grade students at SMK Tiwikrama Mamuju. Conducted through a pre-experimental design, the study incorporated both pretest and posttest assessments with an intervention in between. The research was conducted during the academic year 2022/2023, involving three classes comprising a total of 105 students. Utilizing purposive sampling, a sample size of 23 students was selected for the study, with the reading test serving as the primary research instrument. The data analysis unveiled a noteworthy improvement in students' mean scores, escalating from a pre-test score of 48 (categorized as very poor) to a post-test score of 75 (categorized as good). The calculated t-test value of 21.09 exceeded the critical t-table value of 2.074 at a significance level of α=0.05. This higher t-test value led to the rejection of the null hypothesis and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis. Consequently, the utilization of folktales demonstrated a significant enhancement in the reading abilities of eleventh-grade students at SMK Tiwikrama Mamuju.
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