Practitioners and Uses of Contemporary Mende Folk literature in South-Eastern Sierra Leone

Authors

  • Ibrahim Mustapha Fofanah Institute of Languages and Cultural Studies, Njala University, Njala Campus, Bo, Sierra Leone
  • Philip Foday Yamba Thulla Institute of Languages and Cultural Studies, Njala University, Njala Campus, Bo, Sierra Leone
  • Samba Moriba Freetown Teachers' College, 9VV3+5RW, Hastings, Sierra Leone

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2021-0157

Keywords:

Folk-literature, Folk Practitioners, Performance, Uses, Contemporary

Abstract

The study examined the practitioners and uses of contemporary Mende folk literature in South-eastern Sierra Leone. A qualitative research design involving 250 participants from 50 communities with 5 participants from each community was used in the study. Interviews were carried out using interview guide questions relating to folk practices, performance, and uses in the selected communities. Focus group discussions followed the interviews in 10 communities selected using simple random techniques. The findings revealed that Mende folk literature was endangered and, apart from occasional singing, household story-telling and riddling sessions done mainly by children and women, the only groups of people recognized as practitioners of Mende folk literature were the tribal and secret society heads and the community's griots, who mostly were elderly people. Mende folk literature should not only be of academic interest but rather a source of cultural rejuvenation.

 

Received: 26 July 2021 / Accepted: 27 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

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Published

05-11-2021

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

Practitioners and Uses of Contemporary Mende Folk literature in South-Eastern Sierra Leone. (2021). Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 10(6), 97. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2021-0157