We start our May exploration of folklore in African literature with Jennifer Makumbi’s Kintu and a question:
How deep does the connection between folklore and place go?
Lwera is a stretch of land with a starring role in Kintu. As you will find out in the episode, how a people feel about the places in which they anchor their lives, whether in the past or in the present, is essential to how they view themselves. I also recommend Karl Sinnhuber’s paper “On the Relations of Folklore and Geography.” It’s an oldie but still a goodie!
Enjoy!
References
In Chintu, a Look at What it Means to be Ugandan Now
Kemboi, Justus K. Myth And Memory In Narrating A Nation: Jennifer Makumbi’s Chintu. Diss. University of Nairobi, 2020. pp. 63 - 64
Sinnhuber, Karl A. “On the Relations of Folklore and Geography.” Folklore, vol. 68, no. 3, 1957, pp. 385–404. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1258359. Accessed 5 May 2024.
Ryden, Kent C., and Wayne Franklin. “Folklore and the Sense of Place.” Mapping the Invisible Landscape: Folklore, Writing, and the Sense of Place, University of Iowa Press, 1993, pp. 53–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20h6sc9.7. Accessed 5 May 2024.
Songs/Sound Effects (in order of occurrence)
Mythological Africans by Phende
Ouganda : l'extraction massive de sable menace le lac Victoria
Sand mining in Lwera wetland endangering Lake Victoria – Environmentalists
Sandstorm - Gold Tape: 55 56 Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC
"Cars And Trucks On Highway" Sound Effects, Volume 5 From Audio Fidelity (DFS 7016)
Kulika o Lwera