Hey Friends
We’re on the fourth episode of the MA deep dive into Jungian archetypes in African myths, legend and folklore. We’re remaining focused on the rulership archetype for the month of March and the plan is to look at it from different angles. In this week’s episode (and to honor Women’s Day!) we’re going to talk about rulership in African mythology and folklore from the perspective of women.
References
Franz, Marie-Luise von. The Feminine in Fairy Tales. United Kingdom, Shambhala, 1993.
Lewis, Jerome. Forest hunter-gatherers and their world: a study of the Mbendjele Yaka pygmies of Congo-Brazzaville and their secular and religious activities and representations. Diss. University of London, 2002, 175 - 176.
Schipper, Mineke. Source of all evil : African proverbs and sayings on women. Chicago, Bloomsbury Academic, 1991.
Korsah, Chantal. Yaa Asantewaa: Queen Mother of the Ashanti Confederacy
Ogwu, Matthew Chidozie, Moses Edwin Osawaru, and Rosemary Noredia Iroh. “Ethnobotany and collection of west African okra [Abelmoschus caillei (a. Chev.) Stevels] germplasm in some communities in Edo and Delta states, southern Nigeria.” Borneo Journal of Resource Science and Technology 6.1 (2016): 25-36.
Fraser, Douglas, and Herbert M. Cole, eds. African art and leadership. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1972.
Fisher, Angela. Africa Adorned. United Kingdom, Harvill Press, 1996.
Can’t Get Enough?
Read this reflection on archetypes as living territory for transformation:
Read this X/Twitter Thread for some exceptional heroines from African myth, legend and history.
Check out the project page for The Runaway Princess and Other Stories (and references for Yennenga’s story)
Still Can’t Get Enough?
The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:
Creation myths and foundation legends (including the story of Tin Hinan, Founding Mother of the the Tuareg!)
Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created
Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)
I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody!
