Reading Notes- Congo Unit- Parts A&B

Reading Notes- Congo Unit- Part A

I knew that the stories from the Congo unit would be a little different from the stories from West Africa, which I did for a previous unit, but I really could not have guessed just HOW different they are from one another. The re-telling style was entirely different in my opinion. The stories from West Africa are usually very brief, they introduce the plot quickly, and reveal the plan or resolution even quicker. I think it may have a lot to do with translation, but these stories are much more drawn out, and the same event might occur two or more times, with negative endings, until they finally reach the positive outcome. For example, in the story "How the Gazelle Got Married", the same character forgot his mission five times, and the process happened six times (yes I counted). That’s fairly repetitive for a story of only 900 words. So it got me thinking on my own experience with African Folktales. The reason I picked African tales for my story was because I fell in love with the idea of them while I was there. But then I remembered, when one sat down to listen to these stories, you could expect to be there for a good amount of time. It really is just apart of the oral tradition for these stories to be very long. Usually with many characters, many different settings, and many side stories that (eventually) lead back to the main idea. When I realized this, the style of the stories began to make more sense. We can not even compare the Congo Unit to the West African Unit, as their stories live to serve totally different purposes. The West African stories are meant for quick, comedic entertainment. The Congo stories can be more compared to longer children’s books read at bedtime, they are entertaining, not that serious, and serve to just tell a story.

Reading Notes- Congo Unit- Part B

The reading notes that I have for Part B are more related to some of the stories from the first half of the reading, but I did not include them earlier and want to touch on them now. I was particularly drawn to the story of the jealous wife, and the details that were included. Due to the Congo area’s unfortunate history of war and violence, it is not uncommon that their stories include gruesome details like the ones described in “The Jealous Wife”. In fact, I have heard more (sadly true) stories like this one opposed to the others. Many times, these types of stories (not just specific to this region) are told to cope with the reality of individual’s lives. Which is why it can be almost impossible for an outsider to write in that manner. The best examples of these stories are usually recounted from individuals who have experienced it first hand. However, moving away from this, and towards the most prominent things I noticed in the second half of the reading. Animals as main characters really re-made an appearance in the second half. This is where you absolutely can compare the Congo stories to other units in the Africa Unit. Animals and the use of them for main characters is a huge common trait among the stories. I keep telling myself I need to do research as to why it is animal figures and not people, but for now it is still a mystery. The idea of illustrating how things came to be (our modern day old-wives tales) also made a subtle reappearance, but remained fairly significant to the main idea of the story. I would say that it followed the pattern that I mentioned in the previous reading notes, which is more that of a longer bedtime story. 

The Use of Casca, The Jealous Wife

Bibliography: R.E. Dennet, Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Congo Unit