AFR 1130 Africana Folklore Departmental S2019 Toggle navigation

A study of African folklore on the African continent and the African Diaspora. As a “bridge course,” Africana Folklore is specifically designed for students who are not CUNY reading and writing proficient. Prerequisite: None

This course explores the oral, customary and material folklore of Africans and their descendants in the Americas and the Caribbean. We will use readings and films to examine various ways West African folklore was transmitted to and survived in the New World, and how Africans in the Americas created new oral, customary and material traditions. The survival and maintenance of African lore and the creation of new traditions through combination with Native and European traditions functioned as survival mechanisms for the all the peoples in the Americas and influenced global culture.
We will compare and contrast fictional and historical folk characters from Africa, the Northern and Southern American hemispheres, with a special focus on the English, Spanish and French-speaking Caribbean. We will examine some of the customs and practices that continue to exist in those regions and how all have contributed to global culture. In addition to required readings, there will also be weekly writing exercises.
This course is designed to help prepare the student for further academic study in general, and African, African-American and Caribbean studies, specifically. It will introduce the student to the various disciplines that inform the study of people of African descent worldwide.