Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Spoken Word

Oral tradition is a very important part of West African culture. Although their languages have had a written form for generations, one still finds that a lot of importance is placed on story telling and oral communications. You can see this in everyday conversations. People will seldom get straight to the point; a conversation must begin with a detailed greeting to set a friendly tone.

I cane face to face with the impact that oral story telling can have when I had the opportunity to speak to 325 children at an international school here in Accra. I sat with each class in the elementary section, read a story and then answered questions. The kindergarteners were my toughest audience. In the photo on the left, I am reading "Chee Chee in Paradise" to one of the kindergarten classes. The children paid rapt attention. As soon as the last word of my story had escaped my lips, a young lady piped up: "But what about Chee Chee's brother?" It was a great question and an indication that the story had touched and captured her. Their feedback was so useful, so humbling.

I firmly believe that the process of the reading had a significant impact on the way that the children saw the story and it made me feel very protective of my story. I wanted to pull the books off of Amazon and sell them one by one, only to parents who signed a contract to read the story with expression and drama. Don't worry, that madness has since subsided. I am ready once more to trust the words and the images to do the job for me.

8 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Yeah, when you ask a question about a secondary character you know the story has worked.

Carol Mitchell said...

:-)

Lynn Emery said...

Storytellers are a huge influence on kids, and on adults, too! I became a writer because of the storytellers in my family circle. Love the photo, what a group of cuties.

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Jewel Amethyst said...

I sat enrapt at my parents feet listening to them tell stories over and over. It inspired me to be a writer. I have tried to capture those stories over the years, even attempting to write them in the native dialect, but the written stories just do not have the impact of those told orally.

It is a great tradition, not only in West Africa, but also in the African Diaspora.

Great Post, Carol.

Carol Mitchell said...

Thanks Jewel. I had the same experience. I hope to do more recordings when my life settles down.

Carol Mitchell said...

Thanks Lynn, they were a great audience.

Liane Spicer said...

Lovely story, Carol. What a tremendous opportunity to be able to read for your young audience!