The Relevance of Tselane le Dimo Folktale in the Life of the Current Generation

The Relevance of Tselane le Dimo Folktale in the Life of the Current Generation

Aaron Mpho Masowa

Issue: Vol.5 No.7 Issue Article 23 pp.1366-1376
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245723 | Published online 24th July, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

Before the origin of writing, oral literature was used by many African families to pass down values and impart knowledge and good morals from one generation to the other and to pass knowledge from one generation to the other. However, modern families hardly see value in narrating these folktales to their children as they claim that they have no time to narrate stories. This paper aimed to demonstrate the relevance and significance of Tselane le Dimo folktale in the current space and time. The study was guided by a functionalism theory which postulates that society is more than the sum of its parts; rather, each aspect of it works for the stability of the whole. The study is descriptive, and a qualitative approach was employed. Content analysis methods and secondary sources in the form of books and articles were used as data collection methods. The findings of this paper indicated that narrating folktales is still necessary and Tselane le Dimo folktale is still relevant in the current space and time, to the younger generation. This paper concluded that modern African families should get back to their roots and narrate stories to their children to impart knowledge, values, and morals to them.

Keywords: Folktale, Modern families, Morals, Oral literature, Values

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Aaron Mpho Masowa has taught in various schools as a teacher since 2013 (Filadelfia Special School, The Beacon High School, Thabo-Thokoza Secondary School, Qhowaneng Primary School, and Motshepuwa Primary School and serve as a Sesotho lecturer in various institutions (Central University of Technology, University of the Free State and currently working as a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in the Department of African Languages. He wrote various Sesotho books (Jo, bophelo bona! Lenyora, Ha re ithuteng, Hoja ka tseba, Dikakata tsa bophelo le Ho se tsebe ke lebote. He has published number of poems, book chapter and articles. He teaches language and literature and strongly involve in community engagement where he develops the upcoming authors. His main areas of current research interest include language policy and implementation, literature in African languages, Morphology and Syntax.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Masowa, Aaron Mpho. “The Relevance of Tselane le Dimo Folktale in the Life of the Current Generation,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.7 (2024): 1366-1376. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245723