African Folktales at Internet Archive: Courlander's Treasury of African Folklore

Continuing on with the anthology theme for Week 6, I want to feature one of my very favorite folklore writers: the great Harold Courlander. I'll be sharing more of his books in future posts; meanwhile, the Courlander book for today is his massive compendium, A Treasury of African Folklore, first published in 1975, and all 650 pages of this wonderful book await you at the Internet Archive, just a click away. It is very much worthy of its subtitle: oral literature, traditions, myths, legends, epics, tales, recollections, wisdom, sayings, and humor of Africa.

Here is how Courlander summarizes the contents in the introduction:

The range of African oral literary forms is seemingly endless. it includes creation myths, myth-legends, half-legendary chronicles and historical narratives either in song or prose; tales that explain natural phenomena, tribal practices and taboos, and cultural or political institutions; stories and fables that reflect on the nature of man and his strengths and weaknesses; tales of adventure, courage, disaster, and love; epics with legendary heroes or fictitious heroes, and tales of confrontation with the supernatural and unseen forces of nature; moralizing stories and stories that define man's place and role in the universe; riddles that amuse and teach, and proverbs that stress social values; and a virtually inexhaustible reservoir of animal tales, many of which, at bottom, are morality plays, while other are purely humor.

And of course you know I'm here for that last part: the inexhaustible reservoir of animal tales. 

Courlander was a world traveler and a prolific writer; you can read about his career at Wikipedia. In addition to his many folklore books and also novels, Courlander was a serious musicologist, and you can listen to some of his recordings at the Internet Archive. He was especially interested in the musical traditions of Haiti and Afro-Cuban music, and here is one of his Haitian drum recordings: Baboule Dance:

So, this is just the first time I've written about Courlander here at this blog, but it will not be the last: I will have more Courlander books to share as I work through the African folklore books in the coming months, and then yet more Courlander books to share again when I move on to the books about African folklore in the Americas and the Caribbean.

But for now, there is plenty to keep you busy here with this fabulous treasury: it is full of treasures indeed!

 A Treasury of African Folklore

by Harold Courlander