Female role models in Bukusu folktales: Education at the mother’s hearth

Female role models in Bukusu folktales: Education at the mother’s hearth

Folktales serve a descriptive, as well as prescriptive role, by consistently depicting societal and cultural norms. Sexist portrayals sanction the marginality of Bukusu women, particularly when these reflect prevailing gender roles and expectations. However, contests over identity and representation...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Namulundah Florence
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2016-12-01
Series:Cogent Education
Subjects:
kenya
folktales
gender and female agency
social norms
cultural conduits
cultural identity
self-determined learning
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1185238
Description
Summary:Folktales serve a descriptive, as well as prescriptive role, by consistently depicting societal and cultural norms. Sexist portrayals sanction the marginality of Bukusu women, particularly when these reflect prevailing gender roles and expectations. However, contests over identity and representation are as ancient as (unwritten) history. The analysis of tales From Our Mothers’ Hearths: Bukusu Folktales and Proverbs, offers a wide range of role models for women; some of which depict female agency in exacting circumstances (Florence, N., 2005. From our Mothers’ Hearths: Bukusu Folktales and Proverbs. NJ: Africa World Pres/The Red Sea Press). Further, females as narrators, protagonists, and the primary audience act as both curator and creators of culture.
ISSN:2331-186X

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