Classification of Oral Narratives with Examples

Oral Narratives can be classified into the following categories: Myths, legends, trickster narratives, hero tales etiological narratives
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Classification-of-oral-narratives

Classification of Oral Narratives

Oral narratives may be classified into the following categories:

1. Myths narratives

Myths may be defined as prose narratives which, in the societies they are told are considered to be truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past. Myths are accepted on faith and are taught to be believed. Myths can also be cited as authority in answer to ignorance, doubt, or disbelief.

Myths are characterized by: religious significance, the main characters are supernatural beings, i.e. The Gods.

Myths often try to explain the origin of life and death, mans’ relationship with the gods etc

Myths may appear in narrative or poetic form.

 Consider this example of Fulani myth from Mali below:
How the world was created from a drop of milk

In the beginning, there was a huge drop of milk

Then Donnadani came and created stone

Then stone created iron;

An iron created fire;

And fire created water

And water created air

Then Dondari descended a second time. And he to the five elements

And shaped them into a man

But man was too proud

The Doondari created blindness and blindness defeated man

But when blind because too proud,

Dondari created sleep, and sleep defeated blindness;

But when sleep because too proud

Doondari created worry, and worry defeated sleep

But when worry because too proud,

Doondari created death, and death defeated worry;

But when death because too proud,

Doondari descended for the third time,

And he came as Gueno, the eternal one,

And Gueno defeated death.

For further mythical stories, the following are useful references:

Ulli Beir, The Origin of life and Death A.W.S

Taban Lolyong, Popular culture of East Africa Longman 1972 


2. Legends narratives

Legends as part of the oral narratives are narratives generally regarded as true, particularly by the narrator and his audience.

Legends are set in a much less remote period when the world was much as it is today.

Legends, unlike myths, depict the deeds of humans rather than supernatural heroes

Legends deal with events such as wars, migrations, the establishment of ruling dynasties

In legends, the outstanding performances of individuals in society e.g. success in molesting raids, great and successful leaders are often embroidered into legendary stories

Legendary figures may often be given supernatural attributes as an attempt to glorify or build up the character

Examples of legends: Luanda Magere and Adera Akango among the Luo.

Another well-known example of a Legend is the story of the Ilarinkon people among the Maasai.

3. Hero narratives

They are also known as hero tales. Hero narratives are accounts of individual adventures as they try to overcome various tasks and challenges. Hero narratives differ from legends in that they contain individual motivated heroic acts unlike in legends where legends act in the interest of the entire community.

4.    Etiological narratives

Etiological stories are stories that attempt to explain natural phenomena. These stories also explain the meaning of things or relationships. Etiological narratives may also explain the origin and characteristics of various animals, plants or landscapes.

Aetiological narratives, in a nutshell, seek to explain the way of certain things e.g. Why do dogs live with man? Why does the hen scratch the ground? Etc

5. TRICKSTER NARRATIVES

Trickster narratives are very popular narratives, especially among children and young people

The narratives largely delve into the life of animals that outwit others, practice their cunnings on the others and generally live a life of trickery.

Popular character trickster narratives include the hare, tortoise, spider, mantis, jackal etc.

An example of trickster narratives is the tug of war between hare, hippo and elephant


6.  Monster narratives

Monster narratives are narratives whose characters are ogres or monsters with varying characteristic appearances. They are often terrifying in nature. They may be giants with human characteristics or animals.



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