African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 560
Musical bows and other stringed instruments in Namibia are some of the ways in
which people use music to pray, to praise, and to create joy and happiness. For these
purposes, stringed instruments are considered very important, even in present times when
urban living is reducing the use of bows. They are instruments that give meaning to life,
and they are a means of communicating with ancestor spirits and gods, animal spirits, and
people. As such, they have always made an important contribution to the spiritual welfare
of the people and deserve an important place in the framework of African folklore. It is
likely that in the future, the use of bows, lutes, and zithers will go into decline and be
replaced with more “modern” instruments such as guitars and violins.
References
Bjørkvold. J-R. 1992. The Muse Within: Creativity and Communication, Song and Play from
Childhood through Maturity. Tran H.Halverson. Aaron Asher Books. New York:
HarperCollins.
Kirby, P.R. 1968/1938. The Musical Instruments of the Native Races of South Africa. 2nd ed.
Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Mans, M. 1997. Ongoma! Notes on Namibian Musical Instruments. Windhoek: Gamsberg
Macmillan.
Mans, M., and E.Olivier, (forthcoming). Scientific Report for the Project: The Living Musics and
Dance of Namibia: Exploration, Publication, Education. Prepared for the French Department of
Cooperation and Cultural Affairs in Namibia.
Nketia, J.H.Kwabena. 1998. Africa. The Garland Encyclopedia of Music, pp. 13–73. New York:
Garland.
Norborg, Å. 1987. A Handbook of Musical and Other Sound-Producing Instruments from Namibia
and Botswana. Stockholm: Musikmuseets skrifter 13.
Sachs, S. (Ed.) 1980/1940. The History of Musical Instruments. London: J.M.Dent.
MINETTE MANS
See also Music; Music in Africa
MYTHS: OVERVIEW
The variety of cultures across the African continent offers an equal variety of mythical
narratives of all types and genres. A myth is defined here primarily as a sacred narrative
involving divine, superhuman, or ancestral figures and the processes that have shaped the
world of human observation and experience. The definition addresses content more than
context or form, and the range of examples would include the sometimes comic
etiological narratives told in casual settings, as well as more formalized and even ritual
utterances associated with a restricted or qualified listenership. There are, in practice, few
hard and fast rules for identifying a narrative as a myth rather than a folktale or a legend.
Local terminology may or may not distinguish types of stories that correspond to
recognized global mythical narratives from other sorts (distinctions may involve the
perceived age of the stories as well as their truth value). Context may be the most reliable