From Firesides to the Modern Lounge: A Critical Appraisal of Film and Television Fairytales in Kenya
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Date
2013
Authors
Muigai wa Gachanja
Kebaya, Charles
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
School of Visual and Performing Arts Kenyatta University
Abstract
Vladimir Propp, in 1928, published a groundbreaking text; Morphology of the Folktale,
in which he outlined and defined the characteristics and morphology of fairytales. His
work not only changed the study of folklore but also made scholars to rethink the way
in which stories and storytelling affect the fabric of society and its ideals. Since 1928
to the present, there have been tremendous changes in the way in which stories are
told. For instance, technology has changed the way people interact and communicate
with each other. In the same vein, media and film conglomerates have taken a leading
role in creating and/or reconstructing folktales for their audiences. This implies that
the modern lounge has replaced traditional storytelling modes as children tune in
to television for filmed stories. Thus, using critical theory and already aired Know
Zone 1 folk tales, this paper examines how film and television fairytales are built and
in the process establishes how traditional pedagogical values of these narratives
are negotiated as the tales conform to modern technology. Further, while exploring
traditional narrative types and motifs as portrayed in the selected fairytales for this
study, we examine how these narrative texts reflect contemporary ethnographies of fan
culture and the existence of multiple versions of seemingly fixed texts. In this endeavour,
the study adopts a content-based analytic approach in presenting a detailed exegesis of
the modern film and television fairytales in Kenya and uses psychodynamics of orality
in appreciating these emergent forms of storytelling in the contemporary society.
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Citation
International Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, June 2013 Volume 1 Number 1