Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
« When an old man dies in Africa, it is a whole library that burns« . This sentence from the writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ, fully summarizes the dominating place of oral communication in the African cultures. In order to immortalize the tradition, Benin is hosting from 14th August 2014, the 9th edition the Tales evenings.
13 Beninese towns (Malanville, Parakou, Bohicon, Possotomey, Lokossa, Kétou, Bohicon, Savalou, Tchaourou, Djougou, Natitingou, Abomey and Cotonou) are welcoming the edition 2014 of the festival called « The Tales Evenings ». According to the Chinese agency, Xinhua, this meeting aims at drawing the attention of the African youth in general and the one of Benin in particular on the educational values of the tales and legends.
The Bishop Israël Mensah, chairman of the Mémoire d’Afrique association, initiator of the event reaffirmed the importance of the tales and legends. « Tale, beyond its educational and instructive value, is a symbol of our traditional cultures susceptible to inform about our identity. It displays a very important signification in the edification of the peoples (…) We tend to leave our values behind and join those of others. It is thus necessary to restore a certain identity to the African Man so that they re-appropriate their own previous history« , he explained.
Original text by: Roger ADZAFO
