Hello Friends!

First, welcome to everyone who subscribed in the last 24 hours! I am thrilled to have you here and I’ll introduce myself properly in the upcoming June newsletter.

We’ve spent the past month savoring the tastes and aromas of food-related folklore mentioned in some works from modern African literature. We started in the world of Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni’s “El Majus or The Animists” drinking tea with the Tuareg and observing the Ceremony of the Three Teas. We then traveled down the West African coast, chopping, as we say,  rice-related folklore through Guinean writer Camara Laye’s “The African Child”, Akara with Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s “Ake: The Years of Childhood”, and yams with Ghanaian writer Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing”. In this week’s episode, we will continue chopping yams and with them, another popular West African root staple, Cassava.

Meanwhile, we didn’t get a strong showing for the AFRI Grant unfortunately, which is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. We move regardless. That being said, if you are (or know) an Anthropology undergrad of African origin and are interested in a paid summer internship working on African folklore, lets have a chat!

References

* Grains of Pepper: Folktales from Liberia. United States, John Day Company, 1967. p47-49

* Nweke, Felix, Dunstan SC Spencer, and John K. Lynam. The cassava transformation: Africas bestkept secret. 2002. p6

* The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. Kiribati, Routledge, 1993. p277-278

* Cereda, M. P., and M. C. Y. Mattos. "Linamarin: the toxic compound of cassava." Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins 2.1 (1996): 06-12.

Image Credits (Left – Right, Top – Bottom)

1.        "Cassava harvest" by Ojiribeka Chidera is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

2.        "A Picture of the 1st Stage of Garri Processing 02" by Iwuala Lucy is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

3.        "Production of garri" by Ojiribeka Chidera is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

4.        "Garri seller truck in Ilorin" by Major Lyte is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

5.        "Plate of Garri and fried groundnuts" by Bukky658 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Mythological Africans AFRI Grant is still accepting applications from unpublished African writers aged 55 and over. AFRI fellows will receive up to $300 to review and retell 2-3 folktales from their people. The results will be published in an anthology.

Applications close June 30th!

In this week’s episode, we go digging for yams as we sample more food related folklore in modern African literature. We start with Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi’s award winning debut novel “Homegoing” then we discover the origin stories of Yam cultivation among the Ashani and Ewe peoples. Finally, we talk a little bit about West Africa’s Yam Civilizations.

We also briefly mention the link between West African and indigenous Australian and Melanesian Yam Civilizations. You can read more about those here and here. I highly recommend the first paper (Yam Cycles and Timeless Time in Melanesia). It discusses how the cycle of Yam cultivation and harvest deeply impacted Melanesian people’s perception of time and relationships, and the implications this had for just about every other aspect of their lives, down to the flora and fauna in their environment! It’s a quick and worthwile read!

Fun Fact: According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, Nigeria (67%), Ghana (11%), Ivory Coast (10%), Benin (4%), Togo (1%) and Cameroon (1%) account for the bulk of the 75 million metric tonnes of yams produced in the world in 2020. People of the Yam indeed!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Can’t get enough?

* Igbo New Yam Festival Celebrated in Enugu (2020)

* When Food and Culture Are Celebrated Together: Benin’s Yam Festival

* Yam Festival in Bouaké, Ivory Coast - Harvesting Joy and Unity

* Asogli Te Za: The Yam Festival of the Ewe people

* More West African Yam Festivals

References

* Gyasi, Yaa. Homegoing: A Novel. United States, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2016.

* Courlander, Harold. A Treasury of African Folklore: The Oral Literature, Traditions, Myths, Legends, Epics, Tales, Recollections, Wisdom, Sayings, and Humor of Africa. United States, Crown Publishers, 1975. pp 118 - 120

* Coursey, D. G., and Cecilia K. Coursey. “The New Yam Festivals of West Africa.” Anthropos, vol. 66, no. 3/4, 1971, pp. 444–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40457684. Accessed 23 June 2024.

* Coursey, D. G. “The Civilizations of the Yam: Interrelationships of Man and Yams in Africa and the Indo-Pacific Region.” Archaeology & Physical Anthropology in Oceania, vol. 7, no. 3, 1972, pp. 215–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40386180. Accessed 23 June 2024.

The Mythological Africans AFRI Grant is still accepting applications from unpublished African writers aged 55 and over. AFRI fellows will receive up to $300 to review and retell 2-3 folktales from their people. The results will be published in an anthology.

Applications close June 30th!

In this week’s episode, we get a mouthful of Àkàrà-related folklore starting with Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s fond memories from his autobiography “Ake: The Years of Childhood”. Listen to the end to learn two fun and cool facts about Acarajé the Afro-Brazil equivalent of Àkàrà!

In this Yoruba wedding song, Àkàrà is used as a metaphor for the good things of life – and what is better than living long enough to see your children well married?

A Preta do Acarajé or The Black Beauty Who Sells Acarajé is an immensely popular folk song by Dorival Caymmi a Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, artist and founder of Brazil’s Bossa Nova movement. It has been performed by superstars like Carmen Miranda, Maria Bethania and Gal Costa.

Meanwhile, if this episode has awakened an Ijapa-like hunger for Àkàrà in you, check out these recipes:

* How to make Àkàrà (Nigerian Edition)

* How To Make The Best Nigerian Àkàrà (In case you are not sure)

* How to Make Accra Beans (Cameroon Edition)

And if you must have them all,

* How to Make Accra Banana

References

* da Costa Lima, Vivaldo. "The ethno-scenology and ethnoculinary of the acarajé." VIBRANT-Vibrant Virtual Brazilian Anthropology 7.2 (2010): 236-248.

* Harris, Jessica B.. The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent. United Kingdom, Simon & Schuster, 1998. p86

* Kubik, Gerhard. "Alo: Yoruba story songs (Excerpts from material collected in Nigeria)." African Music: Journal of the International Library of African Music 4.2 (1968): 10-32.

* Ogunbiyi, Maryam, Omoniyi Afolabi, and Michael R. Anderson. "The Influence of Yoruba Religion and Gastronomy on the Yoruba Diaspora of Cuba and Brazil: A Transnational Analysis." University of Texas at Austin (2016).

* Omoniyi, Bolaji Omotayo. "Symbolic Representations Of Yoruba Culture In Selected Indigenous Wedding Music Among Ekiti People Of South-West, Nigeria." Journal Of Nigerian Music Education (Jonmed) 14 (2022).

* Owomoyela, Oyekan. Yoruba Trickster Tales. United Kingdom, University of Nebraska Press, 1997. pp 41-46

* Soyinka, Wole. Aké: the years of childhood. Vintage, 1989. pp 153 - 154

Sound Effects

* A Preta Do Acarajé, performed by Carmen Miranda and Dorival Caymmi. Lyrics and essay about the song.

* Kuto Market Abeokuta, Ogun State by Neighborhood Waka

Mythological Africans is, and always will be, a free, reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming subscriber.

We continue to enjoy the best of both food folklore and folklore in modern African literature with this week’s episode. We start with the rice harvest as depicted in Camara Laye’s “The African Child” and savor some rice-related folklore from West Africa’s rice-growing peoples.

Can’t Get Enough?

* Friendly, Delicious Rivalry Surrounding Jollof Rice

* The World Wide World of Jollof Rice

* Jollof Wars: The Dispute Surrounding This West African Rice Dish

* The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American Connection

References

* Shaw, Thurstan, ed. The Archaeology of Africa: food, metals and towns. Vol. 20. Psychology Press, 1993.

* Fields-Black, Edda L. Deep roots: rice farmers in West Africa and the African diaspora. Indiana University Press, 2008.

* Kallon, Zainabu Kpaka. Zainabu's African Cookbook: With Food and Stories. Citadel Press, 2004.

* Schlenker, Christian Frederick. A Collection of Temne Traditions: Fables and Proverbs, with an English Translation: as Also Some Specimens of the Author's Own Temne Compositions and Translations: to which is Appended a Temne-English Vocabulary. Church Missionary Society, 1861.

* Migeod, Frederick William Hugh. A view of Sierra Leone. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1926.

* Kilson, Marion. Royal Antelope and Spider: West African Mende Tales. 1976.

Among the Tuareg and many people of the Sahelian region of Africa, tea is more than a beverage. It is a way of life. But how did this come to be, and what has it got to do with the legendary Lost Oasis of Waw in Tuareg folklore? Listen on for some Tuareg Tea folklore and more…

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Learn more about the AFRI Grant

Can’t Get Enough?

* Preparing Tea in the Tuareg Style

* What Is Tuareg Tea?

* Le Breuvage du Thé dans la Région de la Saoura et de la Gourara: Concepts, Fonctions et Rituels (Tea Drinking in the Saoura and Gourara Regions: Concepts, Functions and Rituals) by Ali Bencherif Abdelillah

References

* Diawara, Mamadou, and Ute Röschenthaler. “Green Tea in the Sahel: The Social History of an Itinerant Consumer Good.” Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, vol. 46, no. 1, 2012, pp. 39–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43860320. Accessed 2 June 2024.

* Masquelier, Adeline. "Teatime: Boredom and the temporalities of young men in Niger." Africa 83.3 (2013): 470-491.

* Rasmussen, Susan. “Making Better ‘Scents’ in Anthropology: Aroma in Tuareg Sociocultural Systems and the Shaping of Ethnography.” Anthropological Quarterly, vol. 72, no. 2, 1999, pp. 55–73. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3317964. Accessed 2 June 2024.

* Rasmussen, Susan. “Matters of Taste: Food, Eating, and Reflections on ‘The Body Politic’ in Tuareg Society.” Journal of Anthropological Research, vol. 52, no. 1, 1996, pp. 61–83. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3630236. Accessed 2 June 2024.

* Seligman, Thomas K. “Art of Being Tuareg Sahara Nomads in a Modern World.” African Arts, vol. 39, no. 3, 2006, pp. 56–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447781. Accessed 2 June 2024.

Sound Effects

* Soundgrabs: Water & Weather – Puring Hot Tea

This week, we continue our foray into Ibrahim al-Koni’s Al Majus or The Animists, this time visiting the Oasis of Waw, a legendary oasis from Tuareg folklore. Waw is a lost paradise, one of those place mentioned in folklore as accessible only to those it chooses to reveal itself to. In Tuareg philosophy, as described by the author, there are two Waws – the Terrestrial Waw and the Celestial Waw. The Terrestrial Waw is any place of refuge – man made or otherwise – from the harshness of the desert’s innocent and yet unrelenting cruelty.

The Celestial Waw is a place of unsurpassed beauty and abundance, populated by kind and generous people who will share all their bounty with you, on the condition that you take nothing with you when you leave.

 The Celestial Waw is an example of an unattainable ideal sought after by arrogant young men who eventually bow in humility before it and spend the rest of their lives contemplating the folly of their presumption. al-Koni dedicates a whole chapter of the book to two different versions of the legend of Waw, one of which we will read today. In this version, a merchant finds and then loses the Celestial Waw because he broke the place’s primary rule – leave it as you found it.

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Can’t Get Enough?

* The Desert in Ibrahim al-Koni's "Al Majus": A nature that vanished and turned into a spirit...

* al-Majus or through the Labyrnith by Ismail Fayed

* Interview with the Libyan Writer Ibrahim Al-Koni: The Destructive Nature of Tyranny

* Rawafed: Documentary Interview with Ibrahim Kuni

References

* al-Koni, Ibrahim. The Fetishists. N.p., University of Texas Press, 2019. pp235-245

Sound Effects

* SFX Sand Storm Sound Effect

* SSE Library: WATER  - FLOW/WATRFlow_Slow river; small water movement_CS_USC

* Spectacular Sound Effects - Vol. 2 - 48. Birds - Nightingale

Still Can’t Get Enough? Don’t Miss This!

Circles of Power and Influence: Neck rings in Zulu culture

In this week’s episode, we turn towards folkloric beliefs about the different ways people can percieve the world around them and what western models of mental health can learn from elsewhere.

There are so many ways of knowing. The West has imposed a cerebral way of knowing onto the world and will not accept other ways of knowing, things like intuition, premonition, dreams, that kind of thing has been bundled up and thrown away as old wives’ tales. But I think, wait. Do not dare throw away this way of knowing, because it has not been interrogated. The West has thrown it away, but we don’t have to. — Jennifer Makumbi

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Can’t Get Enough?

Watch this talk about Enfant Terribles, a very common and yet, underdiscussed character from African folklore.

Recommended Reading

* So Many Ways of Knowing: An Interview with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Author of “Kintu”

* Ekoué, Léocadie , et al. “Aze and the Incommensurable.” Evil in Africa: Encounters with the Everyday, edited by William C. Olsen and Walter E. A. Van Beek, Indiana University Press, 2016, pp. 128–39. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt17t75bk.12. Accessed 20 May 2024.

In this week’s episode, we witness the beautifully complex relationship between the sun and the Sahara desert as portrayed by celebrated Libyan author Ibrahim al-Koni in Al Majus (AKA The Animists, The Fetishists, or Through the Labyrinth), a book considered by many to be his magnum opus.

The desert is a nature stripped bare, the desert is a nature that vanished and turned into a spirit.

— Ibrahim al-Koni

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

References

al-Majus or through the Labyrnith by Ismail Fayed

Interview with the Libyan Writer Ibrahim Al-Koni: The Destructive Nature of Tyranny

Rawafed: Documentary Interview with Ibrahim Kuni

Sound Effects

NASA - Sun Sonification

Whistling Wind - Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC

We start our May exploration of folklore in African literature with Jennifer Makumbi’s Kintu and a question:

How deep does the connection between folklore and place go?

Lwera is a stretch of land with a starring role in Kintu. As you will find out in the episode, how a people feel about the places in which they anchor their lives, whether in the past or in the present, is essential to how they view themselves. I also recommend Karl Sinnhuber’s paper “On the Relations of Folklore and Geography.” It’s an oldie but still a goodie!

Enjoy!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

References

In Chintu, a Look at What it Means to be Ugandan Now

Kemboi, Justus K. Myth And Memory In Narrating A Nation: Jennifer Makumbi’s Chintu. Diss. University of Nairobi, 2020. pp. 63 - 64

Sinnhuber, Karl A. “On the Relations of Folklore and Geography.” Folklore, vol. 68, no. 3, 1957, pp. 385–404. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1258359. Accessed 5 May 2024.

Ryden, Kent C., and Wayne Franklin. “Folklore and the Sense of Place.” Mapping the Invisible Landscape: Folklore, Writing, and the Sense of Place, University of Iowa Press, 1993, pp. 53–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20h6sc9.7. Accessed 5 May 2024.

History of the Krobo

The Eviction of the Krobo

Songs/Sound Effects (in order of occurrence)

Mythological Africans by Phende

Ouganda : l'extraction massive de sable menace le lac Victoria 

Sand mining in Lwera wetland endangering Lake Victoria – Environmentalists

Sandstorm - Gold Tape: 55 56 Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC

"Cars And Trucks On Highway" Sound Effects, Volume 5 From Audio Fidelity (DFS 7016)

Uganda National Anthem Instrumental

Bashir Abbas was known for many things. He was a scholar, an engineer, an accountant, a father, a friend, a mentor and much more. But above all, he was a lover and composer of exquisite music steeped in the soundscape of his beloved country, Sudan.

In this episode, we touch briefly on his prolific musical career.

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

References

* Bashir Abbas

* The Funeral Of The Deceased, The Country’s Musician, Bashir Abbas, Arrives Tomorrow Morning – Sudan News

*  Sudanese Singing 1908-1958

* The death of the famous Sudanese musician and composer Bashir Abbas

* On His Second Anniversary, Musician Bashir Abbas: A Unique Boat of Melodies

* Sudan: Khartoum Celebrates 80th Birthday of Music Composer Beshir Abbas

Songs/Sound Effects

* Alakiht by Bashir Abbas

* MARKET/AMBMrkt_Street market in Marrakesh_CS_USC from SSE Library: AMBIENCE

* Kably+ Balabil Nawm 3ay 4' 44

Can’t Get Enough?

Read

* Meet Sudanese oud virtuoso Awad Ahmoudi “The Golden Fingered”

* Traditional music instruments in Sudan

* Five songs that defined Sudan's golden era

* Soundtrack of a revolution: The rise of Sudan's Beja music

* Songs, Chants and Poems of the Sudanese Revolution

Listen

* Podcast – Sudan: A Musical History with an interview from Al-Balabil

* Music – More from Bashir Abbas

* Music – More Oud Music From Sudan

* Music – An evening with Nemiri Hussein and Awad Ahmoudi

* Music – Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan

Response to Fun Fact Question

* Bas

* Dreamville's Bas on Sudan's Protests and Touring Africa - The Atlantic