Stories, Repositories, and Folklore

          Aghan Odero Agan brings up a very interesting a very interesting point, demonstrating his keen awareness of the subtleties of folklore: What does folklore mean in a culture of people who are constantly struggling to find their own identities, their own purpose, their own roots? As a medium so intimately tied in with people's mindsets, cultures, and experiences, how does folklore function for people who may not be so sure of the "big picture?" The folklore serves as a form of entertainment, helping entire African communities to get together, just like the chant he encouraged the audience to mimic at the beginning of the talk. He then goes on to say that the role of performers in African cultures is to present the purpose of living in a way that will help specific communities to identify and distinguish themselves.