The positioning of folklore studies in the new millennium

Abstract

Folklore has always been and is still studied at secondary and tertiary school levels in a shallow manner. This paper seeks to open a debate on this issue and also discusses how and why the study of folklore must be revisited for the simple reason that at the present moment the approach that is in use, especially at the secondary school level and some tertiary institutions, leaves much to be desired. At times one is not even sure what folklore really means, and whether one is doing folklore any justice by limiting it to a mere study of the structure and contents of the condensed form of folktales, riddles, proverbs, to mention but a few. This type of approach is gradually making the study of folklore more and more complex. It is even worsened by the current thinking in governmental circles, whose focus seems to be on the production of students for a technological future only. Some other aspects like history, music and religion, are often overlooked, and even those that are included in the syllabus, most students find it difficult to relate to them (which is often form and content) to their everyday situations. Some of the same students who are studying folklore and philosophy cannot even understand that proverbs actually constitute African philosophy. The paper advocates a holistic approach towards the study of folklore, an approach that will definitely contribute towards the realization of the global dream of the African Renaissance.