Functional Analysis of the Folktales of Qellem Wallaggaa Oromoo
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Date
2010-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
So many scholars discussed that various elements of folklore are the outcomes of the age- long traditional wisdom and human experiences. Folktales are one of the forms of folklore that reflect wisdom and philosophies the people. They also help to understand the society’s mode of thinking, custom/tradition, attitudes, ways of life, and day-to-day experiences. Scholars state that through the study of a society’s folktale, one can learn the social, cultural, political and economic realities of the people. Scholars assert that folklore is an umbrella tem consisting of customs, observances, folktales, riddles, folksongs, legends, myths and so on. The Oromo of Qellem Wallaggaa do also possess the various genres of folk literature and different forms of folklore. Although it is believed that these different forms of folklore reflect the socio-cultural and philosophy of the society, it would be unmanageable to try to study the function of all the genres and investigate the occasion of occurrences in al the districts within the given time and budget of the study. Hence, folklore genre selected is folktale with function in focus in the two districts of Qellem Wallaggaa Zone based on popularity of folktales in the areas. The study has four chapters. Background of the study, objective, statement of the problem, limitation and method of the study are discussed in chapter one. In the second chapter, attempts have been made to set theoretical basis for the study. Analysis of the functions of the folktales has been done in the third chapter. The fourth chapter dealt with concluding statements of the study. Bibliographies and appendices have been appended at the end of the paper. The required data for the study was largely collected from the two districts of the zone, namely Laaloo, and Sayyoo districts. 60 folktales have been collected; 50 of the were selected for the study and 22 of the folktales were analyzed. The folktales that are not included in the analysis are appended at the end of this paper. The study is aimed at analyzing the major functions of folktales of Qellem Wallaggaa Oromoo in order to understand the contextual use of the folkloric form. Accordingly, it has been found out in the study that folktales serve various functions such as reflecting socio-cultural values of the people, morality, socio-political and socio- economic realities, social criticism, reinforcing social laws, and playing significant roles as a medium of instruction.
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So many scholars discussed that various elements of folklore are the outcomes of the age- long traditional wisdom and human experiences. Folktales are one of the forms of folklore that reflect wisdom and philosophies the people. They also help to understand the society’s mode of thinking, custom/tradition, attitudes, ways of life, and day-to-day experiences. Scholars state that through the study of a society’s folktale, one can learn the social, cultural, political and economic realities of the people. Scholars assert that folklore is an umbrella tem consisting of customs, observances, folktales, riddles, folksongs, legends, myths and so on. The Oromo of Qellem Wallaggaa do also possess the various genres of folk literature and different forms of folklore. Although it is believed that these different forms of folklore reflect the socio-cultural and philosophy of the society, it would be unmanageable to try to study the function of all the genres and investigate the occasion of occurrences in al the districts within the given time and budget of the study. Hence, folklore genre selected is folktale with function in focus in the two districts of Qellem Wallaggaa Zone based on popularity of folktales in the areas. The study has four chapters. Background of the study, objective, statement of the problem, limitation and method of the study are discussed in chapter one. In the second chapter, attempts have been made to set theoretical basis for the study. Analysis of the functions of the folktales has been done in the third chapter. The fourth chapter dealt with concluding statements of the study. Bibliographies and appendices have been appended at the end of the paper. The required data for the study was largely collected from the two districts of the zone, namely Laaloo, and Sayyoo districts. 60 folktales have been collected; 50 of the were selected for the study and 22 of the folktales were analyzed. The folktales that are not included in the analysis are appended at the end of this paper. The study is aimed at analyzing the major functions of folktales of Qellem Wallaggaa Oromoo in order to understand the contextual use of the folkloric form. Accordingly, it has been found out in the study that folktales serve various functions such as reflecting socio-cultural values of the people, morality, socio-political and socio- economic realities, social criticism, reinforcing social laws, and playing significant roles as a medium of instruction.