WORLD HISTORY

HISTORY

THE MUSLIM WORLD AND AFRICA

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
The people of West Africa preserved the record of their past through the use of
A
oral histories
B
cuneiform writings
C
stories written on scrolls
D
hieroglyphics
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The GRIOT (pronounced “gree-OH”) is a storyteller and oral historian in West Afri-can culture. He is the social memory of the community and the holder of the word. The Griot is the keeper of facts and important events of his time.

Detailed explanation-2: -They are told by people known as griots (pronounced gree-oh), also known in some cultures as jeliw, who are the narrators of oral traditions. Born into their highly respected position, griots play an important role.

Detailed explanation-3: -Oral history both corrected the records of the colonial era and filled in the institutional gaps resulting from post-colonial African governments’s inability and unwillingness to continue the bureaucratic record keeping traditions of their predecessors.

Detailed explanation-4: -Oral tradition is a necessary social antecedent and cultural heritage of Africans. African oral tradition is visible primarily through proverbs, folktales, songs, dances, customs, traditional medicines, religious practices and ancestral utterances.

Detailed explanation-5: -The oral tradition was important in the region because it preserved knowledge, passed on cultural values, and transmitted memories from one generation to the next.

There is 1 question to complete.