Performance and the Techniques of the Akan Folktale

Patricia Beatrice Mireku-Gyimah

International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 2014, vol. 3, issue 4, 311-340

Abstract: The Akan Folktale (AF) or Akan oral narrative commonly known as Anansesɛm (literally meaning Spider Story or Stories) is a most popular verbal art form. This paper analyses performance and the techniques of the AF based on examples drawn from the book published by the author (Mireku-Gyimah, 2011a), 50 akan folktales from Ghana: English and akan versions. Saarbrucken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing Gmbh) , which captures the performance dynamics of the AF. The performance of these tales was captured on video and audio cassettes, transcribed in Akan and translated into English. The study shows that the AF has unique techniques of performance: there is a literary presentation constituting a structured pattern, namely an extradiegetic introduction that sets the ground rules and calls for co-operation of narrator and narratee(s), the main body of the story that enjoins the participation of both narrator and narratee(s), and a decisive conclusion that invites a willing narratee to provide another story. Throughout the introduction, the main body of the story and the conclusion, there are laid down formulas and both narrator and narratee(s) are free to make comments, ask questions, sing mmoguo or even dance. It is concluded that the AF has a unique structured pattern of literary presentation and techniques of performance that attract and sustain interest as well as serve as a powerful tool to drive home moral lessons.

Keywords: Akan folktale; Techniques; Performance; Literary presentation; Oral narrative; Narrator; Narratee. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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