Retelling
the Story: An Exploratory Study of the Influence of African Oral Tradition on
West Virginia Folktales
Jonathan Glover
Abstract
Scholarship concerning West Virginia Folklore is extensive. In contrast, scholarship discussing African influences on West Virginia folklore is nearly non-existent. This research will examine folktales from West Virginia and West Africa and will endeavor to establish a cultural connection between the themes represented in folktales from both regions.
The process of kidnapping and enslaving African peoples created seemingly insurmountable obstacles to the proliferation of African culture. Consequently, it became necessary to search for African cultural survivals in the New World. An African cultural survival is the phenomenon of a particular African cultural form, i.e. music, naming ceremonies, etc., that has been transferred to the new world despite the ravages of slavery.[1] One specific African cultural phenomenon that survived the Middle Passage—the transatlantic voyage in which millions of enslaved Africans lost their lives—is the oral tradition. This practice provides a connection to the past for descendants of African peoples throughout the diaspora and is nearly ubiquitous in historical and modern African societies. In traditional Africa the practice of recounting historical events to members of a particular group was a prestigious calling, which fell upon the Griot. As the primary channel through which the oral tradition flowed, the Griot relayed fictional stories in a didactic tone, was the repository of communal history, told riddles and proverbs, and even acted as the king’s personal messenger.[2]
The Oral tradition among enslaved Africans in America has been extensively researched.[3] Most of this research details the actual folktales they shared with one another. Folktales, however, are universal in nearly every culture and many share common characteristics. More importantly for this study, because Africans had to exist in America cultural forms necessarily amalgamated; Africans transformed traditional African cultural phenomenon to their new situation while adopting aspects of the surrounding cultures in the New World. This process can be clearly observed through the folktales of African Americans that have been transcribed over the years.
According to Ed Cabbell, (renowned researcher of Black Appalachian history and Founder of the John Henry Folk Festival) scholarship concerning the African cultural influence on West Virginia folklore is meager.[4] Few scholars understand the contributions of Blacks to West Virginian and Appalachian culture. The history of Africans in America has been distorted over time as well. The result has been low self-esteem and ignorance concerning African culture manifested in the enslaved and their descendents. Knowledge overthrows this ignorance. Therefore, the search for and identification of African cultural survivals is essential to the formation of a positive self-image for Blacks in West Virginia and ultimately throughout the diaspora. Since the oral tradition is characteristic of African cultures and African Americans have an extensive history in Appalachia it stands to reason that African cultural survivals in West Virginia, specifically the oral tradition, can be recognized most readily in the folktales particular to that region. This research will attempt to discover what African influence—if any—there can be found in the folktales of West Virginia.
As mentioned before the information regarding the history and cultural contributions of African Americans in West Virginia is severely modest. Research on this topic will increase information in the field of Black Appalachian heritage.[5] Limited studies exist comparing West Virginia folktales and African folktales and none exist with the specific aim of discovering links to African cultural survivals. Addressing this dearth of information about Blacks in Appalachia represents another rationale for this research; to illuminate current scholarship on Africans in West Virginia and to examine the process of accessing that information. These questions will drive this inquiry; Why has not more been written about the contributions of Africans to West Virginia Culture? What sources are available and who has access to them? That Africans have made contributions to West Virginia culture is not in question. Bob Snyder, author and historical researcher, states, “The encounter (and continuous exchange) with Black culture [in West Virginia] has been important for musicians…”.[6] It is crucial then to ask, what other areas did Black culture infiltrate in Appalachia? This is one of the questions that, if answered thoroughly, will add significantly to the scholarship concerning the contributions of Blacks in West Virginia.
Literature addressing the particular subject of African influence on West Virginia folktales is nearly non-existent. West Virginia historians Ed Cabbell and William Turner attest to this.[7] As Cabbell explains in “Black Appalachian”, “Blacks’ population in the Mountains is so small, many Black innovations, with the passage of time, come to be known as white-Appalachian contributions.” Assessment of this obfuscation of Black Appalachian history will be central to this research because the examining why it exists will help address the lack of scholarship dealing with Back Appalachian folklore.
A review of the literature concerning folklore reveals an interesting dilemma. The traditional paradigm in Academia has assigned greater worth to literary materials while disparaging folk discourse. This is inappropriate; it reflects a hostile perspective that dictates hierarchical relationships where there is no basis for the comparison.[8] The performance aspect of the oral tradition and its importance to the continuity of Black culture—and other cultures— rejects a comparison of literary and oral forms of communication. Additionally, there is a grave misconception as to who the “folk” are. Anand Prahlad, folklorist and author, argues that displacing the term folk from its definition—all people—causes scholars to categorize the folktales as devoid of scholarly worth. The combination of these obstacles nudges folklore studies to the periphery of scholarly inquiry.
Articles examining folktales in West Virginia concentrate on European contributors to West Virginia folktales.[9] While this may be true there is no discussion of African folktale themes and forms, though blacks have made significant contributions to West Virginia Culture, despite their small numbers. The tendency to overlook Blacks contribution to any industry or genre is obvious here. It is not deemed important to highlight the contributions of Blacks and thus they are ignored. This can be viewed as a product of racism or of ignorance about Blacks in West Virginia.
For the purposes of this study—the comparative evaluation of cultural themes and forms inherent in West African and Appalachian folktales, compilations of folktales from these regions will be used. Buying the Wind; Regional Folklore in the United States by Richard Dorson is one example. Books like John W. Roberts’ From Trickster to Bad Man and articles like Nadia Khouri-Dagher’s “Our Intangible Heritage” will inform the researcher of forms inherent in African folktales and those inherited from Africa. However, the majority of the research I will be conducting will be the systematic comparison of specific folktales from West Africa and West Virginia. An examination of Stith Thompson’s Motif Index of Folk Literature will help guide that inquiry (though a unique categorization specific to this study may be created). It is important to note that the vast resources of both types of folktales available cause a dilemma in performing the research. It will be necessary to choose either one or two specific folktales to analyze or specific themes inherent in the folktales like the trickster or hero figures. Furthermore, subsequent research will narrow the focus of the study to a particular African cultural group as the Yoruba or Ibo peoples to analyze and compare with those of West Virginia. The choice of one African group over another will depend on the researcher’s ability to clearly show a cultural connection between that group and the enslaved Africans in the New World.
The collection of data relative to this study will begin with a further review of existing literature. These will include research concerning the African oral tradition (used to define the African oral tradition), African American history in West Virginia, and folktales from both West Virginia and West Africa.
I will also interview noted storytellers specializing in West Virginia folktales and West African folktales. Interviews with public historians in West Virginia and Professors who can offer information regarding Blacks in West Virginia as well as those who can provide general information on the African oral tradition in Africa and among enslaved Africans. These interviews will complement the literary research and provide personal information not found in the books.
I plan to synthesize information gained from the literature search and interviews according to three distinct categories: First, a history of Blacks in West Virginia, second a working definition of the African oral tradition, and finally specific folktales. These are simply preliminary categories with which to organize the data.
Since the origins of the tales are of specific interest to this study, I will also delineate the origins of the folktales (wherever possible), the place they may have been told, and the specific tellers of the folktales. The themes represented in the folktales—the specific phenomena relayed in the stories—are key to establishing a cultural connection between African folktales and West Virginia folktales. Therefore, I will list and compare these observed phenomena and determine the correlation between African and West Virginian folktales.
With a view of the compiled data, I will attempt to demonstrate a cultural connection between the two regional tales—West Africa and West Virginia. Again, it is important to note that because this is in essence an emergent study, the researcher will necessarily choose either specific folktales to analyze or specific themes inherent in the folktales to compare.
The tentative schedule for the completion of this study is as follows:
- May—July 2001à compile research sources
- July—Novemberà compile and analyze data from interviews
- December—Mayà synthesize data and write paper
References
Cabbell, E. “Black Appalachian.” Mountain life and work, 64,(1988),1-24.
Dorson, R. Buying the Wind; Regional Folklore in the United States(Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1964). Chpt 3.
Khouri-Dagher, N. “Our intangible heritage.” UNESCO Sources, 126 (2000),23.
McNeil, W.K. “Appalachian Folklore Scholarship.” Appalachian Journal, 5,(1977), 55-64.
Ogunsuyi, A.. “Storytelling in the African Oral Tradition—Griot.” African Cultures. <http://africancultures.about.com/culture/africancultures/library/extras/griot/
Blstorytelling.htm> (2001, June, 4).
Roberts, J. From Trickster to Badman. (Phila: University of Penn Press, 1989).
Snyder, B. “Colonial Mimesis and the Appalachian Renaissance.” Appalachian journal, 5.3,(1978), 342-342.
Thompson, S. Motif Index of Folklife. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1958).
Turner, W.H. “African Americans and the Appalachian Heritage.” Appalachian heritage, 19, (1991), 5-20.
Retelling the Story: An Exploratory Study of the Influence of African Oral Tradition on West Virginia Folktales
A Proposal for Research in
the McNair Scholar’s Program
Jonathan E. Glover
June 25, 2001
[1] John Blassingame, The Slave Community, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), 23-24, 181-183,
[2] Austin Ogunsuyi, “Storytelling in African Oral Tradition,” About.com, <African cultures .about.com>.(4 June 2001).
[3] Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, eds., Book of Negro Folklore (New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co., 1958), intro
[5] William Turner, “African Americans and the Appalachian Heritage,” Appalachian Heritage, 19, (1991), 5.
[6] Bob Snyder, “Colonial Mimesis and the Appalachian Renaissance,” Appalachian Journal, 5.3, (1978), 342-343.
[7] Edward J. Cabbell, “Black Appalachian,” Mountain Life and Work, 64 (1988), 1-24; William H. Turner, “African Americans and the Appalachian Heritage,” Appalachian Heritage, 19 (1991), 5-12.