Traveling to Wild Places

Recently, I have been working on a research paper in which the topic is Zulu tribal folklore. In my research, I came across a book that describes the oral tradition of the ancient tribes of Africa. A woman who is a visitor in a specific Nguni tribe tells this story. The most influential part of this book for me was the way that it took me to Africa. I felt as though I was really there. The novel paints graphic pictures of storytelling around at night. The story also talks about these beautiful folk stories that tell the history of their culture along with the history of all of humanity. The stories truly make it seem like you are there, and the sheer beauty of the situation and culture has sparked my interest in the African tradition. Also, what sparked my interest the most is how, even though we are miles and miles apart, I could identify with some of the situation. I can remember being around a bonfire when I was younger and everyone attempting to tell stories. Even though it seems like African and I are worlds apart, I learned that we are not that different. If you think about many of the stories and folktales that we tell in our society today, we use many of the same morals, characters, and themes as the Nguni tribes do. They mainly use animals as main characters and so do we. Think of stories such as Winnie The Pooh. The African tribes have stories about a certain mongoose that gets himself into trouble just as Winnie does. The similarities between our culture and theirs are not so different after all. I also have learned the true beauty of language and storytelling. Before starting this paper i did not realize how much a tribe, culture, or society needs storytelling. These stories preserve the history of that group and without them they would be lost. All in all, I learned a valuable lesson through this book about culture. I also got the treat of traveling into an exotic world that is thousands of miles from me.